Umrah with toddler part 1

Alhamdulillah I have safely arrived in Madinah at 11.30pm local time last night which is around 4.30 am malaysia time. Alhamdulillah the long haul flight is quite smooth sailing for my 19 months old daughter, Rania. She slept most of the time and only wakes up once in a while to get her usual feeding. I guess that is te advantage if a breastfeed mom cause the baby will feel calm everytime she gets her milk. On the other hand, it's a rocky journey for my niece, hannah and she's only 13 months old. She has eczema so she cries most of the journey. I feel sorry for my SIL and feel quite helpless looking at her.

Some of my tips to bring a little toddler before a longggg journey are as below;

1. Make sure they play a lot before the journey so that they sleep during the journey ;)

2. Change to a comfy clothes and a new pair of diaper during boarding time. It's quite challenging to use the changing room in the plane since the space is very small.

3. Bring lots of finger food or some sweet things. This helps when u need her to be well behaved child. Sorry to say but bribery is the best weapon when you're in a long haul flight. I brought marsh mellow, chipsmore cookies and vitagen.

4. Get a colour pencil and book for them to get occupied. Though some airlines provide this or other types of kiddie entertainment but some airlines like saudi airlines don't provide. So just go and get one before the flight.

5. Having a seat for your child is a blessing! Saudi airlines provide a seat to Rania eventhough she's not 2 yet. She can eat, sleep and play at her own seat and it is much more comfortable for us, mommies

I'll continue with my 2nd part on bringing rania to masjid nabawi ;)