NZ - On the road with Hannah

We had been a bit worried that traveling with a small baby would be a nightmare, or that I ahd been too ambitious with the itinerary. But in fact it worked well overall. In fact it was probably less stress than staying at home.

One big bonus was that Rika's mum and my parents helped share the task of looking after Hannah, which gave Rika and I a bit of time-off. Hannah clearly enjoyed spending time with them, so she was generally more engaged and happier.




Hannah showing mum how she likes to be bounced.


Sometimes Hannah seemd to be a bit scared of mum.


Another bonus was the chance to get some advice and learn some tricks from experienced parents. Mum was particularly helpful in showing us ways to overcome Hannah's reluctance to eat solids.


I was particularly impressed with the 'two-spoon' feeding technique. I'm sure this is how Musashi Miamoto would have fed his children.


Another lesson was the amazing power of distraction when dealing with babies. So having toys at the table that Hannah can play with while we shovel the food in. Hannah is now eating solids quite happily.


We had been a bit worried how Hannah would tolerate being strapped into a baby seat in the back of the car. Since she has got used to travelling 'in the front' or even 'on the bonnet' when we carry her around in Tokyo.


We had hired a baby-seat with the hire-car but that one was not to her liking at all and she complained bitterly about it. Fortunately we were able to borrow another seat from my family and this one was tolerated most of the time, although she would generally complain when we first put her into it.


Once she got going she would play happily or sleep.



The biggest problem turned out to be sleeping arrangements. At home Hannah sleeps with us (and the cats) in a very large futon on the floor. For NZ I optimistically arranged for a cot in every place we stayed in New Zealand. But Hannah just wasn't going to accept this for one minute. From the beginning she knew exactly what these little jails were we for so she screamed her head off as soon as she was put in one.


So eventually Hannah persuaded us to let her sleep in the middle of our bed. Which was fine for Hannah but it meant that we had to stay with her and watch her all the time in case she decided to crawled off the edge of the bed. This danger of a fall was very real, as I confirmed with a few experiments.


This became quite tiring and we were grateful when she went to sleep and we could too.


As expected, Hannah was pretty happy to be carried about and see new things.


We only forgot to bring the Baby Bjorn once. On that occasion I could carry her for about 30min before my arms went dead.



I was also pleasantly surprised that Hannah didn't mind not having a base and changing rooms every few days. In fact she seemed to enjoy exploring different rooms. She really enjoyed the mirror at the hotel in Queenstown.


I can't decide whether this video is cute or just creepy.


This is Hannah at the same hotel playing with a 'buzzy bee', which is an iconic New Zealand toy that my parents gave her.