I finally have time to blog! Here's one about traveling with the little one that I get asked frequently about. I'm no pro at traveling with babies so feel free to share more tips in the comment section or drop me a DM... because I really want to know! From traveling to UK (Umair's first trip was a long haul flight and thankfully it was a breeze), to KL and Singapore and recently to Seoul (I love Seoul btw!), and taking into account my frequently asked questions on Instagram, this is what I've gathered:




ON THE FLIGHT



1. Pack their toys, snacks and books or have videos ready.
We had to download Pinkfong videos on Youtube for Umair. I'm trying to reduce his screen time so whenever we pull this card out, I feel like such a failure. Sigh. But anyway, when we flew to UK, all he did was drink, sleep, poop, sleep and repeat. Now, he loves running around, plays hide and seek with our seat neighbors and basically wants our unwavering attention. We take out our ammo one by one so it buys us time. So far it seems to work. We've also managed to distract him when we're busy eating, so that's good.


2. Prepare a bottle of milk or a pacifier for take-off and landing.
I know the pacifier is so controversial, but it really calms Umair down in ways I cannot explain. I do get worried about his teeth or his over-reliance but... sometimes I just let it go because he falls asleep as soon as we give it to him. So far, he hasn't been bothered by the air pressure... so I guess feeding him works.

A lot of people ask how we bring our milk formula and bottles onto the plane. I was worried about this too on our first flight but you can actually bring your hot water on-board so not to worry. They understand. We have each bottles pre-filled with room temp water too!


3. Pack socks and extra clothes.
For the baby AND YOURSELF. I remember arriving in London and realizing that it was me smelling like poop. Umair's poop had leaked onto my pants!! And when we were in Seoul, Umair had gotten carsick in the taxi and puked all over himself AND Hazim. I bring socks in case he gets cold on the plane. Probably not necessary for short-haul flights but I still have it packed anyway because even on 1 hour plane rides, my feet gets cold and that would increase trips to the bathroom........






UPON ARRIVAL



4. Food Preparation



6-12 months: Bring your food processor. We brought our trusty Beaba in its travel case. I know some prefer the rice cooker so whichever works. Once you land, you can quickly just drop by a supermarket to get your rice, fruits and vegetables for the whole trip. But if you have no time to do that, you could pack all that too for the x number of days you'll be away (I've done that once).



Above 12 months: Save some porridge/food from the hotel's breakfast in an insulated jar that will last you through lunch hahaha. I love hotel breakfast. Unfortunately, in Seoul we didn't want to pay BND70 per person for breakfast, so that was a bit tricky. We just ordered rice and something simple for Umair wherever we ended up eating. Hazim's the stricter one... no salt, no oil and fried food etc, so we made sure to avoid all that. 

But I suppose at the end of the day, what's important is that your child is fed. Umair has had yoghurt, dimsum, pancakes, omelettes (try eggs at home first please), etc when we're abroad. He LOVES going on holiday, I swear, because when we come back, it's back to eating bland food!




5. Pack your oils


Or whatever works for your baby. I brought these ones from Bellary Nature, a mini tube of Sudocream and a pot of Vicks BabyRub (some may contest but it works on Umair and especially after our trip to UK when he fell sick... I will do whatever it takes to prevent that from happening again!). I use it before we go out in the cold, when he's having a restless night, when he's motion-sick or coughing, etc.




6. Wash your baby bottles
We usually just have his washing liquid in a small travel-sized dispenser and bring a long a laptop-size container that's deep enough to soak his bottles in. I'm really not sure what's the most efficient way. If you have a better idea, let me know!



7. Get an easy stroller


This was the first thing I looked for when we were first looking for strollers. Obviously I wanted the super chic looking Stokke ones but let's be real here... I'm not going to be strolling Umair around in this heat--this isn't Hyde Park in September. My first condition was that it would fold into something I could carry easily and the Baby Zen Yoyo did just that. You fold it and throw it on your shoulders and get on with your day. You can also fit it in the overhead compartments on the plane but we chuck it in cargo now because that's one less thing to carry!



Some people prefer those toddler leashes/harnesses or a carrier because their babies don't like being strapped to a stroller (I don't get why they don't... you just have to sit down and someone pushes you to the next destination while you drink haha). Umair now prefers to walk about btw so we had to get a harness. I'm a paranoid mom and he cannot be more than a metre away from me!




