I'm hoping you can help me out a bit. In a few weeks, we are going on our first family vacation. We've done weekend getaways as a family, but nothing like this upcoming trip. We will be taking a plane and will be staying with family (they have no kids) for a week. We are sooooo excited for the memories we are going to make and the fun we are going to have. However, there a few things I need advice on, and am a little unsure about.
First, we have been doing EC for about a month now and I'd really like to keep that up while traveling. We also use cloth diapers, and also want to be able to use them while on our trip. I will ask ahead of time, but I assume using their laundry machines won't be an issue. Any cloth diapering and EC tips for travel?
Second, we will be flying. I have never flown with an infant. In fact, I have never flown on my own outside of an organized group trip or mission trip, so I'm hoping we can even figure out what to do in an airport! ha! I've heard nursing is a good way to calm a baby down during take-off and landing. However, I'm skeptical of this considering how distracted of a nurser Burkley has become in his eight months of life (he will be nine months old by the time of our trip). I'd really like to avoid medicating him to a sleepy/zombie-like state, so any tips to avoid drugs would be much appreciated. Also, as of now, he's immobile (a late bloomer, I blame it on the preemie-ness), but by then he could be crawling--who knows--so, any tips for occupying a mobile baby -or possibly still immobile- on a four hour flight?
Third, I've heard about renting baby gear so as to not have to travel with it all. I do think we will rent a little seat with a tray for him to eat in while at our relatives' home, but I'd really rather not rent a carseat and stroller, and here's why: I don't want to spend money renting things we already own. The airline (Southwest) allows us to carry-on and/or check a stroller and a carseat in addition to our luggage. And besides, I can't guarantee the quality (or safety) of the ones we rent, so I'd prefer to use the ones we know, are familiar with, and know Burkley fits in just fine. Also, I am tall, and most umbrella strollers I've seen are super short and uncomfortable to push. We will most likely be doing lots of walking and exploring in New Mexico, and I'd love to have our nice jogging stroller with us. When hiking, however, I do plan on renting a carrier (only $6 for the day!) for Daddy to wear him in, and I also plan on wearing him whenever we can for shopping and sight-seeing. Still, the jogging stroller is quite bulky, so I'm a little nervous about traveling with it. Tips?
Fourth, I tend to be an over-packer. Can you give me any ideas on what I really need and what I really can do without?
I am not worried about him sleeping while on vacation, as that hasn't been a problem on even our short weekend trips. Since he sleeps with us, he does well wherever we are.
Any tips for invading someone's babyless home with a baby-- so as to not overwhelm them and have them wish us gone in a matter of hours? Burkley is a very low-key, laid-back, easy baby, so I assume all will be well, and they are family, so....anything else I should be aware of? Your tips and advice are greatly appreciated!
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lots of questions! I had the same questions when we took Esther to NV when she was 15 months. On CDing, I used my aunt's washer and drier, just fine. I also can't imagine there being an issue, but if there is, you could always find a laundry mat.
ReplyDeleteAs far as drugging him, I had a SLEW of people suggest we 'just drug' E during our trip. I was HORRIFIED. I put a couple of little videos on our iPod, which helped. I also packed a lot of little 'non' toys - like calculators, real looking cell phones, stuff like that, that he usually doesn't have free reign to play with. Of course, pack your sling! Really, Esther slept A LOT on the plane ride, which was fabulous. The motion just might make him do the same :)
As for some other must haves, a blanky from home might help him sleep a little better and offer some comfort on the plane. Don't forget his necklace.
Burk is sooo easy peasy, I can't imagine there being any 'wishing away!'
Haven't really done EC myself but have flown with cloth - it's really no different than at home - just bring a big enough wet bag for however long your flight is. :)
ReplyDeleteYou def don't need drugs :) Just try to nurse during takeoff and landing - and if he doesn't want to, don't force it. I've flown 4 times now with my daughter and tried to get her to drink every takeoff and landing and she just hasn't wanted to, and she's been fine.
Take your carseat and stroller to the gate - if you can't bring them on the plane, they will check them there and that should help keep them safer. :)
Bring a few new toys for the plane and your family's house, but you really won't need much.
Don't want to get overly lengthy here, but I do have a post with more answers to some of your questions here - http://www.becomingcrunchy.com/2011/06/tips-for-flying-with-baby/
Good luck! Hope it is an awesome trip for you! :)
Sarah--good call on bringing a few toys to play with while there. I don't know if I would have thought of that.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Kelly! I've now got that blog post bookmarked! Much appreciated. :)
I traveled with Annabelle for two months when she was almost five-almost seven months old. For EC/diapering, I talk about how I packed here if that helps at all http://teamkemendo.blogspot.com/2010/08/traveling-with-fluff.html but I had a 30 some odd hour journey from home to our first destination, so you probably don't need to be as crazy. I just gave potty-tunities on the plane when I went to change a diaper, and a couple of times she took them. I did notice that I was distracted and therefore less attuned to my babe's cues, so the biggest difference from our at home routine was that I needed more diaper covers! I ended up buying three, one at a time, while we were away because I kept realizing I needed 'one more' since we diapering so much more than normal. The biggest thing I would do differently is talk openly about EC. On the first legs of my journey I was with people who didn't know much about our EC practice, so they didn't think to consider a need for potty breaks (how could they!) and therefore I often felt rushed because I was worried about their needs, and they didn't even know what mine were! When I was with people who knew how we do things at home, they would sweetly ask if I needed to take my daughter potty, and we were much more successful with EC during those times.
ReplyDeleteThe best things I had on the plane were a mirror and a few of my daughter's favorite books. She started crawling before our return trip and wanted to be up and around the WHOLE time, but sitting and reading, or letting her admire her face in the mirror helped.
I tried to nurse at take-off and landing as is recommended, but she was never interested at those times. She wanted to eat on her own terms!
I have good things about lavender and valerian root for calming without medicating. You can get dried lavender flowers and use them to make lavender water for your baby to drink, or maybe just put a drop or two of essential oil on something that will be nearby - maybe your sling if you're using one. I'll try that this next time!
As far as baby gear, we traveled with our car seat, but no stroller. The sling was a lifesaver on the plane as it allowed for hands-free naps! I didn't realize it at first, but you can check your car seat with your luggage instead of lugging it through the airport and gate-checking it. That made things easy as pie!
There's my super jumbled advice! I'm eager to hear yours when you return. We're traveling again soon and I know I could use some good advice!
I did a post on traveling with cloth diapers (http://workingtobeworthy.blogspot.com/2011/05/how-to-travel-with-cloth-diapers.html), but we've never flown with Peter, so I don't have any advice for those questions. Hope your trip is fun!
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