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Baby CanTravelTM

LONDON

A TRAVEL GUIDE MADE FOR PARENTSBy Celine and Dan Brewer

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Baby Can Travel: Paris

Baby Can Travel: New York City

Baby Can Travel: Barcelona

Baby Can Travel: Anywhere

OTHER BABY CAN TRAVEL EBOOKS

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

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PLANNINGYOUR TRIP

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One of the great things about travelling with an infant isthat you can pick the destination based on what youwant to see and do. Your baby will not have an opinionabout seeing Buckingham Palace vs. the Eiffel Tower -they just want to be with you! That said, there are stillimportant things to consider for your infant whenpicking your destination:

þ Is it safe?þ Does it have access to good health care?þ Is the weather appropriate for your baby's health

(e.g., not too hot or too cold to be outside)?þ Does it have good transportation options?þ Is it a walkable city? Can you push a stroller on most

of the city streets?þ If your baby is breastfed, does the local culture accept

breastfeeding?

Fortunately, London is a great destination for travellingwith a baby!

þ It is a safe city.þ They have a good first world health care system. Be

aware of your coverage or lack thereof before youleave home.

þ The weather in spring and fall is warm, but not toohot.

þ It has a great public transportation system.þ It is a very walkable, stroller friendly city.þ It is baby and breastfeeding friendly.þ There are enough world-class attractions to fill a

week or two of your time.

One potential downside to consider is that petty theftcan be troublesome (pickpockets, etc.).

LONDON IS A GREAT CHOICE

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The first step in planning your trip is to think about theneeds of all the travellers, including both the baby andthe parents. Having a solid idea of each of your needswill help you make thoughtful decisions about your trip.

It is fascinating to watch infants grow as their skills andpersonalities change so rapidly. For these reasons, youneed to spend a bit of time anticipating what your childwill be like on the date you travel, as they will certainly

change from the time you book your trip. Will they beeating solid food? How long will they nap each day?Will they be crawling?

The table below provides guidance on what your childmay be like at the age of travel. Every baby develops attheir own pace, so treat these as guidelines only.

PREDICTING YOUR BABY'S NEEDS

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By considering what your child may be like at theproposed time of your trip, you can plan accordingly.The key elements to consider are sleeping and feeding:

Amount & Location of SleepYour baby's need for sleep will be one of the biggestfactors in how much time you will have sightseeing atyour destination. Very young babies tend to have themost naps, but are generally able to fall asleepanywhere and anytime. As they become older, theybecome more aware of the world around them and mayhave more difficulty falling asleep on-the-go, especiallyif your destination is very stimulating. As they get evenolder, their need for multiple naps dwindles andbecomes less of a factor in your daily planning.

Feeding MethodVery young babies are easy to travel with as you canfeed them on-the-go either by breastfeeding or bybottle. As your child transitions to solid food, feedingthem takes up more of your day. The months after theystart eating solids are especially slow going as they arejust learning to eat - they play with their food, eat half,rub the other half in their hair, clothes, the carpet, etc.As they get more skilled at eating, the time it takesgenerally decreases and will become less of a factor inyour daily planning.

When planning your trip, factor this time into yoursightseeing aspirations. How will you feed them? Whatwill you feed them? Where will you feed them? Andhow long will this all take?

Generically speaking, the most challenging age to travelwith an infant is between 6-11 months. They typicallyneed two naps per day and may have difficulty sleepingon-the-go due to the exciting world around them. Theirnewfound appreciation for, but lack of skills to eat solidfood may also slow you down.

TIP

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London is a world-class tourist destination. Whenplanning to take your infant there, you need to factor intwo main things:

► It is very easy to get around London, but it is big andtakes time to get places. For example, it will takeapproximately one hour to walk from WestminsterAbbey to the Tower of London. The same trip will takeyou approximately twenty minutes by subway orfifteen minutes by taxi.

► London is one of the most exciting cities in the worldand as a result can be very stimulating for your baby.If your baby is just starting to become aware of theworld around them, taking them from their familiarhome to London puts you at risk of overstimulatingthem.

Despite some of the potential challenges you may face,you can take a baby of any age to London and have awonderful time. Just start with a clear set of expectationsto avoid being frustrated during your trip.

HOW DOES LONDON FIT INTO THIS?

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OUR EXPERIENCEOur daughter was 13 months old when we brought her to London. At this time, she was sleeping aroundeleven hours per night and was taking two naps per day (around three hours total in duration). She wasmostly eating solid food, but was still quite slow.

