Posted by
Wheelymate
20 yrs ago
Visiting the family and friends in UK in Aug to show off the little bubba. :) Any tips on:
1) Packing for air travel? Baby is on formula.
2) Adjustment to different time zone - how are feeding and sleep patterns affected?
3) Sleeping arrangements - staying with family and friends, will a travel cot be a good investment?
Advice on 2 and 3 will be especially useful. We are only slowly making progress on the little one sleeping well at night in his own bed(7pm bed, 10.30pm night feed and sleep until 7am) and while I understand there will be some adjustments to be made, I don't want our efforts to go down the drain all because of a holiday!
Cheers
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mrsl
20 yrs ago
What formula is your baby on? Many of them can be bought in ready made 200ml containers in the UK and you can buy single use pre-sterilised bottles (called Steribottles) which make feeds MUCH easier!
For the plane, you can pack a few bottles of pre-boiled water (maybe 6 to be safe) and some powder formula (in pre-measurede containers, can buy in Bumps to Babes etc.) which you can mix as and when needed. I would also pack a couple of changes of clothes (for the baby and for you); Murphy's Law dicates that you will be thrown up on (or a nappy will leak) as the plane takes off. You do not want 10 hours of reguritated milk all over you. Packing a change is insurance that this won't happen. You might also want to pack a littel bok or some familiar toy. A sleeping bag (assuming that your baby norally uses one). Basically try to mimic your daily bedtime routine as much as possible.
Some type of sling/carrier is also useful, both for getting throgh the airport and for walking upo and down the plane if the baby is restless (seeing hundreds of faces often amuses and calms them).
Time zone adjustment tends to be a tad easier in that direction, but it still takes a few days of early mornings before you get back on track. Just go with the flow, while making some effort to adjust bit by bit.
A travel cot would be a good investment, if your family/friends do not have one. You may prefer to buy one there and at least you only have to carry it one way. There are some really light ones now (like modern tents; LittleLife and Nomad are 2 brands if your baby has outgrown the Samsonite) that fit into tiny bags and weigh very little. We have fallen into the co-sleeping trap while staying with other people and have never shaken it off properly.
Try to stick to your routine. People understand (usually) that you have to be regimented if you are going out for dinner and need to be back by 10.30pm etc.
One other thing about feeding babies in England (assuming yours is on solids). You can buy some fantastic frozen baby food that is made in 'home kitchen' settings from organic vegetables etc. in small batches. You just have to pop it straight into the freezer. Saves lots of hassle. Babylicious is widely available in Waitrose and Tesco and Cook has quite a few outlets in the south of England (they have some great adult food too). PM me if you need any other details.
There are some websites with packing checklists (many of the items arenot necessary, but is a good stating point): http://www.travellingwithchildren.com/m_health/baby_packing_checklist.htm
Also, there is a baby equipment hire place which might save you from lugging stuff like toys, safety gates, car seats etc. if your friends do not have them(www.littlestars.co.uk).
Good luck!
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Hi, I can't help with 1 and 2 but will be watching with interest as we're taking out LO back for the first time in August too.
Re your Q3. I have the small samsonite pop up travel cot and it is brilliant - so small (size of a dinner plate) and easy to put up (a little trickier to put down!). Am thinking of getting the larger one when LO gets to 6 months because I'm so impressed.
If you look at this website I have the top one but am thinking of ordering the bottom one when I'm in the UK
http://www.babycare-direct.co.uk/travel_cots.html
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crj
20 yrs ago
We are off to the UK in August too, baby will be 7 months. Thanks for starting the thread :)
We use the pop up samsonite too - we love the mozzy cover!
Bought ours at Bumps2Babes in HK, but would think you could find it in Singapore too.
Spicegal - we were hoping he would still fit and didn't know they have a bigger size, that looks great - will have to get it if he grows too big for the small one.
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crj, got mine at bumps to babes too but not seen the bigger one in there - our LO will be 6 months in August so hoping the small one is still OK. I do know that they have the bigger one on kiddicare in the UK so might order it - the smaller one really has been fantastic for us - it's just soooo lightweight.
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Fabulous, keep the advice coming!
