Travelling light (Part 2)

Ok, by now you'll know that both hubby and I have a weakness for baby gear that makes taking care of baby J easier.  Take for an instance the Sack n Seat which we got recently when it was on sale.  So far, we've always gone on overnight trips lugging the Bumbo seat so that baby J could sit up without us having him in our lap all the time.  But now he's been able to sit up pretty well without support, and it's not practical for us to drag the Bumbo along when we go out all the the time. So we thought the Sack n Seat would be perfect for baby J now, since it means that baby J can sit in an adult chair, and we won't need to always find eateries with high chairs.  He gets very unhappy if we leave him in the pram when we have our meals, so its always been either a high chair, or the Papa/Mama lap chair.  But having him in our lap is challenging since he lunges for the utensils.  Try eating noodles with chopsticks while your baby grabs at your plate!

I let baby J try out the seat today, and I think he wasn't too impressed (going by his expression in the photo), but it does its job of keeping him seated on the chair. It may not be suitable for very active babies though, and baby J did try to squirm out after awhile. But I like its portability, and how it folds up into a small bag that's attached to the actual seat, making it perfect for stuffing into an already loaded diaper bag. Think I'll have to let him try the seat a few more times though!

And finally, one more travelling buddy we have is our "diaper caddy".  I've seen very nice ones being sold like the one by Skip and Hop, but most of them are pretty expensive, and may not fit everything that you need.  This is our own version of the caddy, our very own "baby essentials basket"!  The basket came from one of those gift hampers that we received, and fits everything just right.

Aside from diapers, wipes and nappy cream, we've also stuffed in his nail cutting kit, the stuff we use to clear his nose (plus the torch the Papa uses to look into his nose), baby laundry detergent, baby lotion, his top-to-toe wash, medicated oil (for tummy aches), his brush and baby powder.  We use the basket at home, and just transfer the entire thing into the car when we go on overseas trips.  But I'll probably have to think of something else when we go for the China trip, since checking in the basket as hand luggage will look pretty odd!  Any ideas anyone?

Travelling light (Part 1)

Hubby will be headed for China at the end of October for a medical trip, and we decided that baby J and myself would tag along with the rest of the team.  With that in mind, we've started hunting for stuff that we could use on trips, such as a portable cot, since some hotels may not provide cots for babies.  Most of the shops seemed to sell the various Graco Pack & Play cots, which look pretty nifty with all sorts of gizmos like mobiles and sounds, but most of these portacots were a little too heavy for our liking.  I mean, a cot that weighs 15 kg would take up 75% of the luggage capacity, leaving little room for anything else (and there'll be lots more to pack since it'll be cold).

Then we came across the Baby Bjorn travel crib, which was only 5 kg.  Rather skeptical that such a light crib would be stable and safe, we went to check for reviews, and saw that the crib was given a 5 star rating, and we were sold!  We used it for the retreat, and baby J loved to play inside it, but he cried when we tried to leave him inside for  his nap.  So now I'm trying to let him play more often inside the crib, and will slowly let him take naps inside so that by the time we head to China, he should be comfortable sleeping inside.  The crib is very well made.  Unlike others where the 4 corner posts have metal bars inside, which the baby can hit if he falls over from a sitting position, this one has posts that are OUTSIDE the crib.  The whole cloth cover can be removed and washed easily, and the crib comes complete with a mattress.  And to top it off, its very easy to set-up!  Only drawback is that since the legs are sticking out at an angle, it sometimes causes us to trip over them, but the plus points really outweigh the minuses!

The next thing we hunted for was for something to bathe the baby in.  Lugging a big plastic bathtub doesn't seem very convenient especially since hubby would also need to bring medical supplies along, and even the bath seat doesn't pack into the luggage easily.  And then we found the rubber ducky bathtub by Munchkin while browsing at the Takashimaya baby fair, and immediately bought it!  This one had a 4.5 star rating, and after using it at the retreat, even hubby (who usually has very high standards) admitted that it was pretty well made.  The tub is inflatable so you can deflate it for packing, and has a indicator inside that tells you if the water is too hot.  It also has a non-slip base and a suction cup so that you can just hang it up to dry... and the best part is the ducky quacks when you press its beak, which amuses the boy.  However, baby J's been terrified of being immersed in water since his previous swimming experience, so again he cried when we tried using the tub for a bath.

So to get him "acquainted" with Mr Ducky, I've started to let him sit inside, but without any water.  He has a good time inside examining the interior and rocking around.  I've also tried filling the tub with a small amount of water and letting him place his feet inside.  Again, he has fun and splashes the water all over.  Hopefully, by increasing the amount of water bit by bit, he'll get used to the idea of bathing in a giant ducky!