On Rafiqh's stuffs & Travel with a toddler...

Kurang sebulan je lagi dari sekarang kami dah nak balik Malaysia, lalalalala... Tiket pun dah booked, penerbangan dari Kansai Airport, Osaka ke KLIA pada 20jun nanti, insyaAllah... Lagi sebulan nak balik tapi barang dah hampir siap kemas dah, hahaha, nampak sangat beriya tak sabar nak jejakkan kaki ke tanah air kan, cuma yang tak bestnya myLove tak balik sekali, huhu. Tapi tak apa laa, tak sampai sebulan kemudian myLove balik jugak, walaupun setakat 2minggu je, hihi. Macam biasalah setiap kali balik mesti bawa barang punya laa banyak. Kali ni bawa 1 kotak dan 2 beg(beg barang Rafiqh+baby dan beg barang mama). Limit 35kg je, harap2 tak terlebih banyak ler, hehe... Sebelum2 ni I was lucky enough, bawa lebihan muatan pun tak pernah disuruh buang/bayar, tapi kali ni rasa cuak laa jugak, sebab dengar2nya macam strict je diorang sekarang...

Being me yang sangat tak suka buat kerja last minute dan tinggal2 barang ni, I dah prepared checklist barang ever since few months ago. So barang2 Rafiqh yang I dah list out sebelum ni yang mana I agak2 diperlukan nanti kat Malaysia semuanya dah complete ada... We just bought basic first aid kit, mayonis, nori, senbe, choco biscuits, formula milk packs, cocoa packs, clothes, socks, shoes, toys and books. Banyak jugak barang budak kecik ni, yer laa kan, bukan balik seminggu dua, berbulan woo, tak kan semua nak hangkut beli baru...

New socks, socks lama semuanya dah tak muat...

New shoes, all this while dok pakai sandle tok-tet tu je, so ayahnya belikan kasut untuk dia, ayahnya kata apa kelas naik plane pakai seliper, hahaha...


Talking about travelling with a baby/toddler, InsyaAllah this gonna be my 3rd time travel back to Malaysia with Rafiqh, and the 2nd time travel alone with him. 1st time dulu masa nak bawa dia balik ke sini sejurus lepas bersalin. Satu pengalaman yang tak mungkin dapat dilupakan, tapi masa tu dia masih baby, umur belum pun cecah 2bulan so memang agak senang laa sebab dia masih banyak tidur. Last year balik ayahnya ada, dia pun masih belum boleh berjalan, kurang melasak lagi kalau nak dibandingkan dengan sekarang, dan yang paling utama masa tu pun dia masih banyak tidur. Sekarang ni jarang2 sangat nak tidur 2sesi waktu siang, so this time I guess it's gonna be more challenging than previous. Terdetik jugak sedikit rasa risau kot2 dia restless pulak lama2 dok dalam plane kan. Nak2 pulak dengan I yang tengah sarat, fuhhh harap sangat dia boleh behave. My maternal instinct keeps telling me that he will be a good boy though, just like usual, insyaAllah...

Pendekatan paling simple yang I selalu gunakan ialah "bercakap", sejak berbulan2 lepas I dah mula bagitau dia tentang journey kami ni. Sekarang ni hampir setiap hari I akan ulang cakap benda2 yang sama supaya otaknya proses segala info tu sebaiknya. I akan gunakan masa ketika dia tengah minum susu sebelum tidur, time tu otak dia dah rehat dan dalam keadaan tenang, agak2 dia dah nak lelap tu, dalam tidur2 ayam gitu I akan ulang lagi cakap apa2 yang I nak dari dia. Sejak dia baru lahir pun I dah guna cara ni, somehow rasa sangat berkesan. Contohnya macam masa nak bawa dia balik sini dulu, I told him to just sleep all the way back to Japan. Memang betul pun, dekat2 nak naik plane tu dia tidur sampai laa dekat2 nak sampai. Tapi before dia tidur tu dia dah melalak tak hingat dah kat airport, hahaha. My bad, I should have told him to behave for the whole day, *sigh*... Ni gara2 dia pooped dalam kereta on the way nak ke airport, masa tu kami bertolak dari Ipoh lepas asar, elok dia poop tu dah nak masuk maghrib, tak nak laa singgah mana2 sebab bawa baby ni besar risikonya, takut "terlekat" makhluk2 halus pulak kan. So kami teruskan perjalanan hingga sampai airport, dia langsung tak tidur dalam kereta, faham2 je laa kan, mesti laa dia dah rimas dan penat. Sampai kat airport pulak check in dulu baru nak salin, nak check in pulak satu hal sebab bawa balik bouncer, kena pi kaunter lain ler pulak, haihhh... Alih2 pi mai pi mai dah makan masa, Rafiqh masih releks lagi time tu, tak nangis pun. Masa my parents performed solah, I brought him to baby room. Selesai je salin terus susukan dia dan dia tidur, masa tu dah ramai saudara-mara datang, elok I bagi dia kat mak untuk I pulak pi solat, entah macammana dia terjaga so dah mengamuk2, marah agaknya orang pegang2 dia. Start nangis tu tak berhenti2 punya laa lama, berjam2 jugaklah, first time dia nangis macam tu. Semua orang dah panic, macam2 cara pakai nak pujuk dia tapi tak jalan jugak. I maintain releks je tapi bila dah dekat2 nak naik flight tu sedikit gusar laa jugak kan, buatnya dia nangis dalam plane jenuh laa, dah laa flight pukul 11malam, time semua orang nak tidur. Alhamdulillah elok je dekat nak turun pemeriksaan kastam tu dia dah tidur. Tapi of course laa semua orang berdebar2 risaukan kami. Especially my mom yang langsung tak boleh tidur the whole night sebab kasihankan I. I tak rasa sedih pun kena balik sorang2 macam tu, tapi orang lain pulak yang rasa sedih kasihan tengok I yang bawa baby gitu, hehehe...