We started our trip with the assumption that she would have her first nap of the day while we were on-the-go and then we'd go back to the apartment early afternoon for her second nap of the day. It took us a fewdays to catch on that she was not sleeping easily or very well for her first nap of the day. London is veryinteresting for a baby her age.

She was also taking 30-45 minutes to properly eat solid food. The combination of needing to be in theapartment for her naps, plus the time to feed her solid food required some changes to our plans:

1. We stopped going out to attractions first thing in the morning. We would feed her and let her play a little(preferably at an outdoor playground) before putting her down for nap #1.

2. We typically had 3-4 hours of sightseeing time after her first nap. Our stroller had a food tray so we wouldfeed her while we were on the move or while we were eating lunch.

3. We would go out for another two hours after her afternoon nap. This gave us time to have her home, feedher and let her play a little before bed.

We had a great time in London with our daughter. We learned from the mistakes we had made in New YorkCity four months prior and had a much more enjoyable time. We made sure she had time to play every daywhich is not only important for her development, but it also tired her out, which helped her sleep better. Wemade good use of our time walking to attractions by feeding her in her stroller. As you'll see, we still madeplenty of mistakes, but we continually monitored how she was doing and adjusted our approach as required,making sure her needs were met first.

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LONDON ATTRACTIONS -OUR ITINERARY

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BRITISHMUSEUM

“London's most popularattraction…”

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London's most popular attraction, this huge museumhouses world class exhibits on Egypt, Greece, the MiddleEast, the Far East and more.

EASE OF GETTING THERE

WalkingThe British Museum is in the West End and it will takeapproximately 15 minutes to walk from TrafalgarSquare.

SubwayThere are four subway stops near the British Museum:

► Tottenham Court Rd: on the Central and Northernlines. It will take approximately 5 minutes to walkfrom here.

► Holborn: on the Central and Piccadilly lines. It willtake approximately 6 minutes to walk from here.

► Russell Square: on the Piccadilly line. It will takeapproximately 7 minutes to walk from here.

► Goodge Street: on the Northern line. It will takeapproximately 8 minutes to walk from here.

Ho HoThe Original Tour Blue line.

STROLLER ACCESSIBILITY

The main entrance to the British Museum is at the topof a flight of stairs, but there is a small elevator to theleft which enables people with strollers to get to themain level. Once inside the museum, you may findsome walkways are tight, but you can explore all areasof the museum. Small elevators enable you to reach allthe floors.

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EATING NEARBY

There are two cafes and a restaurant within the museum.  If these optionsare not to your liking, there are plenty of options in the blockssurrounding the museum, especially to the south.

PLACES TO BREASTFEED

Every room within the museum has at least a single bench - many roomshave multiple. Some rooms are busier than others, so find a nice spotwith an interesting view to feed your baby. There are also two feedingrooms within the museum: the first is adjacent to the baby changingspace on the east side of the Great Court and the other is in the FordCentre for Young Visitors (available to families during weekends andschool holidays only).

If you prefer to be outside, there are two nice parks which border themuseum: the Bedford Square Garden is to the west and the Malet StreetGardens is to the north.

INTERESTING FOR INFANT

Museums are a good place to take your baby for a nap as there typicallyisn't anything of interest for them. This museum is more focused onartifacts than art, so there is a chance your baby may find some of itinteresting to look at. That said, our daughter slept through most of ourvisit to this museum.

OTHER INFORMATION

Official Website

Time & Money SaversAdmission to the British Museumis free, but they encourage allvisitors to make a £5 donation.

Nearby AttractionsBedford Square and RussellSquare.

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TIPS► Baby changing facilities are in the Great Court, the Ford Centre

for Young Visitors, the North stairs (level 0) and the Northstairs (level 3).

► For babies who are on solid food, the Gallery Café offers onefree child's meal when you buy an adult main meal.

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OUR EXPERIENCEWe landed in London at 7:00AM after our overnight flight. We didn't have access toour apartment rental until 2:00PM and the forecast was calling for rain, so we decidedto play it safe with an indoor activity from our "must do" list - the British Museum. Wevisited the museum with our daughter in a stroller and had no issues getting around,although sometimes you have to wait a while for the elevator to have enough room in itfor you and your stroller. We loved the amazing displays (especially the one on Egypt),but our daughter was more interested in catching up on her sleep - she slept nearly theentire visit. The good thing about this museum is that it is quiet enough, even when it'sbusy, for babies to easily fall asleep.