Please, for my own sanity, tell me I'm not alone in this very similar scenario.
You book a holiday with enough notice to spend months dreaming about your adventures, making getting through the daily grind of life that little bit easier. You feel like your countdown is still so far in the distance. It is initially, but time flies and before you know it, your holiday is just around the corner. This follows a mad dash and panic to get everything organised, shopped for, packed, lists sorted and everyone and their bags in the car headed to the airport. The marathon that can last for many days leading up to take off. Only feeling complete in that moment when you take your seat on that plane. By that time you know that no matter what you've forgotten to pack, you are only a flight away from your holiday and there's nothing else that you can do about it but relax and look forward to your arrival.... and breathe....
Me. Every. Time.
So this time, being so close to our departure date, is no different. I've barely got our suitcases down from the loft, never mind starting to think about what I'm going to put in them. I've got work to finish. My house has been turned upside down and we have friends staying at our place while we're away so I want the house to be nicely in order for them. I'm not looking forward to the marathon that I know is inevitable, but my goodness am I so looking forward to taking my seat on that plane.
This time we are going long haul, and the one thing I have been planning for and organising is making sure we are best placed to take Baby Girl who's two and a half years old on such a mammoth journey. Last time we did long haul with her she was just over one. This time is going to be slightly more complex. Firstly she is potty training and although she is pretty much fully out of nappies during the day now but I worry about how that will go down on a long plane journey. She has her own seat this time, and not her own bassinet like last time where she was able to go down for some sleep. She also takes A LOT more to keep her occupied.
In this post I wanted to share some things I am doing to prepare for this long haul journey with Baby Girl, and I'll follow up with a post after our travels and let you know how it all went down.
How we're preparing for long haul travel with a toddler
SLEEPING
Firstly, we have booked night flights. We've done this in the hope that we can all try and get some sleep while we're flying. When we get to our destination we'll have major jet lag to deal with so making sure we do our best to try and get to sleep on the plane will definitely help.
Through doing research in dealing with children and long haul flights, we came across this amazing invention called a JetKids Bed Box. If this works, I will be shouting from the rooftops about it. It's kind of like a Trunki and is a ride on suitcase which will be handy for navigating through airports. The most amazing thing about it, is that it's meant to be able to transform a standard economy chair to a bed. I'm going to have to believe this when I see it, but how genius is this idea? I'll do a proper review of this baby. Watch this space!
TOILET TRAINING
Baby Girl uses the toilet with a kiddie seat the majority of time she needs to go bathroom but does also use a potty at times. I thought long and hard about how we'll manage this and I discovered another product called Cushie Traveller that I'm hoping will really help (pic below). It's basically a cushioned kiddie toilet seat. It's foldable and comes in a washable bag that makes it really easy to carry around. This means that even on the plane, we'll be able to try everything possible to keep consistency and make it easy for Baby Girl to be able to use the toilet.
TO PASS THE TIME
I plan to pack a backpack full of new things she hasn't seen before. Reading books, sticker books, toys, activity cards, crayons and colouring books. All things that will keep her occupied. If I have time, I may even try and wrap them. I'm thinking that will keep her interest and may even be able to be used when bribing is necessary. Yes, I'll hold my hand up and say that sometimes I am the mum who thinks that bribing is necessary. I think a long haul flight is as good a reason as any to have to do it. Who's with me here?
Finally, I'm going to pack a pair of her own kiddie headphones. She seems to be at that age where she can sit through a movie. I tell you what, if they have Trolls on that plane, there is the potential that we could have 2 hours peace. She LOVES that movie. I like kiddie headphones as they are volume controlled and I have peace of mind that the sound will never get too loud for her precious little eardrums.
So there we go. Does this all sound like a plan? What could possibly go wrong?
I'm looking forward to reporting back on how we went. Stay tuned for more holiday themed posts and to find out where we're off to :)
Kat x
You book a holiday with enough notice to spend months dreaming about your adventures, making getting through the daily grind of life that little bit easier. You feel like your countdown is still so far in the distance. It is initially, but time flies and before you know it, your holiday is just around the corner. This follows a mad dash and panic to get everything organised, shopped for, packed, lists sorted and everyone and their bags in the car headed to the airport. The marathon that can last for many days leading up to take off. Only feeling complete in that moment when you take your seat on that plane. By that time you know that no matter what you've forgotten to pack, you are only a flight away from your holiday and there's nothing else that you can do about it but relax and look forward to your arrival.... and breathe....
Me. Every. Time.
So this time, being so close to our departure date, is no different. I've barely got our suitcases down from the loft, never mind starting to think about what I'm going to put in them. I've got work to finish. My house has been turned upside down and we have friends staying at our place while we're away so I want the house to be nicely in order for them. I'm not looking forward to the marathon that I know is inevitable, but my goodness am I so looking forward to taking my seat on that plane.
This time we are going long haul, and the one thing I have been planning for and organising is making sure we are best placed to take Baby Girl who's two and a half years old on such a mammoth journey. Last time we did long haul with her she was just over one. This time is going to be slightly more complex. Firstly she is potty training and although she is pretty much fully out of nappies during the day now but I worry about how that will go down on a long plane journey. She has her own seat this time, and not her own bassinet like last time where she was able to go down for some sleep. She also takes A LOT more to keep her occupied.
In this post I wanted to share some things I am doing to prepare for this long haul journey with Baby Girl, and I'll follow up with a post after our travels and let you know how it all went down.
How we're preparing for long haul travel with a toddler
SLEEPING
Firstly, we have booked night flights. We've done this in the hope that we can all try and get some sleep while we're flying. When we get to our destination we'll have major jet lag to deal with so making sure we do our best to try and get to sleep on the plane will definitely help.
Through doing research in dealing with children and long haul flights, we came across this amazing invention called a JetKids Bed Box. If this works, I will be shouting from the rooftops about it. It's kind of like a Trunki and is a ride on suitcase which will be handy for navigating through airports. The most amazing thing about it, is that it's meant to be able to transform a standard economy chair to a bed. I'm going to have to believe this when I see it, but how genius is this idea? I'll do a proper review of this baby. Watch this space!
TOILET TRAINING
Baby Girl uses the toilet with a kiddie seat the majority of time she needs to go bathroom but does also use a potty at times. I thought long and hard about how we'll manage this and I discovered another product called Cushie Traveller that I'm hoping will really help (pic below). It's basically a cushioned kiddie toilet seat. It's foldable and comes in a washable bag that makes it really easy to carry around. This means that even on the plane, we'll be able to try everything possible to keep consistency and make it easy for Baby Girl to be able to use the toilet.
TO PASS THE TIME
I plan to pack a backpack full of new things she hasn't seen before. Reading books, sticker books, toys, activity cards, crayons and colouring books. All things that will keep her occupied. If I have time, I may even try and wrap them. I'm thinking that will keep her interest and may even be able to be used when bribing is necessary. Yes, I'll hold my hand up and say that sometimes I am the mum who thinks that bribing is necessary. I think a long haul flight is as good a reason as any to have to do it. Who's with me here?
Finally, I'm going to pack a pair of her own kiddie headphones. She seems to be at that age where she can sit through a movie. I tell you what, if they have Trolls on that plane, there is the potential that we could have 2 hours peace. She LOVES that movie. I like kiddie headphones as they are volume controlled and I have peace of mind that the sound will never get too loud for her precious little eardrums.
So there we go. Does this all sound like a plan? What could possibly go wrong?
I'm looking forward to reporting back on how we went. Stay tuned for more holiday themed posts and to find out where we're off to :)
Kat x
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