Maria's Tips for Flying with a Baby

I thought I'd do a little post of my tips for travelling with a baby/toddler as this is something a lot of my friends tend to ask me about. A fair few of the other wives in AIK have kids and they have all travelled quite a bit alone with their little ones too. We have had many a chats about this topic, and I think sharing my experiences might help some of you out there who haven't yet gone on a long trip with your little one because you don't know what to expect when flying with a baby.

Maria's Travelling Tips

• First and foremost plan ahead! If you are flying far,or your flight is long, try to book flights that will coincide with your baby's nap-time. It might be a bit more difficult to get your little one to sleep on the plane, but when they do it's well worth it, as you get some free time to sit and relax! I usually put Nicholas in the baby bjorn and go back to the toilet area, sometimes even into the washroom itself and rock him to sleep. He doesn't fall asleep easily if there is any distraction, but in the back there is a nice humming sound from the engine, and in the washroom there is nothing to look at. It usually takes about 5-10 min for him to fall asleep this way, but again, it is worth the effort!!


• If you are flying between the continents most airlines have 2 or more cots you can book for your baby. Call the airline well ahead of time, as these usually get booked pretty fast. And ask about weight/age limits for using the cot. These cots are pure genius as they give you, and if you are travelling with someone else,both hands free to eat, drink coffee or read a book.

[caption id="attachment_209" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Nicholas sleeping in his cot on our way from germany to canada"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_210" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="The cot is quite hard, so I was glad I had nicholas pillow with me as well as his blankie"][/caption]



[caption id="attachment_212" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Daddy watching a movie whilst Nicholas is sleeping"][/caption]

• If you have many hours to kill between connecting flights, and are going to a warm place where you can get away with using an umbrella-stroller, ask at the check in if you can bring and collect the stroller at the gate. That way your stroller will be waiting for you right outside the airplane, and your little one will have a place to sit/sleep in between flights.

• Bring a baby bjorn, majtaj, carrying shawl or any similar item that can give you your hands free whilst your baby is sitting/sleeping comfortably on your body. Believe me your arms can and will go quite numb when you are holding your sleeping baby for two hours straight in a tiny airplane seat with no possibility for you to move around and stretch. Also the carrier is great in between flights if you haven't brought an umbrella stroller you can bring to the gate.

[caption id="attachment_224" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Kenny before a game with Nicholas in the baby bjorn"][/caption]

• At check in ask if the flight is full, and if not, if they can block the seat next to you. This is great if you are travelling with a child old enough to sit on his/her own for short periods of time, and also for the child to lay down and sleep off your body so you can enjoy your meal. It is quite frankly impossible to eat on a plane with a baby on your lap. The table wont fold down completely, and the baby can reach all the food on it!


• If you are flying with a small infant you can sometime bring your rear-facing car-seat on board the aircraft. This is something each airline has different policies on, and you just ask at check in if they will allow it. In order for you to do this you must have the middle and window seats reserved for you. As the car-seat has to be placed next to the window. I have done this several times when I have been flying alone, and it has been great every time. Nicholas has been sitting on his own, and I have enjoyed being able to both eat and sleep while he has been safe and snug in his seat.

• Make sure to pack extra diapers, wet wipes and an extra set of clothing for the baby in your diaper bag. Spills easily happen, and it's not fun for you or the child to be travelling with wet and dirty clothes. I always bring an extra shirt for myself as well, something I started with when I was breast-feeding Nicholas and he would spit up quite a lot.


• For active toddlers the trip can be quite long, and sitting still becomes a challenge. I always bring plenty of toys that I know Nicholas likes on the plane, with some books as well. If he gets exceptionally bored I make sure to have some cartoons on my I-phone/pod/pad for him to watch. My friends swear to portable DVD players, game boys and all other electronics that will keep them sitting still for the duration of the flight. Buying a new small toy (and keeping it for emergency meltdown is also a popular thing to do)As for walking back and forth in the isle, my only suggestion is DO NOT make it an option, or you will be walking back and forth the whole flight. Not fun for you, the flight attendants or all the people who are trying to get some rest.


• Bring plenty of healthy snacks, and bottled water for your kids. The cups they serve drink in on the airplanes might not be the most suitable for your child, so I prefer bringing a sippy-cup or a drinking bottle. No spills means less stress for you, and most kids like having a cool bottle to drink from


• Let your kid run around as much as possible in the airport to burn energy, this way they will be less likely to go nuts sitting down on the airplane.


