My Day

I SET UP Babytravelshop.ie three and a half years ago. I was taking my three-month-old to Australia and couldn’t get anything I needed in Ireland. At the time I was a product manager at Ebookers, and I loved the online model, so I decided to set up my own firm.

In the morning I have to get my little ones out to Montessori school before coming home and cleaning up. After that I’m in the office by 10am. I’m lucky in that we live in the mews of our offices, on Merrion Square in Dublin, so my commute is a walk through the garden.

First thing I do every morning is check messages and e-mails and fill all my orders, before the courier comes at 12.30pm to do the deliveries.

The business is still quite seasonal, but we have extended it to including skiing, so that has helped. My husband and I took our two kids skiing last year in Switzerland and had planned to go back this year, except that I’m expecting our third child in May, so that’s kind of put a stop to that.

I think Irish people worry too much about travelling with kids. From talking to my customers I know it’s the flight and the airport that seem most scary to them. We worry our kids will upset other people. Irish people fret about it more than other nationalities.

Our biggest seller right now is the Trunki, carry-on luggage with wheels that kids can ride on around the airport and entertain themselves. Our all-time bestseller is the Baa Baa blackout blind, which can be used on any window.

A lot of people e-mail to say where they are going on holiday and ask what they need. People get so anxious when travelling with a baby. I always advise them to travel during natural sleep time as much as possible, bring a pack of toys from the pound shop to dole out at intervals, and never give sugary treats.

I fly down the garden for lunch, then it’s back to update the website and reorder stock. Then I concentrate on marketing. At the moment that means writing family travel articles for Eircom.net, MSN.ie and Rollercoaster.ie. I do a press release and newsletter every month, too, which means trying to find special offers and prize promotions.

At four I’ll go collect the kids, do the dinner and normal evening stuff, like watch TV. Since I got an iPhone, though, I spend my time checking e-mails. It’s bad, but it means I know what’s ahead for tomorrow before I go in.

• In conversation with Sandra O'Connell