Travelling With Children

My daughter who has not long turned 2 is a world wide traveller. She was conceived in China, born in Australia and lived in Australia, Canada, China and now Australia all before she has reached 2 and a half. And for us, the parents of a travelling baby, it meant that international flying would never quite be the same again!

As a non-parenting adult, I eyed the babies and children suspiciously on all the planes I boarded. Now I look sympathetically at the parents struggling with settling babies and trying to deal with interrupted sleeping and feeding patterns!

The one tip I can without a doubt offer is the Girl Guide Motto of "Be Prepared". Your hand luggage will no longer just contain a few must have items for you like your moisturiser and lip balm, the list of contents will now read more like your weekly shopping list. And I say this not to frighten you but just to enlighten you of the fact that once the flight is up in the air - there is no getting off until it lands!

You most absolutely need to take things to cover every eventuality. My advice is to look at what you use to bathe, dress, feed and care for your baby in a 24 hour period taking into account any unexpected mishaps.

I found that my baby whilst she had no trouble adjusting to the turbulence has a particular habit of throwing up everywhere. On one unfortunate leg from Beijing to Melbourne, my daughter managed to put a whole cubicle out of action because she threw up. And all she had had to drink was milk! So in this incident alone we lost a complete outfit for both of us as well her blankie and teddy. Lucky we happened to have back up blankets and toys to offer her instead.

If you use dummies and bottles buy a triple pack of each because I actually had one bottle disappear mysteriously. No amount of searching from myself and my surrounding passengers managed to uncover its whereabouts.

Portable cd players work well for toddlers but make sure you take a wide selection of music as you will find the cd you left behind will undoubtedly be the one they want.

Take food and drink items onboard as you will find that whatever the airline provide (no matter what they tell you) will not be what your child wants at the time. So rather than listen to the cries of a hungry child, you will have a menu substitute ready to go.

Take more nappies and wipes than you think they will need and also take as many books and toys to aid your child to sleep. Bear in mind that you may not be able to rest once you get your child to sleep as unforeseen turbulence means a safety risk to sleeping babies. On my flight from Melbourne to Alaska, I had to wake my sleeping baby numerous times just to take into account safety policies. Sleep deprivation and me do not go well together and admittedly I am sure the stewardess labelled me 'difficult' when I made it clear on the fifth time of having to disturb my baby that unless the plane crashes or we are due to land, there is no way she is coming out of the crib.

But on the whole you should find that everyone on the plane is relatively friendly and that the steward or stewardess should be able to watch over your baby while you make a quick dash to the ladies.

Also do take into account the connecting fights and think whether you may need a pram or baby carrier to help you get from A to B. These can be particularly helpful when time is limited and you are making a mad dash from one side of the airport to another but bear in mind that if you are travelling alone, you cannot manage six carrybags and a pram or carrier without assistance. So do bear this in mind when packing as assistance between flights or in the terminal (unless you particularly draw attention to yourself) is unlikely to be given.

And most importantly don't let anyone put pressure on you or hurry you off the plane. This happened to me during my first leg to China and in the rush for the stewards to get me of the plane, they inadvertently left a bag of mine in the overhead locker never to be seen again!

Knowing that the worst can and undoubtedly wil happen, just by being prepared for it, makes it all a lot easier to handle. And I can even say amongst the lost luggage, vomit stained clothes and sleepless hours that I am quite willing to fly with my daughter again - provided the next time she is 16 and can pack and carry her own luggage.

Article Source: http://www.therepozitory.com.au

Michelle Sweeney is the owner of Tonic Gifts, the online gift store specialising in quality and affordable gifts for all occasions. They also provide quality wholesale products to retailers including the Living The Dream tshirt range from Ltd Chix (www.wholesale.tonicgifts.com.au).

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