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Traveling with a Toddler on the Via Rail – Toronto to Montreal

09.13.21

Happy September everyone! Life is going by way too fast and I’m not sure if it’s due to the pandemic or having a baby, or both. Regardless, I’m trying to spend as much time as I can with my son, which is why the blog is always on the back burner. But today I thought I’d come on here and share some tips and my experience on traveling with a toddler on the Via Rail from Toronto to Montreal and back. We went to attend a wedding and it was a really fun trip.

This was the first trip we took with PS. This was the first time he went on a journey that was over an hour and the first time he didn’t sleep in his room at home. The trip was a huge success and I have to attribute the success in some planning ahead of time. Hope you all enjoy these tips on traveling with a toddler on the Via Rail.

Traveling With a Toddler on the Via Rail

Sleep/Nap

For both the trip to Montreal and back, PS napped around 3 hours in the train. Since the train ride is 5 hours, he napped for more than half the journey. So, I highly recommend planning your trip around your child’s nap time as well. Napping kills a lot of time and it also gives you the chance to take a break and relax. I ended up just listening to music and eating snacks while PS napped.

If you have kids, you will get priority boarding on the train, so we were first in line and we went straight for the seats that faced each other. This is the perfect place to get seats when you have a toddler, as you get more leg room and you can put down the seat and lay your child down on the two seats to nap comfortably.

Snacks

Having a variety of snacks on any journey will definitely keep any child happy. I don’t know what it is, but toddlers love snacks. Since the train from Toronto to Montreal is 5 hours, you’ll need to pack snacks that will be fine for that long. I brought along cheese strings and cut up fruit, however, I made sure to give this food to PS first. The other favourite snacks were nuts (we love our Laid Back Snacks subscription, use my code REFKAMALDEEPDUG to get 20% off), pretzels, popcorn, banana chips and some homemade muffin. I also packed a peanut butter and jelly sandwich that PS really enjoyed. It was his first time eating it too.

I recommend bringing along snacks in original packaging so you can throw it out after it’s done and not have to lug around anything extra. I also suggest to buy some brand new snacks that your child has never had before but you think they might like. They can spend some time opening the snack and being excited to try something new.

Entertainment for Traveling with a Toddler on the Via Rail

I made a trip out to Dollarama to get a few new toys for PS to open during the trip. I went with what he likes best: trucks. Dollarama has a huge selection of toys and they are super affordable so I went ahead and got him 4 different packs of toy trucks. I left them in original packaging so it would take him time to open and be excited. Honestly, these toy trucks were such a hit. I gave a new one to him every time I felt he was getting bored and he would play with it for a good 20 minutes! I’ve actually done a whole blog post with my must buy baby products at Dollarama that you have to check out!

I also bought a few other toys/crafts from the dollar store. Play dough only engaged him for 5 minutes before he thought it was a good idea to eat some. The set of pom poms and pipe cleaners craft package also only kept him busy for 5 minutes before, again, he wanted to put the pom poms in his mouth and I had to take it away. I still think he is too young for these type of toys, but if your child is 2 years or older or has stopped putting things in their mouth, I think these are some excellent activities.

Another big hit was stickers. I bought the Melissa and Dough reusable stickers and they were quite a hit. We put them on the train window and created some stories as we did so. He really enjoyed these. The train also gave PS a package with some activities. The big hit was the stickers. He spent a good 20 minutes putting the stickers all over his legs and arms. It was fun to watch him as well.

I brought along an Ipad full of shows for PS, but he really did not watch anything. He isn’t really into watching many things, so I wasn’t really optimistic to begin with. But, I really am hoping one day he will enjoy watching TV or playing games on an Ipad while traveling.

I got to say we enjoyed our time and experience traveling with Via Rail. Let me know if you have made this trip before. Happy traveling 🙂

Bekaming a mom

6 Must Buy Baby Products at Dollarama

06.02.21

I love a good deal on anything and the dollar store is where I’ve scored some awesome deals for some incredible baby products. Next time you’re at Dollarama, make sure to pick up these items for your baby. Here are my 6 must buy baby products at Dollarama:

6 Must Buy Baby Products at Dollarama

Baby crocs

Dollarama has these crocs for kids for 2 dollars and they look exactly like the brand name Crocs. We bought PS some other sandals/summer shoes from Carters, but these Dollarama shoes have nothing on them. They are light weight, easy to put on and wipe down and PS loves wearing them too. Highly recommend, you won’t find a better deal on baby shoes elsewhere.

