Traveling to Taiwan with 20mo. *Airplane mode*

Most parents tend to scared themselves a lot when thinking to travel with small children or babies because the most difficult part was to fly in the airplane with them. Lil pumpkin first rode on an aircraft when she was 13mo. I was so nervous and panic and of cos I did so much research and end up bringing whole lots of useless stuff into the plane just in case anything would happen and we can only struggle in the plane without any emergency stop button available at all. This time is lil pumpkin second time riding on airplane and we are now getting more comfort to travel. By sharing this post today, I hope we can help other parents what and how to handle small children onboard without having too much stress for their vacation.

During my uni years, I travel alot as I was studying in fast track college and I had frequent short holidays in between semesters. One of the reason also because my mom work with airlines during that time and I always travel using staff rate. As I normally travel alone, my worst enemy onboard was baby, kids and fat ppl. I think most of us travellers know the reasons why. And when we first travel with lil pumpkin, I think I had my karma back to me. You know the feelings of guilt when everyone in the boarding hall looking at you as if I can read their mind saying "Oh NO! there is baby onboard this flight!! FML!!" I know, because everyone showing me sour face before we board. l0lz! and surprisingly, lil pumpkin was so easy going with her first flight ever and she did not even make a fuss out of it. not even during take off and landing. So when we landed and everyone stand up and getting ready to get out. Few of the passengers around us looking at us smiling and say our baby is adorable. Some even try to play with her. (im sure if lil pumpkin did scream and cry, it wouldnt be the same ending anymore. HAHAHAHA)

 This was taken during her first fly early this year.

She slept after taking off till landing during our flight to Taiwan early in the morning. Thing we were so glad we brought along is her lil smelly bolster because she was sedated by the bolster right after taking off. l0lz!

After 2 trips traveling to the same place. I've summarized some tips for parents who planning to fly with their babies.

1. Check the flight time. If you had any choices, best to take your flight around your little one's sleeping/nap time. This way, they would sleep thru it and is easier to handle.

2. Book your seat in advance. If you're traveling with infant under 2yo, you are only paying a minimum amount of fees and infant will not be given any seat. It means they have to sit on your lap the entire flight. Ive done a little experiment for this 2 trips, there are normally 3 seats in a row for flight to Taiwan thru AA. From KK to TW. i booked our seat as A and B(refer to seat row 1). Which is near the window. and when return i booked B and C(refer to seat row 2) to the aisle. For both trips, whether it was coincident or not. There are always someone sitting next to us if I booked A and B. and there was always an empty seat if I booked B and C. So in order to have an empty seat for lil pumpkin. I will always certain that booking seats like B and C can do wonders. This only applies if you're traveling domestic or short flights. If you're traveling thru AA X, you can actually pay more to have an empty seat next to you. Or even better pay more for premium seats.

3. Bringing toys (old and new) I brought along her smelly bunny just in case she wants to take a nap and get sedated l0lz. Also I bought something new to attract her attention in case she gets uneasy in flight (which is quite useless because I did not have the chance to take it out this trip, she behave real well in flight). She was either sleeping or watching ipad with her daddy. Ipad was actually new to her too hahaha. she wasnt allowed to watch ipad at home thats why.

4. Some snacks to bite on. I did not prepare any warm food or meals for lil pumpkin in flight. But I let her drink her milk after we took off to the air. and if she still not sleepy yet, I let her have some finger food biscuit to munch on. Lil pumpkin is a food lover and never say no to any food offered to her so she was kinda happy when I took out her biscuit for her. Tips: Bring along a hot thermos with your own hot water because you never know where and how the hot water in flight came from. And also, you will not be able to ask for hot water before take off and landing. Custom will not bother you too much when they see you bringing a baby with you. I have a bottle of hot water and 2 bottles of mineral water in my hand carry. which I easily went thru the custom check. ;)

 5. Stroller can be drop off at the boarding gate. We are the only one who bring along a stroller this trip. I think we were the only family with babies too during our flight to Taiwan. And upon arrival, our stroller was wide welcoming us after a few steps off the aircraft. Feels like VIP. haha! and what makes us more VIP is that in Taiwan Airport, we did not even queue for anything includes passport check, custom check and baggage declare as we were given priority all the way till we are out to the airport doorstep. Loving Taiwan for this kinda service. And when we arrived KK after our trip, we queue like shit with bad queuing lines and so hot and crowded with another flight arrived 10 mins before us. =( and further more, our stroller can only be collected at the baggage belt together with all other luggage. Talking about efficiency. =.=


6. Prior to flying, please used up all your little one's energy. l0lz!! During our flight back to KK, lil pumpkin wanted to walk herself from check in counter till departure gate. Which we happily let her do so because we wanted to used up all her energy and then get tired and sleep in the flight. So that we could have some rest too.

