Parenthood changes you, and oftentimes a lot. I should be writing about my travels, my life goals and plans, and yet here I am writing about baby stuffs. It was really a life-changing experience for me.
The time we checked out of the hospital and was about to bring our baby back home, my wife and I were both very anxious and frightened at the same time. It is scary to think, that at home, there are no longer doctors and nurses who regularly checked the baby. Our minds were screaming, "What if there are emergencies?".
Fast forward to today, we made it 8 months. Now, we are currently enjoying the little nightmares, sleepless nights, very tiring routine, but it was so worth it.
As new parents, we try so hard to plan everything, to make sure that we have everything covered at home, but travelling is an uncharted territory. It can be quite scary, but it doesn't have to be. With a good mindset, coupled with good preparation, this could be fun, or at the very least, bearable.
Source: Babies' Away
Now that our classes has officially ended, my wife and I decided to have our well deserved vacation. Personally, I needed the time off to unwind and my wife has to grab some fresh air as well. And so, we have decided to go to my wife's province at Carigara, Leyte to visit her family, relatives and friends; and so we can also introduce our little one (8 month old baby) to them.
The journey was unexpectedly not so difficult than how we imagined it to be. The struggle for most parents especially the new ones was to overcome the fear. Which is quite common for parents to feel anxious, and to be terrified about the idea of travelling with an infant. And so, allow me to share with you how we prepared for our trip, which spanned almost 12hrs (4-6 hrs by boat, 2 hours by bus, and all the things in between).
1. Always keep track of the weather.
On our case, we noticed that there's a typhoon brewing and that the weather forecast was all rainy for the entire week. Good thing, we experienced good weather on our travels. Being aware of the weather, made us plan ahead our schedules. Since we don't have any other alternatives to plot our vacation, we went on with it. We just cut our stay short, so that we can have our return trip before the typhoon lands.
Make sure to bring umbrellas as well. Aside from this, we made use of a piece of cloth to cover our baby. This is very handy in case we need to cover the baby from the sun, the cold, or any other stuffs. And always make sure that the babies' get up and attire is well suited for the weather, they need to be really comfy all throughout the journey, or else.
Be prepared for emergencies.
2. Keep important stuff out of the trunk.
Keep out some of the essentials you'll need on travel day: toys, feeding bottles, water (hot and lukewarm, we usually have a small thermos that can contain up to 500mL of hot water), extra diapers. In our case, we have one handbag containing all the items that we usually use for our baby, this should be kept at arm's reach.
Source: Baby Luggage
After sterilising the feeding bottles, we let them dry first, and then we add the exact scoops of milk, ready mix. This way we don't have to bring some organisers for the milk. We also bought a small handy can of milk for the trip. Over all we brought 3 medium (up to 240ml) sized feeding bottles (1 contains water, 2 contains milk), 2 small (150mL) sizes (1 water, 1 with milk). Before the trip, we made sure that the baby had her fill of the milk, so we can have the bottle ready for the next use.
There will be times, that the baby will be bored, so we made sure that we also have a set of Youtube Videos (Nursery Rhymes which we have memorised by heart after hearing it for the nth time) ready. This is very useful on our trip, especially when we rode the fast-craft (small ferry boat), where dancing and roaming around is really not an option. We have to sit still for the entire trip.
Source: All Moms Are Perfect
3. Pack smartly (very light).
The bulk of our baggage, was for the baby stuffs. We had 4 bags in total, 1 backpack, 1 hand-bag (my wife's bag), 1 big hand bag for the baby stuffs, and another smaller one containing all the items for the babies' quick needs. If you can, bringing those umbrella strollers would be convenient, but is an additional baggage so we decided to stick with just the baby carrier.
Source: Travefy
Also, for the baby stuffs, you don't have to pack 4 sets of clothes a day, 2 will suffice. We have quite a few excess of unused clothes on our trip, mainly because we packed more just in case the typhoon will come in earlier than expected.
There are also items that you don't have to bring in bulk, just make sure that you have enough for the travel. Like water and diapers, which can be bought at our destination, so we only packed a few. Also considering that the bulk of our baggage was for the baby, my wife and I also make sure that we only pack the items that we need, the lesser, the better.
4. Pooping is not so bad at all.
This was one of the things that both my wife and I are not really looking forward to experience during our trip. I can remember my wife asking for a friend's advice regarding this. On our way to our destination, we took the smaller boat (we call it a fast-craft), that way we can get to our destination quickly. The ferry ride lasts for around 4 hours, another 2 hours by bus. Luckily, we didn't have to deal with this on this journey.
Source: Today's Parent
On our way back, we took the regular bigger boats. It's slower but at least the ride is more comfortable, we can just sleep throughout the trip. This time, our baby farts all the time, that we kept on thinking that she is already pooping. We spent, I think 3 instances checking her diaper for some signs of you-know. After some time, it came out and we are already geared up for it. We cleaned it up so fast, that we were able to finish it in a minute. Plastic wrappers ready, wet wipes and the cottons, we're set. Thankfully, the poo was not the smelly stinky kind. The other passengers didn't even notice it, they just slept peacefully or doing their stuffs while we are doing our drill. :D
5. Don't travel SOLO with an infant.
Travelling solo with a baby is a nightmare. Good thing my wife and I were both present on the trip. We initially planned to have my sister-in-law join us, but it was not materialised. But an extra pair of hands all throughout would be very much welcome.
During the travel, make sure to share the responsibilities with the baby as well. Make sure that when one is taking care of the baby, the other one was properly rested for the next shift.
Source: Allianz
6. Relax and enjoy the journey.
Lastly, chill out and get rid of all your worries. That way you can enjoy the trip and make lasting memories of it. You can do this by being prepared, the more you prepare, the less worried you will be. Preparation is really the key.
On our trip, we made sure that my wife and I was properly fed before starting our baby. This is not negotiable as along the journey, we anticipated it that we will be busy attending to our babies'needs. Once the trip starts, you will no longer mind eating as your focus will be to make sure that the baby is fed and doing all the other stuffs.
Source: Mama Natural
This can be really a stressful experience, but in our case, it was fun and very much enjoyable. It was the first, but definitely not the last. My wife and I even joked about it, "We made it to our first trip, the rest should be a breeze." We already have set our eyes on our next journey.
Thanks for reading. And watch out for another post, regarding the trip itself.
Cheers,
Kaizen