I am finally getting around to posting about traveling with a baby. I have had a draft of this blog going for months now. But with regular travel I am still learning and adjusting my list. Liam is now 6.5 months old and so far we have done: 3 flights to California,1 flight to Las Vegas and 3 road trips to 3 different states. That is a whole lot of miles and lessons learned. When I was pregnant I had a lot of anxiety about traveling with a baby. I was totally the person on a flight with a crying baby that turned up my music or movie and tried to tune them out. Maybe I am still that person but I am grateful all those eye rolls from my past did not get me a cranky travel companion. Liam is a champ. We make a great team and are slowly traveling the world together and loving every minute.
Our first trip was when he was just 10 weeks old. I scoured the internet for all the advice I could get. I've always believed that if you learn enough from others you can avoid a lot of pain. So far I feel this has been true with parenting and especially traveling with a child.
The first trip was a little rough. A few things I learned: Security will not let you keep the baby in the stroller... even if they are sleeping! So wear the baby in a carrier, they will let you keep them in there so yay! they can sleep longer. Not knowing this my first time, I woke the baby taking him out of the stroller and this complicated things, I now had to rock him and try to get through security lol. I would also recommend booking a flight around the times your baby sleeps. This helped tons. Its a lot easier to do what you need to do when baby is sleeping. Lesson #2 I learned from this trip is also related to wearing the baby, most airlines (we have flown on several this year) will make you take the baby out of the carrier for take off and landing. Its a silly rule no one can explain to me but regardless its a rule. So once you get on the plane and settled unstrap baby and get comfy for the flight. Note: If we were on a longer flight I think I would have strapped baby back in so that my arms were free. I prefer the aisle seat because I can get up quick if I need to and its already hard enough to crawl over people from the window seat but crawling with a baby is just comical. The negative is that you are the first to sit so people have to get past you so you have to get up and down up and down. I usually just get my things organized in my seat and then stand near by so that once my row is seated I can sit just once and not disrupt baby.
Another tip I want to mention is to have a bottle, pacifier or to nurse at take off and landing. They say it helps with the pressure in your babies ears and will help prevent crying. Honestly, Liam slept through a few landings and didn't take anything and was fine but that was just our experience.my favorite flight was one where the lady in the row ahead of us had a puppy. Liam loves dogs and the two of them looked over the chair the entire time staring at each other, it was so cute.
I found being ULTRA organized was what made trips go the smoothest. This means placing things in the parent console of my stroller in strategic places. I have a hook on my stroller that I would keep on the handle so that I could hang my backpack/ diaper bag to help me get things out quickly. I feel I have the security process down! I did not want to be "that mom" that held up the line so I really thought through the process and could quickly put my milk in its bin, my shoes in another, and all the stroller contents in their bins. When I had the stroller I would whip the car seat off and place that on the conveyer belt and when I didn't I made sure the car seat was in the bag ready to go before we left the car. My bag has a strap so it is super convenient to carry, heavy but convenient.
One thing I want to share about flying is that the bag you use for baby is important. Between a diaper bag and a backpack I would choose backpack. My diaper bag does convert to a backpack but it does not fit under the airplane seat as well and there is no way I was putting it up above and getting up to get in it every time baby needed something. I found that with a baby on my lap it was easier to have a smaller back with all the essentials so that I could access them quicker. Also its WAY easier to get dropped off at the curb with a baby. There were a few trips, because Brian was gone that we had to park the car, grab everything, get on a shuttle, put everything on the shelves, get everything off the shuttle, check in, check bag if needed, go through security... Skipping the shuttle is my preference, but you do what you gotta do.
So that is my advice on flights. Now onto road trips. These varied from 4 hours to 10 hours for us each way. 1 of these I did solo, one with Brian, and one was half and half solo and with Brian. I found that when I was solo planning around when he would be sleeping was best. Our first drive was to Grand Junction and it was when he was just a tad over 3 months old, so he was still sleeping lots. With the drive being about 3.5 hours and him napping 3 hours it was perfect. The hiccup we ran into was when the drive home turned into 6 hours and there was no where to pull over to, to take care of things. What I learned here was to have a plan B. If there looks like there will be traffic look out for a place to stop. If we could have done thing we could have gotten his wiggles out and gotten back on the road with a lot less tears from the both of us. We did end up finding a private property with guard dogs in all to pull over to. Lucky for us we were left alone long enough that I could change his diaper, feed him, and sing a few songs to help calm him down. I have since bought a rear view mirror so that we can see each other. This has been great for short trips as well since we can make faces at each other and he doesn't feel so alone.
I have found that packing is important when traveling in a car. I have a bag on snacks for me up front, love the extra large console in my Pilot! then I have a bag of toys next to his seat so that I can easily trade those out at stops or when I need to if Brian and I are both in the car. I packed heavier than necessary since I was traveling in a car. I think in the future I will pack lighter. It just complicates finding things when you have more to go through. I think I will also start packing Liam his own bag when we travel by car. When we fly we obviously need to condense things but separating it will help to find things faster.
Traveling solo with a baby is really not as bad as I thought it would be. Maybe its because I had the worst case scenarios running around my brain so long that anything seems better, maybe its a good travel companion or good planning. Whatever it is, I am glad things worked out each and every trip and feel that it can only get better from here now that we have mastered the hiccups we encountered.
Now onto my list. Each trip I reference this but depending on activities, location and length of visit I have adjusted it. I will make notes on a few of those items that varied.
Diaper bag/personal item:
Diapers- I shipped these via amazon for longer trips. This saved a trip to the store once we got there and saved room in our bags.
Wipes- I shipped these as well. Figured we would be in California enough this year that it just made sense to have some at my parents house.
Pacifier
Bottles- I think bringing two is best. I brought anywhere from 1-4 and preferred two. This kept the space they took up to a minimum but helped to free up my pump bottles so that I could limit how many of those I brought with me.
Toys- when he was small I didn't bring any, now that he is bigger I bring a few favorites so that we can switch things out through out the trip to keep things exciting.
Blanket- bring at least 2, this way you have a clean one if the other gets dirty
Cellphone
Ipad
Headphones- I may invest in wireless headphone, Liam likes to pull on the cords ;)
Snacks- for flights I usually just had gum but for road trips I brought a few
ID/ birth certificate ( some airlines required an ID for Liam so carried a copy of his birth certificate with my just in case, I got tired of looking up each airlines individual rules)
Wallet- I plan to get a smaller one so that it takes up less space in the diaper bag, they get full so fast!
Tickets- checking in online and having your ticket on your phone can save time. I fumbled looking for the ticket more than once on a trip and this would have saved so much time.
Chapstick
Burp Cloth
Nursing Cover (if you breastfeed)
Cooler/ Ice Pack- this was for my pumped milk , on one trip I was told if a icepack was soft and there was no milk they would throw it out another time I was told even with milk it was not allowed but I think TSA was a little scared of this Mama. But really, how do they expect you to keep it frozen when you are traveling.
Empty Water Bottle- Liam loves to grab everything these days so if I want to fly on a plane and have a drink then it needs a lid
Extra Outfit
Sunglasses
Diaper Rash Cream
Suitcase:
Outfit for each day + a few extra just in case (for me and baby, we get equally messy these days)
Personal Hygiene items
Pump... and all the accessories, lesson learned here as well
Bottle Brush
Extra Bottles, 2 was perfect for us
Formula- I was exclusively pumping most of these trips but sometimes with traveling my pumping was off so we needed to supplement so having some on hand was convenient
Baby Food- since we drove this last time I brought it with us but if we flew I would just buy it there
Bibs
Chargers
Camera- I brought mine every time and never used it, my phone was always more available since we were always moving around
Laptop- some of the trips I had to work on so this was necessary. When I needed it I brought a backpack that it fit in so that I could carry it and Liam's things from place to place.
Toiletries:
Blowdryer (ditch this is you are in a hotel or staying with family)
Straightener
Razor
Deodorant
Lotion
Vitamins
Excedrin
Shampoo/Conditioner
Body wash
Face Wash
Toothbrush/paste
Infant Tylenol/ Teething Tablets- you never know when teething is going to hit!
Perfume
Make Up
Wash Cloth and baby shampoo/ body wash- I also brought a rubber duck so bath time was just like it is at home.
Contacts/ Solution
Other Items:
Stroller- ours is a beast. I love it but it does take up lots of trunk space if even just driving to the airport. So when I know I won't need it I leave it at home.
Car seat- you can usually rent one with the rental car but I am weary about germs so I have brought my own so far.
Baby Carrier (ergo baby 360)- Love this thing. I can wear him on the front or back and face him towards me or out. So many options and the design makes it so you don't even feel the real weight. Carrying baby is easier than carrying the car seat lol
Bag for stroller: this is a must, they treat your stuff like crap when you check it and you did not pay all that $$ for a stroller to have them mess it up. Ours was maybe $30 and was so worth getting. I have seen some messed up strollers next to ours getting off the plane that were not bagged and ours still looks new.
Bag for car seat- another must, I read horror stories about car seats getting messed up, one story that stands out is a couple that went to a tropical island and the plane had the stairs you exit on. Their car seat was at the bottom of the stairs waiting for them in a puddle! No ones going to put their baby in that. The bag was cheap and like I said before had a strap so it was easier to carry and when you are done it folds into its own little bag so its compact. And the bag has received a hole or two but the car seat looks fabulous. Well worth getting.
Items I had at our end destination:
Playpen (I did bring this with us to Grand Junction, and our last trip to California so we didn't have to bring it back and forth, it just depends on the the destination.
Swing- my mom was sweet enough to borrow one which was amazing when he was small so we had a place for him to be when our hands were busy.
Our last trip included time at the beach. The beach house had lots of beach things. We also borrowed things
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