 Poster: A snowHead
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I'm booked to go to Peisey-Vallandry in March this year with my OH and our 13 month old little boy. We're going with Espirit ski in a hope to make things a little smoother, but was wondering what tips people might have for travelling/holidaying with a small person!
A few questions that have popped up in my mind:
Should we take a buggy? We're taking all our own gear with us so being able to take one thing less might help!
Will we be able to get hold of fresh full fat cows milk for bedtime bottles?
What should we do for shoes for the little one? He is confidently walking now and will be keen to wander outside I'm sure!
A few small things I'm a little worried about (hopefully over nothing)
Little man doesnt really sleep through the night yet - he doesnt cry but will be awake - hopefully this wont present an issue to others in the chalet.
We have booked childcare with Espirit - typical worrying mum just hoping that the childcare is ok and worrying about leaving the little man with strangers! He's used to going to a childminder when I work and loves being there and seeing other children so should be fine.
Entertaining the little man during travel could be interesting, he is into everything and I'm sure will want to wander. Fingers crossed an ipad and seeing other children around will be enough for him.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@Becstar, there is normally a "parents station" with Esprit with extras you may need, steriliser, milk, baby food, microwave etc. They really do make life easy.
Are you concerned about him waking while you are at dinner? Are you in a chalet hotel?- with baby listening.
We took our pushchair one time, but didn't really need it. You can also borrow them I believe?
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Do esprit not provide pushchairs? You'll probably find it easier to take little one out on a sledge if you don't have an all terrain/ ski one- and added bonus that they love it.
Yes- full fat milk over here is in red topped bottles - it's called Entier.
Snowboots- decathlon do a good pair for about 12€ over here so must be similar in UK.
You've booked Espeit- everyone's in the same boat with kids - stop worrying, you're going to have an amazing holiday! 
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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@Becstar, Esprit are great, they have all you need in terms of buggys etc. Speak to them beforehand and they will tell you more on what they have where you are going.
Take a good supply of calpol and other medicines that you use, AFIK it's not so easy to get medicine over he counter.
A good all in one snow suit will keep him warm, plus hat and gloves, don't forget sunglasses, if it's sunny the reflected light will be very strong, and some sun lotion for his face.
We used a back carrier for our son at that age, but be careful walking on ice etc, maybe get some shoe spikes that fit over your boots.
We've been taking our son since he was nine months old every year, he's now nearly thirteen and loves skiing. 
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Hi! I have been to Peisey twice with Esprit the last two years, both times with a baby/toddler and just returned a few weeks ago
We took our buggy, we needed it at the airport. You can store your buggy in the room at the top of the stairs where the ski lockers are so you don't need to lug it up and down.
The nursery staff are fantastic. Two years in a row now I have used them without complaint.
Take more nappies than you think you need, they change their bums a hell of a lot. We ran out by day 5 and had to pay 20 euros for pampers for a tiny pack of pampers too small.
The while milk is red top and called entire as another poster mentioned, you can buy this in the Sherpa shop. Don't wait until you run out before you get the next bottle as sometimes they don't have it. You can leave it in the chalet fridge.
Take a permanent marker with you.
The rooms are a really good size, we stayed twice in Renard.
Don't forget your baby monitor! Everyone are parents so monitors upstairs when you are eating and having to pop down to see to your children is common.
Take a small bath mat. They may have them but I never asked.
Take A few more sets of clothes for your little one. Take sick bags and spare clothes for the coach journey. I have been puked on my my littlest both times each way! My eldest 3/4 was always fine so depends on the child and mine has been car sick often here in the UK and the coach is just too much for her.
Vaseline for the face on top of sun lotion as their skin can get chapped easily.
Tell them Fern's mum says hi!
Feel free to ask any questions.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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We had been buying milk in resort. Then the penultimate day we were out so asked if I could take a glass up the room, the member of staff said, don't do that i get you a carton, which she promptly fetched for me
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| Quote: |
We never used to need to mark our kids with pen, do the nannies tend to misplace them around resort these days ??!
