Travelling with a kid is no joke. Honestly, I don’t know how parents with more than one child under the age of 5 years old can do It. Dont think I’d leave the house if it were me!

Weeks before our London trip I already had nightmares on how we were going to pack Rauf’s things. My biggest fear was leaving something reallly important behind. So I made a list and prioritized the stuff to bring. I learnt a few things while packing Rauf’s things. I hope one day, this will benefit you as it did for me.

Tips No 1: Use zip lock bags. It’s not just that its organised, but when you need to pull out something from the bag, it’s easier to find and you won’t pull out other stuff in your bag, so no mess!

Tips No 2: Combined shampoo and body wash. Tropika’s soap for children is travelling friendly and Rauf smelt like Lavender throughout the whole time (except when he puked hahaha). The herbal cream is a great substitute for minyak telon too! It’s not heaty and a good alternative for lotions.

Tips No 3: Pack your trusted diapers. After trying different nappies, Offspring just did it for me. There’s always a sale on their website, so worth it to buy in bundle. Highly absorbent, eco friendly, Rauf never had a single rash while using it and the diaper never leaked while we travelled. DID I MENTION IT HAS CUTE PRINTS?!

Tips No 4: Pack your children’s favourite toys. We brought Rauf’s rubber ducky (the  kid loves his bath time) and his favourite pillow. We’re pretty convinced that it’s his bantal busuk for life.

Tips No 5: Lightweight and foldable strollers. Sure, bulky ones may look more steady and solid but going here and there with different transportation modes will change your mind on big bulky strollers.

Tips No 6: Invest in a good baby carrier. Safety is priority. And if you invest in a good carrier you’ll most likely use it for your future kids.

Tips No 7: Medicine, Medicine, Medicine. Consult your child’s paediatrician before travelling. It’s worth it. Know what you should do if your kid gets sick, the symptoms, the right medicine, the dosage, see if he/she needs vaccination before travelling. I packed Rauf’s nose spray and he caught the flue 3 days into our holiday. He doesn’t have the flu shot yet so the nose spray helped him a lot. Snot everywhere but at least no more blocked nose!

Tips No 7: I will never go anywhere without my Lucas papaw ointment cream. Joe steals  and calls it Las Papas and I have given up correcting him. Anyway, this baby was saviour when I was studying in Australia because it was the remedy practically for all my skin irritations and it has now come back into my life for Rauf! The weather is cold and dry here so having papaw around helps moisturise his skin.

Tips No 8: The backpack. Do not use handbag – like bags for baby’s stuff. Go for practicality.

Tips No 9: Go with the Flow. You can plan all you want and pack the entire house into your suitcase but my biggest lesson so far is to panic less, think quick and act fast. Something will definitely go wrong anyway, so just smile, relax and do what you have to do to get things done.