Any parent who just read that last sentence probably laughed. Toddlers are not known for being predictable with their sleeping patterns. Let alone a toddler who had never even heard of a plane before our trip. We let her sleep at her usual bedtime at home before waking her at 10pm to head to the airport for our 1.30am flight.

But once we reached the airport she was too busy taking it all in to even think about going back to sleep.

It was weird for us too. Changi airport was a ghost village, with no shops nor restaurants open. Travelators were reserved for returning passengers to maintain social distancing, and there were checkpoints at intervals to make sure you were headed to the right gate.

Before we left, I went to social media and collected packing tips for travelling with a toddler. The tips I incorporated them into our plan included:

• 3 changes of clothes for the little one
• 1 change of clothes for each adult
• Snacks for the trip. Lots and lots of snacks
• Milk for take-off and landing. Apparently sucking a bottle helps manage ear pressure.
• Toys

Initially I thought three changes of clothes seemed excessive – they were not. We went through all three sets for my daughter thanks to leaky diapers. Somehow, they had never been so leaky before. Cabin crew on planes are generally sympathetic to parents with young children (something I had not known) so getting enough drinks and liquids was not really an issue. We brought warm milk in a thermos for take-off, and put it in her bottle. For landing the cabin crew warmed more milk and we gave her another bottle.  Having a thermos definitely came in handy. 

But the toys were useless. She was too busy exploring the plane. Booking premium economy really paid off for us as we ended up with the four bulkhead seats all to ourselves. This was extremely useful as it meant my daughter’s stuff could be strewn across four seats. In retrospect I’m not sure how we would have managed with just two seats.

Because it’s astonishing how much stuff you need to bring along when you are travelling with a toddler during a pandemic. We had brought along a bassinet for our daughter to sleep in, but she clearly did not want to sleep, so it ended up  just being somewhere to stash her stuff.

At home I am strict about screen time, but that went out the window on the plane when our excited toddler refused to sleep. She got to enjoy about 10 hours of cartoon screen time just so her parents could take turns to rest. When parents say “be kind to yourself” when you are travelling with a toddler – this is what they mean.

The suggestion to bring a multitude of snacks came from an Instagram account called @kids.eat.in.color. This turned into quite the lifesaver. As a noob travelling mum I did not know you have to pre-order an infant or child’s meal for the plane. Luckily my daughter was okay eating  the bread and fruit from our meals, plus the snacks I’d brought along.

After hours of being awake. Naturally, she passed out hardcore just as the plane started to descend into London.

Even though my daughter holds British citizenship, before this her furthest “trips” were visits to Sentosa.  So we were prepared for her to be overwhelmed by the new experience of air travel and airports.

We also wanted to move through the airport as quickly as possible to keep her safe and germ-free. That’s the kind of thing you think about when you’re travelling with a toddler during a pandemic.

So the sight of the queue at immigration was depressing. It snaked around so much I thought it was the queue for transit passengers. Thankfully, a security guard noticed us and our sleeping toddler and ushered us to the family lane. Pre-child I didn’t know these lanes existed, but but wow was I glad  to discover this fast-track for parents!

We joined a line of other parents in a family immigration queue, all holding children who had fallen asleep at the end of the journey. They were all snoozing on a parent’s shoulder – their expensive strollers were ignored.

When you are travelling with a toddler you have more stuff to carry and everything takes that bit longer. So we made plans not to go anywhere too crowded. Luckily, my in-laws live in a small town outside London. Every park, forest and playground we went to was nearly empty.

In Singapore it can be tricky trying to maintain a 1-metre social distance in crowded places like the Great World City playground, or the beach at Sentosa. But we never had to worry about social distancing in he UK when we were travelling with our toddler.

However, we still wore masks indoors if we went to shops or supermarkets, and we  (tried to) sanitize our daughter’s hands whenever we got back into the car. When you are travelling with a toddler during a pandemic, I learnt that a constant supply of antiseptic wipes and tissue are important to have at all times.

