We are going to Pak at the end of the month and although I’m pretty excited, I’m starting to feel nervous about taking Harris on a long plane journey. We took him to visit my parents shortly after he was born and the whole hourney was very distressing - for all of us. I think the main problem was the pressure build up in his ears. An air hostess suggested feeding him during take off and landing…does this actually work?
If anyone has any advice on ensuring a relatively crying-free journey then it would be much appreciated.
Secondly I need to know if there are any vital things that I absolutely need to take to Pakistan with me. I know I can get things like diapers and baby food there but is there anything that I should definetely not leave behind?
hey thats great :) going to pak I mean. I have no such personal experience of my own but last time I went to pak with my sister and niece .. at that time she was two year old. Luckly she did not cry much during the flight, infact she had the nice time conversing and playing with guy passengers sitting behind us whom we were trying to avoid hehe. But the whole lenght of the journey is very tiring for a small child, we were glad that half way through she slept.
My sis made sure she had a baby carrier (wagen) with her. She took, baby milk, her baby tea, things he normally eats, baby ceams and baby oil & and loads of baby medicine. My niece got sick and lost lots of weight, even if you feed the baby with baby milk and water out of bottel, the air is enough to make the baby sick, so be prepared that u have all the necessary medicine, just in any case, that's the most important thing i can think of at the moment.
Thanks for the tips Saadia....hopefully we won't get too sick as we will only be there for 10 days. Its nice that your niece wasn't too much of a handful, I'm always very conscious when Harris cries in public that people will get annoyed by the noise.
Another thing I forgot to ask, is the bottled water safe to drink or do I need to go through the whole hassle of boiling water?
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*Originally posted by shahreen: *
Thanks for the tips Saadia....hopefully we won't get too sick as we will only be there for 10 days. Its nice that your niece wasn't too much of a handful, I'm always very conscious when Harris cries in public that people will get annoyed by the noise.
Another thing I forgot to ask, is the bottled water safe to drink or do I need to go through the whole hassle of boiling water?
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Shahreen, it depends where you are staying at. I know that Islamabad's drinking water supply is good but boiling is essential for us abroadis. We used bottled water everywhere. I don't like the taste of boiled water. For the baby niece my sis would boil the bottled water for her daily milk feeding, but she would also drink bottled water without boiling. I think bottled water is safe enough, though you never know, if you want to be 100% safe use only boiled water for you guys and the baby.
I hope you have a good time without getting sick ... 10 days are quite less.
we are going to Islamabad so hopefully I'll be able to get by on bottled water for myself and hubby but the advice that everyone has been giving me indicates that I must boil water for Harris.
I have also tried the water purifying tablets today but they make the water taste weird so I'll give them a miss.
Be careful while selecting the brand of bottled water, not all have certificates from the gov. department :) Only Nestle and few others have it (don't remember any other names right now)
gosh… i travelled last year from Islamabad to Abu Dhabi on a PIA flight with one of my Chachis and her two young daughters. The oldest was about four years old, and the youngest was less than six months. i love them to bits. Period. i have to say, simultaneously, it was the worst travel experience i have ever had in my life…i still have nightmares from that A few tips for you, Shahreen baji:
Take ALL of his favourite toys with you… colouring books, puzzles, books with bright pictures, dolls, teething toys, rattles, soft dolls, paper to scribble on, paper to make stuff out of (paper planes, etc.), hand-made paper fans (to keep him cool). Infact, it might be a good idea to buy new toys for him that you don’t show him prior to your departure… let him ‘unwrap’ his new toys while on the plane itself.
