Tag: toddler
Travelling with a Baby
John Lewis Shape Sorter and Stacking Cups
My baby and I travelled all the way from London to Auckland. We flew across the globe together and had a stopover in Hong Kong for a night to refresh ourselves and catch up on a few hours of sleep.
The build up to our flight from London started a couple of weeks before our departure. I didn’t want to think too much about the flight as it would kick start butterflies in my stomach, whilst I wondered how I was going to manage such a long journey on a plane with my baby.
The very thought of leaving hubby behind in London for 8 weeks was daunting. Knowing how much he’d miss us and how much we’d miss him made it almost impossible to fathom. On the bright side we’d Skype daily and Imogen and I would be spending Summer with our family and friends in New Zealand whilst hubby was busy at work in London during the coldest months of the year.
It was the bit in the middle, the journey, that I didn’t want to do. I tried to keep as calm as possible. I was going to travel across the world with my baby. Just me and my baby! I found it easier not to dwell on it too much and put all of my energy into the preparation of fun activities for us and what we’d need to pack in our on-flight luggage.
Here’s my list of on-flight essentials that I’d travel with again:
Fun Activities
- Samsung Galaxy Tablet with CBeebies episodes downloaded from iPlayer
- John Lewis Shape Sorter and Stacking Cups
- Baby Book Sets
- Farm Sticker Book
- The Gruffalo Colouring Book
- Crayola Coloured Crayons Pack of 8
- Soft Toys
- Favourite Toy Charley Bear
Food and Drink
- Organic Baby Pouches and age appropriate baby snacks
- Formula Milk Powder in formula pots
Essentials
- Nappies
- Nappy Bags
- Sudocrem
- Baby Wipes
- Sachets of Calpol and Nurofen, should they be needed
- A change of clothes for you and your baby
- If your baby is walking Baby Reins are brilliant when you’re at a busy airport and queuing for check-in and security
Knowing how hard it was travelling that distance myself made me realise how important it was to make it fun experience for my baby. And last but not least a positive attitude, a strong resolve and a calm approach all helped.
What are your tips for flying with a baby or toddler?
Family Picnic Food
We love to have picnics regularly throughout the year. There’s something magical about eating outdoors enjoying good food with family and friends, differing vistas and fresh air.
We eat picnics in the garden, at the beach, in the forest, in the park and on our balcony in the city of London. When it’s too cold to be sitting outside to eat we have been known to get a rug out and have a picnic on the floor of our apartment, with the company of our cats Louis and Mia who will nibble at any leftover cheese.
My favourite foods for simple baby and toddler family friendly picnics are:
- Boiled eggs
- Cheese sandwiches
- Tomatoes
- Avocado
- Crackers
- Potato salad
- Mixed bean salad
- Pasta salad
- Bananas
- Fruit Salad with strawberries, nectarines, blueberries, peaches, oranges
Don’t forget a large picnic rug, some picnicware and baby sun cream.
Our most recent family picnic was in the Kaitoke Regional Park. I’m linking this post up to the What I Wore Wednesday link for this week.
Sunglasses – Ted Baker
Striped T-Shirt – Dickins and Jones from House of Fraser
Green Vest – Dansk
3/4 Trousers – Board Angels
Here’s my last What I Wore Wednesday post.
The Photo Gallery: Adventure
This week’s theme for The Photo Gallery on the blog Sticky Fingers is Adventure.
There’s so much you can get up to in New Zealand and as much as I’d love to be more adventurous whilst I’m here you won’t catch me bungy jumping any time soon.
It’s amazing to see Imogen blossom as a toddler since we’ve been in New Zealand. She’s running faster than ever, climbing higher in playgrounds, throwing even larger stones in the water, jumping over waves in the sea, intrepidly exploring rivers and walking through the forests of Middle-earth.
One of our biggest adventures so far has been at the Kaitoke Regional Park where we paddled close to several large eels, crossed a swing bridge over the river, took a refreshing dip and walked through the New Zealand bush.
