General Travel
As I have mentioned in the introduction to this blog, I don't drive, so unless I'm with my husband, I travel on buses. Lots and lots of buses. I have to go to my mum's at least twice a week which takes two buses there and two back (well in fact there is a direct bus - just in case any Stagecoach employees/former employees may be reading - but that takes sooooo long). Buses don't seem to bother Chloe at all. Probably because she spent so much time on them when I was pregnant. Travelling by bus with Chloe is a fairly easy task. Most buses now have accessibility for wheelchairs which they allow pushchair users to use when not required by a wheelchair. The Stagecoach buses in Northamptonshire have a little spot on the driver's that fits my buggy just right. As you can see from the photo, Chloe's first bus ride did not bother her in the slightest.
Now she's so used to it, she spends most of her time either asleep (buses are great for getting a baby to sleep) or nosing at the other passengers getting on and off the bus, travelling to their various destinations.
The furthest we have travelled on a bus so far is to Milton Keynes, a journey which takes around an hour. Again, she has made this journey a couple of times and has been completely fine with it.
Holidays
Hemsby - August 2017
We have been on holiday once since Chloe was born as well as a few mini breaks. In fact, our first holiday was when Chloe was 7 weeks old. This is something I do not advise. It seemed like a good idea when we booked it. Because of Chloe's due date, we knew that going on holiday in the first week of the summer was going to be impossible, so, in our infinite wisdom and not wanting Moo to miss out on his week away with Daddy, we decided to go away at the end of the holidays instead. Oh my god babies need so much stuff when you go away. We only went to Hemsby, which is about 2 and a half hours away but we had to pack as if we were moving house.
We took
- nappies
- bottles
- Formula
- steriliser
- tommee tippee prep machine
- baby bath
- baby carrier (which I don't remember us using)
This holiday was the first time we used the stroller part of our buggy as well, which she looked tiny in. We had hired a travel cot from where we were staying although there had been a mix up with the booking and this wasn't in the room when we arrived. Again, as Chloe was a small baby and only 7 weeks old she looked tiny in it.
Whilst in Hemsby, we visited a number of places, most of which were fairly baby friendly. We went to the Sealife Centre in Great Yarmouth. This was very baby friendly. It was easy to get round with the buggy, there was good facilities for changing the baby and the restaurant was reasonably priced and you didn't feel rushed in there. We actually returned to the restaurant on a separate day just because we knew they had baby changing facilities.
We also went to Jurassic Journey which again was baby friendly. Ironically, considering the "roaring" of the dinosaurs, Chloe actually slept around most of this. However, we didn't use any changing facilities in here. I can't remember whether they actually had any.
We also went to Hirsty's Giant Maze. This wasn't particularly baby friendly. It's an open air maze and the day we visited it was very warm and there wasn't much shade. Also, although the pathways in the maze are wide enough for buggies there was a lot of corn on the floor which made pushing it very difficult.
The last attraction we visited was Thrigby Hall Wildlife Gardens. This had some really good facilities and was easy to get around. Many of the high top walkways have been adapted for wheelchair and accessibility so it meant that we could all experience the tiger walk and monkey walk. At the time this was really important as, when booking this break I was really worried that I would be left with the baby while Mark and Moo went and did their own thing. In fact, the only time we went off on our own was when the boys went to Joyland so I took Chloe for a walk around the shops.
Eastbourne - September 2017
In September, we went to Eastbourne to visit my Dad's cousin. What should have been a relaxing family visit turned out quite eventful. We stayed in a Travelodge which was pleasant enough. Again we ordered a travel cot. A little note with Travelodge. You can't book this when completing your initial booking online. You have to phone up to get one put in your room. However, there is no charge for this. Again we took far too much, although this time we didn't take the baby carrier and actually it would have been very handy when visiting Beachy Head because although we did manage ok with the buggy, it would have been easier carrying Chloe. We took a walk around the pier and the shopping centre and it was all fairly easy to get around.
On the final morning we had to get out of the hotel early due to a fire alarm going off. Not what you need with a 2 month old baby. However, other than that this was fairly easy trip.
London - November 2017
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| Chloe's first underground trip |
We parked at Westfield in Shepherds Bush, which has really good facilities for baby changing and feeding. We had booked to go to Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park. We'd checked how to get to Hyde Park by the tube but it turned out this wasn't as easy as we would've liked. Although we looked for step free access, straight away we were at a station which didn't have such luxuries. This meant there was a lot of carrying the buggy up and down stairs. Anyone who has travelled on the underground knows how many steps this involves. When we go back to London we will check the bus routes instead I think. Having said that, Chloe coped well being on the underground. The noise didn't bother her at all.
Winter Wonderland was busy but was easy to get around with the buggy. We went to the Ice Kingdom which, again, was suitable for the buggy and easy to get around (although extremely cold so make sure you're all wrapped up). The main issue of the day was the weather. It rained all day and with little shelter it meant that we were all a bit cold and damp.
This was all our trips up to Christmas. Each had their own little issues but only the struggles of the stairs in the Underground network were baby related.
I'm sure 2018 will have many more adventures.
Thank you for reading
Kat & Chloe xx
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