My cousins cried, almost continuously, the entire trip - literally non-stop. i felt sooooooo bad for the passengers sitting around us; as you stated in your post, it does make one self-conscious. The plane itself was too hot from the start so that added to the feeling of uncomfortability for my cousins. And of course there was the necessary two-hour delay at the airport lounge prior to departure, as well as another 45 minute delay inside the plane itself. Keep him cool at all times…that’s why i mentioned the paper fans. Toys/books/even your bangles can become play-things for your son. Magazines (with pictures) are a great source of distraction… colouring books… If you don’t mind my asking, how old is Harris? If he is at an age where he can understand these types of things, it might be helpful if, during take-off, you explain to him how the plane is taking off, how pretty soon both of you will see clouds etc…kind of try to make it fun and explain what’s happening at the same time. That MIGHT make it a little less scary for him.
oops, sorry for rambling. Best of luck, i sincerely hope you have a far more enjoyable plane experience than i did last time Insha’Allah
Nadia, he will be around five and a half months when we go, so unfortunately won't be able to keep him busy with colouring books and stuff. I will have plenty of toys to hand but I'm not really banking on those too much as I know he gets bored easily.
I like your tips about the hand fans though, especially at this time of the year. Thanks.
shahreen..as for the bottled water..why don't you just pack some for Haris. That way you can ensure that the water is safe for him....we do that all the time when we're going to Pakistan...
well I might pack a couple of bottles in my carry on luggage but I doubt there's going to be anough room to take enough water for a 10 day trip. I bought the hand fans today though so thanks once again.
Does anyone know if the baby food and formulas available in pak are any good? I was going to take my own supply but I don't know if you're allowed to take that kind of stuff, don't want customs to confiscate my farleys rusks now do I?
I've been thinking about the same things as you have. We have to travel later this year and this thread will help me to collect my list of must haves......
Make sure you take the basic things like cough and cold medication, fever medication, etc. You can get this stuff there, but I've been told that it's not as effective.
Shahreen, the bottled water is safe and additionally you can also boil it, just as fantastic said use the certificated ones, we allways use Nestle water bottles and stay fine.
You can get baby formulas and baby food from any good medical stores in Pak, as the stock that my sister brought along finished before the end of the trip, my niece took the ones from there and she didn't reject, so I think they are quite good. Mostly I've noticed that babies get used to their brand that they don't take other formulas, so just in case I would take enough to get through the trip.
I have never heard of custom confiscating baby food, so it should be okay to bring along.
I've been thinking about the same things as you have. We have to travel later this year and this thread will help me to collect my list of must haves......
Make sure you take the basic things like cough and cold medication, fever medication, etc. You can get this stuff there, but I've been told that it's not as effective.
I will add more as I think of it.....
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I remember the days when Adam and I could just go away for the weekend on the spur of the moment, just grab our passports and throw a few things intoa bag. Now every trip needs to be planned with military precision.....what to take, baby changing facilities, child friendly restaurants, etc etc. I wouldn't change it for the world though.
Well, for short flights I can give u some information (upto 4 hours) but long flights I have no clue.
We travelled with Alina to Eygpt & Cyprus & she was pretty fine. feeding the child during take off is fine, during landing is not necessary. If you are lucky then u might get an empty seat next to you .... so if the child sleeps you can put her on that seat. Depending upon the age of the child they can even provide you a child bed (available on request when u buy ur air tickets).
Basically there is not hard & bound rule .. depends upon each & individual child how he/she behaves, we didn't experience much trouble but have seen horrible scenes in the aircrafts when people where travelling with little children.
I even planned to take Alina with me to Toronto as she was always good on travelling but then cancelled the idea as my wife is not going with me so 2.5 years old child will be a bit difficult for me alone to take care off.
I even drove from Amsterdam to Vienna with Alina in the car (just me & my daughter) she was so good in the baby seat & everyone I visited in Austria couldn't believe that a 2 years old child just travelled without mum in the car while I was busy driving most of the time.
Najim, thanks for your input. I have requested a child bed for Harris when I ordered the tickets, and have been told that it should be okay but they can't guarantee that I'll definetely get one for sure.
Basically I'm preparing myself for any worst case scenario.....when Harris was a month old we flew to the UK (about a 2 hour flight) and the journey was a nightmare as he cried all the way through. I think the mistake we made was to just assume that he would sleep all the way through. Bad mistake.
Second time we drove to UK rather than go through the experience again (even though it makes the journey nearly 10 times longer) and experienced no problems whatsoever. Although he is very good in the car anyway, when he had colic my husband used to take him out for a drive to get him to sleep. Not very eco-friendly I know but needs must.
A few tips for you, Shahreen baji: