Preparing for Take-Off: Part 3

The flights sucked.

That about sums it up.

Instead of whining about it, I'm simply going to put up some piccies of our time 'In Transit'. They will paint a much nicer picture of our time in the sky.

Evidence that this child needs to be on the move at all times. Easy to accommodate in an airport, not so easy on a plane....

Paris to Singapore. I don't know why I'm smiling. Oh, that's right, at this point I thought he would stay asleep for most of the 14hr flight. He woke up 45 minutes later, despite our best tent-construction efforts. I think the passenger pictured was contemplating a parachute escape...

The staff at the hotel in Singapore went GAGA over our blonde-haired, blue-eyed boy. Absolute love-fest in the lobby. They were passing him around like a platter of Christmas ham. He loved every minute of it. So did we, because at this point, only a few hours after disembarking from the horror flight, it was a relief for people to take him off our hands, even for just a few minutes. Papadada and I were considering booking in to get our tubes tied in a Singaporean day clinic. That's how bad that flight was.

The love was restored the following day, site-seeing in beautiful Singapore.



The kick-ass baby strollers at Singapore airport. Best. Airport. In. The. World.

So much to do at this airport. We were there for 5 hours and never got bored once. Papadada even got to race remote control cars on a mini Formula 1 track. He was in heaven. There were koi ponds, butterfly exhibitions, indoor playgrounds, waterfalls, live musicians. LOVE!

Flight #2. It was like walking the gang-plank, boarding that plane. We were so anxious that Sticky Baby would do a repeat Hitler performance on our Singapore-Brisbane flight. Miracles of miracles, the child slept THE WHOLE WAY! Granted, I was holding him in my arms like a human straight-jacket. It worked. Papadada had to feed me, apply lip balm to my lips, and pour drinks down my throat, seeing both my arms were busy holding down the beast.

So, we survived the ordeal. Some of our flight planning paid off. Other theories back-fired spectacularly.

Things we wouldn't do again:

Day flights - Seriously, what were we thinking? Night-time flying is the only way to go. Entertaining a toddler on a plane is too hard. Enforcing sleep is much easier.

14 hour flights - Never again. Next time, we will add another stop-over, so that we never fly for more than 8 consecutive hours. This would mean a layover in Dubai and another in Singapore. 1 night minimum in each place.

Toys - Nothing worked with Sticky Baby. Sticker books? He couldn't give a rats ass. Fluffy toy? Threw it down the aisle at an oncoming stewardess. The only thing that held his attention for a few minutes was a light-up rubber ball and the galley of the A380 plane we were on. Depends on the age of your wee traveller. Some kids will watch the in-flight entertainment. Ours didn't. Of course not.

Things that worked well:

Military precision nappy bag packing - I deserve a medal for this skill.

Snacks - It quickly became apparent that proper meal-times would not be observed. A variety of snacks definitely came in handy.

Singapore - Best layover destination EVER. We loved every minute of our 1 night, 2 day stay. Broke up the trip beautifully, gave us time to recharge our batteries, stretch our legs. Will definitely be stopping again on the way back to France.

Meds - We gave Sticky Baby a few doses of Phenergan during the trip. It helped to get him dozy. He would fall asleep within 30 minutes of taking it. It does not, however, keep your baby asleep the whole time. Don't expect miracles. We also had paracetamol for him, which helped to calm him down when he was ridiculously amped up.

So that's it folks! 1 more giant flight back to Europe to endure. I'd rather not think about it, but we have 7 weeks to recover and prepare ourselves mentally. Breathe. You can do it, you can do it....