• Whipsnade Zoo
• Willen Lake
• Ashridge Forest
• Gainsbridge Park in Hemmel Hempstead

My toddler loved the novelty of it all. But I’m not going to lie, there were some hard days and nights.

In Singapore we live in an apartment, so my daughter was delighted to try the stairs in my in-laws house. Except one day she fell down the stairs. It was only three steps, so it wasn’t too bad. But it was a shock.

And it was always stressful when we went out to eat. It was hard to find something she liked because the food was too different. In fact, one night something really didn’t sit well with her and she threw up all over her cot.

Car rides were also hard because, unlike Singapore, it takes longer than 20 minutes to get anywhere. And don’t even ask about naps. I had to remind myself that once she was back to her routine at home, she would readjust.

By coincidence, we flew back on the day Singapore began VTL flights from the UK. Because everyone was suddenly trying to switch to our flight, we got an upgrade to Business Class. This  was nice for us – mainly because it made it easier to get our excited toddler to sleep.

The cabin was empty except for us and another passenger. Service was attentive, food was good,  and the seats fold down to a flat bed that is more than big enough for a child.

To my joy, our toddler slept about six hours. Compared to the two hours she snoozed on the way there, I call that a win. Maybe this is a good way to convince your spouse that business class is a must from now on?

We landed at Changi Airport around 5pm. Immigration and queuing for the PCR test took ages, so we only left the airport around 7pm. Once again, I was grateful for the experienced mothers who had warned me to pack plenty of snacks when you are travelling with a toddler, especially during a pandemic.

The next seven days were spent getting everyone back on to Singapore time. Surprisingly, our toddler adapted the best. I just had to wake her from her short nap in the afternoon and then deal with a bit of over-tiredness at bed time.

It also helped that people were so kind and generous. A neighbour lent us some toys and a paddling pool. which my daughter LOVED. My mother kept us well fed with fresh food and grocery deliveries. Having access to all our home comforts definitely made it easier to spend seven days inside.

And for our final day PCR, we could drive ourselves to the testing centre and back, which was a nice level of control to have.

NOTE: Quarantine requirements post-travel are changing all the time (especially now). While we had to wear a monitoring bracelet and keep a tracker in the house, this is no longer required for travellers serving their SHN’s from non-VTL flights.

I’ll admit, completing our 7-day quarantine and then being able to hand my toddler over to my parents was both a highlight and a relief.

My husband and I took a day to ourselves and headed to the beach while my parents lavished our daughter with attention. My parents help to take care of my daughter during the day, and they’d all been missing each other, so everyone was happy. And for the first times in three weeks I was able to relax on my own without thinking too much about what our girl needed next.

I’m not complaining, just stating what all mothers know; travelling with kids is fun, but tiring. I know not everyone has the opportunity to travel – let alone during a pandemic  – and we’re very grateful that our daughter got to spend time in another country with her family. It felt like a gift.

• Always take snacks. Everywhere.
• Car rides are not fun for everyone and not every child falls asleep in cars. So you are not a bad parent if you use Youtube or screen time to get through a car ride.
• Don’t stress too much about bad eating on a trip, getting back home can return things to normal quite quickly. I wasn’t happy that my daughter basically ate cheesy pasta and yoghurt for two and a half weeks, but once she got back to Singapore she was happy  to enjoy a Chinese meal with plenty of vegetables. She quickly went back to her usual eating habits.
• If you’re travelling to a cold place. Don’t worry so much about one thick coat for your child. It’s better to bring several thinner layers, like a vest, shirt, jumper, hat and a coat. Kids get hot when they run around. Layers make it easy to peel clothes on and off to suit your child.
• My daughter dealt with the 7-day SHN better than me and my husband. I found it helped to “reveal” a new toy every couple of days just to keep her entertained. We also tried new activities, like water play in the paddling pool.
• Children will always surprise you with their resiliency or adaptability. The novelty and excitement of the trip seemed to jumpstart certain developments for my daughter. We noticed she was a lot more verbally communicative after the trip, for example.

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