First up in the questions from readers…..a reader (hi KT!) asked if I could talk about traveling with Gracie and what has worked for us, as she has some travel in her future with her new baby. To that I say: sure! I know there are a lot of resources out there, but here are some things that have worked for us! (Amazon links affiliate, heads up).
Overall: organization! I make packing lists, try to do the math on diapers on wipes (I usually fail) and if we have a machine-wash item that we use daily (sleep sack, small bedtime blanket, pajamas, bibs) I make sure to pack 2 – so if a middle of the night diaper explosion (or similar situation) happens, I know I have a back up at the ready while I wash whatever was destroyed. More specifically….
- If I’m traveling somewhere with no changing table, I toss an extra foldable changing mat in the suitcase so I can set up a little diaper station wherever we are. That way my diaper bag one can stay in the diaper bag and I don’t risk leaving it behind wherever we are staying.
- If I’m staying for more than a few days, I sometimes pack enough diapers for 2-3 days and plan on ordering/buying a small box of diapers while I’m there. This is a good solution for a trip home for the holidays when you are staying put for a week.
- When we travel to see family, they often graciously help out by buying a few kid-food essentials, at least until we can get there and buy the remainder ourselves. Typically this means some Cheerios, a small container of whole milk, and some fresh fruit. This is nice but not necessary!
- I pack my diaper bag with enough items for a full 24 hours so I can be separated from my larger suitcase (even if it is just in the trunk of the car) without worry.
- I always have a gallon sized zip lock bag for food-stuffs in my suitcase. When G was younger it had a bottle brush, a small travel bottle of dish soap and some clean dish cloths from home (if we were staying in a hotel). Now it has a few utensils and kid plates for when we are staying in someone’s home and they don’t have little ones.
- Packing….if I’m traveling on a plane, I bring 2 extra outfits (footie jammies for wee ones, comfy top/bottoms for older ones) for Gracie and B and I each roll up an extra top/bottom for ourselves in our carry ons. You don’t want to be the parent wearing vomit on a long flight.
- For plane travel we organized the following way. After checking our suitcases and the baby sleeping device we brought the stroller, a baby carrier (Ergo/Tula), the car seat, the diaper bag, and ONE adult carry-on on board. If I was alone it was my purse, if I wasn’t, B and I shared a back pack. If your child is older and your stroller is strong enough, consider a Mommy Hook to clip their convertible seat to the stroller handlebars via the chest straps for easy maneuvering through the concourse. If younger, use your clip in infant seat/stroller frame. You can gate check (for free) your stroller & car seat if your child doesn’t have their own seat on board. UppaBaby sells nice stroller bags for their full size and umbrella strollers, and as a bonus, if you register them + your UppaBaby stroller, if your stroller is damaged they will fix or replace it for free. Insurance! Woo!
- Side note: I really recommend getting your kid their own seat if you can. This is both for safety and enjoyability. If you are a gambling type, on Southwest if the flight has available seats, even if you didn’t buy an extra seat, they will let you use your car seat on board. If you get clearance from the gate agent, just tell the flight attendant “I have a lap infant but was told there was room for the car seat” and they’ll be cool, pinky swear. If the flight fills up for some reason (last minute standby passenger) they’ll come let you know and help you gate check the seat.
- Going through security with an infant: WEAR THEM IN A CARRIER. YOU CAN GO THROUGH THE METAL DETECTORS LIKE THAT. TRUST.
Activities for entertainment
- Screens. If you are ok with screen time under 2 (or your child is over 2) don’t hesitate to stock up on apps/videos/etc. Because the AAP recommends no screen time before age 2, we are pretty strict on Gracie’s use of technology, but we have a few apps that have been helpful on plane rides. More specifically we have a drawing app that she likes, and we downloaded a few of Sandra Boynton’s books in app version (they are interactive!) so we can read them to her and play with the various interactive parts. If you are going to use anything with sound, don’t forget a pair of kid’s headphones.
- Sticky stuff. We travel with a roll of washi tape (which isn’t overly sticky and comes in fun patterns), a few pages of Target dollar spot stickers, and a package of Post-It notes. As it turns out, you can entertain an older infant/young toddler with this stuff for hours. Highly recommend and bonus: it isn’t terribly messy, at least not like Cheerios.
