Travel Tips

As most of you know I am a bit of a researcher and about a month before our big trip back east to visit my family I started asking around from other moms, reading articles, etc on how to make traveling with a baby as easy as possible. I gathered a few great tips that I thought I would share with you all. First and foremost if you have friends/family at your destination with kids try to borrow as much as possible. If you are anything like me you don't usually like to ask for help but one thing I have learned that once you are a mom you have to learn to ask for help every once in awhile. You already have to pack so much stuff that it will save you the hassle and money if you don't have to bring everything with you. I was lucky enough to borrow a pack-n-play, stroller, infant play seat and booster seat from my aunt. All I had to bring was Henry's car seat and our clothes. I also recommend only bringing as much diapers and food as you need for the travel day and buying the rest at the store once you reach your destination. The airlines are becoming much more particular on weight limitation as well as charging you per checked bag (not all but many). It cost me $15 for my first bag and $25 for the second. No longer free!

Also, I will never leave on a trip via a plane without my gogo Kidz Travelmate (check out One Step Ahead for this). At least 20+ parents made a comment about how great it was and many more were staring in envy as I traveled with Henry through the airport. It really made going through security and traveling to the gate a piece of cake, especially if you are alone. It is worth every penny and considering Henry will be in his seat for at least 3 - 4 yrs and we will take at least 1 plane trip a year there was no question whether we would get use out of it.

The other great purchase I made was a $10 rectangle, thin and super soft pillow from Target. I simply laid it across my lap and put Henry on his side and belly and he slept half the flight. Of course his legs are long so having my mom next to me helped as his feet dangled over on her. The way back home will be harder as I will have a stranger sitting next to me that will likely not appreciate baby feet on their lap! Regardless it also helped give me elbow support when feeding/holding Henry. I do not like the idea of using the airlines pillows/blankets as they are not washed after every flight...germs, germs and more germs!

What about feeding? Well, everyone said to feed him on the way up and down to help with his ears. I did that and it worked great. But what about heating up your bottle? Well, a flight attendant recommended asking your flight attendant for some hot water in the barf bag (a clean one of course!) and placing your bottle inside to heat it up. The bag is made to hold liquid and many moms do this I guess. Since my little one freaks out at the sight of his bottle now I opted to stop by Starbucks before our flight and filled a canteen of hot water. I simply mixed half the hot water with half room temp. bottle water and it was perfect. If you are not breast feeding they make these fantastic formula packets that look like pixie sticks and hold 4 oz of powder formula each. They are super small and easy to pack as well as pour into your bottle without making a mess. A pacifier will also help with the ears too. And, if that doesn't work you can try Baby Tylenol or Children's Benadryl (check w/ doc on dose). About 10% of babies will have the opposite effect of Benadryl and freak out/super wound up so test this out at home before you leave. The idea is to calm them down and help sleep on plane. I prefer to not use any meds but I did have these as a back up plan and my son actually is in that 10%!!!

Changing a poopy diaper? Well, to my surprise as I never noticed this before but one bathroom on every large airplane has a changing table. I recommend bringing a disposal changing pad to put on top of it as it's not the cleanest thing in the world. But I thought I was going to have to sit on the toilet put Henry on my lap and try to change a diaper without getting peed on so I was really happy to discover there was a changing table!

Other tips: I recommend not only bringing a change of clothes for your little one but pack an extra shirt for yourself. You never know when an accident up top or below will get you too! A long flight with a messy shirt is so not comfortable. If you are staying at a hotel and are not too excited about the idea of bathing your little one in the tub (I'm a bit of a germ freak) then I recommend the Munchen Bath Tub Duck. It is super easy to pack and blows up in a flash. It's great for little ones that can sit up by themselves but still take a tumble every once in awhile as it provides a bit more cushion. Henry loves his ducky and mommy doesn't worry about how the tub was used or cleaned prior as much! ;o)

We head home Friday. Wish me luck on my first solo flight with Henry! I sure hope he does as well as he did on the way out. It's an hour longer going home due to the head wind but we are traveling during bed time so that should help I hope!

Miss and love you all! See you real soon! XOXO