My Infant Travel Tips!

There are a lot of information and tips out there that would help you prepare for your first trip with your little one, but I thought I’d just share my own learning points specifically for travelling with an infant. Umar was 4 months when we headed for the Maldives, and then a roadtrip in Malaysia the week after. Personally I felt that this was a good age to travel as he was not very mobile yet (crawling / walking) and relatively easy to please as long as he was well fed and comfortable. I noticed that older babies tend to have developed preferences and temperaments… And therefore a little more fussy.

The Maiden Plane Ride

We were quite nervous about flying with Umar. Afraid we’ll be one of those helpless parents with a crying baby getting dagger stares from fellow passengers. But alhamdulillah, it was a smooth journey there and back, with a surprisingly cooperative little Umar. Some practical tips:

~ Make sure you do online check-in and seat selection prior to the flight. Buying an infant ticket does not mean they will automatically give you the front row seats. You still have to do seat selection. Depending on the plane configuration, some flights will have bassinets and this can only be set-up if you choose the front seats.

~ As for the stroller, you can bring in all the way to the airway bridge (that passageway that connects the airport to the plane), and the crew will ask you to leave it outside before you step on the plane. They will tag it as ’special delivery’ which means your stroller will be loaded on to the plane baggage compartment last, and will be offloaded first. Same treatment is given to wheelchairs. Make sure you see them tag it, or else you will not see your stroller when you get off the plane and may have to carry your baby until baggage claim. If your flight transits somewhere, this tag will make sure you get your stroller back during transit.

~ If you have a travel system stroller like ours, you can actually bring on the attached infant seat onto the plane. However, they will only allow you to place it on a seat if you buy a child ticket. An infant ticket won’t permit this. But as the flight to Maldives was not full, the kind airline crew asked the guy sitting next to us to move elsewhere so that we could place Umar’s seat on it. We were not so lucky on the flight home, so the crew helped store the bassinet in the overhead compartment.

~ Now, breastfeeding. All the literature I read tells me to nurse him upon take-off, but they never actually specify exactly when. The trick is not to start nursing when the plane starts to taxi.. cos it may take up to 15mins before it actually takes off, by which time baby will be full and not want to feed anymore. Start nursing when the plane is actually taking off, cos the baby actually needs to feed (swallow) when the air pressure changes. For planes departing from Singapore, the ascent is not very steep, so you need to nurse for quite some time. The most useful tip I had was to use your own ears to know when to nurse. If you feel the air pressure changing, quickly nurse your baby. I did the same thing when we took Umar up the KLCC twin towers, the lift escalated at such a phenomenal speed… thank God D reminded me to nurse him.

~ I know some babies hate the bassinet on the plane cos its so small, but Umar was quite curious about it, and I guess he didn’t mind as long as he could see me. He fell asleep in it once, but the airline require you to hold your baby during turbulence, so he ended up sleeping in my arms most of the time. All in all, the plane rides were pleasant, and my only source of nervousness turned out to be when strangers wanted to hold Umar! I’m usually quite easy about this but with the H1N1 scare at that time, I was the paranoid mom armed with a sanitiser, spraying it on Umar’s little hands throughout the journey.

Stroller vs Carrier Debate

The outcome of the debate was… we brought both! And more! Haha. D was really irritated with me. I insisted on taking the stroller, the Bjorn carrier (thanks Husainy for the loan!) and 2 slings; the MIM sling and the mesh sling! My excuse was that the carrier is for our walks and boat rides (more secure than sling), the mesh sling for the water and showering with Umar, and the regular MIM slings for feeding Umar in public (the mesh sling gives poor coverage).

In the end, the stroller was a good decision, cos the island was stroller-friendly and it provided a familiar sleeping place for Umar. He falls asleep easily in the stroller, and this helped D and I enjoy quiet romantic dinners after the little boy has gone to sleep. The Bjorn carrier was really useful for the boat rides and walks on the beach, and the sarong sling was compact enough for me to fold and bring along for when Umar needs his milk-fix.

Beach Essentials

A huge beach bag comes in handy when you’re on a beach vacation with baby. My essentials comprised of his hat, baby sunblock (very important!), baby sunglasses (which he hated cos his long eyelashes made it difficult for his eyes to open under the glasses), hooded towel, regular and swim diapers, diaper bag and a change of clothes. When we went island hopping we didn’t change Umar out from his swim diapers and swimsuit the whole time, cos our wet clothes would only get him wet again. But when we went to the pool we’d change him out after his swim so he can sit at the sides of the pool while Ibu and Ayah took a swim.

