20 Travel Tips for Flying with Your Baby

Esmé in hand luggage at 4 months :)

Well our little Esmé is quite the jet setter. By the age of 14 months, she has already been to Portugal x1, France x2 and Ireland x3. That’s total of 12 flights. We’ve just come back from a skiing holiday in France, so I thought I’d write a post with these tips while they are fresh in my mind.

For the flights that John has travelled with me, it has been much easier. We could take it in turns to play with her and had space to get things out of bags, help with feeding etc. The worst flight was when I was on my own with Esmé on a 3 hour flight to Portugal. Every time I needed something from the rucksack, I had to rummage around with one hand and juggle with her wriggling on my lap, flustered at the fact that I was disturbing the man sitting next to us. I have picked up a few tips along the way by now that I hope some of you will find useful…

1. Buy some new toys before the trip so there is a novelty factor and it will hold their attention for longer. Asda is a great place for picking up inexpensive toys. Having access to a BIG bag of tricks is a must for any young flyer.
2. Go to a play gym in the morning if your flight is in the afternoon/evening. That way, they will sleep on the car journey to the airport and they will have had a decent exercise before the plane and the second car drive to your destination.
3. Find out at the check in desk whether you will pick up your pram directly off the plane or whether it will come out on the carousel.
4. If I am overweight in luggage, which I generally am with Ryanir, a cheeky thing I do is stuff items into the bottom of the foot muff and shove the blanket on top so nothing falls out and no one sees it. You can get a couple of extra kilos in this way.
5. If you are on your own, sit next to someone who looks like they have had a baby. They will more often than not instinctively offer to help you get something from your bag or help entertain the baby, watch them if you need the loo etc.
6. Carry everything in a rucksack; it makes it much easier to carry hand luggage that way as it frees your hands up. Then you can keep it by your feet rather than putting it in the overhead luggage section.
7. Carry your baby on and off the plane in a baby carrier. It frees up your hands to get passports and boarding cards and also your little one can’t wriggle. It also enables you to take off your rucksack with ease. You can then also take your coat off and put it in the overhead luggage section to free up space in your seat.
8. Wear a coat or cardie with big pockets so when you need to get your passports etc, you don’t have to faff with bags.
9. Ignore the early call for parents with young passengers to board first. That just means your little one will be sitting longer on a seat, whilst the plane is stationary. While everyone else is queuing, let your toddler crawl around and stretch their legs as much as possible until the last possible second.
10. If you want food warmed up, give it to the air stewards a half an hour before you intend on feeding. They can’t microwave it, but will place the food in hot water at the back of the plane. On two occasions, it has been 30 mins before they returned it. So with plenty of notice, it will avoid a screaming, hungry baby. Also, ask them to do it as soon as the safety belt lights come off, because once they get busy with the drinks and nibbles cart, they won’t have the time or the space to do it.
11. If you need whole milk warmed up in the airport, ask at a coffee shop with a cheeky smile, or else buy a babyccino and pour it in the sippy cup/bottle.
12. Make sure you change your nappy before the flight, even if there is no poo, as it could be a good wait before the plane actually takes off and the seat belt lights come off, and should they feel the need, at least it won’t mix with urine while you worry about them getting nappy rash.
13. Make sure you wear leggings or trousers with no buttons. If you are on your own and need the loo, you will be using the facilities whilst holding the baby and pulling your trousers up with one hand!
14. Take plenty of baby crisps, rusks, bread sticks – that sort of thing. It really breaks up the journey.
15. Babybel cheese is an easy one to carry and to open. Esmé loves these. Fruit (unchopped) such as an apple also are easy to transport without needing to use tubs and they pass a fair bit of time as well.
16. Security will allow liquids such as water over 100ml if in a sippy cup, so make sure to pack a few of those.
17. Toys that you have to take out of a box and put back in again while you count them work really well with Esmé. Make sure the toys aren’t too small or you will keep having to look for them under the seats when your baby drops them.
18. Take some new books out of the library in advance. Choose them according to size for convenience. Ones with flaps to pull up seem to work best.
19. Play a game of ‘Catch the Ice’ on the tray in front of you when you order a drink. That passed a good 25 mins for us on our flight back from skiing. Esmé also said ice for the first time J
20. I’m not a big fan of introducing too much technology too early on, but if you have a crying baby and there is an iPad in your bag, well, you’d be insane not to use it. John had downloaded an episode of In The Night Garden, and that kept Esmé happy for a while. The only thing is that the plane is so loud, so they can’t hear the sound and I’m not sure if you can use headphones with babies? Also, baby storybooks and flashcard apps  or looking at photos of your family on your phone and talking about the people work well.

