Our first vacation – boarding a plane with a baby

When the temperatures in the capital dropped to zero and the fog became a morning routine Darko and I unanimously decided that we need to chase the winter away with a vacation. The plan was to spend our winter vacation somewhere warm. We looked at some very different destinations, such as Thailand, Philippines, Dubai, Egypt, the Canary Islands, Cape Verde, Florida, etc. But my first condition was that we and the baby stay somewhere in Europe. Not that I would want to complicate things but I had second thoughts regarding the hygiene and health issues, or the potential complications related to it. So we were left with the Canaries … We went to one of the islands, Fuerteventura, last year (in the first half of April) for our ‘Babymoon’ and it was very windy back then. And because I wanted to avoid any potential inconvenience with the wind we finally decided for Gran Canaria, Meloneras – a little town on the south side of the island.

Great! Just like a child who counts his sleeps until Christmas we impatiently counted down the days until our vacation. However, despite all the excitement and joy, I had two theories about our first vacation together running through my mind:

  • Either we’re not going anywhere else until her 5th birthday or until she’s old and rational enough, as this will be such a nightmare, a true hell;
  • Or we’ll have the best time ever.

Finally the day/night of departure arrived. Our flight for the Canaries departed from Vienna, so we still had about a four-hour drive from Ljubljana to the airport ahead of us. The journey was quite tiring, especially for Darko, as it was snowing heavily all the way and the highway was completely white.

»This time, it’s for real« was echoing through my mind when the sliding door at the entrance to the airport opened in front of me. And I almost fell face-down as I tripped over the threshold. Good thing I was pushing a pram in front of me where Brina slept quietly as it was 5 in the morning. Darko was dragging the suitcases and commented wittily: “You’re my klutz!” I ADMIT, I was worried. Flying with a baby can be a very stressful situation, especially for new parents. I had a bunch of dilemmas …

– Luggage:

A couple of days before the departure I wrote a list of things to pack (for me and for Brina). Then I added or removed some stuff so the list was as rational as possible when I was packing the day before the vacation. Basically, the list was not that different from this one – Traveling Care-Free with a Baby, I just added the Freds Swim Academy swimtrainer (I’ll write more about it next time). I decided that in case we need some extra stuff, we’ll just buy it there (we already planned on buying the swimsuit, hat and swim nappies there) or if necessary I’ll wash it by hand.

Altogether, we packed 2 large suitcases (where we also folded the BabyBjörn bouncer), Brina’s nursery bag, a backpack where we put our ID documents, computer etc., and the pram.

According to the standard procedure we checked in our luggage (both suitcases). An employee of the airline we were flying with put the ‘luggage’ label on the pram but we were allowed to check it in just before boarding the plane.

As it turned out flying with a baby is awesome, just fantastic, I recommend it. As a parent with a small child you’re entitled to all sorts of privileges. At the check-in we asked for better seats and not just that, they also gave us an additional seat so Brina could play or rest when the seat belt sign was off. Also, you can use (at least in Vienna) a special X-ray checkup lane (reserved for prams and wheelchairs) so you don’t need to queue and stand in an extremely long line which seems never-ending. We could easily carry on liquids (beverages), which you usually have to throw away at the X-ray, since we stated that it was for the baby. We were also able to board the plane as priority passengers and again avoided waiting in line.

– Plane:

As I mentioned before we pushed Brina in the pram straight to the entrance of the plane where we gave it to the staff. After finding our seats a kind flight attendant brought me a pillow for Brina, pap and a special seat belt designed for children. Until two years of age the child has to sit in his parent’s lap (policy of the majority of airlines) and is fastened with an additional seat belt for children, which is fastened onto the parent’s seat belt.

When Darko and I planned the airplane vacation, I read quite some articles and forums about it on the internet. Among other things I also found out that it’s good to breastfeed the baby, especially during take-off and landing, or give him the bottle or the dummy, as this helps to even out the change in air pressure in the baby’s ears (they can’t do it themselves yet). That’s why babies usually cry in planes. I started breastfeeding Brina, but she fell asleep before we even took off. Luckily we did not have to experience the trouble.