One thing to be careful about taking baby swimming is that he may injest too much chlorine or seawater. Esp for very young babies who have not had all their immunisations yet. So we had to keep a close watch. Also, Umar’s not ALWAYS in the mood to swim, so we found that we had to be flexible about our plans, and let his moods guide us. Like he didn’t look terribly happy in the photo below.. so we had to pack up and head back indoors even though I really haven’t had enough!

Toys and Books

We found that babies don’t really need many toys. They are not adults and don’t need varied entertainment. One favourite toy is enough, although Umar always prefers human interaction. So books may be more useful to keep him entertained. We also found that he hates being cooped up indoors, and experienced first hand what my helper deals with every day. No wonder she always walks up and down the corridor with him.. Umar knows our neighbours better than I do now!

—

My most useless item? I brought the baby monitor along, only to have D give me that “I-told-you-so” look. I thought it may be useful if Umar is sleeping in the room and we wanted to laze by the beach. But of course, since Umar was never asleep longer than 15mins during the day, it was completely useless!

One useful item to include when going on a beach holiday or anywhere else with hot weather, is an Evian spray bottle. Babies can get overheated easily, and a spray to the face and head would help on a hot hot day. I forgot this item when I went on our Malaysian roadtrip, and this was a BIG mistake. Umar got overheated coming down Bukit Bendera in Penang, and he was so angry that for the first time in my nursing life he refused to feed to be calmed down (cos this means going under the tudung).

About 50 other tourists in that furnicular had to hear him wail and scream all the way down… I had never felt so helpless in my life. I swear I would never never ever again go into an enclosed train / tram / cable car with no way out when my baby wants out. And I would never never go anywhere without doing research about the place first, which is really my biggest tip to you guys. Bukit Bendera was an impulse visit for us, and the fantastic view aside, we quite regretted it. Preparation is key, so be sure to be well-read about your destination before your trip. InsyaAllah, I believe babies are even more adaptable than adults, so with adequate preparation, you’ll have a wonderful family vacation insyaAllah!

Other mommies, feel free to share your tips and experiences travelling with an infant too! I’m sure as the kids get older the considerations will be much much much more, so this post is specific for infant travel for now

 

More of Umar and the Sharks

I was wondering why my handphone memory kept running out of space, so I went through the memory card and I found these! I don’t recall us taking these videos at all… that’s how long ago the vacation seems now, although it has only been slightly over a month ago. Oh well, just my excuse to plan for another vacation.. now where’s that empty piggy bank of mine…

.

Videos are great aren’t they? Even on a grainy camera phone. I gotta take more of Umar.. already I’m missing the newborn Umar and have been looking at his newborn pics and videos. They are growing up so fast!.

 

Babbles

Your Baby the Babbler
By six months your baby sees and hears the world almost as well as you do. His communication skills are expanding rapidly, too, including squeals, bubbling sounds, operatic octave changes, and babbling. At this age, about half of all babies babble, repeating one syllable – such as “ba,” “ma,” “ga,” or other consonant-vowel combinations – over and over. A few will even add another syllable or two, making their sounds more complex. You can encourage your baby by babbling right back at him and by making a game of it (”The sheep says, ‘baaa,’” or “The goat says, ‘maaa,’” and so on), or by listening as if you understand everything he says and find it extremely interesting.
- from babycentre.com

I do find his babbles extremely interesting! Umar will turn 6 months in 2 weeks time.. and we are starting to hear the first of his babbles! Its alot of fun layan-ing him now. Yesterday he was so chatty I decided to take a video of him babbling… but he got distracted by the expressed milk by my bed and started making pitiful faces. Even though he has just been fed!

