Skip to main content

Feeding Rooms at BIAL and CIAL

Since this was our first time travelling with baby E, we were quite nervous. Understandably.

I had everything planned out - from the time we were to leave home to the time spent completing airport formalities to when and how many feeds E would have prior to boarding.

Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL

Fortunately, the extended BIAL is supremely comfortable. It's like someone with an actual brain designed it - from the tables provided at security check (to rest your bag while you pull out electronics or a baby) to the heavenly little feeding room that I visited.

Yes. Those are actual dispensers of baby wash, lotion, and cream.
I was beyond touched. I had, like, tears in my eyes when I saw how these feeding rooms were designed with care - two lock-able stalls each featuring a soft pleather couch, a tiny crib (pictured) and an outlet with a tiny holder to hold your phone while it charges.

Common to both stalls is a sink with a surface next to it (that I'm guessing is to change baby's diaper). Adjoining said surface are dispensers dispensing baby wash, baby lotion and baby cream - just in case the loonies at security check arbitrarily, always arbitrarily deem baby's toiletries to be a national security threat.

The changing area was brightly lit while the feeding stalls weren't. The crib isn't too big - E is 5 months old and she just about fit in there - but my guess is that it's meant to hold baby while you prepare baby's feed.

As I left the room, I vowed to buy only Himalaya products. I broke that vow a day later. If only it didn't smell so synthetic.

 Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL)

On our journey back home, E needed a quick top up before we boarded (also I was dying to check out the CIAL feeding room).

OMG. It was beyond bad. It ranks up there with this "Baby Care" Room I visited at the Passport Seva Kendra on the Outer Ring Road (tiny unlit area separated from the main waiting room with two dirty plastic chairs in it).

Damp Is there any place in Kerala that isn't damp?, dark, and dirty, the CIAL feeding room has two grimy sofas and a black granite parapet with a sink and tap. I don't know why, but whenever I see black granite or tiles used in a kitchen or toilet, I assume it's because people want to hide grime.

Satan's Own Feeding Room in God's Own Country. 
The feeding room at CIAL had a nasty smell and honestly, I couldn't wait to get out and feed my baby on a plane in front of 150 other people. Cochin desperately needs a new airport. And new feeding rooms.

Also, new climate.

Coming soon to Headbath - starting baby on solids: approaches and trends - (I've shelved the post on piercing baby's ears for the time being).

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dealing With Baby's First Cold

E caught her first cold on 14/09/2014. From me. I did everything I could to protect her from my illness my hands were raw from washing . Still, she woke up with a runny nose on that fateful Sunday morning. I messaged E's paediatrician who recommended that I give E half a dropperful of T-minic drops, two times a day. T-minic apparently eases symptoms such as a runny nose, stuffy nose, and sneezing !  Generally mistrustful of medical practitioners, I quickly Googled, 'T-minic.' Which was just as well, because  the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) advises parents to refrain from administering cold and cough medicine to infants below the age of 2 . The active ingredients in T-minic are chlorphenamine maleate makes a person sleepy and phenylephrine hydrochloride a decongestant , both of which are contraindicated by the USFDA for infants under the age of 2. After having conducted research on usage of such medication, the USFDA found that that reports of harm to ch...
6 comments
Older»

Anthe

 I started this weblog as exactly that, a web log of E’s growth from birth. I’ve chronicled her introduction to life, sleep ( here and here ), food ( here and here ), and play ( here ) in these sites and I am grateful to have had the time to make this. There is a gap where I haven’t chronicled her toddler-hood; ages 3 onwards. I stopped for two reasons: I sounded like a sanctimonious twat (excuses for same here and here ) I didn’t think I was a good parent anymore because E’s father and I separated. Mommy blogging is sanctimonious bs. The truth is that none of know what the fuck is going on and we’re all just trying to get to the end of the day with some of our sanity intact. Some days are great, some days are awful but mostly it stays at an average mean and we wipe our brows, call it a day, and get ready for the next. Babies change as they grow into children. Toddlerhood is that in-between. E learned about divorce just as her language skills were developing. She understood our ...
Post a Comment
Older»

6-Month Old Baby's Daily Routine

Since my last post, I thought it might be a good idea to log E's routine at 6-months just so I can see how much it changes over the coming months. Her routine is based on recommendations made by Dr. Marc Weissbluth in his book Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child . Morning E wakes up between 6 and 7 AM in the morning. She has dropped her morning mini-catnap so sad for slumbering me . She spends time literally frolicking with her dad till 8 AM after which I wrap her in our Flo carrier and take the fuzzball out for a walk. We're back by 8:30 AM and we start the naptime routine for her morning nap. I draw the curtains, change her diapers, nurse her, and then set her down in her crib by 8:45 AM.  She wakes up from this nap by 10 AM. I use her nap time to steam some fruit or veg so that it's the right temperature by the time she wakes up Pro-tip: freeze a porcelain plate and chuck the steamed produce on it to get it to the right temperature for baby . She gnaws on h...
Post a Comment
Older»