Love,

Trip Tips: Baby Edition

Friday 14 December 2018

I finally have time to blog! Here's one about traveling with the little one that I get asked frequently about. I'm no pro at traveling with babies so feel free to share more tips in the comment section or drop me a DM... because I really want to know! From traveling to UK (Umair's first trip was a long haul flight and thankfully it was a breeze), to KL and Singapore and recently to Seoul (I love Seoul btw!), and taking into account my frequently asked questions on Instagram, this is what I've gathered:




ON THE FLIGHT



1. Pack their toys, snacks and books or have videos ready.
We had to download Pinkfong videos on Youtube for Umair. I'm trying to reduce his screen time so whenever we pull this card out, I feel like such a failure. Sigh. But anyway, when we flew to UK, all he did was drink, sleep, poop, sleep and repeat. Now, he loves running around, plays hide and seek with our seat neighbors and basically wants our unwavering attention. We take out our ammo one by one so it buys us time. So far it seems to work. We've also managed to distract him when we're busy eating, so that's good.


2. Prepare a bottle of milk or a pacifier for take-off and landing.
I know the pacifier is so controversial, but it really calms Umair down in ways I cannot explain. I do get worried about his teeth or his over-reliance but... sometimes I just let it go because he falls asleep as soon as we give it to him. So far, he hasn't been bothered by the air pressure... so I guess feeding him works.

A lot of people ask how we bring our milk formula and bottles onto the plane. I was worried about this too on our first flight but you can actually bring your hot water on-board so not to worry. They understand. We have each bottles pre-filled with room temp water too!


3. Pack socks and extra clothes.
For the baby AND YOURSELF. I remember arriving in London and realizing that it was me smelling like poop. Umair's poop had leaked onto my pants!! And when we were in Seoul, Umair had gotten carsick in the taxi and puked all over himself AND Hazim. I bring socks in case he gets cold on the plane. Probably not necessary for short-haul flights but I still have it packed anyway because even on 1 hour plane rides, my feet gets cold and that would increase trips to the bathroom........






UPON ARRIVAL



4. Food Preparation



6-12 months: Bring your food processor. We brought our trusty Beaba in its travel case. I know some prefer the rice cooker so whichever works. Once you land, you can quickly just drop by a supermarket to get your rice, fruits and vegetables for the whole trip. But if you have no time to do that, you could pack all that too for the x number of days you'll be away (I've done that once).



Above 12 months: Save some porridge/food from the hotel's breakfast in an insulated jar that will last you through lunch hahaha. I love hotel breakfast. Unfortunately, in Seoul we didn't want to pay BND70 per person for breakfast, so that was a bit tricky. We just ordered rice and something simple for Umair wherever we ended up eating. Hazim's the stricter one... no salt, no oil and fried food etc, so we made sure to avoid all that. 

But I suppose at the end of the day, what's important is that your child is fed. Umair has had yoghurt, dimsum, pancakes, omelettes (try eggs at home first please), etc when we're abroad. He LOVES going on holiday, I swear, because when we come back, it's back to eating bland food!




5. Pack your oils


Or whatever works for your baby. I brought these ones from Bellary Nature, a mini tube of Sudocream and a pot of Vicks BabyRub (some may contest but it works on Umair and especially after our trip to UK when he fell sick... I will do whatever it takes to prevent that from happening again!). I use it before we go out in the cold, when he's having a restless night, when he's motion-sick or coughing, etc.




6. Wash your baby bottles
We usually just have his washing liquid in a small travel-sized dispenser and bring a long a laptop-size container that's deep enough to soak his bottles in. I'm really not sure what's the most efficient way. If you have a better idea, let me know!



7. Get an easy stroller


This was the first thing I looked for when we were first looking for strollers. Obviously I wanted the super chic looking Stokke ones but let's be real here... I'm not going to be strolling Umair around in this heat--this isn't Hyde Park in September. My first condition was that it would fold into something I could carry easily and the Baby Zen Yoyo did just that. You fold it and throw it on your shoulders and get on with your day. You can also fit it in the overhead compartments on the plane but we chuck it in cargo now because that's one less thing to carry!



Some people prefer those toddler leashes/harnesses or a carrier because their babies don't like being strapped to a stroller (I don't get why they don't... you just have to sit down and someone pushes you to the next destination while you drink haha). Umair now prefers to walk about btw so we had to get a harness. I'm a paranoid mom and he cannot be more than a metre away from me!




Love,

© LIPSTICKMYNAME. Design by Fearne.