When my baby was 9 months old, my partner and I decided to move from Europe to Australia. My partner had been working remotely for some time but his work now required him to get to Australia. I dreaded the 30+ hour journey, however what I feared most was the prospect of quarantining with my little boy. We didn’t know what type of room we would get, would there be enough space for him to crawl? Would they accommodate his dietary requirements? Would we have enough toys to entertain him? We had soooo many questions and no answers. We just had to wait and see.
Of course, we emphasized the stress of quarantining with a baby in our travel and quarantine application ahead of time, but we were still unsure what it would be like.
I’m going to be sharing with you our experience and some tips for quarantining with a 10-month old baby, who very much thinks he’s a 1,5-year old toddler. At first it will feel a bit like a holiday, because when else do you get to stay in a hotel room with food delivered to your door. However, this wears off quickly!
Firs of all, to all mamas/parents, if you’re going to quarantine with a baby, just know that there is light at the end of the tunnel. That you will get through this. That you’ve got this. Because, I’m going to be honest. There will be times where you want to scream at the top of your lungs. Where you want to open the door and make a run for it. You don’t. But you desperately want to.
Luckily, we ended up getting adjourning rooms. I mean, it was lucky for my partner as he was able to work in peace as the door was shut. My son and I would then spend most of the day in the other room, where very quickly the walls felt like they were closing in on us.
Here are a few of my tips:
1. Throw all your rules out of the window. Yes, no rules. Now is not the time to make sure your baby eats with a spoon or doesn’t use a pacifier. We gave in to all things. He ate pouches for breakfast, lunch and dinner (we ordered them online and had them delivered to the hotel). He had his pacifier in his mouth all day. He played with my phone and had a lot of screen time while I spoke to friends and family (for my own well-being). We let him do all this because keeping our boy happy and keeping our sanity was priority number 1.
2. Let them run wild. What I mean with this, very similar to point number one is that I allowed him to explore everything in the room. He packed and unpacked my suitcase. He opened the fridge 1000 times. We took several baths a day. We did anything that was entertaining, safe and killed time.
3. Anything can be a toy. We turned the rubbish bin upside down and used cornflake bags (given with breakfast) as musical instruments. We created obstacle courses with the couch pillows. We used the desk chair as car and wheeled him around the room. Anything for giggles and anything to help tick off another day in quarantine.
4. Rotate your toys. Our little guy quickly got tired of the toys that we had brought him. In order to keep him interested in what we did have, I ended up rotating them. I would hide a few and bring them out a couple days later
5. Different play stations. We didn’t just play in one part of the room. We played on the bed, in the cupboard, by the window, by the door and in the middle of the room. Each area had its own toys. And by toys, I mean, anything.
6. Keep a routine. This really helped us and the little guy too, to know what was happening each day. We immediately kept to his sleep schedule as well in order to beat the jetlag (which happened surprisingly quickly). As much as you may want to stay in your pj’s, it really helped me to shower and treat each day like a new one.
7. Be ever so gentle with yourself. If you need a time-out, ask for one. Your mental health is so so vital during this time. Your little one needs you to get through the day so you need to make sure that can get through the it.
As a little bonus and for those that find hotel carpets a little gross, like I do, ask for some extra sheets and use these on the floor as play mats. I even asked for a vacuum to give the rooms an extra good sweep but that’s just me!
Know that time will pass. Know that it will be tough. Know that there will be an end to it.
You’ve got this!
X Felice