Before my mommy friends drop envious comments about those generous two bottles of EBM sitting on my bedside table, I better explain that those are a result of not having time to express at work. I came home with terrible bodyaches from being too full. For new breastfeeding moms, please don’t get the impression that going longer without expressing is better cos you get more from one session. Its actually bad for your milk supply… you will see a big drop the next day. To maximise your total milk output for the day, you need to “empty” the breasts as often as possible. Its easier said than done. Sigh.. oh well. We can only try! And leave the rest to Allah the Provider…

I had a supply crisis last week and almost had to introduce Umar to formula milk when I was away in KL for work, but alhamdulillah he seemed to know Ibu was coming home and he drank less than usual the day I was due back. Its my fault… I’ve been slacking on expressing actually (eg I no longer express before going to sleep) and so my frozen supplies are dwindling. I need to buck up cos there will be a few more trips coming in Aug and Sept. I’ve gotten a little better at expressing on-the-road and bringing back home the milk now. I’ve found new expressing locations (disabled bathrooms and diaper changing rooms usually have powerpoints), and better ways to pack the milk so that it stays cool where a fridge is unavailable like when I go for all day meeting and have to bring my luggage with me to catch my flight immediately after. I bring small ziplock bags that I can fill with ice from the hotel, and I pack these with the freezable ice pack. I’m thinking of buying one of those small coolers.. haven’t gotten around to doing that.

Oh well, like I said, at the end of the day, He Provides, and He Protects. Still taking it one month at a time.. looking forward to our 6 month total-breastfeeding anniversary!

 

First Grub

Our Umar had his first grub today, at 5 and a half months Don’t ask me how I decided he was ready… all the literature I read indicates that he is, and I guess it just felt like the right time. We started with Heinz organic rice cereal mixed with breastmilk, and eager little Umar lapped it up like it wasn’t his first!

 

Day Off Detours

Took the day off yesterday to renew my helper’s passport.. and take her out for a bakso lunch at Orchard Road after. Its nice to have a helper who’s more like your sister and caregiving partner. We spent a pleasant afternon talking about Umar and his developments. Renewing her passport at the Indonesian Embassy was rather frustrating though. I did not have time to read through forums so I had no idea what to expect. I ended up spending almost 3 hours there, with a baby no less. I wish they had more “instructions”… the complete lack of it was annoying. When it was all done, I felt like taking a marker and writing out a what-to-do list on the walls of the waiting room. If anyone needs tips, just give me a tinkle, I’ll be happy to share.

We came across the Evenflo Triple Fun Exersaucer at Taka, which I have been eyeing for Umar for the longest time… but can never bring myself to buy cos its so expensive! We put Umar in it and he enjoyed it so much I felt like making an impulse purchase and taking it home! It was tough to snap a photo cos he was such a blur of activity! I think its a great invention; good for his motor skills, tactile development, and cause and effect learning. Pity they jacked the price up so much here, cos its about half the price in the States. My helper pointed out its more than her one month pay! I know you can rent it at around $60 a month.. so we’re considering that. Or maybe I should buy it and rent it out to my many MTB friends when Umar grows out of it… interested ladies? I promise to desanitise of course… ukhuwwah considerations aside! Heh.

Yes, my little Umar is not on sale. Ibu didn’t get much for herself from the sale either… I think Umar has sedated my “need” for “things”, alhamdulillah. Ok ok I did get a Bobbi Brown lipstick, to replace an old one, and a gift for a friend. Then off home we went, to prepare that pasta dinner for Ayah..

 

Black Pepper Seafood, and that Green Soup

I try to cook on my day off, less D starts complaining that I “never” cook for him anymore. Happygrub inspired me to try a black pepper seafood pasta dish, and I experimented with this recipe, cos D loves his cream-based pasta. I wish I skipped the lemon juice though. I used linguine instead of pasta shells, and added a dash of soy sauce for that Asian flavour (thanks F for the tip!). I also added half shell mussels, which always gives a nice sweet flavour to the pasta, and make it look very pretty too!

We had it with the potato, brocoli and leek soup which I made a long time ago. I love cooking soups in big amounts and freezing them. Always useful at the end of a long work day, or for that last minute dinner invite, with lovely crusted bread. Here’s the soup recipe I used. Yup F I added potato cos I like my soups hearty’. Lovely blend I think F asked me a good question, where do I get my soup recipes from. I thought about it and realised that my soups are usually inspired by something at a work meal at a hotel… you know how they are quite detailed on the menu, specifying exactly what is in a dish? I’d then go home and Google similar recipes. My next experiment, if I can afford the ingredients, lobster bisque!