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I would never use permanent marker on my children, it could easily wear off so I instead tattoo their foreheads with my phone number 
I found myself having to borrow a perm marker to label stuff when I was there, they want you to label everything which is pretty ridiculous so I would just stick to the stuff that gets taken on/off. When I brought back another kids pair of shoes which were the same size and style as my own I thought perhaps I should start to do as I am told. You can write on their cups, wipes etc.
I am sure if you asked they would get the fresh milk (non UHT) kind in for you, I just never asked!
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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We have been with Esprit 4 times (ValD, BellePlagne, Courchevel & BellePlagne) and they have been fantastic every time. First time to Val we were very much like you guys, we had one ~18mo and questioned how it was all going to fit together. The previous year we had done a 50:50 split with good friends and their kid in a chalet we thought that was great but then we discovered esprit and realised how amazing they are!. We now have a 5yo (skiing with us which is truly amazing) and a 2 yo and have been lucky enough to have gone every year.
To some of your points and the points of others :
You might need a buggy at the airports – sleep baby or a rest for you guys etc …. but it is a hassle carrying and there are buggies you can borrow when they are not in use (ask the staff). Oh, we did also used the buggy a lot the first year to get out little one asleep by walking the corridors!
Get some snow boots off ebay or TKMax, don’t pay a lot as they are a one shot deal every year (although we have occasionally got use with the second, we have 2 girls so it worked well)
Crying, screaming babies and children are totally the run of the course for Esprit and the other parents. Your very much amongst friends and im sure you will be more stressed about yours crying than everyone else as they will just be glad its not theirs
I can assure you the childcare is first class from our 4 experiences, the individuals working at esprit are highly qualified and very motivated (I can only assume there is a queue of good people wanting the jobs, so if your rubbish you don’t last long!). General communication is good, could be a little better but given the turnarounds each week its kind of understandable. Just make sure you write down / communicate to as many people as will listen you’re really important items, medicine, likes/dislikes, routines etc ...
The rest just leave it to them. They see hundreds of babies and children and they are far better at dealing the run of the mill than our very expensive nursery in the UK (probably even us!!!). On the whole we are much happier leaving our children with Esprit staff than our UK staff (But your reaction/questions are normal, the first year we did it we didn’t even book ski hire or lift passes until we sussed out it was all going to work, the staff found this highly amusing and we soon realised our mistake as it was totally fine)
Travel is a challenge, but it can be ok. Try to make the journeys fun for them, as you have little else to do!. Lots of options ipad/colouring/stories/toys in your bags. Plenty of food. There are play areas in Gatwick/Geneve/Chambery that you can use and are very good. A change of clothes with you is a must for kid and you (plan for the worst) is a very good idea. Dummy or sweets for the up and down on the plan, but we haven’t had a problem with either of ours touch wood.
Take enough Calpol/Calprofen for the week, kids get sick and temperatures are much better controlled. The “just incase” drugs bag is important, ours is normally massive. Diralyte for child and adults (or make your own sugar/salt/water hydrator), its pretty common for stomach bugs when you bring people together with kids from all over the UK in a small space. Antihistamine etc …
The food and purees for babies Esprit provide is pretty good but we also took quite a few Ella’s kitchens with us and ended up using most as our 2 were hungry and sometimes fussy. But the staff were great with making other stuff if we needed.
Some other things :
I would second the “take more nappies and wipes” (oh one good bit of advice is ration the wipes you give to nursery each day!)
The marker pen is a good idea.
Take a tiny amount of washing up liquid & cloth for you room to wash milk bottles etc …
Face cream / general moisturiser cold dry air is annoying
Wet towel on the radiator helps with humidity
Sun glasses
Take a “Bag for life” for putting their stuff in, the often have boxes but this make it easy
We have never finished the debate about packing everyone’s cloths across all cases or each person in each case, but getting hold of things in a ski resort can be challenging so plan for the worst hope for the best and you won’t regret the upfront effort.
Be open minded, work as a team, try new things have a great time together. Things can and do go wrong and you just have to go with it as best you can. Over all its well worth doing, we are totally addicted to Esprit as we get to be a couple again, the kids love it and that means we relax and have a great holiday.
Enjoy.