Here are some of my suggestions which may come in handy. They definitely made my (our) flight to the Canaries easier:

  • If you’re flying with a partner, take turns in occupying yourself with the baby and let the other one rest.
  • Carry a nursing bag with you where you can keep ‘back-up’ clothes, nappies, etc. for the baby. You can also change the baby on the plane (in most planes) in a space reserved for that purpose.
  • Carry toys with you. Probably the largest problem in flying with a baby of six months is what to do on the plane or in a seat for 5 hours or whatever the duration of your flight. I suggest you take a new toy with you which the child does not know yet and will therefore find it more interesting.
  • One more thing that I found very important was sticking to Brina’s routine even on the plane. A 6-month old baby most probably already has a sleeping or a morning and afternoon resting routine. If Brina is too exhausted and tired, she will have trouble falling asleep. And before that she becomes very grumpy. So I decided to stick to her sleeping rhythm and did not wake her up unnecessarily. At most, I tried to lull her to sleep – after the X-ray and also on the plane.
  • Carry a blanket or a towel on board so you can spread it out on the floor or on the seat where your child can rest or play.

The flight was over quickly and most of all peacefully. At the Las Palmas airport, we were greeted by sun, the rent-a-car was already waiting for us with a child seat already installed as we requested. So we drove off ready for new adventures. It all went oh-so-smoothly we thought. But the vacation did not end without complications.

You can read more about it next week …

Naše prve počitnice – na letalo z dojenčkom

Ko so se temperature v prestolnici spustile do ledišča, megla pa je že postala stalnica vsakega jutra, sva z Darkom soglasno sklenila: »Zimo bo potrebno ‘presekati’!« Podala sva se na lov za zimskimi počitnicami nekje na toplem. Izbirala sva med zelo različnimi destinacijami: Tajska, Filipini, Dubaj, Egipt, Kanarski in Zelenortski otoki, Florida,… A moj prvi pogoj je bil, da z dojenčico ostanemo v Evropi, pa ne zato ker sem komplikatorka, pač pa so bili pomisleki predvsem v smeri – higienskih in zdravstvenih razlogov oziroma morebitnih zapletov. Torej so nam preostali le Kanarski otoki…Na enemu izmed njih, Fuerteventuri sva že bila lani (v prvi polovici aprila) na ‘Babymoons-ih’ in je ravno takrat izredno pihalo. In ker sem se hotela izogniti tudi morebitnim nevšečnostim z vetrom, sva se na koncu odločila za Gran Canario, Meloneras – mestece na jugu otoka.

Odlično! Kot kakšen majhen otrok, ki šteje kolikokrat mora še spat, da bo prišel Božiček, sva nestrpno odštevala dneve. A kljub navdušenju in veselju, sta se mi po mislih podili dve teoriji možnega razpleta naših prvih počitnic:

  • Ali do njenega 5 leta oziroma dokler ne bo dovolj velika in razumna, ne bomo šli nikamor, ker bodo počitnice za naju taka nočna mora, pravi pekel;
  • Ali pa se bomo imeli fantastično.

Napočil je dan/noč odhoda. Na Kanarske smo leteli z Dunaja, torej nas je čakala še slabe 4 ure dolga pot iz Ljubljane do letališča. Vožnja je bila precej naporna, zlasti za Darka, saj je vso pot močno snežilo, avtocesta pa je bila že popolnoma bela.

»Zdaj gre za res«, mi je odmevalo v glavi, ko so se pred mano odprla drsna vrat na vhodu letališča, in skoraj bi padla na nos, saj sem se spotaknila ob prag. Še dobro, da sem pred seboj potiskala otroški voziček, kjer je Brina mirno spala, ura je bila namreč 5 zjutraj. Darko, ki je vlekel kovčka, me je debelo pogledal in v smehu pripomnil: »Štorček moj!« PRIZNAM, skrbelo me je. Leteti z otrokom je lahko zelo stresna situacija, zlasti za novopečene starše. Imela sem en kup dilem…

– Prtljaga:

Že nekaj dni pred odhodom sem napisala seznam potrebščin (zase in za Brino). Potem pa sem še kaj dopisala oziroma sčrtala – da je bil seznam dan pred odhodom, ko sem pakirala – kar se da racionalen. V bistvu se seznam ni kaj dosti razlikoval od tega – Brezskrbno na pot z dojenčkom, dodala sem le še Fredov obroč (o njem več prihodnjič). Sklenila sem namreč, da v kolikor bomo karkoli potrebovali, bomo šli tam v trgovino (kopalke, klobuček in kopalne plenice smo že tako planirali kupiti tam) oziroma če bo potrebno – bom kaj oprala na roke.

