7 January 2013
By: Laura Trotta
Travelling at the best of times can be exhausting. Travelling with babies and pre-schoolers in tow is even more so!
Living in Outback South Australia away from our family in Adelaide, Victoria and Queensland, we consider ourselves seasoned travellers. Whether it’s driving the 1200km round trip to Adelaide or flying the two plane legs to Melbourne or Brisbane, we have refined our travelling “procedure” over the past few years since the arrival of our two sons.
If you’re thinking of taking a holiday with your children or just looking for ideas to make your regular travel a little simpler, read on for my top tips to make travelling with babies and young children as easy as possible:
Air Travel
- Baby carriers are truly worth their weight in gold in general and in particular, in airport transfers and when travelling to regional areas where travel strollers and prams just can’t handle conditions such as beaches and gravel paths.
- Babies really are very portable, particularly if breastfeeding. Maximise free (or reduce fee for international) air travel for infants less than 2 years of age. After that age, air travel really does add up!
- Breastfeeding on the go is so much easier if you have your pillow with you. If your babies’ ears are susceptible to changing air pressures, feed on takeoff and landing.
- Don’t skimp on airfares. By that I mean fly different legs with different airlines. The few dollars you may save isn’t worth the hassle of collecting and re-checking in baggage mid journey. Not to mention the risk of missing your second flight if the first one is delayed. Book with the single carrier and check your baggage the entire way through.
- Have healthy snacks on hand for you and your children. Don’t rely on having time between flights to purchase something. Often a nappy change and feed can take up all available time.
- If you have more than one child, assign a parent to each child/ren as toddlers can quickly become lost in a busy airport.
- Be ready with a sick bag if your tot suffers from motion sickness. Pack an extra outfit for them and yourself in your carry-on luggage, particularly if you have a connecting flight.
- Travel as light as possible as extra baggage can cost a fortune. Best to do a load of washing or two during your trip rather than put your back (and wallet) out with extra baggage. Consider hiring or borrowing items such as car seat, portacot and stroller at your destination rather than travelling with them.
- Don’t be shy in asking people for help. Whether it’s putting a nappy bag into the overhead locker or taking a bag off the carousel, many other travellers are only too happy to help a struggling parent.
- If you require a hire car, book well in advance to ensure you get the required infant / child seats fitted.
- Try to schedule flights at times your child would normally be asleep.
Car Travel
- Plan adequate stops on your journey to stretch legs, have a break etc. Parks and playgrounds (including McDonalds) are the best option here, particularly if you have an active child.
- Pack plenty of healthy snacks in individual lunchboxes for all on board. If different children are sleeping at different times, it may be easier to eat in the car, swap drivers and keep driving rather than stop and risk waking children.
- Our three year old is quite content to listen to music and look out the window for hours in the car (reading or other activities give him motion sickness). While we don’t have a portable dvd player or tablet, many friends of ours rave about them for long road travel.
- If travelling in more remote areas, pack a potty as they come in handy for those quick pull ins into rest areas.
- Car games can provide hours of entertainment. Games such as Eye Spy, counting windmills and car cricket (eg. you get a run for every car you see, six for 4WD, out when you see a motorbike) are always in fashion!
General Tips
- Accept that travel can be a time of both excitement and anxiety for young children. It’s common that a “good sleeping” child may wake up more often when away in a strange bed / location.
- Don’t over-schedule your days. Often one activity a day while away from home is exhausting enough.
- We prefer self catering accommodation so we can cook our own healthy meals and snacks. Even by preparing a simple breakfast and lunch each day you can save unnecessary dollars and calories. Cabins in caravan parks are usually reasonably priced and facilities such as laundry, playground and swimming pools are usually included.
Given that more and more families these days are living interstate and even overseas from extended family, travelling with young children has become a way of life for many. Hopefully the tips above can make your next family holiday or trip away that little bit easier.
About the Author: Laura Trotta is an eco mum, environmental engineer and founder of Sustainababy. She has lived interstate from her family since 1999 and has honed her procedure for travelling with her young children since her first son Matthew was born in 2009.
CATEGORY: children, tips, travelling, baby |
POSTED BY: Laura McIlwaine |
5 November 2012
By: Tanya Fyfe (BEng(Environmental))
Reuse everyday household items to jazz up your baby or toddlers bath time
My nearly 2-year-old son has a bath full of bath toys, but we have never bought him one. There is a smattering of commercial bath toys that we have been given, mainly as hand-me-downs. But most of his favourites are items diverted from the recycling bin.
Some we have discovered are:
- empty plastic drink bottles – various sizes, some with a skewer hole near the base for smoother pouring
- empty body wash and shampoo bottles – pump tops are extra amusing, and double as durable straws for blowing bubbles
- plastic food containers – eg margarine – some intact and one with lots of skewer holes in the bottom to make ‘rain’
- unused cups, and scoops from laundry detergent.
