As a keen traveller, I've always been excited to have kids and take them on adventures around the world. Then I had a baby and realised - wow - this is going to take a lot of planning and forward-thinking.

I'm usually a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants kinda traveller, but that simply does not work when you have an infant.

And when I looked for advice before taking our five-month-old on a family holiday to Fiji, I found it pretty tricky to get any good information.

All the tips out there seem to be geared towards travelling with older kids, who are walking and talking and don't need to nap four times a day.

So now that we're home (yes, the trip was a success), here are all my nuggets of wisdom to know before travelling with a young baby.

By all means, take your kids wherever you please. But for our first trip with Alistair, I wanted to ease into things and make my life as simple as possible. So yep, trekking in the foothills of the Himalayas and backpacking across Europe were out of the picture. 

Fiji was perfect. It's a short flight, everyone there LOVES kids, the weather was pleasant, and there is plenty to do.

We chose to stay at the Intercontinental Fiji Golf Resort and Spa, an IHG hotel, because it's the kind of place you can park up at for a week without leaving. My partner could play golf and get massages, I could take beach walks and snorkel, and we could both chill by the pool with a drink and a book. 

While it's easy to take day trips from the resort, it's not the kind of place where you feel cooped up if you spend your whole holiday within the hotel grounds. Which is exactly what we ended up doing, and it was perfect.

Even spacious hotel rooms are still just one room.

And when you're travelling with someone who needs to nap every two to three hours, who goes to sleep each night before the sun goes down, it's a godsend to have a little extra space. 

Booking a room with - at the very least - a separate bedroom is an absolute must when you're travelling with little ones, otherwise we all would have had to have the lights out at 7pm. 

At the Intercontinental, we were able to stay in a room with its own private plunge pool, which is an option for members of IHG One Rewards.

I agree, it sounds a little extravagant. But it meant that while our baby was having one of his four daily naps, mum and dad could sit outside, go for a swim, and actually make some noise without fear of waking him up. And at night, we could sit in the living room, eat room service at the table, and watch TV.

Without the extra space and the pool, we would have had to take turns being on nap duty and wouldn't have actually been able to enjoy any time together. 

If your bub is happy in a baby carrier, do not leave home without it. Though we brought a travel pram which folds down into carry-on size, the baby carrier was so much more useful. It's especially great when transiting through airports and you need free hands for your passport, boarding pass, etc.

We also used it a lot as a way to get him to nap while we were out and about doing things.

At five months, you might just be thinking about starting your kid on solids. For us, he'd had a few tastes of food, but wasn't great at chewing/swallowing/keeping food in his mouth. But he was obsessed with food - neither of us could eat in front of him without him whinging or trying to grab everything in sight.

I took a bunch of rice rusks for him to chomp on in the high chair at meal times. It distracted him and kept him happy, plus they dissolve in his mouth so you don't have to stress about choking.

One of the most common tips for travelling with children is to book into a hotel that has a kids club where they can hang out. But when you have a five-month-old, that doesn't apply. 

Choosing a hotel with a nanny service was a must for us. Take your time to read the reviews, especially if you're not super used to leaving your bub with a sitter. 

I initially felt guilty leaving our baby so we could go snorkel and drink cocktails - but now I wish we'd done it a few more times. The nannies at the hotel were absolute gems; we could tell they actually enjoy hanging out with the kiddos. We came home to find her laughing and playing down on the rug with Ali. 

I had no idea that if you're travelling with a baby, the restrictions around what you can fly with are more lenient. Breast milk and formula are permitted through security despite them being liquids, so I was able to take a stash of frozen milk for when we were there. 

You can also bring a pram and check it at the gate, meaning you can use it all through the airport up until you board. Plus, on most airlines, you get an extra baggage allowance for your infant even though they don't technically have a seat. 

Rules change depending on where you fly and who you fly with, so check everything before you go!

If I've learned anything about having a baby, it's that you always need way more time than you expect. I used to be a 'rock up at the airport 20 minutes before boarding' kinda person, but you should definitely add at least an hour to all your time estimations. 

Because, as all parents know, your baby will definitely choose to wait until you're racing toward your gate at final boarding to do a poo explosion.

The writer travelled at her own expense but received a room upgrade from InterContinental Fiji Golf Resort and Spa and IHG Hotels & Resorts.