 

One Yummy Baby for the Sharks

Since Kak M pointed it out, here’s one to make Nenek cringe!

 

Father and Son

 

Water Baby Umar

Umar loves the water. He always looks like he’s enjoying it so much that we feel sad when time’s up. We try to limit it to 15 – 20mins per swimming session. Can’t wait to enrol Umar in swimming classes!

In the ocean…

In the pool…

In the tub…

And when its all over, he loves to just sit and watch the sunset with us…

 

Maldives Trip Report!

I’ve been dragging my feet to work. For a number of reasons. One, I forsee work piling up at a phenomenal rate over the next few months. Two, Umar is growing up so quickly and becoming smarter and more playful by the day. Three, vacations spoil you! I am starting to resent the fact we don’t have nice beaches, and well, not much places you can go where its just you.. and nature. There are so many people everywhere here, even the parks. Or especially the parks. Oh well, must bersyukur we have a peaceful and comfortable life here. So ok stop whining, and get back to work please.

What can I say about the Maldives? We loved it. Or at least, what little we saw of it, bearing in mind we visited only hmm.. 5(?) of some 2000 islands that make of up the Maldives. Like some of you, I always thought the Maldives were overrated.. in fact, we ruled it out for our honeymoon partly cos if this impression. We thought, surely Malaysian islands like Tioman and Redang are comparable. I’m happy to report that we were wrong. The beauty of the Maldives is really out of this world subhanAllah, and I think can’t be captured by even the best camera in the world. You gotta be there, take in the 360deg view of everything, and better still have a bird’s eye view of it from a seaplane (gosh I still wish I could afford this). The atoll formations are just incredible, and the result are sandy white beaches with clear turquiose waters…

Although the Maldives are a typical hot spot for honeymooners, there are many resorts which cater to families with young children. So it turned out to be a fab choice for our getaway with our little one. Just the right mix of relaxation, adventure, and romance. We were fortunate to have found the Anantara. We booked through Atollparadise, who did a fantastic job recommending Anantara to us, and making sure that all our needs were met prior to the trip. I had a long list of questions for them, such as whether the island is stroller-friendly etc. Atollparadise sorted everything out for us and by the time we arrived in the Maldives till the minute we left, everything was perfect. So this trip report is really our way of saying THANK YOU to Anantara and Atollparadise, who I know will read this through their Google alert *winks to Manish, Chloe and Ginette*.

Arrival
We were met by a representative of Atollparadise, who very efficiently transferred our luggage to the boat and presented D with a Welcome Pack. This was 11pm at night, and we were relieved to have assistance with our luggage and stroller. The airport is on its own little island (the runway extends from one end of the island to another!) and as we left the airport by speedboat, we were silenced by our surroundings.. it seemed magical… one minute we were on the plane and the next in the middle of the sea… water everywhere, cool breeze against our faces. It was a 30min speedboat ride to Anantara, and a very smooth one at that. My baby slept throughout. Upon arrival at Anantara, we were welcomed by the sound of drums, again adding to the magic. We were served with cocktails, checked in and showed to our beach villa by a Ayu, who became a good friend to us over the course of our stay.

Villas
When Ayu showed us to our villa, we were very pleased! The outdoor bathroom with its infinity tub was huge, and became our favourite feature of the villa. As Ayu opened the sliding doors of the verandah, I could hear the waves crashing not too far away! We had asked for the best location when we made reservations, and ours was a sunset beach villa no 62. After checking out the rest of the island I would say this was truely the best location in terms of privacy and the amazing views. I could sit on the verandah without my hijab, and if I choose to go down to the beach, its barely 5m away.

Umar also spent alot of time sleeping or sitting in his bassinet of the daybed on the verandah; he seemed to enjoy looking out into the sea. I would put him out every time he starts fussing for no reason, and he would shut up and look absorbed by the view. I also spent many hours on the beach loungers in front of our villa, nursing Umar, reading (or trying to read.. I barely got through my novel!), or just staring out at the ocean. One could never tire of the view.

We moved to the water villa after 3 nights on the beach villa. I was blown away! The room was huge, the deck amazingly private, the bathtub had that out-of-this-world view of the ocean, and my favourite feature… it had its own steps down to the sea, where you could have a dip anytime without leaving your villa. Its complete with a shower deck for a rinse before going back up. My husband preferred the beach villa due to its easy access to the beach and the gym, but I would take the water villa any day for its easy access to the water.