These items can be used to practice pouring, making things float or sink, blowing bubbles, making an assortment of noises and our current favourite, making a ‘tall tower’… followed by a ‘huge splash’!
About the Author: Tanya Fyfe is an eco mum and environmental engineer and lives in the WA Goldfields with her husband Andy and son Billy. The family's aim is to live sustainably and for Billy to grow up understanding where food comes from and how it is produced. They generate solar electricity and have an organic vegetable garden and modest orchard irrigated entirely with grey water.
CATEGORY: bath toys, eco, eco-friendly, baby |
POSTED BY: Laura McIlwaine |
15 August 2012
By: Laura Trotta (BEng(Environmental), MSc(Environmental Chemistry))
Turn your winter leek crop into a hearty and nutritious meal for your baby or toddler
A couple of winter's ago we had a bumper crop of leeks in the garden. This coincided with my first son moving onto chunky solid foods and I spent much time in the kitchen devising recipes to best utilise our organic leeks. The dish that was the biggest hit with him was this tasty chicken, leek and potato casserole.
Leeks are a true superfood and add lots of flavour to your baby's food. They are full of vitamins A, C, E, folate and potassium. Leeks are also easy to grow in your garden and whereas commercial varieties may be heavily sprayed, home-grown organic leeks are super tasty and free from nasty chemicals.
Preparation: 20 min, Cooking: 20 min
Ingredients
- 1 large organic leek (or 2 small leeks)
- 2 organic potatoes, chopped in 1cm cubes
- 200g free-range chicken breast or thigh, chopped
- 1 cup organic full cream milk
- 1/2 tablespoon organic butter
Method
- Brown chicken in a medium-hot pan. Remove.
- Turn heat to low. Add chopped leeks to pan with butter and sauté approximately 2 minutes until soft.
- Add chopped potatoes to pan.
- Cook, covered for approximately 10 minutes until soft.
- Add milk and chicken and simmer until potatoes very soft and creamy.
- Add fresh organic herbs (eg chives) to taste if available.
About the Author: Laura Trotta is an eco mum, environmental engineer and founder of Sustainababy. She lives in regional South Australia with her husband Paul and sons Matthew and Christopher. Laura is an avid organic gardener and home cook and enjoys experimenting with new recipes to best utilise her home-grown produce.
CATEGORY: leek casserole, recipe, toddler, baby |
POSTED BY: Laura McIlwaine |
2 June 2012
By: Tanya Fyfe (BEng(Environmental))
Introduce the world of sound and rhythm to your child through homemade percussion instruments
Babies and children love making noise...oops, I mean music! Percussion instruments in particular are fun from an early age and are a great way to develop motor coordination and promote an understanding of cause and effect.
If your baby or toddler hasn’t yet discovered their own drum kit, I suggest you introduce them to the universal drumstick, the humble wooden spoon. For a bit of variety you may like to experiment with a hairbrush or other household items. Or your bub may prefer to just use their hands!
The next step is a providing a variety of different surfaces to bang on so your baby can delight in the different sounds produced. Here are two approaches I have used:
1. Sit your little one on your lap or on the floor, with a selection of saucepans, plastic or metal mixing bowls or other large containers. Demonstrate tapping rhythms on each one – nursery rhymes are a good starting point, or tap along to your favourite music.
2. For a toddler, it can be even more fun to let them wander through the house and find their own drums, for example furniture or different floor surfaces. You may need to start them off with some suggestions, ideally using a drumstick of your own. Naming what you hit is also a good opportunity for language development. Bear in mind that this game can get very exciting and you will need to guide your toddler. To use a recent personal example, ‘No we don’t hit the cat... look, Mummy can make a good noise hitting the floor...’
If you would like to diversify beyond basic drumming here are a few suggestions:
- Bang saucepan lids together
- Make a shaker from any small container filled with rocks, dry rice or similar – my favourite is an empty Milo tin because it is nearly impossible for my toddler to open
- Blow (or make funny noises) through a cardboard tube
- Invest in sustainable musical instruments from Sustainababy such as the Plan Toys Wooden Drum, Tambourine or Xylophone
- Use your imagination to come up with others! We’d love to hear your suggestions.
About the Author: Tanya Fyfe is an eco mum and environmental engineer and lives in the WA Goldfields with her husband Andy and son Billy. The family's aim is to live sustainably and for Billy to grow up understanding where food comes from and how it is produced. They generate solar electricity and have an organic vegetable garden and modest orchard irrigated entirely with grey water.
CATEGORY: musical instruments, cheap, make, baby |
POSTED BY: Laura McIlwaine |
23 April 2012
By: Laura Trotta (BEng (Environmental), MSc(Environmental Chemistry))
Photo Source: Narelle Debenham, NaturedKids
Nature play is lacking or sadly absent for many children of today. Increased urbanisation, smaller backyards, parents working longer hours with lengthy commutes, higher electronic screen times and tight schedules of organised activities have all contributed to making the outdoors a restricted place for our young ones.