Mrsl: 6 bottles!! Wow, looks like I'll be packing a big bag on board. He drinks Enfalac, which is not available in the UK, I have to mail it back in advance!!! My sis-in-law has 3 kids so she will have a cot at her place but for other places we visit, there won't be one and I really don't want to fall into the co-sleeping trap! We nap together in the afternoon as it is, which I can live with as it forces me to rest but not at night! I definitely want to have a routine, I especially hope my sis-in-law will understand - she used to feed her babies all night and they don't have a bedtime as toddlers! Thankfully he is not on solids yet, saves me the headache for now!!
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mrsl
20 yrs ago
You almost certainly will not need 6, especially if he is settling into such a good routine (4 shoulod be plenty). I just find that it is handy to have extra (apart from the ones for take off and landing) in case you have to settle him back during the night. You can throw out the extra water as you're about to land to avoid carrying a litre through LHR. I apply the same rule as the changes of clothing (if you don't have them, you'll need them).
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I'm going to explore getting those ready made milk bottles for the plane ride - they're used in the hospital but not sure if available for general public.
mrsl, i understand - you will need what you don't have with you on board, murphy's law!!! if i can't get the ready made bottles, i guess i'm just going to have to bring all the bottles on board with me!!
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crj
20 yrs ago
Breastfeeding and Solids Question
If you are breastfeeding, but started solids...
At this stage baby is getting most of calories from breast milk, and only 'learning' how to eat. a few spoons once, soon to be twice, a day - preceeded and followed by a breastfeed.
On a Daytime flight:
Would you keep to your normal solid meal schedule on the plane?
Or just breastfeed and do the solids once you arrive at your destination?
Or would you put the 'food' in a bottle with a large hole in the teat for allowing rice/breast milk mixture to go through?
I assume once the solids are more like 'applesauce' than 'breastmilk' feeding on the plane will be slightly easier and necessary.
Night Flight:
Also, for an overnight flight - would you wake up your baby every 3-4 hours for a feed so they don't dehydrate, or let them sleep? (I really hope sleep is the answer!!)
Thanks
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Oh yes, is a night flight better than a daytime flight in terms or time zone adjustment or no difference??
So worried about feeding on the plane, a friend just returned from the UK with horror stories of her 2 month old throwing up every feed on the flight!!!
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mrsl
20 yrs ago
I would always opt for a night flight, given a choice. This is a very selfish 'let the baby sleep and we will all have a better journey' mentality, nothing to do with time zone adjustment. And no way would I wake up a baby to feed during the night (same reason); just give as much milk/water as possible when the baby is awake.
I would not lose too much sleep over solid feeding times if the baby does not depend on them yet. While the child is awake, feed as you would normally do, but adjust to the time zone when you get there bit by bit (in the same way that adjust sleep times). Your baby will let you know if he/she is hungry, and will certainly not starve in 13/14 hours.
I use a Thermos food container and bring a feed or two on board just because I will not use jar food (after the theoretical cancer risk about 3 years ago), but if you use jar food, most airlines provide it on request. Apparently you should never feed 'solids' though a bottle (both choking risk and teaching bad habits, I think).
Wheelymate, I think your friend was very unlucky. It has only happened to me once (being thrwon up on that is), but like I said, it was on take off on the only occassion that I had not packed spare clothes for me (baby had plenty). I have had runny breastfed nappies leak all over me more than once though!
This is just what works for us. I'm sure that other people have their own ideas.
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crj
20 yrs ago
Thanks Mrs L
You wrote what we wanted to hear :)
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Sue
20 yrs ago
I flew by myself with my six month old in March. One thing I would recommend is a plastic carrier bag you can plonk at your feet for a rubbish bag - empty food jars, wipes, tissues etc. My baby also threw up on me everywhere (and on the air hostesses who were cooing over her at the time!) so her change of clothes was used and I was also wearing layers that I was immensely grateful for! I actually took her on a daytime flight back to the UK (and am doing so again in August) - the flight tends to be emptier, people aren't so stressed if she is noisy, and the main reason is by the time we arrive in the UK it is her bed-time and she hardly has any jet-lag. I just kept her feed times and naps the same as if we were at home and it all went fine.
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I tried that (daytime flight) using the bodyclock theory but it was a disaster! Got off to a great start as it was about naptime and the combination of bottle and motion got her straight off to sleep, but that only killed 1 hour out of 13! Thought we would go insane by the time that we touched down. Had to pay a small fortune to change our return flight to a night one, but it was worth it.