Refer Hand carry to bring list here

Simple corner for toddler

Ever since lil pumpkin start learning to crawl. I've always wanted to give her a corner for herself that she can read and play. After shopping for furnitures all around the town. I didn't even found anything that is closed to what's on my mind. One day I scroll down my fb and saw an advert of IKEA shipping agent. (There is no IKEA at where we live) and without thinking much I placed my order to start my J PROJECT! to make space for lil pumpkin! After a tortureful wait(you know when u excitedly want something and you have to wait for them to arrive even only a few minutes is tortureful haha!) Finally our furnitures arrived in excellent condition!

 First batch of Ikea arrived!!

 Assembling in process.

 Actually I quite enjoy the moment while assembling Ikea furnitures. I was an Ikea fans during my uni years in Aus. (Talking about cheap and useful furnitures for poor scholar during those time. Ikea was my only choice) ;)

 Before the makeover. look at all the stuff without cabinet. When lil pumpkin start crawling, she always pull out anything she can get hold of and imagine everything threw out and lay on the floor. I knew i need to do something bout it.

 

 

 After the makeover. Look how tidy and organized now. Everything was in their own place and lil pumpkin can only get hold of her own things(books and toys) and she can now decide herself what to play and read by herself. and of cos the process of teaching her to put things back to their designated place is now another milestone to reach.

 

Lil pumpkin's reading and drawing corner.

This are all her books.

This is how I keep her puzzles. You know how little kids' puzzles will go when there is no boxes to keep them in place? all over the floor and it will soon gone missing pieces by pieces. With this I make sure lil pumpkin keep all her puzzles in place after she's done playing with them.

Now puzzles will not gone missing unless lil pumpkin eat them and store them in her tummy. hehehe! >_<

This corner for her board puzzles and wooden toys.

This little storage box are all her new and not yet introduced toys. I dont let her play with some toys I bought before hand until she gets bored of her old ones and get very confident with them. There are stages to advance too in toys. Theses are put inside storage box so she couldnt get access to it easily.

Since lil pumpkin's toys havent conquered all the boxes so I took 1 box to keep her diapers as it is very easyfor me to get it conveniently. of cos it was also stored in a storage box to prevent lil pumpkin from disturbing them. As for now, I just need to pray that she doesnt master the skills of pulling out storage boxes just yet. =D

These are lil pumpkin's outings bag and lunchie bag.

Lil pumpkin enjoy her new table and chair.

quietly flip her books while mummy secretly take her photos. hehe!

Its hammering time!! Knock Knock Knock!!!

And look what shes trying to do now. Monster is here!! Its always something fishy happening when she turns quiet suddenly. =.="""

Ikea furnitures from Kota Kinabalu IKEA Furnishing Shipping Agent

Travelling to Taiwan with 20mo. *To bring list*

Traveling with your little one. After bringing lil pumpkin to taiwan for twice. I've come across alot of ppl telling me why would you want to waste money to bring her along? she would not remember anything, shes still too young to understand. Ok. so now let me tell you why I bring my little one to travel with me when they are still young.
1. Their ticket is cheaper. ALOT cheaper than adult's
2. Being in a holiday with lo gives us(parents) a great memories with them. Not only kids need memories right? We enjoy explaining the world to her during our trips. This is also a great time to teach them the world.
3. We can have good talks with her with all the photos we took when she had grown older. (telling her she went to this place with us when she was only 13mo)
4. They are easier to cope with. (When they grew older and have their own mindset, its more difficult to bring them travel without having war all the time, this happens with my niece who doesnt want to eat or walk herself thru out the whole trip)

I love traveling - MINUS the packing part. When I was still single, I pack my luggage a few hours before my flight. Which is easy task for me. Just bring whatever I need and fly I go!! and if i do forgot anything, i can just simply get them once arrival. Now with lil pumpkin, I have to pack few days ahead and keep double triple checking whether i missed out anything important that we will die if we didnt bring along.

