I just went through the wonderful experience of going on holiday. It’s been quite a while since I’ve last gone and this time I had the added challenge of bringing along my 4 and a half month old daughter. Luckily my best friend and his wife were also going, so at least- in his words- she’d have some extra knees to bounce on. The two things about going to the beach that I was most worried about was taking my baby daughter on a plane, and then the fact that the beach is full of sand and at her age she wants to put everything in her mouth. Let’s walk through how everything went.

Packing for a Baby

Babies are pretty tiny people and therefore their clothes are really small too, but you’d be wrong to assume that it means less space is needed for them in the suitcase. First and foremost: diapers. At least we didn’t have to bring those on the trip back home. Then there are a whole bunch of little things that the baby needs, like bibs, small cloths, big cloths, feeding bottles, etc. In the end the luggage for the baby was at least as much as we packed for my wife and me.

Baby on a Plane

It’s a common thing for people to complain about, a crying baby on the airplane. I was worried about annoying fellow passengers, but more about the discomfort of my daughter. One piece of advice I found online was to bring earplugs. Not for the baby, but for the people sitting around you. Luckily a more useful piece of advice actually made the plane ride an enjoyable experience for my daughter. To avoid pain from pressure changes, just start feeding milk to the baby right when the plane is taking off. She’ll be drinking and swallowing and this will help her ears pop. This worked like a charm.

The rest of the flight she slept through like a baby. Both there and on the flight back. The only thing that did make her cry was when she was sleeping on an empty seat between my wife and me, the armrest fell down from the up position and boinked her on the head. Bad luck, but I was able to calm her down quickly enough.

Baby on the Beach

I’m happy to announce that my baby daughter hasn’t eaten any sand. More importantly, though, as this was a much bigger concern, she didn’t get sunburned. Actually, nearly all the time spent on the beach she was asleep in my arms. We sat in the shade, and covered her up with a big hat. I guess the sounds of the ocean really are very soothing. I was fine, too. Thanks for asking. I had one hand free for my beer.

Baby out on the Town

We didn’t spend all of our time on the beach. We had dinner in different restaurants and we went to a Vegas style show with pyrotechnics and explosions. While the loud bangs did startle my baby daughter, it was the long sitting in the same position that caused her to get bored. She likes to be carried by someone walking. Dinner out went well, she would spend most of the time sitting on my lap while I tried to feed myself with one hand again. My daughter even came with us to Hard Rock Cafe, where she slept through the live music watched over by the wives so my friend and I could hang out and watch the band.

Summing it up

I spent a lot of time carrying my daughter around, but it was such a great experience. Next time I might need to do a lot less carrying because she could then maybe walk a little and at least sit up in a baby chair by herself. Maybe we bring some coloring book for her so she can entertain herself. Coloring book? What is this, the 90’s? She will probably not settle for anything less than a smartphone or tablet. I nearly forgot about those portable babysitters…