Caring for a baby or toddler at home is tough. Having school-aged children home for the holidays is difficult too. But having to deal with both of those things at the same time can be enough to drive you up the wall! Whether you're at home full-time or you have to juggle work and holiday childcare, having to work out how to handle both preschool and school children at the same time is no easy feat. It can be exhausting, even if you love them and you don't have to do it all day.

It might be difficult, but there are plenty of things you can do if you want to survive the holidays with your sanity intact. Balancing keeping children of different ages happy can be hard, but there are things you can do together. And in this post I'm going to hopefully help!

Think about Finances

Before making any plans, you might want to think about the cost of keeping everyone entertained during the holidays. Maybe you want to do lots of things together but it can get expensive if you plan multiple activities over a few weeks. It could be smart to make a budget so that you know how much you can afford to spend every day, whether it's on activities, meals, or any other expenses you might have.

One of the things that can help you save money is focusing on free activities. Depending on where you live, you can usually find various things to do that won't cost you a thing. There are activities that will always be available, such as going to the park or a trip to the library. But you can also find that there are free events put on or free entry into some attractions during the holidays. If you want to take little ones for a treat, some cafes and restaurants will do 'kids eat free' deals too.

Find Activities Everyone can Enjoy

Entertaining children at different ages can be tough, but you can find things that everyone can enjoy. There are ways to adjust activities to work for different ages or things you can do that kids of any age will like. If you look at the article Toddler Games: 7 Ideas To Keep Your Child Entertained And Learning, you can see that lots of activities and games can be fun for toddlers and older children too. For example, arts and crafts are fun at any age and children can use age-appropriate methods and skills to be creative. You can get active in different ways that work for any age so everyone can have fun dancing, running around, or going for a bike ride. You can easily adapt certain activities to suit a range of ages too - you might just need to get your thinking cap on!

Start off Slow

If you have at least a week of holiday in front of you, and up to six during the summer, you don't want to go full steam ahead right away. You might want to plan lots of things to do together but you don't want to run out of energy before the end of the holidays is in sight. It's best to ease your way in and make sure you pace yourself. There's no need to start packing activities into every day. Not only will it make you tired but children are sure to get tired quickly too. Space out your outings and treats and try to make sure you have some calmer activities on your list too. I like to plan one 'big day out' a week and then just choose smaller / closer to home activities for other days. That way everyone has chance to relax - plus your budget isn't spent all in one go either.

Let Them be Bored

Children need to learn how to be bored and how to find their own entertainment. If you spend every minute of the holidays providing them with things to do, they won't learn how to overcome boredom on their own. Of course, you can still make sure there are things available for them to do at home, so they can pick up a book or do some crafts if they feel like it. But you don't need to have a full schedule of things to do for the whole holiday. Let them have periods of boredom so that they have to use their imagination to come up with something fun to do!

Create a Routine

Just because it's the holidays, it doesn't mean you should throw out your routine. It might be a bit different from your routine during term time, but you can still have a good routine that keeps everyone on track. It might be even more important if you have mixed childcare arrangements where you need to make sure handovers happen at the right times. You can still get everyone up at the same time, have breakfast, and ensure everyone is ready for the day. You might have to schedule naps for younger ones, which could be the perfect time to spend some time with older children on their own.

Don't Forget to Make Time for Yourself

It's always important to make time for yourself as a parent, and it can be even more important when your children are at home all day. It's not always easy to find time for yourself, but there are a few ways you can do it. If you can, why not ask if their other parent or another family member could take them out for a few hours, or maybe you have a friend who would be willing to work together a childcare arrangement with you. Hiring a babysitter is an option if you can afford it too. You could also look for activities and clubs that they can join during the holidays, some of which you might be able to get financial help with or could even be free. And there are always evenings, when you can take some time for yourself after they've gone to bed. 

Plan Plenty of Downtime

There's no need for everyone to be rushed off their feet for weeks. Having downtime could mean you might plan some things to do but it gives everyone a chance to relax. You could plan to watch some TV or movies for a while, play some games that everyone can join in with, or do some quiet activities. There are lots of things that you can do at home too, from baking or making lunch together to building a fort or getting out your fancy dress box. Don't be afraid to let children chill out with screens too - everyone needs time to switch off and be and they are a great way to achieve this. Of course you can put limits on them if you're worried about them being used too much though.

Team Up with Other Parents

There's strength in numbers, and teaming up with other parents can really help you to survive the holidays. You can plan some playdates together or swap who has the children so you each get a chance to have some time to yourself. It can be a good way to send either your older or younger child to spend time with a friend so you can have some special time with whoever is left. You can also team up together and plan outings or other activities so you can tackle the day together - everything is always easier with another adult along for the ride!

Split Time with Younger and Older Children

It's always a good idea to try and give each of your children individual attention. While it's not always easy to do, there are ways you can ensure each of your child gets the one-on-one time they deserve. During the holidays, it could be even more difficult, but you can still find ways to do it. You might spend time with an older child while the younger one is taking a nap. Someone could be off on a playdate or attending a club or class, while the other is with you and gets to spend some time with you. Just make sure everyone is treated equally, so plan a special one-on-one day for each child.

