Everyone loves to explore new places, but only a few would have the guts to plan a trip with their three-month old baby. Along with courage, one needs to have a strong passion for travelling too. Here’s Nagpur resident Nikita Jatin Gupta narrating the story of taking her infant Mitvee on an international trip to Malaysia.
A Trip To Malaysia With My 3-Month Old Infant
I am Nikita Jatin Gupta from Nagpur and got married in February 2017 to a Surat-based guy named Jatin Gupta. I became a mother of my sweet little daughter Mitvee on March 19, 2019. I and my husband Jatin are crazy about travelling for every single celebration, be it a birthday, anniversary or any other special occasion. We went to Sri Lanka for a honeymoon. We visited Matheran on my first birthday and Daman on Jatin’s first birthday. Goa was the destination for our first anniversary. We also went to Kerala as a family trip with my in-laws. Being a part of a normal Indian family, I was not allowed to go for a babymoon. That’s why we decided to go on a trip after the birth of our baby. We chose Malaysia as a destination to celebrate the first journey with Mitvee.
A Night Stay At Mumbai, Sightseeing At Kochi
A Night Stay At Mumbai, Sightseeing At KochiWe started for Malaysia on July 6, 2019, from Surat. We first went to Mumbai by train and spent a night in a reasonable hotel near the airport. This was to avoid same day travelling as then my baby was just three months old. My parents and my brother came from Nagpur and joined us at Mumbai and we five, along with Mitvee had started our journey together. On July 7, we had a flight for Kochi for ₹2500/person. We paid ₹1200 for Mitvee as airlines take some taxes for travel for an infant. We reached Kochi on July 7. We stayed at an apartment hotel just near Kochi airport for the night and in the morning left for Kochi sightseeing. Our flight to Kuala Lumpur was at 1 AM, midnight. Due to unfavourable weather conditions, our flight to Kuala Lumpur got delayed. We had to reschedule the flight to July 9 to avoid risks. We had to pay ₹30,000 more, but with Mitvee, safety was the first priority.
Whenever you travel with a baby, airport staff provides all kinds of amenities. You don’t have to stand in a queue for the boarding pass or check-in. At the airport, I found a feeding room and diaper changing room along with a female assistant. It was very easy to feed her and take rest with her at Mumbai as well as it Kochi airport. What else can a mother want?
Genting Highlands: A Cable-Car Ride At 6118 Feet With Mitvee
Finally, on July 9, we reached Kuala Lumpur. On that date, we embarked on the Genting Highlands day tour. Taking her on a 3.4 km cable car journey at 6118 feet above the ground was a true adventure. One ticket of the cable car was priced at around 8 ringgit approx( ₹160-₹170 rupees for a single person).
Of course, Mitvee was a free traveller. We didn’t have to wait anywhere to catch the cable car as we were having an infant. We always got the first preference everywhere.
Stay At Kuala Lumpur
After the day tour of Genting Highlands, we came back to Kuala Lumpur city, which is a 45-minute drive from the highlands. We already had a booking from day 1 to day 3 at Arenaa Star Hotel located at the centre of the city. We were on a quest for a vegetarian restaurant, which is not easy to find in Kuala Lumpur. Since we belong to a pure veg Marwadi family, we couldn’t even eat veg food from a non-vegetarian restaurant. After spending hours, we found Hotel Sangeeta just 300-400 metres walk from the City Centre. There we had breakfast and dinner for 3 days.
Malacca, The Heritage CityNext day, we went to Malacca via public bus. The Heritage city is a must-visit place in Malaysia. Malacca is a port from where you can catch cruise for Thailand and Singapore. It is also famous for its unique decorated rickshaws.
We enjoyed our whole day there, enjoying rickshaw rides and also did shopping. Mitvee seemed full of wonder looking after those colourful rickshaws. She is very fond of bright colours. There is a canal river on which had a boat ride.
In every 2 hours, I had to feed her and the Malacca people were very helpful. They gave me an isolated room every time I was in need. At evening, we left from Malacca and reached Kuala Lumpur at night around 9 PM and had dinner at Hotel Sangeetha.
Langkawi: Kilim Geoforest Park, Crocodile Park, Sky Bridge
On July 11, we were all set for a flight to Langkawi. Langkawi is an island in Malaysia and you can’t skip going there. It was a morning flight but the airport was one-hour drive from Kuala Lumpur city. As we were having Mitvee, we had booked a taxi and reached the airport three hours before. I fed her and we boarded a flight. The flight took just one hour and at 8 AM, we and we touch down Langkawi.