• Equalising your ears is not an easy concept to explain to a baby, so as the plane takes off it can be a very good idea to let your child drink from the bottle or breast-feed, the sucking helps "pop" the ears, and hopefully it will help your baby from hurting and crying the whole flight. For older kids yawning or sucking on a lollipop can help. Also make sure that the nose is completely free from snot, as the sinuses have to be clear for you to equalise properly.


• Pack your hand luggage in a back pack, so you have your hands free. This is especially important if you will be travelling on your own as it is hard carrying multiple hand bags at the same time as your baby. I always bring one back pack and one diaper bag. I put everything I will need during the flight in the diaperbag under my seat. And everything I might need (extra clothes for me, extra toys) in the backpack. I personally avoid bringing a laptop because there is nowhere to put your child whilst you are putting the laptop back in your bag after security...

[caption id="attachment_221" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Packing light?? nope not me!"][/caption]

• Nicholas would never fall asleep when things were going on around him, and there fore I bought him a sleeping mask when he was little that he used when he was travelling, he would fall asleep instantly if I put it on when he was tired enough

• Most important of all is STAY HAPPY!! Even if your toddler has a minor, or not so minor, melt-down, stay smiling. Don't let your smile leave your face, and the child will tune into your positive energy and hopefully calm down. Travelling can be stressful for both kids and grown-ups, but if you keep smiling you will feel better!


• oh, and last but not least VIP service at the airport is great if you have the cash ;) they wait for you with a cardboard sign with your name on right outside the plane, and you get plenty of dirty looks when you sneak down the side stairs :) Not to mention that they take your luggage right off the plane, and bring you to lovely lounges...ahhhh...

P.S The VIP service was a one-time thing ;)

These are my tips, from what I myself and my friends have experienced when travelling with children. I hope you find them useful!

xoxo

Maria

Vacation Bliss Part II

So here comes part two of our holiday adventures!

As I said we woke up early every day, well relatively early for staying up quite late that is. Not early as in 7 am, more like 9 am.

[caption id="attachment_191" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Nicholas is ready for the day to commence!"][/caption]

We would then collect all the stuff we needed for the beach, which was quite a lot of stuff as we would spend the whole day there.

We would bring

• Sun Lotion for us and Nicholas


• Beach towels


• Nicholas' bucket, shovel and other play things


• Nicholas'  baby pool


• Nicholas' "swim seat"


• Beach tent (just so that we would have more shaded areas for Nicholas to play


• Food and Snacks for Nicholas


• Water


• Stroller and Blankie


• Books and Kobo


• Sun Protection Suit


• Diaper Bag

As you see most of the things we brought are for Nicholas as you have to plan ahead if you want to spend the whole day at the beach with a little child or toddler. Sun protection stuff is essential, as are umbrellas so that there is shade for the little one to sit in as much as you can convince him to sit there! I would put his little baby pool under the umbrella

as he spent most of the day climbing in and out of it and throwing sand in the water, that way the stuff he was most interested in was in the shade, and consequently he would spend most of the day under an umbrella.

[caption id="attachment_117" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Nicholas ready for the waves!"][/caption]

I had bought a sun protection suit in Sweden (they don't even know what it is in Greece, let alone sell them) but I managed to forget it at home so the first two days Nicholas wore a AIK jersey to protect him from the sun.

He became quite the little maimoudaki (monkey) while we were there and loved climbing the tables..

Then I met an English girl, Katie, that lives in Nea Skioni with her husband and two sons. She actually had a sun protection suit in Nicholas size that her youngest boy had grown out of, so she gave it to us! So nice of her!! After that and a hat was what Nicholas wore everyday at the beach.

He also loved to climb the sun beds. And got some new friends!

Nicholas loved staying at the beach, and would keep himself occupied most of the time, but from the area where we "made camp" he could see the play area in the distance, and every so often he would get it into his head that he wanted to go there, and would just take off at full speed, and we would just have to jump up and follow him.

[caption id="attachment_133" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="greek construction, the slip and slide has about a metre drop at the end of it!! It's like a ski jump, if we let him go he would go flying!! So of course we didn't..."][/caption]

Spending the whole day in the sand ultimately meant that Nicho consumed his fair share of sand

But he didn't seem to mind the crunch!

We enjoyed the beach just as much as him

The water was cold. Well maybe not cold, but not 29 degrees celsius like the water in the pool at Gran Canaria either, so I was quite reluctant to go in. I think I was all the way under only two times!! Nicholas didn't find it to cold though, he would quite happily sit in his little yellow swimming seat and splash his hands while Kenny and I passed him back and forth! I didn't get any pictures of that though, only video...

