First Travel Experience With Your Little One

Honestly, you can travel with your newborn anytime after a month or so, once, he/she is settled in their new life with you and more importantly you are fit for it.

Nine difficult months, delivery, stitches, breastfeeding and sleep deprivation wants you to go for a holiday as soon as you are given a green signal by the doctor to travel.

Doctor’s say it’s the best time to travel with your babies when they are exclusively on breast feeding as it is very convenient because you don’t need to carry the bottles, feeding formula, sterilizers etc. Breastfed babies have a very rare chance of being infected as well.

Also, they are least mobile at this point of time and you can have your meals peacefully 😜.

But being the guardian of a living being who has come out of you (that feeling never sinks in I guess) you are extra cautious and don’t wish to travel unless you yourself are settled with the whole new phase of your life.

Me and my husband are a travel freak …we love to travel and have traveled quite a few countries after marriage but trying to get pregnant, pregnancy, delivery and now actually having a baby had brought a break in our travel plans for more than a year now and so we decide to travel with our little boy to Goa when he was four months old.

From grannies to aunties everyone raised their eyebrows when we told them about our plan and suddenly from being the most loving and caring parents we became insensitive and selfish parents who wanted to enjoy and have fun at the cost of their child’s comfort.

Be rest assured, if you have had a baby, you are old enough to understand what is good and bad for your baby… and there is no need to make a fuss about traveling with one.You just need to have proper planning and a positive mindset.You must accept the reality that this time you can’t roam around at 2 at night or go to a discotheque.Go to a place which will relax you and give you holiday vibes but at the same time don’t plan things which are not possible with babies,this is just to avoid any disappointment later.

Suggestions:

Relaxation & Rejuvenation for New Mom & Dad

Instead of going to places where there is too much to do or see, go to places which are more relaxing. This time choose a property which offers a few relaxing things like massage, swimming pool, Jacuzzi, good restaurants etc.
Note: Before taking any massage do consult your doctor especially if you have had a C-section.
You and your husband can enjoy these things turn by turn .

                          Swimming Stuff for baby

If you are traveling with a baby who is old enough to be put in a swimming pool and if you have consulted your doctor you can do that and all three of you can enjoy together.

You get very good swimming diapers for babies online. Also there are very safe and easy to carry baby floats which are available in the market.
Don’t hesitate to explore things with your baby just make sure you take an experts advice whenever you are in a doubt.

                                    Mode of Travel

Any mode is a good mode to travel. Decide based on the distance you need to cover. For distances longer than 5-6 hours by road, flight is recommended because it will be tiring for you and your baby to sit in a car for so long. Don’t be scared of taking your baby in a flight, it is not at all dangerous for them, just make sure you feed them while take off and landing or give a pacifier in their mouth to avoid any ear pain due to pressure drop.

If you wish to travel a longer distance by car, you can put many pillows and small mattresses in the back seat occupying the places where we keep our feet while sitting and getting it to the same height as the seat so that the baby gets the feel of a bed and you don’t need to carry him in your hands all the time. Obviously in this case one of you have to take the back seat with the baby while the other one drives.

Things to do before you plan a trip with baby

1. Visit your pediatrician and ask him all the questions you have in your mind:
   a) First question is, can we travel?
   b) If you want to travel abroad, what kind of weather will be suitable for the baby, keeping in mind your current living location.
   c) What medicines should be carried for cold, cough, loose motions vomiting etc. If your child has any specific medical conditions discuss that with your doctor.
   d) If you wish to put your baby in a swimming pool, ask the doctor about it.
2. Take photos of the babies medical file papers so that you have names of all the medications prescribed in case you need any while traveling and you need not carry the original file.
3. Plan what you need to carry along and arrange those things in advance.
4. Packing is a dreadful thing when it comes to packing for a baby.You don’t want to leave behind anything and trust me if you leave behind something thinking its never been used since he/she is born you will need it for sure.

List of things to carry when traveling with a baby

1. Lots of baby clothes he may need 3-4 pairs a day
2. Diapers
3. Baby mattress, Baby blanket and his pillow he might sleep more peacefully on his usual bedding.
4. If he is not on breast feeding bottles sterilizer ,formula and a thermos for keeping hot water.
5. Baby medicines
6. Baby shampoo, soap, oil and powder
7. Baby rash cream
8. Buy a baby monkey bag that will keep you hands-free
9. Baby pram
10. Mosquito repellent cream or patches
11. Fold-able Mosquito net
12. Covering sheets to cover the baby while sleeping in pram or elsewhere if blanket is not needed
13. Waterproof sheets needed while changing the diapers or when you are giving a nappy time to him/her
14. Swimming diapers
15. Few of his favorite Toys
16. A bottle of Sanitizer
17. Thermometer
18. Pack of wet wipes
19. A good baby diaper bag having lots and lots of pockets which can keep a few bottles, formula pack, thermos, 1 cover sheet, napkins, 2 diapers, a pack of wet wipes, one change for the baby, 1 toy, some common medicines like for colic, sanitiser and one waterproof sheet. You can just carry this bag whenever you go out and refill it when something is over.So that you have all baby stuff handy in one place.

Would like to share with you an incident which is bound to happen with us at some point of time or other when we are traveling with babies or kids.

My husband and I were traveling with Avyaan to Mumbai from Nashik as we had planned to stay at a property there for the weekend. It takes around 3-4 hours to reach Mumbai from Nashik.

As if traveling with a baby was less an adventure, after coming half way down, my husband made it more adventurous by realizing that he has not got Avyaan’s baby pram.

We couldn’t imagine having a trip with him without his pram .. and instantly we were so disappointed thinking, how difficult things will get at the restaurants … pool side and possibly everywhere.

We asked many friends, if they could arrange a pram for a couple of days but nothing worked and then one of my friends suggested an “App” which lets you rent a pram on day basis.

It was a blessing, we just downloaded the app, selected the type of pram we wanted and our properly sanitised pram reached us at the hotel at the time we wanted. We had to pay a small amount as a deposit which was refunded later. Pram was delivered and picked up so there was no hassle of finding their office location.

Enjoy your vacation with your baby, click lots of pictures and inhale the freshness of this long awaited well deserved happy time.

Plan smartly, travel happily..

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