Parents have the ability to give their children the outside playing opportunities and free play time they possibly enjoyed as a child.
Children are healthier and happier when they have the opportunity to play outside every day. A recent study conducted by the University of Western Australia reported the following positive benefits of nature play1:
- A decreased risk of children being overweight when more nature is present in their neighbourhood.
- Playing in natural environments assists with building children’s motor skills.
- Nature contact enhances children’s learning and development including, but not limited to, children’s personality development, cognitive functioning, attitude and school behaviour.
- Contact with nature, especially during middle childhood, has an important role to play in children’s mental health.
- Children’s manage stress better when they have more contact with nature.
- Time in nature assists the performance of children with ADHD.
- Children displaying delinquent behaviour benefit from nature-based programs such as wilderness camps.
Photo Source: Narelle Debenham, NaturedKids
Teacher, nature playgroup facilitator and mother of three, Narelle Debenham runs NaturedKids an outdoor program for babies to five year-olds and their families to explore and connect with nature in their local area. Narelle also provides training for adults to inspire nature play.
She passionately believes "when regularly immersed in their natural environment, children’s involvement in nature during their formative years guarantees eco-literacy, care for our natural world and environmental sustainability."
Narelle encourages parents to introduce their babies from just a few months old to nature-based activities in the back yard and offers the following nature play ideas for children to enjoy.
Babies
- Make worm stew (mud pies).
- Feel moss, leaves, feathers and other textures.
- Tickle their cheek or tummy with a flower or feather.
- Walk bare-footed.
- Float petals in a bowl of water for a beautiful swirling water play.
- Read stories or enjoy family meals outside.
Toddlers
- Make daisy chains or put buttercups under their chin.
- Play drums. Put a stick inside a large gumnut to make a drumstick and turn some pots upside down for drums.
- Lie on your back under a tree to look at its canopy.
- Lie on tummies to sniff the grass and look for creatures in the “grass jungle’’.
- Make a dinosaur garden: use plastic dinosaurs, grab a potting tray and make your dinosaurs a prehistoric garden with loose materials from the yard.
- Plant a vegetable garden and tend it together.
- Look at raindrops on nasturtium leaves, with tiny magnifying glasses, and roll the drop carefully around the leaf without letting it fall off.
- Make a bird’s breakfast. Grow sunflowers along the fence and then watch when the cockies and parrots come along to eat them.
- Grow sunflowers in a circle then tie their heads together to make a cubby.
- Collect leaves, feathers, seed pods and other natural items from the yard or while on a walk. Put them in a dish or bowl near the front door to create a nature plate to remind visitors of nature.
- Don’t toss your child’s first, or outgrown shoes, away. Instead, keep the memories alive by planting a succulent or other small plant in the shoe and using it as garden art.
- Using a stick, scratch your child’s name, a smiley face, noughts and crosses or other shapes in the soil.
- Let children collect and play with sticks to build an elf or fairy cubby or a home for their small toys.
- Create a collage on the ground (no glue), using leaves, twigs, flowers and other items from nature.
- Fly a kite.
- Find a place to lie under a tree or in a secret place to close your eyes and focus on sounds. Ask children to respond to sounds. For instance, how do they make you feel? This can lead to poetry or discussion on the effect of sounds in a city, why animals use sound and so on.
- Talk about smells as you walk together to raise awareness of the subtleties and effects on feelings.
- Grow herbs, make potpourri and explore why and how plants smell.
- Allow children to make their own mini-landscapes. Encourage them to consider terrain, vegetation, rivers, drainage and so on. The landscape could be modelled on an imaginary place, a place from a story or a real place and could include toys.
- Put on a coat, grab an umbrella and go outside in the rain. Explore how things change in the garden when they are wet and have fun with the puddles.
- Go outside at night and look at the stars and moon.
- Plant seeds or seedlings and, armed with childsized gardening tools, give children the responsibility to care for their garden.
- Read outdoor-themed stories outdoors.
So what are you waiting for? Grab your kids and head outside and you too will reap the benefits nature has to offer.
References
1. Martin, Karen, Dr (Feb 2011), The University of Western Australia, Putting Nature Back Into Nurture: The Benefits of Nature for Children.
About the Author: Laura Trotta (BEng (Environmental), MSc (Environmental Science)) is an eco mum, environmental engineer and founder of Sustainababy. She lives in regional South Australia with her husband Paul and son Matthew. Thank you to Narelle Debenham of NaturedKids for contributing to this article.
CATEGORY: nature play, benefits, child, toddler, baby |
POSTED BY: Laura McIlwaine |