When I was 20 weeks pregnant Chris’s grandparents mentioned that when they were over from the UK over Christmas that they would like to take us on a holiday to Bali. Harper would be 4 months old – and I wasn’t overly sure it was ok. After asking around other mums though most said it’s a great time to travel with a baby and we’d be fine – so we got it booked. We were off to Bali – our first overseas trip with our little girl.
At first when we were planning what to take I got a bit overwhelmed with what we needed…..what would she play in – I can’t just leave her on the floor – we can’t really take her play mat…what about a steriliser, do we take our good pram….my brain was going 100 miles an hour. I then found out that you can rent all of that stuff in Bali when you’re there – LIFE SAVER.
This put me at ease knowing we weren’t going to be walking through the airport like pack horses.
The other thing that was making me slightly anxious was the mosquitos and the risk of Bali belly. You hear horrible stories and as a mum I think you always look at the worst case scenario. So Chris and I got googling in to what we could do to make sure Harper didn’t get bitten. We found a fabulous mosquito repellent Ozzie Mozzie by Archer naturals which was really gentle on baby skin – tick. Chris also found these great little clips you can put on her clothing and pram to help deter the mozzies as well as citrus stickers which we were going to just cover her in.
So we were ready – we had also just started some solids so we took a couple of pouches of pureed food for her so we could give her some lunch. I definitely wasn’t going to give her any food from Bali – except for fruit that we had to peal – like pineapple.
We had to get to the airport at 7am which meant waking her up which I hate doing – but we had no choice. She didn’t sleep the whole time at the airport – it was obviously far to interesting. We boarded the plan (priority – as you’re with a baby – YES winning) and fed her while we were taking off to help her ears with the change in pressure and she was asleep. The plane trip was pretty underwhelming. My tips would be:
– Try and get the bassinet seats. You get more room – the baby gets to lie down and you’re at the front
– Go for walks up and down the aisle when they’re awake to keep them entertained – they can get restless sitting still
– Feed on the way up and the way down so their little ears adjust
– Take a carrier – you need your arms. And toys!
The rest of the trip was pretty smooth sailing once we found our groove. Each country I’m sure would be different – Bali is humid and 3rd world so it was all about adjusting to the temperature and making sure she wasn’t drinking any water or food that could potentially be contaminated.
Getting into a sleeping pattern was challenging but we just rolled with her and followed her lead . The first night she was wide awake at 3am – so we got up and did what we would usually do in the morning – feed, play. Then we were all back asleep at 5am for 2 hours which was great. It took 3 days for her body to work out the time difference and then it was pretty much back to her normal routine. (If you could call it a routine….check out my last blog).
Our second hurdle was dinner time…..we couldn’t stay in every night, takeaway was hard and we were on holiday we wanted to get out and enjoy our time. So the first night we thought …we’ll put her down to bed and then try and get her to the restaurant. Well – what a fluke – we got her from her bed, into a taxi, into the pram and to the table at the restaurant without her waking up – BOOYA. We had a lovely dinner. Do you think that happened again – of course not. Over the next 12 days we mixed things up between going for dinner, and just trying to keep her as calm as possible, sometimes that meant she’d wake up and I’d feed her back to sleep at dinner. Or running to a small restaurant and leaving Harper sleeping with Chris’s grandparents, or ordering in. Which was fine – holidays with a baby do change things – and she was still so young. We had friends who had employed nannies while on holiday but we didn’t feel comfortable at this stage in leaving her with a stranger in a foreign country. Maybe when she’s older this is something I’d consider – especially if it was a recommendation.
Apart from those 2 hurdles we had fun. There wasn’t as much lying by the pool ordering cocktails, or parting into the wee hours of the morning but we had the best time . Harper loved playing in the pool and got used to the time difference and the humidity really quickly. They’re so adaptable and clever little things. Thank goodness for in villa massages and don’t forget a carrier. She absolutely loved falling asleep in the Baby Bjorn while we were walking through the shops.
I think it’s all about being adaptable and rolling with it. If your’e too set on doing something you’ll get stressed and you won’t enjoy your holiday.
Building new memories with our little sausage was the best.
Next stop – Queenstown over Easter at 7.5 months old – so stay tune.
Love and life
the Figure xox
