Globetrotting Grommets

Bali with babies

Travelling with babies isn’t always as impossible as many think – Actually out of all our trips to Bali with kids at different ages, I think the 4 month old was the easiest! There may be a little bit of extra luggage to take and planning, but here are mine and Kate from Rolling Along With Kids top tips !

MY TIPS

FOR THE FLIGHT

The flight can often be the part parents dread the most – no one likes to imagine hours of a screaming baby with irritated glares from passengers – but I have found babies to be the easiest to fly with. The movement of the plane often soothes them to sleep, and they aren’t at that age where they want to get down and run amuck! For babies and even toddlers, make sure you have enough nappies, wipes and changes of clothes incase of those highly likely blowout incidents. Feeding during takeoff and landing helps their ears adjust to the pressure, or a dummy works just as well. Have some water pre warmed before the flight if bottle feeding and mix the powder in when its feed time, as I have found on a few occasions the airline wouldn’t heat the bottle for me. Not sure if this is all airlines or just the ones I was on?  Pre book a bassinet seat if possible – this will free your hands up while they have a nice comfortable sleep.

Some toys to keep them amused during the flight is also a must, and their favourite comforter if they have one. Other than that just cross your fingers and pray its over quickly !

HIRE EQUIPMENT

Bali Baby Hire are fantastic – We hired a portacot, Bugaboo bassinet pram, microwave and sterilizer, and a baby rocker. I found the portacots are much more cosy than the wooden cots often supplied through the hotel, and keep away the mosquitos a little better (Take a mosquito net with you too). The baby rocker was great to take down to the pool for Jay to sit and play with some toys.  You can also hire toys, car seats ,(or organise transport with car seats installed) and much more. Everything was delivered and set up before we arrived which was fantastic and the service was great.

FOOD

Jay was fully bottle fed at 4 months so I won’t lie – washing and sterilising the bottles was a pain in the butt – but it’s a pain in the butt at home too 🙂  Make sure you pack your own formula as again, the range in Bali is different from over here.

He was only just starting out on solids when we went so we took the Rafferty Garden 4 month old pouches which were fantastic. There are some great baby food companies out there now too which Kate will go through in her tips!

FLOATIE RING

Babies love to float in the warm Bali water – We had a great floatie that laid him back on an angle and had a sunshade over the top. He would splash for ages which wore him out in no time!

MEDICAL

For mosquito prevention, we used the insect repellent stickers which we put on his rompers / clothes day and night. Also a natural repellent which is suitable for babies as many are too harsh for their skin.

We use a probiotic powder that doesn’t require refrigeration on all the kids when we travel, so we put a spoon of that in one of his bottle during the day. Other than that we always take the usual baby Panadol, nurofen etc!

I really enjoyed taking Jay to Bali at this age.  We didn’t take the other kids until they were at least 18 months so it was a different experience. But it was so relaxing – he would often nap on me by the pool in the shade while the other kids played in the pool, and not eating food properly yet lowers the risk of them getting ill. I definitely recommend travelling to Bali with a baby !

KATES TIPS

– Take a stroller or baby carrier. We always travel with our Mountain Buggy Nano stroller as it’s so compact and can fit in the overhead luggage compartment on the plane. We haven’t had any troubles taking it aboard, but I do recommend at the check in desk and while boarding to have it in its carry bag. This way it looks just like a bag and you are less likely to be stopped. We find it so handy especially in the airports and it handles the Bali paths with ease. I took a baby carrier when our son was 18mths but to be honest didn’t use it much. It was too hot and other than using it for boarding the plane we didn’t need it.

– Take your own portacot or hire one from Bali Baby Hire if your hotel doesn’t provide them. We love our Baby Bjorn Travel Cot as it’s so easy to use and Charlotte slept in it until she was 3 years of age and she’s very tall. It won’t be counted as your luggage allowance on the plane, but do check this with your airline, and is great for putting extra things like nappies or wipes in the middle of the carry case.

– Book a nanny. We have the most gorgeous girls that help us out with the kids. My advice would be to get them to help you out throughout the day while you are all together as a family and then gradually you will become more at ease with heading out for lunch without the kids. All of our nannies swim, have CPR/First Aid training and are genuinely lovely people. The prices usually start at $6aud per child/per hour but this can change so best to check with the nanny before hand. They are also very handy if you are staying at a resort which has a kids club but your kids are too young to go to the kids club on their own. The babies and toddlers can usually go with an adult so check with your resort beforehand.

– Take your own sunscreen, swim and night nappies. Sunscreen can be expensive in Bali and they don’t always have a great range especially for more sensitive skin types like babies. There are nappies in the supermarkets in Bali, I usually go the Mama Poko brand, but I find them less absorbent than ours in Australia. For day use they are ok but I take Huggies for night use. Swim nappies are hard to find so take them from home too and if bub is sensitive to wipes, take your own otherwise they are easy to find in the supermarkets.

– We always pack Nurofen, Panadol, Milton tablets, Zyrtec and Ethical Nutrients Travel Bug. The travel bug is to help keep Bali belly away. It is kept refrigerated before you travel and then can be kept out of the fridge for up to 4 weeks. You take it once a day and the contents of the capsule can be dissolved in milk or water for younger kids. With regards to water don’t let anyone drink from the tap. Sometimes a handtowel over the tap outlet can be a great reminder for kids if they forget. For baths I put 1/2 a tablet of Milton’s in a full bath of water then leave for 15 minutes then it’s right to go.

– For food wise with bubs I would recommend taking any pouches from home that your kids like as they can be a bit tricky to find in Bali and your bub may not like them. Also the same with formula, there are different types available but if your baby is used to a particular sort they may not drink the ones in Bali which would be extremely stressful for you all. Breastfeeding is widely accepted in Bali and you won’t have an issue. We also use Mini Muncher baby food when we are in Bali. They have a range of freshly prepared meals that you can pop into your freezer or fridge and they are delivered directly too you. They are great!! Cows milk can be easily found in most shops and we have used Greenfields milk in the past and the kids loved it.

– If you are staying in a villa and they don’t have a pool fence you can always hire one from Bali Pool Fence Hire. We have used them a couple of times and are really easy to deal with.

You can visit Kates page at Rolling Along With Kids here, and be sure to follow her on Instagram for all her Bali tips 🙂