Fiji at 9 months

We were SO excited for this trip to Malolo Island Resort.  I absolutely love Fiji, we were tired and needed the rest, we were meeting my Dad and step Mum there (YAY free babysitting) and Harper was at such a cute age – I was so excited to take her.

This was going to be her 15th flight – however every age had been so different.  When she took her flight flight at 9 weeks – it was easy as.  Breastfed her on the way up – she was asleep on the flight – breastfed on the way down and stayed asleep walking off the plane – dreamboat.  When we went to Bali in January when she was 4 months – it was a little more challenging but she easily fell asleep in the bassinet.  When we took her to Queenstown at 7.5 months – she was moving about more – was more needy – and the flights were horrible.  So although I was looking forward to the holiday – I was super anxious about the flight. 

To get there we had to go via Brisbane so our first fight was at 6am.  This time doesn’t bother me so much – she stays asleep in the car – and is ready for a bottle when we take off. Well she was a dream boat – had her bottle then fell asleep on Chris.  Woke up when we landed in Brisbane ready for breakfast.  Then by the time we boarded our 2nd flight she was due a bottle. Did the same thing – fell asleep on us and slept for about an hour.  She then was such a happy baby on the plane – playing with another baby in the aisle until we arrived where she fell asleep in the carrier. 

SUCCESS!  I was so happy. 

Now – when we went to Bali when Harper was 4 months old (I wrote a blog on that too – travelling with a 4 month old) it was challenging.  Her sleep was all over the place (we hadn’t done sleep training by then – and we were rocking a screaming child to sleep for hours), she wasn’t moving, and we were really conscious of the heat and humidity and keeping her indoors.  Which was super difficult. It made for not a relaxing holiday at all – and in hindsight I probably wouldn’t take a 4 month old back to Bali.  Maybe it would’ve been different if she was sleeping well – but looking back it was just too hard.  

Well – this was just a different story. Because we were on an island and the path from our room to anywhere was sand – we decided we didn’t need a pram.  We had organise a cot for our room and brought with us our Oxo Tot travel plate, spoon and bib.  Fiji is just so perfect for families  – and the Fijians are just the most beautiful people in the world. As soon as we arrived they grabbed Harper and carried her around and I didn’t even feel worried – and neither did she.  

Food on the island:

I want to start this by saying her routine at 9 months was as follows – (give or take depending if she woke early)

7:00  – Bottle 150ml
8:30  – Breaky
10:00 – Nap
11:30 – Bottle 150ml
12:30 – Lunch
2:00 – Bottle 150ml
2:30 – Nap
5:30 – Dinner
7:00 – Bottle 150ml
(obviously worked around naps)

Food can sometimes be tricky while travelling but not in Fiji – For breakfasts we could order pretty much anything we wanted for her and this is the case at most hotel restaurants – she mainly had scrambled eggs or weetbix – and the staff would happily make purees if you wanted.  Lunch and Dinner we ordered from a kids menu which was fabulous and consisted of things like spaghetti, sausages, steamed veges, roast veges, fruit platters, grilled fish.  We would also take boiled eggs or bananas from breaky for her snacks throughout the day.  She ate so well.  If you’re not sure whether to do baby led weaning – this is where it was great.  She would pick up anything and eat it so I knew she was getting all her nutrients.

Sleep and naps on the island:

As soon as we arrive anywhere (since doing sleep training) we try and get her back in to routine as quickly as possible.  When Harper is over tired she’s a nightmare – so making sure she was getting good naps was so important and Fiji made it so easy.  

The bure’s are right on the beach with hammocks right outside – so for her morning nap we would pop her down – then Chris and I would read in the hammocks until she woke up.  Some mornings we would go swimming knowing my Dad and step Mom were right next door and could hear her if she woke.  She slept so well on the island.  After her morning nap it was play time – off to the pool or beach. She absolutely loved it.  It was such a different experience than Bali – the temperature was perfect – not humid, and because she was moving around – crawling and could get more involved it was so much fun.  For her afternoon nap we would get the baby sitting service which we LOVED.  We’d pop her down then a beautiful Fijian would come and sit outside her room while we went to the adults pool, or to a late lunch or to have a cocktail.  I’m pretty sure most Fijian resorts have this service – it was amazing.  It was $8 an hour and we would come back after and hour to check if she was still sleeping and she always was.  

Afternoons were beautiful  – we would play on the beach or outside our Bure,  she would have a snack then at 5pm we would take her for her dinner – while we had a cocktail.  Then at 6:30 would start normal bedtime routine and she would be down by 7pm – ready for the Fijian babysitter to come and watch her while we went for dinner for the night. 

Fiji was the perfect place for Harper at this age – and probably would’ve been so much better at 4 months and would be perfect at any age, (they also had an amazing kids club).  Although I know the facilities were so good it helped – with her being more interactive, on longer awake times and only 2 naps made our experience and holiday much more enjoyable.  Especially now that she is such a great sleeper.  

If you’re thinking about travelling with a 9 month old I would highly recommend it.  I even think Bali would’ve been better at this age.  

It was literally the perfect holiday….oh wait – did I mention the flight home…..ok – keep reading.

So the flight up – 6am perfect – the way home our flight was at 7:30pm.  Well – that particular bedtime was due at 6:30.  We just had to wing it.  Harper isn’t one for falling asleep when there are things going on around her – eg: the AIRPORT. She likes being involved you know – and who can blame her – duty free is great.  Anyway – we paid to get into the Bula lounge where there was a great risotto I gave her and a banana.  She ate well – and was happy but I knew the over tired grossness was coming.  We had in our heads that we would give her a bottle like the way up and she’d fall asleep in our arms – like an angel. NOPE. She screamed – she screamed and screamed and screamed the whole 5.5 hours home.  In hindsight AGAIN – we should’ve just left her in one position and let her scream  –  but because we were worried about the other passengers – and their sleeping babies (damn them and their sleeping babies) we kept moving her around trying to get her to settle and all it was doing was making her more irate.  Lesson learnt – leave her and she’ll fall asleep – keep moving her and it doesn’t work.  We should’ve found our inner zen – and we didn’t.  

That would be my top tip if you know you’re going to have an over tired child.  Don’t worry about what other people are thinking – just worry about your own unit – focus on them and creating a calm environment. Picking her up and moving her around just made her not calm.  

For us – routine is everything.  We are going to have to get Harper adapting a little more to sleeping the pram as we have more holidays coming up – Hawaii and LA in July but I can’t recommend Fiji enough or travelling once they’re around 9 months – as they’re so much fun and more adaptable.  

Things we took – in addition the to usual things: 

• Travel suction bowl, bib and spoon from Oxo from the Stork Nest
• Sunscreen
• Hats
• Reusable Swim nappies from Sarah-Jane Collection
• Swimmers
• Bbox 
• Teething rings
• Books
• Hydralyte (just in case she got gastro) she can sip out of it from her bbox if needed. 

If you are interested to going to Fiji – I highly recommend an island -and Malolo was perfect. For those who don’t know I work as a travel agent from home so feel free to email me for your next trip – danni.hewitt@travelmanagers.com.au

Love and Life

The Figure – Danni x