 These are our belongings. 2 checked-in luggages. 1 stroller and 2 hand carry backpack. Me and JY shared 1 luggage and lil pumpkin need 1 whole luggage for her things. >_<

Check-in luggage

1. Clothes (a few more extras would do no harm. Always check the weather for proper clothing)
2. jacket (thick for cooler days and thin for warmer days or indoor/raincoat for rainy seasons)
3. handkerchiefs and towel (to be on the safe side I always bring towel for the lo as we never know how hotels handle their towels)
4. pyjamas and sleeping suit (pyjamas can be any homewear clothes but i always let lil pumpkin wear sleeping suit at night because she is not a blanky person. she kicks away blanky all the time)
5. socks/hats or beanie depends on weather/gloves and anything relevant.
6. diapers
7. toiletries (2 in 1 head to toe wash/toothbrush/toothpaste/mouth wipes/comb/nail clipper/cotton bud/lemon brite dish washer)
8. portable toilet seat
9. thermometer
10. medication (florify/koolfever patch/essential oil)
11. Wet tissue/anti-microbacterial wipes for before and after meals
12. tools for meals (bowls/plate/spoon and fork/scissors for cutting) This time I did not bring along my electric cooker with rice grains oats and other dry ingredients as i dont plan to cook for lil pumpkin. I decided she can have what we adults have but i limit her to food which is less oil less salt. We found out in previous trip that taiwan food is not as bad for toddler. If you do bring along your electric cooker, please be aware their voltage is different from ours. Malaysia is 220v while taiwan is sing 110v. you need a voltage converter.
13. disposable bibs (i find this super convenient)
14. Familiar plush toys for her incase she's cranky before going to bed.
15. toddler snacks and instant oat
16. milk powder
17. extra milk bottles and straw cup
18. Combi Well comfort stroller



Diaper bag/hand carry

1. spare clothes 1 set and sweater
2. handkerchie/scarf
3. lotion/essential oil/anti-bacteria spray/hand sanitizer
4. lip balm
5. thermos with hot water
6. water bottle
7. diapers
8.changing pad
9. disposable bib
10. spoon & fork
11. wet wipes
12. 1 small pack of snack
13. milk powder
14. 1 milk bottle
15. stroller size book
16. new toys (new thing/toys that lil pumpkin never see before to entertain her during the flight)
17. 1 familiar/favourite plush toy
18. baby carrier

Tips/added notes:

This is very useful for traveling. easy to pull out and to prevent wipes from getting dry. Can be reuse for lots of times too so its consider worth! Comes with 3 in a box.

 Its a nightmare if you need to wash and clean your lo after each meal during vacation. Disposable bibs comes in handy and very convenient for traveling especially if your lo is BLW.

These are my diaper bags must bring items. No matter traveling or just outings with lo. Essential oils for emergency use. lotion. hand sanitizer and anti bacteria spray.

* I personally would NOT advice bringing a stroller if you are traveling to taiwan because it is not easy to push around streets if you are traveling with public transport such as MRT and train. their stations are all stairs and places to visit such as night market would be too crowded to push your stroller. I would prefer to baby carry your lo and if your lo can walk. let them explore too! Let them use up all their energies and you will have a good night sleep at night. =D I brought along my ergobaby too so JY can do the carrying part when we need to walk alot. We do let her stroll when there are chances and time allowed. During this time, we only bring along strollers when we were going out with friend's car.


Please stay tune for more posts of our trip to Taiwan! =D Coming soon!! More tips for bringing toddlers to travel!! 

Does your little one needs an ipad?

Do you let your little one play with your smartphones? Or ipad? Or any other similar electronics gadgets such as Nintendo? Psvita? Do you babysit your baby with electronics gadgets?

Me and JY agree that we won't let lil pumpkin expose to electronic gadgets before she turns 2yo. And it will be limited screening time after 2yo too. So we always keep her away from our smartphones. But this does not work too well as everyone in the house is holding a smartphones with them everyday and lil pumpkin start her curiosity of what it is that we adults have to carry with us all the time. So whenever she sees any phones that is near to her she would grab it very quickly. And by the time she is 6mo she loves our phones as she likes to see herself using the front camera. Other than that, she wouldn't understand what's the gadgets are for. As lil pumpkin understands more and she started to observe us while we are using our phones. Sometimes when we watch videos from our phone, she would crawl very fast and wanting to see what's on the screen too. I usually would let her see some interesting videos once in a while too. 

A lot of young parents often get very annoyed by kids throwing tantrum when they are outside. And when letting kids playing with ipad/iPhone are so useful and most often could quiet down a child easily, parents get even more relied to this method. They even bought an ipad specially for the kids to play around all day!! I'm not saying these are bad parents as I myself sometimes have to give in and let lil pumpkin settle down with some singing and dancing videos too during special occasion for example when we brought lil pumpkin for her first osteopath treatment, she was crying and it's hard for us to get it done. So we put some Mickey videos on for her.

