Having a baby abroad is becoming so popular in naija. Everyone wants their babies to have blue passports for various reasons. Dual citizenship, better health care, easy access to grants and scholarships when they get into college, more affordable college fees or just going with the flow, I think it’s a great investment and if you have the means please do not hesitate to go for it! When I had my baby 4 months ago, I was aware of 25-30 people having babies abroad around the same period and I am sure if we check statistics, about 300-500 people have babies abroad in a year (don’t quote me lol). Nairaland was our go to resource for the best doctors, hospitals and locations to have a baby in the Us or Canada. Shout out to Nairaland for saving first time “baby abroad” moms since 1800!

“Hectic”, “stressful”,  “exhausting” were the common adjectives used to describe the journey back home. One of my friends even described it as the toughest part of her “baby abroad” sojourn. She packed a lot of unnecessary items and ended up looking like a homeless person at the airport. Unfortunately for her she got little or no help that day. I was really worried so I did a bit of research, asked loads of questions and tried to go travel as light as possible. So here’s a list of essential items you’ll need for your flight back to Nigeria (trust me, you do not need anything else).

• Baby Carrier/Sling: If you are coming back home alone, you need to wear your baby. Putting baby in a stroller will not cut it. You need your hands!
• Bibs and Burp clothes: You really don’t want milk all over your outfit.
• Blanket: Airplanes can get very cold and you wouldn’t want to use a blanket provided by the airline. We are not very sure how clean their blankets are and we have to keep the germs with the adults 🙂
• Books: High contrasting colors fascinates babies. So a book like the one pictured below will be perfect to keep the little one ( L.O )occupied. You could also print out black and white images online. Does the same job.

source: languagewithlittles.blogspot.com

• Bottles and formula: For non breast-feeding moms. Get a couple of ready to feed formulas and you are good to go!
• Breast Pad/Nursing cover: For breast-feeding moms.
• Changing Station: Diaper bags will usually come with a changing station. If yours doesn’t please don’t forget to get one. You really don’t want to change your baby a cold and perhaps filthy surface on the plane.
• Diaper Bag: Half of the things listed goes into the diaper bag, the other half goes into your hand luggage 🙂
• Diapers: You can never have enough diapers and you should always pack twice as much as you think you need. I took 20 diapers for my 14 hour journey but I did not use them all. However, but my baby had two poop explosions and I had two use 4 diapers in less than 10 minutes. Imagine I just took the right amount I assumed I needed.
• Oils, Lotions and Sanitizers: Do not forget to put them in the recommended liquid sizes for carry-ons (100ml)
• Scented bags: For soiled diapers and to put babies dirty laundry.
• Sleep suits and Onesies: Preferably ones with zips so it’s easy to take off for cloth change or diaper change. Believe me, your seat on a flight (business class or not) is A LOT smaller when you have a baby. You need to have your L.O in comfortable gear.
• Toys and pacifier: Toys are an awesome way to distract your baby on a flight. Pacifiers are also great (if your baby takes them). Doctors recommend to feed your baby during takeoff and landing because swallowing helps with getting the cabin pressure out of their ears. If your baby had just eating, a pacifier will be perfect for helping them swallow.
• Wipes: Just take the entire box. You use wipes for everything. Wipe baby’s hands, bum, face, errthang!

Do you think I missed any essential item? What items did you consider unnecessary when coming back home with your baby? Kindly share with your mama friends having their babies abroad.