Give Older Children some Freedom

While it might not work for everyone, allowing older children to have a bit more freedom can mean you don't have to provide constant entertainment for them. If you can allow them to go to the park with friends or even just play outside without your supervision, they will learn to entertain themselves. And with mobile phones available to everyone, it's easy to make sure they're completely safe, even if they do walk or cycle a little bit down the road. Of course, all children are different, so some can be a bit more trustworthy and mature than others when it comes to things like this. If you have teenagers, they can definitely be allowed a bit more freedom.

Find Family Fun on Holiday

If you decide to go away during the holidays, the whole family is usually together, which means you need to find things to do that everyone will enjoy. Fortunately, there are activities that everyone will like, from toddlers to adults. Things like swimming, bike rides, or going for a meal in a restaurant can all please everyone, no matter their age.


It can be hard to manage the school holidays when you have younger children too. But there are lots of ways you can keep everyone entertained until it's time to go back to school. I hope this post has helped!

This is a collaborative post.

Keeping Warm During Winter Days Out

If you're a regular reader of my blog, then you'll know how much we enjoy getting out and about as a family. Not much stops us, especially the weather! Even if it's a chilly Winter's day or raining outside, you will still find us enjoying the outdoors - even our Me and Mine photos in September were taken on the beach in the rain! Over the years, we have just learnt how to wrap up warm, so that we can still get out and enjoy ourselves.

Dress Everyone in Layers
If you're unsure what the weather will do, dressing everyone layers is the best approach. If it is cold in the morning, just wear extra clothes and then remove them as the day warms up. Retailers such as Simply Be sell a wide range of jumpers, coats and even thermal underwear, which are great for this type of dressing. I've found I now naturally leave thick and heavier items on the shelf, and instead opt for lightweight jumpers or cardigans that are I can pop over a t-shirt or shirt.

Keep Wellies and Spare Clothes in the Car
If you're planing on going out when the weather is wet, definitely go out prepared! During the winter months, we usually keep wellies and spare clothes in the car. It is also worth keeping an old towel in the boot (this is also handy for if you've taken your dog for a walk too). This way you will be able to dry everyone off a bit, and then the towel can be used to protect the inside of your car from the worst of the dirt too.

Remember Hats and Gloves
Make sure everyone has a pair of gloves as well as hats (and scarves if it's extra chilly). Studies have shown that keeping your hands and head warm will make a huge difference to how comfortable you will feel. If you're like me and need regular access to your phone or camera, it might even be worth buying touchscreen enabled gloves. They are far more convenient as you don't have to constantly take them on and off!

Wear Suitable Footwear
I have already mentioned that we keep our wellies in the car, but we also make sure that everyone´s regular footwear is at least showerproof (especially Parker's who as you can see, always manages to find a puddle wherever we go)! Boots or closed shoes are much more comfortable to wear too. It's worth keeping in mind that winter footwear usually needs to be a little bit bigger too, so that you can wear thicker socks / wellies socks with them. This boot buying guide explains what you need to look for when choosing winter footwear.

How do you keep warm on Winter days out?

This is a Collaborative Post

Transitioning from Bottles to Beakers at 18 Months Old

I think we've finally cracked it.. Parker is 18 months and we've ditched the bottles! We've made the transition from milk in bottles to beakers. And I couldn't be happier.

Now don't get me wrong. I absolutely loved using our Dr Brown's bottles. They helped with Parker's colic when he was little, and once we stopped sterilising at one (when we transitioned to cows milk), it was simply a case of washing them up.

But Parker had become attached. He associated bottles with going to sleep - something we didn't want to continue. I was sick of having milk covered sheets where he would leave the bottles to drip. And honestly I was totally done with bottles - especially as the Dr Brown's ones have a lot of parts.

I feared it would be a hard process, especially as he was still having two bottles a day. But honestly it's not been that bad at all. And now a week later, we've dropped the morning bottle and he's happy taking his bedtime milk in a beaker.

So how did we do it?

I bought Parker a new beaker - one with a cow print so he knew it was for milk (this isn't really necessary I know, but I thought it was cool). Then before diving straight in with a morning / bedtime bottle I tested it out at nap time. A tip I've always found with big changes is to get them when they're already sleepy (not overtired though), as then they're more likely to give into sleep anyway.

Then from that nap, we never looked back. There were a few moans where he threw the beaker and moaned for 'nunck' (that's P for milk). But we never backed down! It only took a couple of days for him to not even bother with his morning milk.

I'm so thankful we had it easy, as I know it's not always the case - we struggled for a loooong time with our first. So I thought it would be interesting to ask some of my fellow bloggers how they made the switch...

