This week’s Meet the Blogger is Lisa from Bites For Babies – a blog about food, cooking for babies and motherhood.
Lisa spent 2 months in Italy with her husband and 15 month old son over the summer. She shares how to survive an international flight with a toddler and tips on how to encourage kids to try new foods.
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1. Do you have any tips on how to survive an international flight with a toddler?
Board the plane last! The flight attendants didn’t seem to happy about this but I figured it was a better idea NOT to have my son sit there for an extra hour. We did give him some Benadryl because it was an overnight flight and he ended up sleeping for 5 hours.
We alternated between “reading” the in-flight magazines, playing with the tray table, stretching out snack/meal time (that worked for my son) and SOME toys. I brought books which he was not interested in. I also brought a book of reusable stickers which kept him entertained for most of the time. My son loves playing with food so we had some plastic fruit, and I also stuck two pieces of stickers together (eg. 2 bananas) so he could put the “sticker food” in a bowl and pretend to cook without them sticking everywhere.
2. What’s the craziest thing you’ve eaten during your travels and what tips do you have for encouraging kids to try new foods?
The craziest things my son has eaten (which apply to me as well) are wild boar and red mullet fish roe.
As for tips for encouraging kids to try new foods, I think it really depends on the child. My son is a foodie! Having said that I’d like to think that because I exposed him early on to so many different flavours and textures that he learned to appreciate all types of food. If a child is used to eating only pureed veggies and chicken, they would obviously react negatively when being introduced to a new food with a significantly different flavour and texture.
As soon as my son had the “okay” to eat all foods (for allergy reasons) he was basically eating what we ate, albeit pureed and without certain spices (such as salt, pepper, hot pepper). I did however, from very early on add spices and herbs to all his food.
3. Have any tips on travelling while pregnant?
Not many as I wasn’t too far along and not so uncomfortable at the time. I do recommend however packing A LOT of snacks and drinking A LOT of water!
4. Have any recommendations on what to see or do with kids in Sardinia?
The region we visited is a beach-lovers destination. As for activities to do with younger children there isn’t much, however, they do have playgrounds, you can go for walks in the towns, there are some “carnivals” in various towns, but the main thing to do is go to the beach-which to me, seems like a perfect family activity to do!
5. Do you have any tips on how to make family travel affordable or stress free in Italy?
We are blessed to have family and friends in Sardegna so we save money on accommodations, food, etc. Italy can be quite expensive (depending on where you go) and more so because of the exchange rate. As for northern Sardinia, there are so many beautiful and quaint B&B’s that I would opt for rather than expensive hotels. Of course, it does depend on the age of your child and the facilities that you would need to make their stay enjoyable.
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Lisa is a Canadian teacher, who lives in Ontario with her husband, toddler son and baby girl. When she’s not practicing yoga, hitting the gym, or running after the little one, she is in the kitchen, preparing healthy homemade recipes for her family and blogging about her every day life in recipes on her blog Bites for Babies and on Twitter @bitesforbabies
Thanks Lisa for participating in the Meet the Blogger series. Having never been to Italy myself (my husband has and many of his stories are about the food he ate), I was so excited to read about some of Lisa’s favourite foods and dishes in Sardinia. I will warn you though, DO NOT read it while hungry!
Do you have a favourite blogger you want to see in a Meet the Blogger post? Let me know.