I loved living literally on the water. Sometimes when we sat out on the deck, or in the bathtub, we would see a black-tipped shark, or a manta ray swim past right under our nose. It was amazing. We spent many memorable hours on the deck. I loved the fact that it was designed to maximise privacy, and I could lounge around with D and Umar without worry. On one of the evenings Anantara offered in-room dining for us, a honeymoon benefit which they extended to us although we have been married for over a year! They came before sunset to set up the deck, and it was so romantic, with the lanterns and the flowers… and of course, the sunset. Absolutely gorgeous. Umar wanted dinner then too, which was perfect timing cos by the time he finished and nodded off to sleep, D and I enjoyed a quiet dinner just the two of us.

What was clear from the rooms was that Anantara put in alot of effort to understand guests’ needs. The rooms thought of everything, from beach slippers to beach bags to yoga mats… You literally had to just turn up. Even sarongs were provided. The rooms were cleaned twice a day, and every evening the room boy would do a turndown service for us, leaving some cookies or local fruits, and a flower decor, either pretty rose petals arrangement on the bed or a floral bath in the beautiful infinity bathtubs… which was oh-so-romantic. I wish I have a photo!

Baby-Friendliness
I thought the Anantara worked very well for us. It was very peaceful, and you could find your own ‘private’ beach easily. We ruled our places like Bali and Phuket for the beach crowds. In terms of amenities, Anantara did all they could to make us comfortable. They provided baby cots, baby toilettries (including a rubby ducky!), and had a nice kids club with a daily scheduled programme, including fish feeding every afternoon, which even we adults enjoyed. The island paradise was also very stroller-friendly, and you could practically walk around the island. Even when we didn’t use the stroller and Umar fell asleep in the sling or carrier while we were walking around, the staff would be happy to call us a buggy so that we could quickly return back to our villa. Oh I must mention that some resorts on the Maldives do not allow children on the water villas, but Anantara’s policy is quite flexible.

We also used the babysitting service, and dear Stephanie was such a God-sent. We used her twice, once when we went kayaking and another when we went to a nearby island to snorkel. Both times Umar never cried even a lil bit.. I suppose he doesn’t have stranger anxiety yet and is happy as long as he has someone to play with. The staff members of the resort also really love children, so Umar received alot of attention. By the second day he was greeted by name!

Sometimes at breakfast we don’t even have to hold him cos there is always someone who wants to say hi and play with him. When we went island hopping and took Umar with us, I was so thankful to the boat crew who offered to watch Umar (who was sleeping soundly in his bassinet) while I snorkelled with D. When he woke up, one of these young men picked him up, held him and comforted him, while the other drove closer to where I was snorkelling, so I could come back on board.

So all in all, thumbs-up for family-friendliness. Oh, a celebrity thinks so too; we were some villas away from Salgado, his kids, and his pretty pregnant wife. Haha I guess when Umar grows up we can tell him we were once “neighbours” with a Real Madrid football star.

For Muslim Visitors
The Maldives being a Muslim country, we were fortunate not to have to worry about halal food. Except, food was very expensive! Everything was in USD, and at a 5-star hotel price. So we cooked instant food on our trusted travel cooker for all our lunches, and only indulged in dining out for dinner. Breakfast came with the room, and was plentiful. My only grouse was that they often had pork instead of beef or chicken sausages, and this limited our protein option. Food aside, Anantara was very accommodating when they realised we were Muslims; we were shown the kiblat in our room, provided with prayer mats, and a Maldivian tafsir A staff member also mentioned that they had a mosque on the nearby staff island, and offered to take D there for Friday prayers. D went, and had an interesting experience meeting with the Muslim staff on their “home ground”. Throughout our stay, the mostly Muslim (from Maldives and Bangladesh) staff members are always very hospitable and curious about us, asking us where we come from, and taking delight in serving us. Apart from the resort, the Maldives itself is a very interesting Muslim community to visit. During our visit to the local island, we observed that they had rather strict Muslim laws, and the women are also rather conservative in dress, most donning the hijab, including children.

Activities
There’s really nothing much to DO. Most resorts are on their own island, so you are pretty much self-contained. I wish we dive, cos I think that’s where the beauty of the Maldives lie. But I’m grateful we managed to do some snorkeling.