Pod črto – s seboj smo imeli dva velika kovčka, kamor smo zložili tudi ležalnik – gugalnik BabyBörn, poleg tega pa še Brinino previjalno torbo, nahrbtnik, kamor sva zložila dokumente, računalnik, itd in otroški voziček.

Prtljago (oba kovčka) sva po ustaljenem postopku oddala na »check in-u«. Otroški voziček je uslužbenec letalske družbe s katero smo leteli sicer opremil z ‘listkom’ za prtljago, vendar sva ga oddala tik pred vstopom v letalo.

Kot se je izkazalo, je leteti z dojenčkom vrhunsko, nadvse fantastično, priporočam. Kot starš z majhnim otrokom si deležen cel kup ugodnosti. Že na »check in-u« sva prosila, da so nama dodelili ‘boljša’ sedeža in ne samo to, dali so nam še enega, ki je bil ‘frej’, da se je Brina lahko igrala oziroma počivala, ko ni rabila biti pripeta z varnostnim pasom. Naprej, med drugim imajo (vsaj na Dunaju) poseben rentgenski pregled (za otroške in invalidske vozičke) in se ni potrebno drenjati in čakati v nepregledno dolgi koloni, ki ji ni videti konca in kraja. Tekočino (pijačo), ki jo običajno na rentgenu zaplenijo, sva lahko brez problema imela s sabo, saj sva navedla, da je za dojenčka. Tudi na letalo smo se vkrcali kot prednostni potniki in se tako ponovno izognili čakanju v vrsti.

– Letalo:

Kot sem že omenila, sva Brino pripeljala z otroškim vozičkom do vhoda v letalo, kjer sva nato osebju oddala voziček. Prijazna stevardesa mi je takoj, ko smo se namestili za Brino prinesla vzglavnik in otroško kašico ter varnostni pas za otroka. Otrok do drugega leta starosti namreč sedi pri staršu v naročju (politika večine letalskih družb) in je pripet z dodatnim varnostnim pasom za otroka, kateri se pripne na pas starša.

Ko sva z Darkom planirala počitnice z letalom, sem si na spletu prebrala kar nekaj člankov in forumov…in med drugim izvedela tudi, da je potrebno dojenčka dojiti oziroma mora sesati steklenico ali dudo – predvsem pri vzletu in ob pristanku, kajti to naj bi pomagalo pri morebitnih spremembah zračnega tlaka v otrokovih ušesih (ne zna še izenačevati pritiska) zato običajno otroci tudi jokajo. Brino sem sicer začela dojiti, vendar mi je še pred vzletom zaspala. Tako da tovrstnih problemov mi na srečo nismo imeli.

Tukaj je še nekaj nasvetov, ki vam morda pridejo prav, meni (nama) so olajšali peturni polet na Kanarske:

  • Če letite s parterjem se izmenično ukvarjajta z otrokom, drugi naj počiva.
  • S seboj imejte previjalno torbo, kjer naj bodo ‘back-up’ oblačila, plenice, itd. Otroka lahko (na večini letal) tudi previjete v zato namenjenih prostorih.
  • Imejte s seboj igrače za otroka. Verjetno največji problem pri letenju s 6 mesecev starim dojenčkom je, kaj početi na letalu oziroma na sedežu in to 5 ur oziroma kolikor pač traja vaš let. Priporočam, da vzamete kakšno novo igračo, ki je še ne pozna in bo zato toliko bolj atraktivna.
  • Še ena stvar, ki se mi je zdela izredno pomemba je Brinina rutina in urnik in to kljub temu, da smo bili na letalu. 6 mesecev star dojenček ima po vsej verjetnosti že rutino za spanje oziroma jutranji in popoldanski počitek. Če je Brina preveč izčrpana in utrujena ni nujno, da zaspi, prej postane nenormalno sitna. Zato sem se kljub letu držala njenega ritma spanja in je nisem po nepotrebnem zbujala, kvečjemu sem jo uspavala – po rentgenskem pregledu in tudi na letalu.
  • Na letalo vzemite odejo ali brisačo, ki jo lahko pogrnete na tla oziroma sedež, da lahko otroka odložite in kjer se bo lahko igral. 

Let je hitro, predvsem pa mirno minil. Na letališču Las Palmas nas je pričakalo sonce, prevzeli smo rent a car, ki je bil na našo zahtevo že opremljen z otroškim sedežem, in se odpeljali novim dogodivščinam naproti. Vse je šlo kot po maslu sva si mislila, a počitnice niso minile brez zapletov.

Več pa prihodnji teden…