Kamal, Khalish, and I had our first mini vacation during the weekend. A test for me, in particular, on handling a baby while travelling. The major challenge came my way during the first hour of the first day itself when Khalish, without any warning of stomach ache, did number two excessively. The excessiveness wet my pants and dripped onto the nursing room floor.
I managed to clean a wailing baby and the floor all by myself. It was too much a hassle to call Kamal anyway. Back to Khalish, he slept right after I cleaned and changed him, which made it easier for me to clean myself and find new clothes to change into. I was fortunate the adventure took place in a shopping mall.
Travel Tip 1
The parents need to pack a change of clothes in the diaper bag, along with the infant's.
The aforementioned episode aside, Khalish behaved rather well during the following outings. It would be completely well had he not let out a loud burp right after being fed at an iftar do for Kamal's clients. Excuse him. The clients' wives, who were seated near to me, were amused with his antics though.
He smiled, cooed, and laughed more nowadays. On Sunday night, Kamal came back from a meeting at 2:30 a.m., tired and sleepy. Khalish, who had just been fed then, was supposed to go back to dreamland. Nonetheless, hearing his daddy's voice, he refused to sleep. Eager to have my husband back as well, I humoured Khalish's babbling while waiting for the daddy to change into his sleepwear.
In the end, all three of us conversed with each other until 3:00 a.m. as Kamal has only met Khalish and I during the weekends since my confinement period started. Therefore, we cherish our time together. Moreover, Kamal, being away from us, thus being away from Khalish's developments, during weekdays, was amazed with his son's latest skills.
Travel Tip 2
No sense of time. Such concept is fun.
I am reaffirming this because I have been rigid with my sleeping time since the baby came. Yet, how often am I seeing my husband nowadays, and how often does he see his baby? Enough said.
Travel Tip 3
Be comfortable as comfort is the key to breastfeed a baby in public areas.
No nursing top is fine with me as long as I wear a stretchable and comfortable material. Nevertheless, nursing bras with milk collecting shells inside could be rather challenging as I would need to lift the top higher in order to put the bra front flaps and the shells in place. Not all public areas are equipped with nursing rooms.
Practise putting on the bra front flaps and the shells in place without lifting the top higher?
Resort to nursing pads and risk severe leakage?
Get a nursing cover?
Breastfeeding did slow Kamal and I down, forcing us to be contented with compact travel itineraries. I can't imagine not having Khalish around while we are experiencing ultimate fun though. In fact, Khalish is the primal factor of ultimate fun now. However, for a trip overseas with families and friends, which is still in the pipeline, I am contemplating whether or not to bring him. Having Khalish would mean compact itineraries to other families whose children are above one year old, and none are being breastfed.
Travel Tip 4
If possible, plan holiday itineraries that are baby-friendly in general, and breastfeeding-friendly in particular, which also means no expectation.
Kamal and I will first enjoy the trip back to Kelantan for Aidilfitri with Khalish. His second time there. His first time on the plane. On a second thought, I should try wearing my baby as a solution to breastfeeding him at public areas.
Travel Tip 5
Try to be as mobile as possible, particularly when travelling by public transports.
Hence, a yes for babywearing. I shall read more about it now. Wish me the best.
10 comments:
as an option, kau boleh pakai 'lilypadz' instead of milk collection shell or breast pad.
belilah nursing cover. aku rasa ianya membantu. there is one cover yg aku mcm suka which is called en zeru teru. cuba surf to littlekittle.com.. she's a SAHM, home-school her child.
tuty: Shells agak leceh bila travel. Lilypadz and en zeru teru eh. Untung aku ada kawan rajin surf like you. Love your tips :)
aku pakai Lilypadz, tak pnah terfikir nak pakai shells, bila kau pakai baru aku terfikir. ruginya ingat balik..
aku tak pnah pegi vacation lagi ni.. selalu feed dlm kete je.. nnt bln 11 nak bwk adam naik flight, i think i should have 1 nursing cover too.
tuty: Tak sempat nak shopping en zeru teru tu for our trip this weekend. The nursing poncho available at most shopping malls are less practical compared to the en zeru teru. Tuty, ko pandai buat sendiri kan. Senangnya. Mak aku sibuk (kalau nak minta tolong dia).
Aku rasa kena ada dua2. Lilypadz and shells. Kalau travel (and tak intend nak kumpul susu), pakai lilypadz. Dok rumah, pakai shells.
"number two excessively"?
wah.. poor you sis. dah penah kena sekali kat Jusco.. menggelabah la jugak sekejap.
medcham: Memang menggelabah tak hengat. Sempat layan rasa nak nangis. Haha. Tapi, after five seconds of 'layan', I came back to my senses. Tapi, aku memang rasa nak pakai black je after this. Kena lagi sekali pun (touch wood), masih boleh control cun lagi.
aku mcm nak try buat satu.. nnt lepas raya aku buat. kalau menjadi (aku nak buat mcm "bebe au lait" noursing cover), nnt aku buatkan utk kau satu.
mcm2 projek dlm kepala ni. nak buat bib adam yg boleh 'tangkap' food dia. skrg dia mkn real food. tp tak masuk mulut, more to baju and lantai je.
chech dear. aku tak boleh nak bagi sangat nursing tips as mine was like 4-6 years ago.. barely ingatlah.. but i always felt breastfeeding was easiest masa travelling sbb sumbat je mulut baby. no mixing, no heating, no washing. in public pon aku belasah je.. tp macam kau kata make sure baju loose.. and those times memang wireless bra all the way.. only masa dpa and afterwards je aku start balik on my wired bras..
ooohh panjang plak.. tp spill over to the pants tu macam penah happened before je... hehhehehe.
khalish... khalish.
assalamualaikum tuan rumah,
mengisi pulut ke dlm buluh, buat lemang juga ketupat, menyusun jari nan sepuluh, maafkan me wahai sahabat..
selamat hariraya maaf zahir batin dari en_me
tuty: I'll be your loyal customer :) Lagi bagus untungkan kawan kan. Bib boleh tangkap tu, aku nampak yang made of plastic je so far.
k-lynn: I've successfully breastfed Khalish in the plane yang sempit tu. Memang senang lagi breastfeeding kan.
Spill over first time tu pun tak seteruk yang second time ni. Haha.
en_me: Waalaikummussalam. Wah, tak sempat nak balas pantun la, en_me. Selamat hari raya from me as well. Safe journey back to kampung ye. Enjoice :D
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