The airport itself showed the beauty of the island. We had booked a hotel there. That same day we visited Kilim Geoforest Park where we loved the sound of the water. She was very happy sitting in boat once again. After completing the Kilim Geoforest tour, we visited the crocodile park.
At crocodile park, we saw for the first time a live crocodile show. They have more than 2000 crocodiles over there. It was very thrilling to see so many crocodiles.
We spent the evening at Eagle Square, where we did cycling. On July 12, we visited the famous Langkawi Sky Bridge, where Shahrukh Khan’s Don 2 was shot. The view from the bridge was breathtaking.
After descending, Mitvee enjoyed seeing rabbits & birds in the bird and rabbit sanctuary.
Also Read: Kuala Lumpur Tour
We went to the sea beach at night and spent a peaceful time there. On July 12, we had a flight back to Kuala Lumpur. On the same day, we had planned a Kuala Lumpur city tour. We chose ‘hop off hop on bus’ for it. We
visited Kuala Lumpur tower, the famous Petronas tower and did a lot shopping. We got a yellow woolen suit from Kuala Lumpur for Mitvee. On July 13, we had a flight back to India from Kuala Lumpur with lots of sweet memories with Mitvee. Our trip was memorable and special for each one of us. Also, it was Jatin’s first trip with my parents.
Tips For Travelling With A Baby
- Always feed the baby at the time of takeoff and landing and put some cotton in the baby’s ear at the same time to avoid ear pain.
- Infant cabin baggage of 7 kg is allowed for free of cost, other than your regular luggage. So, take all their food, medicine, diaper, tissues and all the extra clothes in that bag.
- Baby stroller is allowed in all the domestic and international flights without any extra charges.
- Always carry 3- 4 pieces of feeding cover that makes mother and baby comfortable.
- Never ever forget to carry a nasal drop. Every paediatrician gives saline water drop to infants for nose block. Carry it without fail.
- Always carry formula milk and bottle, a bowl and a small spoon. Formula milk will never harm your baby. Whenever mothers milk is not sufficient you can just give them formula milk.
- Mother’s diet and liquid consumption is very important for the lactating mother. Only one skipped diet can lead to insufficient milk to your baby. So, while starting a Day buy fruits, fruit juice cans and milk cans and have them every hour to maintain milk formation for baby.
- List of the things you must carry while travelling with a baby.
- While travelling with the baby always carry Dettol and all the members who carry a baby must use it while bathing. This is very important to kill viruses and infections. Also, use it to clean the baby’s things and toys.
- Carry all soft copies of everything like visa, passport, tickets, etc.
- Make prior booking everywhere. With a baby, you can’t run and take risk of searching for things.
Also Read: I Lived In Shillong For 20 Years And These Are The Hidden Gems I Discovered!
Things To Carry
Dry and wet wipes, all medicines and baby care products, paediatricians file, pacifier, diapers, clothes, napkins,socks, baby holder, baby bedsheets and blankets small hanging bag. Also, do not forget to carry disposable bags,
front sling or Kangaroo bag, baby nail cutter, small toys to keep the baby entertained, thermometer, sanitizer, towel and bathrobe, rope and hanger to dry washed clothes, and pins to attach washed clothes.
Documentation
- For carrying infant, you must have a birth certificate in English with you all the time.
- For international travel, we must have infants’ passport and birth certificate.
- Always carry a medical file with you of your infant. In any emergency, you can show it to new doctor.
For passport, we went to the passport office when she was just one month old so they gave us a special ticket because of which we didn’t have to wait anywhere for any formality. In just 30 minutes we completed all the procedures and stepped out of a passport office. I did not change my name after my wedding. I carried my father’s surname so it was Nikita Agarwal on my passport and Jatin Gupta on my husband’s passport. For Mitvee’s passport only her birth certificate and parents passport was required along with 6 coloured photographs. To apply for visa online, we submitted the copy of her passport, birth certificate and parents passport and it got approved with a full fee of ₹2800 (same as adult’s fee).
Mistakes To Avoid
- For clicking photos or for any reason, don’t leave your baby anywhere, not even next to you. Having the baby in every photograph will make it more beautiful.
- When any stranger in flight or anywhere wants to play with your baby, let them do that but do not give your baby to them. Simply make an excuse that your baby cries if you give her to anyone.
- Travelling becomes pleasant if baby is healthy. Always give first priority to the baby. If you would miss some sight scenes because of your baby, that’s okay.
- Make sure that the baby is comfortable.
As told to Suchismita Pal