How to entertain your little one without using help from electronic gadgets? 

I'm gonna share what lil pumpkin usually do at home nowadays. 

Some wooden blocks toys and Lego blocks.

Some books. Other than her bedtime story books, we got some activity books too for her to explore herself.

Some educational puzzle blocks. 

There are some really good books that I personally like them too.

DK noisy book. This is a very interesting book because there are a lot of hidden noises when u flip up some pages. 

For example when the pages lift up to show a lion. There's a lion's roaring sound. If u noticed there is a sensor dot above the lion so that when the page is lifted up. Lion will Roar!!! 

Snakes rattle!! Lil pumpkin will follow and repeat the szeeeee sound too!!! This teaches her animal's sound!! 

Eric's touch and feel play book.

Lion's fur!! 

Lulu's clothes. This teaches lil pumpkin how to wear all types of clothes like zip up a jacket. 

And also how to tie a lace! 

Lulu's loo even teaches little one how to go to the loo. Lil pumpkin isn't toilet trained yet and I'm not toilet training her till she can walk and express herself by using words. So this book actually let her understand what she will be learning in the future~ 

Flip flap books from preschool prep. 

Lots of alphabets to flip up and review the words that the alphabet representing. ;) 

While electronic gadgets have a lot of educational apps and videos for babies and children. I personally think that as a parents we have no right to take away their chances of getting to touch and feel the real world. Kids have to be out to the greens and sea to feel the fresh air instead of hiding in the room with their apps all day. Isn't that the way we live our lifes before all these gadgets are invented? I'm not saying high technology do no good to us, but before they have all the chances to touch these gadgets, why not let them live with the natures and be contented. 

The last thing you should imply to your child. A competition!

From learning to sit, crawl, stand till walk! I let lil pumpkin to achieved all in her own pace. I don't force her to be the earliest among her peer. I don't feel left out if every other same age kids had done their milestones first before mine. Saying this, it's very difficult for me as a SAHM to not getting worried when ppl around me keep telling me lil pumpkin is too slow in her development and I should seek medical advice. I remembered lil pumpkin can't even sit by her own at the age of 8mo. We had an appointment with paed and were send back home telling us everything was fine for her reflex and she's just slow and every baby is different in their growing stage. They made us an appointment for review 6 months later just in case no improvement in between this period of time. Immediately 2 days after that, lil pumpkin can sit by her own. And she even put strength in her legs when we put her to stand. In just 2 days time she improved. So I keep telling myself not to rush her anymore. She have her own pace.

Fast forward 6 months later I forgotten the appointment made to review at the paed. And we did not go back for the review. At the age of 14mo she then stand up by herself without help. But this did not impressed anyone except us(me and hubby) because everyone thought she was too late for this milestone to be achieved. When lil pumpkin turn 1yo I was asked by many "is she walking yet" obviously my answer would be no. Surely there would be so many suggestions for me to digest all the time. And in order to respect lil pumpkin's own learning pace, as a mother of her, I tried my best to filter all these feedback from others. It's in deed the hardest job I had. 

There was once I got very stress up and keep pushing lil pumpkin to stand up and walk. I've been saying things like "b, when are u gonna walk? Every other kids younger than u can walk by their own already, why are you so slow?" "Can u start walk soon? I can't wait anymore I'm worried." After quite sometimes I started to observe her everyday. And I'm super regret to say things like this to her. I know I shudnt do this because from what i see from lil pumpkin's attitude. She's a very quiet and gentle girl. She do things softly and slowly but very firmly. She don't do things that she's not confidence of. From then onwards, I stop rushing her to get up and walk, instead I follow her pace and help her in every steps she wants to go forward.

5mo. tummy time.

  

5mo. trying to grab toys in front of her.

 

 6mo. sit with support.

 8mo. sit unsupported frog style.

 

9mo. sit unsupported with help.

  

 11mo. sit unsupported by self.

 

14mo. self training to sit and stand in the cot till fall asleep.

 

17mo. trying to stand by herself without support.

 

17mo. Stand by holding furnitures. 

18mo. crawling everywhere with light speed.

 

19mo. Cruising around furniture.

On the 12th of Oct. Lil pumpkin turns exactly 20mo. As usual when I hold both her hands and start walking her to the backyard to see the dogs she let go 1 of my hand and start walking holding only 1 hand of mine. Walking slow but steadily.

Dear parents/parents to be, your child doesnt need any competition in her learning year. So spare them some patients and let them grow happily and you will have a wonderful perfect little one.