Travelling with your baby
Do you know that starting from the 3rd week of birth of your baby, he/she can travel with you either by plane or by boat ??? This is the minimum age but, in spite of this, you will need to take some precautions. During the hotel reservation, ask them if they have a baby bed. If the answer is no, bring a folding bed equipped with a mosquito net, it will also serve you if you plan to drive during your vacation. To move more easily during your holiday, opt for a folding stroller or a baby carrier and to bath him/her, a small air pool because they take little space and not so bulky. During the flight reservation, think to reserve also a |
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cradle, a seat baby and to order in advance a special baby meal if the travel will be long. About the cradle, depending of the company, the reservation can be done during this process, 36h before by internet, during the check in or it will be automatically reserved for little babies for example. About the stroller, if it is a big one, it will go automatically in the baggage hold, if it is a small one, depending of the company and during the reservation, you will know if you can bring with you in the cabin or not but take note that you may keep it with you until the boarding time, then it may go to the baggage hold without additional fee.
For your cabin and/or baby bag, think to bring enough numbers of nappies/diapers, wipes, exchanges, a woolen and powdered milk (if you give the bottle) for your baby because delays are possible during the departure, the transfer and/or the arrival, it is just a question to anticipate. For your luggage, which will go to the baggage hold, it is recommended to put bottles, nappies/diapers and things to prepare his/her foods during 2 or 3 days like compotes, powdered milk... by this way, it will let you enough time to find supplies once you already arrived at your destination. About clothes, it is best to bring something very easy to clean and to dry quickly including a little bottle of washing liquid in case if you have to wash urgently some clothes by hand.
About the pharmacy, bring at least a disinfectant, eosin, band-aids, sterile compresses, arnica cream, thermometer, antipyretic, physiological saline, nasal spray, nose blow, cough syrup, anti-diarrheic and rehydration bag including an insecticide to take away mosquitoes from the room where he/she will sleep. Of course, you can buy all those stuffs once you will arrive but it may not be so easy to find them in a foreigner country. On the other hand, don’t forget to take with you his/her health record and check that his/her vaccines are up to date before leaving.
If you are afraid about the airsickness, don’t be because it will appear only when your child will have between 2 or 3 years old. For an anti-malaria treatment, it will depend of the kind of treatment but the baby needs to weight between 11 and 15 kg which corresponds more or less to a child between 18 months and 3 years old. If your baby has an earache, it is advised against to travel with him/her.
Once you are in the airport, keep at hand a baby carrier or a baby wrap because, during the check in, your pushchair may go to the baggage hold like your luggage and you will take it back only when you will arrive at your destination at the same time as your luggage meaning that it will be very useful and helpful during a transfer for example.
When you arrive at the security control, check if there is a priority line where you can skip the huge line. If you can´t find it and if no one suggests you, just ask the security guy and normally, you will be taken directly to the security door.
During the take off and the landing, your baby will stay in your arm with a special baby seat belt provided by the hostess and to avoid him/her to be hurt in the eardrums, make him/her suck, above all during the landing, like the bottle or the breast because the deglutition will prevent the earache. Of course, if he/she is sleeping, you will have to wake him/her up otherwise it can be worst and if you notice that he/she has the nose a little filled, clean it before the landing. Another important point is to ask a physiological saline if you don’t have one but do it before the landing, normally there are always some in the plane.
During the flight, if your baby has 2 years old, he/she will have his/her own seat, if not she/he will travel on your knees with the special baby seat belt, tie it during the take off, the landing and any turbulence. If during your flight reservation, you have reserved a cradle, it is in this moment that the hostess should give you one, in case if you forget it, just ask, they may still have one free. Normally, the cradle is for a baby weighing 10 kg and/or 65 cm tall, something like until 6 months. Don’t forget to tie up your baby with the zipper once you put him/her inside.
Also think to make your baby drink often, it will prevent him/her to be dehydrated and to put some drops of physiological saline in his/her eyes. Take note that majority of planes are equipped with diaper/nappy changing table and if you need to heat pots and/or foods, just ask the hostess but it will take some times because in the plane, there is only a boiler and no microwave so try to anticipate before that your baby get hungry.
Most part of the time, your baby will sleep during the flight above all if it is a long one, if it is a short one, he/she may stay awake, so try to keep him/her busy. If you think to bring some toys, avoid the ones which make a lot of noise.
Hope that all those advices will help you to have a nice flight and that your baby will enjoy his/her trip in the plane.