Animal Figurines

I try to approach Partaap Singh’s toys with a Montessori perspective, however, it can get expensive. If you are looking for some realistic animal figurines and don’t want to spend a whole lot of money, you can get some amazing ones at Dollarama. PS has 2 packs of safari animals for a total of 12 animal figurines and they just cost a few bucks. He loves playing with them and when I ask him to bring me a lion, he knows which one it is and the sound it makes.

Poop bags

I’m not sure of the official name of this product, but I found them in the dog section of Dollarama. Basically they are meant to be used to pick up dog poop. However, I like to use these bags to store diapers or wet clothes when I’m out and about. I keep a roll of the poop bags in our car and use them to collect garbage that easily collects in the car. They are super practical and super affordable.

Balls

PS loves any type of ball, and instead of finding balls on Amazon or Walmart, where you won’t be able to find anything for a dollar or 2, I like to go to Dollarama. They have a huge collection of all sorts of balls. Baseball, football, big ball, little ball, spiky ball, you name it and they are just for a dollar or 2.

Bubbles

Bubbles are another thing all kids love and I bought a bubble machine so I don’t need to keep blowing bubbles, however, the refill packs of bubbles can be pricey. But not at the dollar store. You can find both refill bottles for bubbles as well as the bubble blowing stick at Dollarama. They have an assortment of sticks but I personally find that the refill bottle is where you score big.

Toy truck/cars

I’m not sure if this is a boy thing, but PS loves all types of trucks/vehicles. Be it on TV, while we are driving or in a book but he will let everyone know when he sees a plane, truck or dump truck. So much so that some of the first words he said are bus, truck, Jhaaj (Punjabi for plane) and dump truck. We have bought PS some trucks from Amazon and Canadian Tire, however, if you want a diverse collection of vehicles at a great price, check the dollar store. They are made of plastic, but I’m finding plastic toys are the best for toddlers. They are affordable, your toddler will love em and they will keep your toddler busy for a while.

I hope you enjoyed this post on must buy baby products at Dollarama. The dollar store is huge and there is more to discover so I’ll be sure to do a follow up post soon. And if you’re looking for more mom hacks, check the Bekaming a Mom section of the blog. Happy playing 🙂

Bekaming a mom

What My Toddler Eats in a Day

05.22.21

Hello hello. I’m trying to get back into the rhythm of blogging regularly and sharing with you all things that I’ve really been enjoying or finding interesting lately. Since the biggest part of my life is my journey of bekaming a mom right now, I’ll most likely be sharing a lot of mom content. Hope y’all find that interesting and helpful. PS is now 17 months and he’s been eating solids for a year now. I wouldn’t say he’s a picky eater per se, but he does have his preferences. So, today I’ll share with you all what my toddler eats in a day.

This is quite realistic and very typical and I’m totally okay with his diet, although a few months ago I used to stress quite a bit. But, this is life. I was a picky eater myself when I was young. So much so that I barely ate and used to throw up things I didn’t like. I love food now and try to eat healthy as much as possible. So, I am totally okay with what my son eats, as long as he is healthy and growing. Okay, so now on to what my toddler eats in a day.

What My Toddler Eats in a Day

Breakfast

Partaap Singh eats 2 different things for breakfast and we alternate these every day. One day he will have 3/4 of a piece of Weetabix cereal with some organic whole milk, with a tablespoon of natural peanut butter. I put this all in a bowl and microwave for a minute and stir it all together with a spoon so its nice and creamy. The second breakfast that we make is two pieces of Dempsters everything bagel, toasted with some butter spread on. Alongside the bagel he will have a mini strawberry yogurt. PS always eats one piece of strawberry every day for breakfast as well. For drink, it is always water for breakfast. My son doesn’t like drinking milk.

