Rex
For many first-time parents, taking the baby on his or her first holiday this summer is a fantasy and also a bit of a nightmare.
You so want it all to go right, and you find yourself worrying about how exactly it's going to work.
After all, if it's hard just to leave the house or get across town, how hard is it going to be to go on a long journey? What if you forget some vital thing? How do you make sure you have everything you need at your destination? And how do you carry your baby for a walk along the beach (it's true, the pushchair won't work in the sand!)?
Here's an ever so useful checklist.
GETTING THERE
Planes and taxis
If you want to get the low-down on how to get your family from home to the airport and then abroad without having a complete meltdown, we've got a special feature for you here.
All airlines and destinations have different guidelines, but if you're flying on Easyjet, here are their guidelines to flying with children. Some taxi companies will keep your car seat for you while you travel.
Trains
As for long train journeys, you can fold up and store the pushchair in the luggage rack at the end of the carriage. Or you could wear your baby in a sling - anything to avoid carrying pushchairs up tube station steps (though if you do take a pushchair on the underground, you'll find fellow passengers very polite and helpful).
Family seats of four around a train table are a good height for holding babies on your lap, so reserve those if you can. And if you can book early enough to afford first class tickets, it makes a huge difference.
Driving
A long car journey becomes less monotonous for you as well as the baby if you download one of TomTom's child-friendly satnav personalities like Bugs Bunny, Dora The Explorer, or Spongebob Squarepants.
BABY-FRIENDLY STAYS
You may be worrying about travelling with a cot, highchair, sterilising equipment and so on - in which case, take advantage of the many baby-friendly holidays on offer which do all this for you.
You can book a baby-friendly holiday cottage/villa/house exchange where you know there will be a cot, a highchair, safety in mind, and so on. Home exchanges with other families with a baby are increasingly easy to find - try Lovehomeswap for stylish ones.
Or consider one of these:
Lights and Sounds Buggy Driver, £10.
Top tip: bring along a DVD of In The Night Garden (£8.49 from Amazon.co.uk to entertain your baby on your laptop on the journey and at your destination.
BABY AT THE BEACH
Swimming
Huggies' Little Swimmers disposable nappies (£3.66 for 12 at Mothercare) are perfect for swimming on holiday.
You can also get inflatable baby arm bands and swim-seats, like this one, £12 from Mothercare.
Sun protection
Babies need full-on sun protection - the NHS advises they wear factor 50+ sunblock as well as a wide-brimmed hat, and using a parasol over the buggy.
DON'T FORGET...
Baby passports
Babies do need passports for international travel - they cost £49 and do involve some work - you will need passport photos of your baby, their birth certificate and a co-signatory.
Plus they take a few weeks to process once you've completed the application form.
More details here.
Travel insurance
The old E111 form that covers UK citizens if they need medical assistance in Europe is now called the EHIC.
If you fill in the free online application, you can add your baby's details so they are covered, too. But it takes around a week to get your card, plus you also need to take out private travel insurance on top of this and include your baby.
Bon voyage, babies!