- Dollar bin/store items. A few new novelty items can really help the time go by.
- Travel magna doodle. Definitely buying this before our next trip!!
- Books – Indestructibles are nice since they are so thin & light.
- Music! For older kids you can put it on an iPod/like-device, for car travel, a CD works fine for little ones.
Food on the go
- Snacks. Two OXO Tot snack cups and at least 2 quart sized bags of small snacks are in my diaper bag, along with a sippy cup. When traveling I care zero bits about snacking too much (hey, one Cheerio at a time can make a long plane ride much shorter), and I don’t want to run out. Depending on your child’s age, dried fruit, yogurt covered raisins, animal crackers, and small cereal can be a total life saver. Now that Gracie is older I typically have a few granola bars on hand in case we can’t eat at her usual lunch time. I don’t travel with squeeze pouches, which I know some people love, but my kid thinks they make excellent volcanoes. No thanks.
- Milk. When Gracie was a baby I traveled with bottled already filled with breastmilk (fine at room temp for 8 hours), and a Dr. Brown’s formula caddy with enough formula for exclusive formula drinking for 24 hours (that formula caddy is my favorite due to the shape/easy pour). Sometimes this means I had an extra formula caddy in my own carry on/bag, but dang it, I was not getting on a plane without enough to get us through a terrible gate-wait. Now that she drinks cow’s milk, if I’m worried about availability (long car ride, etc.) I use a small thermos to bring some cold milk with us. Heads up, most fast food restaurants & Starbucks carry milk. Back in the day I typically traveled with 2 bottles and a package of Medela breast pump wipes (that will kill the germs) so I could re-use bottles in flight/on the road. Don’t use the tap water on a plane to rinse bottles, it isn’t potable. I always had a clean burp cloth in the diaper bag to use to wipe bottles out as needed as well.
- Cups. I’ve started just bringing Take n Toss cups when I travel – then I don’t have to worry about losing one of our expensive straw cups, and I can leave them at Grandmas/toss them at the end of the trip if necessary.
- A note on food on the go…our last car trip, we had 3 adults and I was riding in the back with Gracie. I’d given her a cup of animal crackers to snack on and she ended up shoving 2 in her mouth and choking. It was terrifying and I’m really glad I was in the back with her. So that is always something to keep in mind, particularly on car rides where there isn’t an adult in the back. (We are sticking to Cheerios in the car for awhile, which she doesn’t shove in like it is her last meal.)
Sleeping on vacation
- When G was really little we just brought our Rock n Play along. It folds flat, you can check it on an airplane if you want (Southwest Airlines sells reusable carseat/stroller bags for $15 at the check in counter, just put it in there if you are worried about it getting dirty) and it took up very little space. Now that she is older we either bring a Pack n Play or our Baby Bjorn travel crib + a travel sheet. We were given both as gifts….I like how small/light the Bjorn is and how dang easy it is to set up, but the mattress is so soft I didn’t use it until Gracie was over a year old. To each their own! The Pack n Play is a standby workhorse, although putting it together is always a task.
- We bring her monitor (unless we are in a hotel) and my old iPhone with her white noise app on it but we leave her crib sound machine/Twilight Turtle at home. We do our best to keep her routine going, although sometimes on vacation we’ve been known to throw caution to the wind.
Other “big stuff” that you might need
- High chairs can sometimes pose a challenge when you travel. If you are going on and honest to goodness vacation and staying in a hotel I probably wouldn’t worry about it too much. If you are renting an apartment/condo for a week then depending on your space availablity I’d consider packing a clip high chair (we don’t have one but I hear great things about this one) or the Fisher Price booster, which we have, and it packs down fairly well (although not flat). These are great options for Grandma’s house as well, or they can consider the Ikea high chair which gets pretty good reviews and is an inexpensive investment (if you are going to visit often).
- Car seats. We always travel with our own car seat. Rental car agencies offer seats but I don’t trust them to replace them after accidents/wash them properly/inspect them for wear and tear. I know how to install our seats and I know Gracie is safe and has a seat that will let her rear face (we hope to rear face until at least age 3). We bought the Combi Coccoro seat as our 2nd convertible seat based on how small and lightweight it is, with the idea it would be great for using in taxi cabs & on planes.
Whew. I think that covers it. Happy travels!