Lunch

Lunch on most days is pretty much the same. He eats a YVES vegan hot dog. We grill it in the panini press to warm it up and peel off the outer later. He eats this along with a piece of McCain hash brown and occasionally some roasted broccoli. PS loves broccoli. The drink during lunch is always a mini Yoplait strawberry flavoured drink.

Snacks

Most often PS has two snacks after lunch. One is before his second nap and the other is after waking up from the nap. The snack before nap time is pretty much always 1 entire cheese string. And the snack after waking up is usually a muffin I’ve baked. I try to bake healthy muffins that have fruits, veggies and protein hidden inside them.

I bake once every weekend and I always make a double batch of whatever it is. For example, when baking muffins, I make 30 muffins or so, half I freeze and half I use for the week ahead. Everyone enjoys snacking on the muffins, and I always have some in the freezer in case I don’t have time to bake or am in need of a snack as I run out the door with PS. Some of my favourite muffin recipes are by Tori from Fraiche Living. If she doesn’t have an egg replacement sub on the recipe, I always use a flax egg. The lemon blueberry and ricotta muffins and the chocolate zucchini hemp muffins are some of PS favourites.

PS snacks throughout the day with random things we are eating that we decide to let him try as well. For example, he loves eating granola that Gursheel is eating for breakfast or the Pinjeeri my MIL eats for breakfast. If we snack on chips or nuts during the day, we offer them to PS as well and he enjoys eating them. Even new fruits and vegetables he will try.

I’ve noticed that he tends to just suck on raw vegetables and spit them out after, but more often than not, he eats quite a few pieces of fruit. He currently is loving watermelon. When I come from work around 2 pm, I bring home a vanilla dip donut from Tim Hortons. PS has come to expect this “dodo” (that’s what he calls donuts) when he sees me coming home from work. And I let him eat a few pieces of the donut. He really loves his donuts.

Dinner – What My Toddler Eats in a Day

Dinner is where there is more variety day to day. I make dinner 4 times a week and my MIL makes roti twice a week and on Fridays every week we get takeout. Fridays are our deep house cleaning days so we like to get takeout, which is usually either pizza or burritos or Indian food. Thursdays are days where we have burgers and fries one week and hot dogs and hash brown the next. We look forward to Thursdays since making these meals is quite quick and they are definitely a treat dinner for the family. I have set up a rotating meal plan for us that works incredibly well. I will be doing a blog post about that system soon because it really has made meal planning be on autopilot for me.

We never make a separate dinner for PS, it is usually what we are having. The only thing is I don’t add spice. He pretty much tries everything we make but he can be picky about certain things. For example, for Thursdays he always eats and enjoys his burger patty. But he doesn’t enjoy eating the burger bun or the raw vegetables and that’s totally fine with me.

For the 2 days we make roti, PS is usually quite picky with eating the dhaal/sabzee. He enjoys eating the roti alone. Sometimes when he hide the daal/sabzee in the roti to make a paratha, he will eat it. For the days I make dinner, I’ve noticed certain things he really enjoys. When I share my rotating meal plan, I’ll also share the recipes I make. But I find he really likes meals that have tofu, rice, ground round and pasta. For example, some of his favourite meals include: crispy tofu bowl. tofu fried rice, taco burrito bowl, butternut squash quinoa bowl, enchiladas, just to name a few.

PS tends to try and eat most dinners. My sister had told me to prevent picky eaters, just don’t get into the habit of making a separate meal when PS doesn’t like something. So, there are days when he doesn’t want to eat what we’ve made. These tend to be rare, but when this does happen, I either give him leftovers of another dinner we had made earlier in the week, or I just stop offering. It could be that he just isn’t hungry.

And that’s pretty much it. Overall I am quite satisfied with what my toddler eats in a day. I want PS to love and try all foods and I’m happy that he loves roasted broccoli as much as he loves his vanilla dip donut. Life is about balance though isn’t it?

Happy eating and here are some pictures of my son eating some delicious vegan Daddy O Doughnuts.