We literally did it cold turkey after my son threw up his bottle of milk due to coughing. He was around 18 months and had gulped down a full 200mls or so. After that I was like right, no more and just gave him his sippy cup. We had about 3 nights of whinging and then he got used to his cup - so my tip - go with the whinging, persevere! - Emma @ Me and B Make Tea

We always gave our eldest beakers for drinks so bottles were only for milk. Then when she was old enough to understand we explained that she was a big girl now so no longer needed a bottle. Bedtime was the worst, but after a few days she was ok! - Amy @  The Smallest of Things

We started the transition by switching to a sippy cup with a silicone spout first, so it wasn't too different to a bottle. After a while, and by trying lots of different cups for their water, we managed to move to a normal sippy cup for their bedtime milk - Gemma @ Two Little Misters

We only used bottles for milk, when water was introduced he had a cup. Then we got him a similar cup for the milk and just swapped the bottle for the cup. He cried for a bit but then drank it. Jo @ Pickle and Pocket

We introduced sippy cups with water when we started weaning, so they were used to them. Bottles only used for evening milk but not to go to sleep with. We tried to make sure the sippy cups were as close to free flow as possible though. Silicone spouts always went down well. He has the munchkin 360 degrees spoutless cup now. Helen @ Talking Mums

And Fran from Whinge Whinge Wine 'Just took it away!' - That's my kind of approach!

How did you make the switch?

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Flying with Little Ones | Tips from the Bloggers

Flying with little ones can seem scary, and I know many people who avoid it altogether. This doesn't have to be the case though! We've flown twice now with babies and once with a toddler, and both times the thought of the trip has been worse than actually doing it. 

You can see what we packed for our toddler Indiana (2) here, but honestly the best thing we did was take the iPad and of course lots of snacks! Then for Parker (and when Indie was a baby) a bottle on take off helped to settle him, and put him to sleep for a short while too. We then found taking it in turns with the baby helped. He was constantly entertained, and it gave each of us a break throughout as well.


This is what worked for us, but I'm very aware that all children are different. I thought I'd ask some fellow bloggers for their tips too, so hopefully with this list you'll find something that works for you! 

We filled a Trunki with various new toys, books, colouring etc that we got from cheapy shops and every so often got a new thing out to keep him amused during the flight - Beth Twinderelmo

Check what the airport has on offer to entertain little ones, a lot offer a free play area which can help with the boredom whilst waiting. - Laura dearbearandbeany

Pack a dedicated activity bag and just cram it with anything that you think your kids will enjoy and be entertained by. I crammed the iPad with fun games and downloaded as much Sarah and Duck off BBC iPlayer, sourced some inexpensive toys from Poundland etc, plus water pen drawing books. If possible, secure the waterpen to the notepad as we found pens and crayons to fall down and roll away quite easily. - Sophie sophieandlily

Put spare outfits/clothes into zip lock bags incase of accidents / spilt drinks / illness. Make sure mum and dad have them as well as the kids. Clean clothes go on and dirty ones into the bag so doesn't ruin anything else in the bag. - Ellie havingababyandlivingathome

Feed the baby on landing and take off if you can. It helps their ears adjust to the pressure. - Naomi lifebynaomi

Something we used different on the way back from Australia just recently was the insert bag for the Trunki. You have to buy it separately but it was great as we packed core things in that such as iPad, small toys, colouring books etc. Then you can leave the Trunki in overhead locker and then the insert fits over the magazine pocket. Always think a calm, relaxed attitude from mum and dad is the best advice ever. - Kerry allaboutamininorris

Use all your hand luggage space to pack games, toys, books, snacks for them... Anything that will keep them busy! And use bags instead of cases so you can pop them underneath the seat instead of the locker - Heledd yummyblogger

We bought the Usborne travel activity cards, they were fantastic, my daughter loves them and in the end used them the whole holiday, not just for travelling. They are wipe clean so can be used over and over. - Vicki cake escapes

Little magnetic drawing boards are a godsend! Oh and sticker books! - Lauren belledubrighton

We took a little miniature toy plane and talked all about it during out journey. Even though he'd only 2, Eli was obsessed and enthralled by the fact he was inside a plane like the little one he had. Take a fully loaded ipad or tablet - it WILL be your best friend, especially on a long flight. Be friendly to your fellow passengers .. you'll appreciate their niceness if your little angel kicks off during the flight - Cat rockandrollpussycat 

Plan flight times well, we always aim for 6/7 am flights as the excitement of the airport combined with a ridiculously early morning means they conk out as soon as they get on the plane - Becky themummyadventure

Never ever ever forget to put calpol into your hand luggage with a syringe. The one time you don't is usually the one time you need it on the flight! - Taslima Notmyyearoff

I think the main thing is to not overpack. It's good to have a change of clothes, a snack or two and a sticker book or game but other than that little ones probably won't need much. - Lauren mummyisagadgetgeek

Travelling with little ones is always going to be trickier, but it doesn't have to be stressful -  I really hope this list helps and gives you some ideas for the next time you fly. Thank you everyone who gave tips, I know I'll be using these next time we fly!