On a road-trip with our baby

Traveling with a baby can be fun, sometimes exhausting, and different than what you have been used to before actually having one.

Our first vacation as a family was a road trip in the UAE when my son was 4 months old. We traveled through the Emirates, and the distance from one city to the other was a max 2 hours drive, which was sleeping time for our baby. Thankfully most of the time!

Of course, we had second thoughts about this trip, and we were a bit worried about how this vacation will turn out, but we managed pretty well, and everyone was happy.

There are two important factors. Regularity and consistency. From the day my son was born, it was clear to us that our priority was to have regular and consistent bedtime for him. We haven't had a crying or grumpy baby, and I believe that one of the factors for that was respecting his feeding and sleeping time.

After talking with different doctors and some of them with a neuroscience background, there was always one thing in common stressed out. Regular nap times for babies are a must.

According to science, sleep is one of the primary activities of the brain during early development and is inextricably linked to psychosocial development in early life, as well as to healthy cognitive. Therefore regular and consistent bedtime routines in a safe and comfortable environment are extremely important for babies and kids.

Usually, babies start to crawl after the 5th or 6th month of their life, and with a 4-month-old baby, it was pretty easy to go around. We were playing on the sunbed, we were swimming all together in the pool, we would do sightseeing, we would take walks on the promenade, and more. We had three hours in the morning and three hours in the afternoon for our family activities. Distances were short, so for us, this road trip was a success story!

Although I was breastfeeding, I took with me a few feeding bottles, my breast pump, and the sterilizer. We were bottle feeding too - actually my husband - because mommy also had to sleep a bit.

My son was waking up every 2 to 3 hours and I didn't really have time to rest during the day. So the 11 pm feeding was done by my husband and this meant 4 hours straight sleep for mama. That's what I called ''luxury'' back then.

Except for the fact that bottle-feeding once or twice a day was a game-changer for me, it allowed me not only to rest a bit during the night time but I was also able to run errands - when necessary - during day time. Another benefit of bottle feeding is that it's actually bonding time for the father and the baby, which is very important too.

Did bottle-feeding have an impact on breastfeeding? Absolutely not. I guess there could be an issue only if you would bottle feed more than breastfeeding. I followed the instructions of my midwife who is also a lactation consultant and everything was fine.

Don't be afraid to travel with a baby, it's going to be different but for sure you will have fun!

Thank you for taking the time to read my post, and see you soon!

All the best,

Clio