So there you go. Hope this helps as you start to plan your summer holiday. Please let me know of any other tips you have. You can never have enough…

Free Storytelling and Craft Activities at Shipley Library

So sad to read today's tweet about  Bradford Central Library in the T&A. I feel the need to fight on behalf of one of our other local libraries – Shipley Library, to avoid at all costs a repeat of such a rapid decline.

When I walk into most libraries these days, all I generally find is a hub of under 25s updating their Facebooks and a smattering of pensioners taking advantage of the free newspapers. I have to say if I didn’t have a toddler, I would have little reason to venture out to my local library either (I do most of my reading electronically or through Amazon) but this is only because there is never a Faber to be found.

Saying that, the children’s sections are definitely worth a weekly visit. When I was a little girl, we were taken religiously to the library to update our books. I still remember by detail some of the illustrations in my favourite ones. Everything about the library entranced me – the smell, the silence (in those days they didn’t let children natter quietly let alone have races from one shelf to the other, like I recently witnessed), the inky stamps and most memorably, the gentle librarians who knew me by name. Last month, I took Esmé to that very childhood library in Clonmel, Ireland and my favourite librarian was still there, filing away. I’m sure she wore the same knitted red cardigan. Now that’s dedication to a cause.

Shipley Library is one of Esmé’s current preferred haunts. We’ve been going there since she was 8 weeks’ old. Every Tuesday at 14:00 sharp, they run a free storytelling and craft time for under 5s. Josh and Tracey are the friendly librarians who run the sessions. They read 3 books between them while the children gather around them on a brightly coloured mat. Well, most children sit, Esmé’s gotten to that stage where she likes to wander off under chairs or tries to crawl up Josh’s legs in a bid to turn the pages for him. After the stories, the children sit around round tables and get to make a craft based on the story theme. Our playroom is now decorated by scaly fish, feathery peacocks, springing frogs…all made at Shipley Library.

The main reason we go back there is the friendliness of the librarians. When we arrive, Tracey always greets Esmé by name and stays behind after the craft has finished to play with the children, read them more stories and make the whole experience more than merely a book drop-off, pick-up exchange. The walls and windows are brightly decorated and the hard board books are within easy low-lying reach of the toddlers. Though I spend half my time re-stacking books Esmé and her little friends have made a game of pulling out of the boxes.

You might already be aware of this but throughout Bradford Council, you can return books at any library. So for instance, you might go to the session in Shipley, then return the books at the Bingley branch if that’s closer to home. You can take out up to 20 children’s books at a time and there are also no charges for late fees on children’s books – try not to abuse this system though, otherwise there will not be enough books to go around for those of us who want regular book changing!

The Bookstart Bear Club is another great initiative and well worth joining. Just sign up with proof of address and your child will get a little book of boxes to be stamped at each visit, one for taking out books and one for visiting the story session. When they collect a certain amount of stamps, they get a certificate and a free prize. We’ve gotten DVD vouchers and a free swimming pass so far. It’s a great way to keep the motivation and reward levels high.

What’s not to love? Your little one will not be disappointed by a trip to Shipley Library.http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/news/10138751.Massive_decline_in_visitors_at_Bradford_Central_Library/?ref=rss&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Why Mums Love Salt's Mill

I recently had a lunch date with a group of local mums to Salt’s Mill in Saltaire. For those of you unfamiliar with this venue, it’s a beautifully restored, 4-storey mill which houses a large collection of the artist David Hockney’s work, as well as an excellent children’s and adults’ bookstore, designer kitchen ware store, a bespoke jewellers, a diner, a café, an outdoor clothing range and an antique dealers. Retail heaven. Enough said.

