On arrival take childproof your accommodation or childproof your hotel room before you unpack your own things. Remove all the lovely things you used to love as traveller before kids such as chocolates and milk cartons which can be messy missiles.

If your child is very young crawl around to seek out potential hazards. Bring tape to cover electrical sockets as your local domestic socket covers will not work and tie up loose wires.Remove spare phones from the connection unless you want a hefty phone bill.

Check doors that might otherwise trap small fingers and secure them with a magazine or something else to keep them in place. Check everywhere for hot water and watch in particular bidets which are a favourite of the under threes as they are very accessible.

Check for glass and any other dangers and put breakable furniture out of reach or ask for it to be removed. Check all windows to ensure they are locked and secure, especially if you are not at ground level.

Balconies can also pose a danger for all young children so make sure they cannot be accessed and that older kids that can reach the doors understand that they should not go on the balcony without close adult supervision.

Water is a huge asset to a holiday and most kids and families love a good splash. Water safety should be taken very seriously. Be very aware of the dangers of water and never assume that a lifeguard or someone else will be as good at looking after your own child as you. Set some ground rules with the kids as to what they can and cannot do in the pool or at the beach depending on their ability and check staff ratios if a kids club may involve some water based activities. Never allow children who are not strong swimmers and fully independent in deep water alone or be unsupervised near water.

You will find lots of family friendly travel tips and advice in our research and advice section to help you book the right family holiday. Check out also the experiences of other parents and travellers in our parents forum and add your own experiences as we are a great believer in real parent's experiences as the best measure of whether somewhere will suit you for your family holiday.

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