The beach tent we brought from Sweden was a great investment. We would put it down, facing whatever breeze there was so it wouldn't get to hot.

[caption id="attachment_116" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Kenny taking a nap in the shade"][/caption]

Around lunch time we would go to one of the many tavernas that lined the beach promenade, and eat delicious Greek food

Nicholas would enjoy a game of peak a boo with his feet

And after lunch we would head back down to the beach.

Ahhh, what a life!! I feel so blessed that we have the chance to do these things, go on vacation and enjoy ourselves together as a family. We are lucky!!

I actually lived in this little village when I was 6 years old, for about 10 months, and I have so many happy memories from my time there. Memories that include swimming in the ocean until late October, going to school and not understanding a word they said, picking lemons off our neighbours lemon tree, and eating honey still warm, straight off the comb. The last something that I really suggest everyone try, it is absolutely one of the most delicious things I have ever tasted!

We used to go there for vacation every summer after. But it had been six years now since my last visit. Things have changed immensely.

There used to be no tourists at all, and most of the roads weren't even paved back then. Now there is plenty of tourists, courtesy of the new and beautiful hotel that has been built smack dab in the middle of the town.

But essentially the village-spirit is the same, and my dad still knows most of the villagers, and they all hug me and kiss me when they remember me.

(Translation of typical conversation with old Greek women) "Maria, the Norwegians' daughter? The one who had a twin? Oh my I remember you when you were just a little thing."  

It is such a relaxing place to be with kids. It is so small that you do not have to worry about letting them run free in the evenings when you are eating.

I remember all the "moonlight walks" (yes, we actually named them that ourselves when we were 10 or so) that I used to take with my Norwegian family friends that had come with us on holiday..

I actually turned 25 on june first, and my dad had arranged a little surprise for me. My nonos (godfather) his wife and son came down from Kalikratia where they live to celebrate my day with me.

They gave me a lovely pair of earrings and Nicholas a beautiful gold cross. From Kenny I got the pink watch you can see on the pictures above. I had wished for one I can use when I am working out, and this one goes perfectly with my pink adidas runners!

We would go out and eat pretty late every evening, around 9.30 most days, and stay out until 11.45. Nicholas found something he loved more than anything to do, and he would point insistently on it every time we walked past, or sat anywhere around that area.

These were his absolute favourite, he would insist that we walked over and patted every animal here, and he would point at their noses and ears and mouth. And then when we walked away he would waive to them. When he actually rode them he would have the funnies expressions on his face, a mix between absolute terror and joy. Probably a bit how we feel when we get on the scariest roller coaster...

Close to Nea Skioni only a 10 minute drive over the mountain is the much bigger town of Hanioti, and 15 minutes away lies Pefkohori which is even bigger.

We drove to each of these towns a few times and enjoyed knowing that we didn't have to stay in these much more tourist-infested towns. It was nice to have a look around though!

[caption id="attachment_164" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="No it is NOT my picture that is crooked it's the lamp post!!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_165" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Sight seeing anyone?? Did I mention that this town can be walked through in 15 Min??"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_166" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="American style corn (pop corn)"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_167" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="...And Greek style corn. Corn on the cob (kalamboki)"][/caption]

We always made these little trips when right before Nicholas second nap, that way he could play a bit, and then go to sleep in his stroller while we had a coffee or an ice cream.

Every day Kenny and I would plan that my dad could stay in with Nicholas so we could go out and have a glass of wine (me) and a juice (him) but we only managed to actually do it one time! We were too drained from the sun most days to want anything but to sleep!

[caption id="attachment_173" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="The one night we made it out, and hung out with my friend from back in the day Jonas, another half greek like me."][/caption]

We ate out every night

[caption id="attachment_176" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Giannis, another half Norwegian that is born and raised in Skioni"][/caption]

We also visited the tiny church that lies outside the city, and where Virgin Mary's footprint is located.

We had such a great time, and I just wish we could have stayed longer. I can't wait to go back, and hope I manage to do so before another six years pass!! One can live a long time on these relaxing vacations!

I know this was massive post everyone ! Hope you enjoyed the photos!! And please do comment guys! I had 130 something readers yesterday, and one comment! I would like to know who it is that is reading my blog :) And if you yourself write a blog I would love if you left a comment, and the address of your blog so I can check it out!

xoxo

Maria