Carrier bag is an excellent suggestion because the rubbish sure mounts up!
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crj
20 yrs ago
Check out the Deryan Travel Cot on this site - ... we are thinking of this for when baby grows out of our Samsonite one.
http://www.babytrader.co.uk/
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that looks good....i'm also going to ask my in-laws to check out any good travel cots that they can help me buy in the UK instead of me carting one there.
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crj
20 yrs ago
I like this one b/c it packs up small. They ship to HK.
What is helpful about yhour own, is you can get baby used to sleeping in it before you go... that should make the transition much easier.
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the transition thing is a good idea...esp. now after weeks of happily sucking his thumb to dreamland, my baby has been crying for about 15 mins the past 2 nights before falling asleep. we haven't done anything different, hopefully he's just overtired and needs a good cry before bed. he wakes up bright and happy the next morning though...
i just want him to sleep nicely in the UK as i think my in-laws will be horrified that i let him cry to sleep!!!!
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crj
20 yrs ago
We prepared for our trip by having baby first nap in the samsonite, then do night times... when we got to the hotel and put him down he had no idea he wasn't at home. I think it really helped.
Another friend who travelled recently, brought sheets, and everything from home, but baby did not like the hotel baby cot.
Saying that, when we travelled we were off schedule - we fed at all times on the plane, when we were out to lunch, etc... and when we go to UK in August, I expect to be super flexible about schedule - partly due to timezones, partly as not to have grief from in-laws.
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crj, that cot looks good but unless I'm being dim (completely possible at this time in the morning!) I can't find where it says the age ranges for it... and the dimensions when packed (v important for us as we travel up and down from GZ to HK on the train a lot and can not possibly take a normal sized travel cot!!) have you seen this info on the site?
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crj
20 yrs ago
Spicegal
The samsonite toddler one I am pretty sure packs smaller, as the deryan has a thicker mattress (I think it is an air mattress you blow up)
Here is the info from their website in dutch, but you can figure it out. The one we are looking at is the 3.5 kilo one the dimensions are below too, I think Pakmaat means the packed dimensions, but not sure.
Travel-cot Peuter (130x70x65cm)
Afmetingen: 130 x 70 x 65 cm.
Pakmaat: 42 x 13 x 45 cm.
Gewicht: circa 3,5 kg (compleet)
(tot ongeveer 3,5jaar/4jaar)
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m&m
20 yrs ago
Hi wheelymate, which part of UK are you going to? We're also visiting family and friends in Newcastle early Oct. Would like to chat more since we both are in Singapore. Cheers
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Hi m&m,
I just PM you so do check your inbox!
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Wheelymate i should get together with you again and tell you about our trip to the UK. It went pretty well. As i always say on these posts about travel TAKE DISPOSIBLE!!!! Let me know if your free next week some time maybe m&m can join us or maybe i can call you.
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Hi all,
Was checking out the Mothercare UK website. They have a lightweight travel cot (only 2.6kg) for sale. Only problem is that they don't ship to Asia I think...so only for those who have relatives in UK who can buy it in advance. Downside, pretty expensive!!!
http://www.mothercare.com/invt/la0462&bklist=icat,4,,shotravelpushchairs,tratravelcots
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ok, travel cots:
i just showed my hubby the lightweight one and he commented that it looks like a confined box and pretty sure our baby will hate it! but the ones that look like a normal playpen are so heavy! lightest one i've come across is at least 8kg!
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m&m
20 yrs ago
Hey, I love to meet up with you guys. Pls drop me an email xwombat123@hotmail.com
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Hi m&m,
I just sent an email to your hotmail account.
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hi ladies,
we are going to UK end of August. we fly at night so when we arrive in UK, it's 0530hours but it'll be 1230hours singapore time. do i keep my baby up until the UK time of 1900hours for his bedtime or do i put him down at 1900hours singapore time, although that means it's only about noon in the UK? what is the best way to adjust his sleep routine upon arrival?
and coming back, we fly out of london at night and return to singapore in the evening. someone suggested waking up the baby on the flight to adjust him back to singapore time. is that a good plan and worth the daggers thrown towards my direction by other passengers for having a waking baby on a night flight?
thanks!
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