Esmé saw her first Hockney there at the tender age of 1 week old as John and I raced around frantically trying to find Christmas presents. Madness I know, but having been put on limited mobility in the last 2 months of gestation (and moving house!), I had left myself 2 shopping days to buy the majority of our Christmas presents. And the one place I knew I would not find endless swarms of  eleventh-hour men frantically rugby tackling their way to the nearest shelves, was Salt’s Mill.

The mill is one of my favourite ‘Me Places’ in Bradford. The calm instantly descends when I walk in, and the first thing to hit my senses is the smell of the freshly cut lilies arranged in over-sized vases throughout each level. After wakeful hours on end at home with a newborn looking at the same walls, the sense of light and space is like a wheatgrass shot for the soul.

But the main reason I am recommending the Mill as a mum favourite, apart from the stationery porn (don’t get me started!), is the space. We arrived at the Salt’s Mill Diner with 5 prams and parked them all up around one of the round tables without having to “Sorry”, “Excuse me”, “Do you mind if I get past” our way through. Not only that but they must have at least 20 high chairs, Oxo highchairs no less- must have cost them a tidy sum, and we managed to pull 3 of those around us too. I cannot think of another coffee shop I have been to in and around Bradford that can so easily facilitate such a large group of mums.

There is also ample free parking to the rear of the Mill with a few hundred metres walk to the side entrance with pram access, which is currently being renovated to improve accessibility.

On the down side, the baby changing facilities are at the other end of the level, and Esmé managed to need 3 nappy changes in the 2 hours we were there! However, it didn’t bother me too much as it gave me the excuse to peruse the poetry section on my way there and back. I just had to remind myself I had come with friends.

(Don’t forget to treat yourself to the chocolate milk shake made only from ice cream and milk. One reason alone to make it worth the drive.)

www.saltsmill.org.uk

A Bit About Me

I’m writing this blog to connect with new mums like you. Mums who lie awake at night, our smart phones under the duvet, Googling our way through all the baffling idiosyncrasies of babyhood. Amongst all the how-many-weeks-is-he/she-nows out there inspecting you up and down, there is also thankfully a huge amount of mutual support, advice and encouragement. I’m here to add my constructive drop to the ocean. 

My name is Natalie Rees, I’m in my early 30s and over the past 6 short years (the older you get, the quicker they fly), I have come to call Bradford my home. Originally from a small town in Tipperary, Ireland, I moved to Bradford on a career break in 2006 to study and to do community outreach work. But in the words of Robert Frost: ‘Knowing how way leads on to way…’ I never made it back. Before the switch to copywriting, I had been working as a primary teacher up to that time and had just been promoted to Deputy head at the age of 25. It was a huge accomplishment for someone of my age. But having survived a house fire, which destroyed all of my earthly possessions, it really made me re-evaluate my outlook on life and what I wanted to do with it. I saw it as a way of existence ridding me of all the ‘stuff’ I had acquired, physically and emotionally, without having to cough up a 10 week smartly sum to my nearest New Age centre. I left the comfort and security of the known, packed my 15kg Ryanair baggage allowance and set off for Bradford. 

In 2009, I graduated from the University of Manchester with a Masters in Creative Writing in hand, married one of the reasons I planted my feet in Bradford, John, and our beautiful daughter Esmé was born on a snowy night in December 2011. I love to read, but I am admittedly a bit of a book snob. I generally stick to Faber and Penguin for my staple diet. You will often find me at Yorkshire poetry readings, bringing the average age and hair colour down by about 20 years. I also love walking in the countryside and forests and my latest addition to my ‘mild exercise’ regime has been a turquoise mountain bike (it was donated).  Three years’ ago I picked up the violin again, having learnt it for a year or two in my teens, with a goal to get to Grade 5. I proudly reached this tickable target last year. I think my skills will cap there. The theory gets too mathematical for my brain beyond that. Plus, my music producer husband says my sense of rhythm isn’t precise enough to take it further. But he is happy to spend many an evening tinkering around with folk songs on his guitar with me and I am happy enough with that.

Along with continuing to teach in primary schools across Bradford, I also became a freelance copywriter and steadily built up my client base over the past number of years. On maternity leave, I've decided that this is where I want to solely place my energies (it's been a long time coming), and I now work as a freelancer.

So that's the tip of the iceberg for now. Enjoy the blog!