We kayaked a little bit too, to a nearby island, which was a first time for me. I loved the hammock that we came across on our way there, it gave me some respite from D’s persistent “Keep going, keep going!”. Other activities include other trips like the sunset dolphin cruise (which we regret not doing!) and a visit to the fabulous overwater spa (which I did not regret going cos I had the best thai massage in my life!). D babysat Umar while I had my treat… I was tickled when I stepped out of my treatment room and was informed that a Mr Yacob had called twice to find out when Mrs Yacob would be finished. Hehe.. he got abit nervous. Thanks Abang for the much needed break

All in all, a lovely trip to one of Allah’s marvels on earth… Alhamdulillah it was a much-needed getaway with our little one and we came back refreshed and well-rested, though many shades darker, all 3 of us!

 

Little Casanova

Kissing (or licking?!) Sofiya, Su and Shahrin's little princess

Making eyes at Sumayyah, Umar's pretty little Australian-Muslim friend

 

Yeay! No Tears!

10mins!

Yeay! Celebraaaaaaaaaaate. Alhamdulillah.

It started with a full hour, then down to 40mins, then 30… then 20… and phew, after a week, now its down to 10.

Whatever am I ranting about?

How long (or short) it takes to put Umar to sleep.

You see, after two weeks of (flexi) maternity leave spent in hotel rooms, Umar had gotten used to being fed to sleep, and co-sleeping with us. Before this we had tried to sleep-train him to some degree of success, as we (or rather I) didn’t want him to be dependent on being nursed or rocked to sleep. But since our vacations he’s back to this dependency.

Other moms may not share how I feel about this, but personally it bothers me when Umar becomes dependent on being nursed to sleep. Apart from my worries of how he would cope when I travel for work, I realised that when he’s nursed to sleep he tends to wake up more often during the night, and will depend on being nursed back to sleep. Its tiring for both of dear Umar and me. It wasn’t until I read up about it did I learn that there is a definite correlation between the habit of being nursed to sleep and disrupted sleep in babies.

So we started sleep-training again since we got back. We started our bedtime routine again, experimenting various methods suggested in books. Trust me, we tried it all, including the cry-it-out method.. which was so painful and I think completely unnecessary. We tried the middle-ground methods as well.. they worked, but the repeated cycles of picking him up and putting him down tired me out. Finally, we found what worked for us, and I wanted to note this down for my own memories…

D starts the sleep routine by reading him a book, followed by quiet play with his flashcards. He usually gets bored pretty quickly, and would turn to me to whimper and ask to be nursed. I then nurse him, but carefully watching him. Once he looks sleepy, I will unlatch him, and talk to him abit, ask him if he’s ready for bed. By this time, he will be sleepy but in a good mood, as he’s not hungry, and (I like to believe) feels loved. I put him in his cot, while still talking to him. He will look at me, and look around him, and then look around his cot, as if familiarising. Without petting him, just sitting by his cot, I turn on the mobile, or sing him zikr, which makes him even more drowsy. He will flail his head from side to side, his eyes half-closed. Every now and then he will whimper… sometimes he will start to cry, and if he does I pick him up for awhile until he calms down, then I put him back down. His eyes will slowly start to close, and within a few minutes my darling Umar is off to dreamland… Yeay! No tears! Phew.

I guess the key thing is to find out what works for you. And persevere! It took us a week to get to this point, and teamwork helps! We’re happy campers now, with no baby in between, for the next few hours at least. Umar doesn’t sleep through the night like he used to when he was 2 – 3 months, but he also no longer wake up every hour (which happened when I nurse him to sleep). Nowadays he wakes up once, which works well for me, cos I get a good 5 hour rest with hubby before Umar needs a feed at 3 or 4am. At this time, I just love nursing him and keeping him in the bed with me till the sun comes up.

And when the sun comes up, its my favourite time of the day, cos its always Umar’s favourite time of the day. Since his early months, Umar has always greeted us with the happiest of smiles the minute he opens his eyes. And if you tickle him silly, this is what you get….

This was taken before the sun came up on the Maldives… cos my little one suffered from a little bit of jetlag. Hmm yes I will get around to blogging about the trip once my backlog of work becomes a slightly less disgusting pile. Buenos nochez!