Travelling with a baby

My biggest confidence boost to date as a new mum has been experiencing an overseas family work holiday with our five-and-a-half-month-old daughter. After successfully navigating two 14-hour long-haul flights, four shorter 'internal' flights in the space of two weeks, one six-hour road trip, three time zone changes, five different cots and hotel rooms, and a full sightseeing and social itinerary, I know my daughter can adjust to anything her parents may throw at her.

When my husband announced he was going to the United States and Canada for work, there was never a question that Laura and I wouldn't go with him. Yes, we were both nervous about how we would manage with a baby we are still getting to know, but we also knew this was the best time to embark on such an adventure. At this age, she's very alert, she's not yet mobile, and at the time she hadn't started on solid foods. Oh, and she's still not too loud!

Not one to be unprepared, I did as much research as possible before we flew out. The top tips I was given from friends, family and our lovely Baby Clinic nurse were:

1. Feed your baby during take-off and especially landing to keep her ears unblocked when the cabin pressure changes.
2. Try to book accommodation that has a separate bedroom with a door that closes, so your baby isn't taking her naps in the main living area.
3. Use a stroller that folds up to the size of a stick. If your baby falls asleep in it at the airport, you can wheel her right up to the door of the airplane, and check the stroller at the door.
4. Give children's Panadol an hour before take-off and landing if your baby is affected by the change in cabin pressure.
5. Fashion a muslin wrap or similar as a tent over the bassinet on the airplane to block out the overhead lights that are turned on during food service and the activity of the flight attendants and other passengers.

We used four of these five tips to one degree or another (we didn't need the children's Panadol), and I recommend them to fellow new mums who are thinking of jetsetting somewhere. However, having now travelled with a young baby, my top tips are:

1. Be flexible.
2. Maintain a healthy sense of humour.
3. Do not follow a long-haul flight with a five-hour cross-country flight. Spend at least a couple of nights and days in the city you land in before hopping back on an airplane.

When travelling without a baby, you take the good with some bad. When travelling with a baby, you do the same. My husband and I soon learnt to remind ourselves: 'An adult wouldn't find this enjoyable; our baby's displeasure is understandable. It's just that being adults we can't cry and carry on, whereas she can let her true feelings be known loud and clear.' While faultless on the long-haul flights where she had a bassinet to sleep in, Laura was not so amused on the shorter flights where she had to sit on her parents' lap. Fair enough. I don't enjoy being nose-to-back-of-seat-in-front for five hours, and my husband is unable to fall asleep in an upright position. Just as we were out of sorts when we were jet-lagged, so was Laura. It took her a few nights to fully adjust to each new time zone. And after waiting to clear customs in the longest line I've ever waited in, I can empathise with my daughter for being grizzly.

Flexibility quickly became our motto. Whereas I was a stickler for routine at home (it is a good way for me to understand and anticipate her wants and moods), the only routine we wanted Laura to keep while we were on holiday was to sleep through the night. If we wanted to go out for a late dinner, we did. Laura either slept in her bassinet or sat up on our laps and enjoyed the festivities. If we wanted to spend the entire day out sightseeing without returning to the hotel for her naps, we did. Laura simply fell asleep in her baby carrier when she was tired. Laura also 'told' us what she wanted, and so we adapted what we had been planning to do. For instance, she communicated loudly and clearly that she wasn't affected by the change in airplane cabin pressure, and that she didn't want to wait until take-off to be fed, or feed again so soon during landing. After a bit of worry and confusion on our part, what worked best for Laura was to sit on our lap and occasionally chew on a toy while we landed.

But don't misunderstand me; I am not a go-where-the-wind-takes-you kind of traveller, and I wouldn't attempt that with a baby. Before we left we thought long and hard about how to make the trip as easy as possible on all of us. We thought about every contingency, and then planned how to be best prepared for them all. From deciding to take Laura's bag as carry-on luggage so we had everything at our disposal on the flights, deciding to carry her around in the baby carrier so she was closer to us while in crowds and we could easily negotiate public transport, deciding which of her toys to take so she had familiar things but we weren't lugging around her entire toy box, getting her used to the shower rather than the bath so that we had options, deciding to drive instead of fly from San Francisco to Los Angeles as we already knew she travelled well in the car, to deciding to splurge on a one-bedroom suite and stay at least two nights in Los Angeles before flying back home so she was as settled as possible before the long-haul flight. This planning definitely helped things run smoothly, and enabled us to focus on and enjoy being tourists.

Looking back on our holiday, I would do it again without any hesitation. I don't feel that we missed out on any experiences because we were travelling with a baby, and the attention we received from strangers and friends because of Laura was touching and in fact enriched our experiences. Although she was too young to remember this trip, her experience was also a good one — she was happy and content. And for me, as a new mum there's nothing more empowering than exploring strange cities on your own with your little one, and both of you enjoying it.