Last year masa bawa dia balik Malaysia, I cuma sediakan fruit puree dan baby finger crackers untuk dia. Selain tu bawa jugak macam2 jenis mainan yang dia suka main. Alhamdulillah perjalanan dipermudahkan, he slept most of the time. At that time I knew in whatever situation, the only "thing" that could soothe him was breastfeeding... But now, everything is different. He has changed a lot, not a baby anymore but a little active and agrresive toddler, mean I have to be more creative and alert to prepare all the necessary items. As for now, I've packed 3bags as hand luggages - my handbag, Rafiqh's backpack and a diaper bag.

Rafiqh's backpack...

Diaper bag...


By the time we fly back to Malaysia next month, Rafiqh will turn 1year 6months old. I've asked my friends who had experiences travelling with toddlers at Rafiqh's age to know whether it's important or not for us to let him sits on his own seat. Some said YES, and some said NO. After thinking about all the consequences that might happen and discussed about it with myLove, we decided to let him having his own seat, but actually I prefered the bassinets most, cause I know he will refuse to sit on his own...

Unfortunately, everytime I called the travel agencies to survey the tickets's price, when I told them his age, they calculated his ticket based on infant's price cause they still considered him as a lap baby(under age 2), they don't suggest us to book a seat for him, and even MAS staff also said the same. They will provide a baby bassinet for him. Oh I really hope they will give me a bassinet, cause setakat 3kali naik-turun flight ni belum sekali pun dapat bassinet, diorang cuma bagi extra seat je, kenapa yer I tak pernah diberi bassinet? Sebab I tak minta masa check in tu ker ek? Extra seat pun ok jugak sebab selalunya flight memang tak penuh so dapat 2-3extra seats, tapi penat laa cause masa dia tidur pun I still kena jaga dia, takut tergolek jatuh pulak kan. Lain laa kalau letak dia dalam bassinet, rasa lebih selamat siap ber-buckle, boleh laa nak rest/tidur sekejap masa dia tengah tidur... So, balik kali ni pun dia masih dikira sebagai infant, memang murah sangat laa tiket dia...

Ada macam2 barang yang diperlukan bila kita nak travel dengan budak2, terasa banyak sangat bezanya compare to masa travel dengan dia when he was a baby, now his stuffs is double or triple than before. So in my case, I need:

1. A lightweight stroller. Serik dah bawa balik Rafiqh dengan hanya guna baby carrier/sling. Penat wei nak usung dia especially kat KLIA...

2. Toys and books - bring his favourite toys/books and new toys/books as well. Toddlers at his age sometimes need something "new" to attract them, keep them still and entertained on the go...
A feeding bottle, foods(his favourite choco biscuits) and drinks(his milk+cocoa)...
I packed all these things in his backpack...
His favourite book and jigsaw puzzle...

New toys...

He loves painting, so I bought a new book for him... All this while dia dok conteng buku taraf universiti(read:my old notebooks), bagi dia turun taraf sikit, pakai buku kindergarden, hek!

3. Extra diapers - I bring 5pieces of disposable diapers...
Wipes - minta2 laa Rafiqh tak poop dalam plane...
An extra clothes...
A baby napkin - need it to put Rafiqh during diaper changes...
Plastic bag - to put dirty clothes and etc....
All these things are in his diaper bag. Actually kalau setakat 5benda ni je, muat sangat dalam my handbag tapi sebab I nak bawa balik laptop, tu yang bawa diaper bag tu, hihi...

If few months ago breastfeed was the best way to soothe him, but now since he has weaning off breastfeeding, I guess my iPhone is more than enough to keep him in good mood and stay calm along the journey, he could view his favourite videos through it, thanks honey, I know you have been thinking about this trick earlier...

Selain daripada keperluan barang, merancang perjalanan jugak adalah faktor yang penting bila nak bawa budak ni kan. Mood budak2 kena jaga, I have to ensure he always feel comfortable. Dalam otak ni, roughly I dah plan satu demi satu jadual untuk dia, really hope everything works well... I'll blog about this later, insyaAllah. Wah, sangat teruja nak travel, wohohoho!