Tuesday 9 September 2014

Nevan's first international vacation....Travel with babies

"Wow, it was Great" is what I can say after our first trip with Nevan....though before this one, we did go out for a weekend get away for Nevan's six month birthday but it was very different from this one.

We went to Sri Lanka and covered Colombo, Kandy & Bentota. Though we realized after going that it wasn't the best idea to travel to a destination wherein we had to do road trips to three different places in our tour; but it was manageable for us as we were travelling with our family.

So, Nevan had loads of fun....he loved the 'Stranger's more than us throughout the trip. In fact I can say that he ruined the breakfast of a neighboring table every morning during breakfast as he was more keen upon talking to them than letting them eat (But in the bargain he was distracted & used to finish his breakfast quickly too!!!).

Well, he is a water baby so apart from his love for the pools he experienced the beach for the first time & he loved every wave more than the previous one.....he was amazed initially by the waves but gradually loved them and wanted to touch them as they came & his first session ended with him kicking the waves as they were coming......oh it was so much fun to see him enjoy the beach!

And then came another aspect of our trip which were animals....before that I must confess am a big time animal lover myself & not scared of holding, touching any of them, even the scariest of the lot! So my son (& I am proud to say this) followed the tradition and was more keen to touch the elephants & the tortoise during our conservatory visits than any of us. He wanted to put the 'hatchlings' in his mouth & eat them and sit on their parents :)
Memories......

So in all there are a few pointers I would like to list for your travel with the baby:

Air Travel: 

  • Put in the request for a bassinet seat (for 1yr below) kids
  • Reach airport in advance to ensure you get them
  • Carry baby food & drinking water; they are permitted on both national & international flights
  • Carry your baby's favorite toy and one change of clothes for emergency
  • Carry cotton to put in the baby's ear to avoid ear pressure
  • Carry a stole/blanket as flights get colder for the baby
Travel:
  • Carry basic essentials of the baby including diapers, sanitizer, baby food ,etc
  • Carry a full sleeves/ jacket type of a cloth even if you going to a warm place just in case it rains or weather changes or the air conditioning is too strong.
  • Carry some new toys so that the baby is more attracted to them
  • Finger foods are a must to keep the baby busy for interim periods in between, which will also give you some breather
  • Do not make any rigid or time constraining itinerary's; out of my personal experience he will poop as soon as we are about to step out so the whole scheduling goes for a toss
  • Always carry the baby pram/stroller/baby carrier as it's very handy even if you don't use it always.
If there are other pointers which you any one can add....it would be great!

2 comments:

  1. I am sorry if I sound naive but what is this bassinet seat...

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  2. Oh no Priyanka, not at all....we all began from scratch. Bassinet seat is basically the first row in the aircraft which has the maximum leg space. It is called a bassinet seat because many airlines, esp international ones have a small bassinet/bed provision which can be hung on to the board in front. You can refer the internet for some pics which will give you an idea about how they are. The low cost airlines,for domestic travel do not have the bassinet provision usually but give first row seats to passengers travelling with babies. Please note the bassinets/baby beds can only take babies uptill a particular weight so is mainly for small babies & not infants. Hope i am able to give you a clue about it...... :)

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