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Great advice here. Can't comment on Esprit but can maybe help with medicines etc. I much prefer the French way of administering calpol/nurofen by weight - as it is much more accurate than our catch-all by age - this means I tend to stock up while I am there and bring it back to the UK. I have struggled to get antihistamine for kids in French pharmacies - was told needed a prescription so now always take my own. If you do need the Dr, I have always found them to be great esp with the kids. Have been given stuff to get rid of mucus and lots of other support bits that make the littlies a lot more comfortable. They even did an on-the-spot strep test for a throat infection for one of mine last summer - very reassuring indeed. Have a great time. They will be in Piou Poui Club before you know it
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Don't forget the effect of altitude on ears. We all know the babies all start crying when a plane descends, and that's in a pressurised cabin...
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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| cameronphillips2000 wrote: |
| Don't forget the effect of altitude on ears. We all know the babies all start crying when a plane descends, and that's in a pressurised cabin... |
"At typical cruising altitudes in the range 11 000–12 200 m (36 000–40 000 feet), air pressure in the cabin is equivalent to the outside air pressure at 1800–2400 m (6000–8000 feet) above sea level."
So higher than most ski resorts.
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It's when the planes descends to land the babies seem to cry. Not sure if the pressure in the cabin increases or decreases. It makes my ears hurt. I think it's more the pressure changes that low or high pressure that does it. The equalisation between the inner and out ear.
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You know it makes sense.
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| cameronphillips2000 wrote: |
| I think it's more the pressure changes that low or high pressure that does it. |
That's more like it.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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+1 regarding positive comments about Esprit. This will be our 5th and possibly last year, as our third will be 5 and a half next year, and we think we'll be able to dispense with the childcare.. and the expense!
We always took our buggy, mostly for the airport. Took the Phil and Teds a couple of time, but also a more compact buggy once we figured we didn't really need it for getting around resort.
Our first year, when we also had concerns reassured us for future trips... Our first boy, 1 year old at the time, had barely been in nursery so didn't especially like being dropped off in the hands of strangers. But the nursery staff coped admirably, even if my wife found it quite stressful.
To our initial dismay, our return flight home from Innsbruck was cancelled once we arrived at the airport, so had to bundle back on a coach and travel 2 or 3 hours more to Munich. As ever, it's when things go awry that really tests the organisation... And esprit and their staff couldn't have done better.
They had a box of supplies, nappies/wipes/milk/baby food for the kids and made sure we were all ok. When we arrived at Munich they took the children to one side and effectively set themselves up a makeshift nursery. The older kids singing songs they had learned during the week, whilst baby got last cuddles, offering us the opportunity to grab a bite to eat and a medicinal beer!
Once children are older, the Snow Rangers they have to supplement the instructors and help get kids to lessons and back is excellent. And as an earlier poster said allows you to feel like a couple again (lazy quiet lunches, hurrah!) and relax. Some may say it's palming your kids off as you can lose them to Esprit from 830 til 6 if you want to. But, I couldn't disagree more. Our kids now 11, 8 and 4 will miss the apparent freedom they are offered doing things 'on their own'... Even cocoa club in the evening, I thought my elder two would rather stay in the chalet, faces buried in iPads, but no, they all trot along happily and look forward to that.
Enjoy you trip!
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Poster: A snowHead
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(Re: flying... We always took 2 made up bottles of milk on the plane, to give to baby during take off and descent... Helps pop their ears)
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Thanks so much for the reassurance - I feel a lot better about it all now! Although I am wondering how I am going to fit in all the stuff I need to pack!! Not sure on the buggy still - ours is quite bulky so I think we'll probably give it a miss.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Another thing I have been thinking about is the coach transfer. I know car seats are not available (and you are not allowed to take your own) so the little man will have to be on someones lap. Feels a bit odd since car seat/seatbelt use is drummed into us here - I'd never dream of driving 5 minutes down the road with baby on someones lap let alone a 2 hour coach transfer!!! Those of you who have made similar trips with similar aged children how did it all work out!?!?!
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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One more tip on flying - use a decongestant 10 mins before ascent/descent starts , whether a spray in the mouth or Vic behind their ears / outside the nose. That means there will be less mucus in the narrow tube to allow the air pressure differential to build.
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