Traveling with Baby

Note: This post is long overdue!

Back in March, Cebu Pacific held a seat sale so Coach and I booked tickets to Singapore for August. Our intention was to take the train from there to Kuala Lumpur, to Penang, on to Bangkok, take the bus to Siem Reap then Ho Chi Minh City, then do it all again in reverse to get back to Singapore. We weren't planning on bringing Little B along. But honestly, when I was booking the tickets, I wasn't thinking about her too much. I was worrying about being able to still get cheap tickets! Fast forward to June. Coach and I decided we'd take her with us, after much deliberation on my part.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="367"] Notre Dame Cathedral in HCMC[/caption]

I wanted to bring her and I didn't want to bring her, for several reasons. But I'm glad we did. Everyone kept asking us why we wanted to bring her along. We'd have such a hard time, they said. We won't be able to enjoy, they said. She proved them wrong because Little B turned out to be a fantastic traveler. She was no trouble at all! She didn't cry on the planes, didn't cry on the trains. Granted, there were places we couldn't go (Patpong anyone?) and things we couldn't do (I couldn't go into the Cuchi Tunnels carrying her!) but we found other activities nonetheless.

I carried her in my baby carrier when we couldn't be bothered to bring the stroller around with us. She often napped while we were on the go, most likely lulled into sleep by my walking or the movements of the stroller. She ate everything we ate - even the street food. My mom specifically warned us about it before we left, but obviously we didn't listen. Little B seemed to be enjoying the food anyway!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="472"] Eating carrot cake in Penang[/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="380"] In Bangkok[/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="536"] Dinner at the Ben Thanh Market, HCMC[/caption]

One thing though - the people in the cities we visited LOVE babies. Everyone was playing with her (especially on the trains!) and trying to engage her in some way. Several times people would try to carry her but she wouldn't have any of it, and let them know via a shriek or a cry.

We skipped Siem Reap due to the HFMD outbreak (she ended up getting it anyway, but that's another story) and flew from Bangkok to Ho Chi MInh City, and from HCMC flew to KL. We finally had a play date with her cousins in Singapore. She took her first steps in Bangkok. For that alone, it was worth it.

THAT Baby

Have you ever been in a place where there's always this one kid who screams the house down? Where you stare icily at the mother thinking, "Control your child, woman!" Well, last Saturday that kid was Little B. 

She and I attended our first La Leche League meeting. We were the first ones there, aside from the 2 moderators. Women trickled in - some alone and some with their husbands, but always with their child in tow. The meeting started and Little B sat quietly on my lap, picking rice puffs from my hand. I peeked into the container - uh oh. Just a few pieces left! Thinking that maybe she would keep quiet longer, I gave her everything in it. A few minutes later, when she realized nothing more was coming, she began to squirm. Started to grunt and wriggle. Let out a couple of ear-piercing shrieks. So I put her on the floor. She crawled this way and that, trying to go under the chair. I kept picking her up to keep her close to me but she protested quite loudly. I gave her a water bottle to play with. Big mistake. She spied the water bottle of the woman sitting to my right, and went straight for that. I picked her up and she screamed. Oh lordy. This went on the entire time. Thank god the meeting was just an hour! I couldn't keep track of what the group was discussing, as I was busy trying to keep Little B from crawling between the legs of other people. 

I couldn't help noticing how the other babies were well-behaved and quiet. I suppose maybe because she was the oldest of the bunch (well, there was one who was older but her dad whisked her away) and the others were less than 6 months old. The woman sitting next to my right had her daughter, who was a month younger than Little B, with her. I was pretty happy that Little B was finally able to interact with another baby. I gave her a spoon to chew on and she would promptly hand it over to the other baby. Then the mother would take it from her and give it back to me, and I would give it back to Little B to play with. Then the whole pass-the-spoon thing would start all over again. I got the impression that maybe the woman might have been a bit wary about cleanliness because Little B had been crawling on the floor and put the spoon in her mouth.

I guess I won't be attending another meeting any time soon, not unless Little B learns how to behave in public!