So many to write, so little time! As you may have guessed, Shafa is only writing her posts once Aydeen is sleeping or taking a nap. So here’s a quick write up on our Emirates experience!

1. Choosing seat

We are not a believer of paying to book seats pre-baby. After having one, we change our mind. We never thought there’s a science of choosing area when travelling with little ones!

For example, though Aydeen can’t sleep at the hanging cot provided in the front seats, the floor area is wide enough for him to play around. However, we don’t like them as we can’t pull the hand rest up. So we prefer seats behind them.

And latest tips we heard , the restroom in the middle is larger, making it easier to change diapers. Believe this: changing diapers for an active kiddo like Aydeen is like facing a war. Especially when he decided to scream at the top of his lungs. And jump all the way throughout. And play with your spectacles while pulling your hijab. Forget about looking hot.

2. Priority boarding

Just like any airline, those travelling with infants always have priority boarding.

As much as we wanted to shop around, after a few flights, we decided boarding earlier is the way to go with babies. Because you get to request a glass of water to prepare his milk, just in case your baby decides to scream when everyone else settles down.

And you get the top storage area for your stuff! Some people packed too much in their bags, making the top storage area impossible to fit anymore bags from other passengers. Pity the late ones.

3. Free carry buddy, hygiene set & toys

This is my favourite! Since we were having transit to and from KL, we have a total of 4 flights. Which means, we have 4 sets of these stuff! Carry buddy is the cutest ever and very handy!

4. Stroller at Dubai Airport

Upon availability, this is very handy and is quite necessary, as the journey to transit is very far at Dubai airport. There is even a person pushing Shafa’s mother on wheelchair!

5. Big, spacious airplane

We ride Airbus A380 for most of our trip. Superb! There’s even stars at the ceiling when lights off. Ha ha!

Can’t wait to share more!

It’s been a long time since our last post as a couple. And yes, we have a baby now!

So sorry, many things have happened in between.

1) loss of Shafa’s late dad

2) Shafa’s 1st pregnancy

3) coping up with being new working parents

4) handling a few businesses during free time

And now that Aydeen (our baby) is 1 year, we are now back to travel writing & photography!

For today’s post, we would like to share a few tips on travelling with a 1-year-old baby! Hope it helps with preparation of new parents who are travellers, like us!

1. Train the baby to travel

Yup, that’s what we do every weekend. Aydeen loves car seat. Aydeen loves going out. And he loves shopping. Of course, he loves food the most. Ha ha!

P/S: see this picture, he’s a perfect shopping companion, even in Promenade Palace, The Hague! :p

2. Vary his taste pallet

Every travellers know how different food are from our home, and how it is equally important for us to try on every local food possible, especially if we are writing about one! So from the very beginning of his solid food introduction, we are making sure Aydeen has varied tastes of food: from Malaysian food, to western food, and varied tastes of grains, rice, bread, vegetables, fruits, fishes, eggs & poultry. Also with loads of plain water! And of course, eating his own healthy snacks 😊

P/S: As you can guess from the picture, Aydeen ate most of the scones at Mark & Spencer, Oxford Street. We only tasted a bit 😦

3. Make him love strollers & various types of baby carriers

If you have the space at your rented car’s boot or extra hands for other types of transportation, it is best if you could make him love the stroller.

For one, it is always more convenient using strollers , especially if lots of walking involved! And it saves your baby’s well-being in rainy weathers due to most strollers have rain covers (I saw most Londoners do use this type of transporting baby the most. Their babies are all dry and not affected by winds during the rain, whilst our baby got a little bit cold when we didn’t put on the rain coat for him, but not too wet, since his jacket is waterproof).

Whilst using stroller is more convenient, we recommend bringing along your baby carriers together. This is because, there are times that babies don’t want to sit in a stroller. Plus, it is especially easier to put the baby to sleep. In our case, we bring both adjustable sling carrier as well as soft structure carrier. Why two? Because Shafa personally love the adjustable sling carrier, while Yusof prefers the soft structure carrier. And we take turns, if it’s permissible. 🙂

P/S: isn’t the yellow dinosaur rain coat that Aydeen was wearing in Lille, France (last picture) the cutest? 😊

4. Prepare loads of food & drinks

If your baby is a big eater & drinks a lot, such as ours, you will need to have a specialised bag to fill in his favourite food, milk, and plain water. Our must have is his favourite travel snack in a container, sometimes we also pack bread, and definitely his milk. Everything need to be in place, or else he will scream at the top of his lungs. Very demanding, yet a very happy boy we have. 🙂

P/S: The red container in the picture at Schiphol Airport is Aydeen’s favourite snack, at the moment 🙂

5. Baby’s usual hygiene set PLUS a very good lotion

The hygiene set is your usual diaper-changing, bath and grooming set. If you are travelling to cold countries, do ensure to bring the very best lotion for your baby (of which you can share too). In our case, we brought Shaklee baby lotion, and it works perfectly well for our baby! He didn’t have any issues with his skin throughout the journey , which is unbelievable, because both of us usually have skin issues when visiting cold-weather countries. Yusof got the time to put on his skin, and it feels better than any other lotions he tried before! We are definitely going to buy stocks of the lotions for ourselves too!

Hopefully this post is useful for everyone. Will share our journey soon!