Twin travel for 30 hours in a plane? HELP!!!!!!!

SunshineSchmidt

Hello,

My husband and I are adopting twin boys form Ethiopia (14 months) and will soon be bringing them home all the way from Ethiopia to Portland, OR.  The plane travel is around 30 hours and I, as a first time mom, let alone to adopted multiples, need all of the help I can get in developing a packing list...food, diapers, toys, you name it!  Can anyone offer any sanity saving suggestions?

Thanks in advance!

Sunshine www.weavingafamily.blogspot.com

copwife08

I have a friend that just adopted a baby from China. I can email her and ask her if she has any kind of list of things they brought. If you would like to drop me an email I can send you what ever info she can give me.

ilb2008@comcast.net

seattlestef

I don't have any advice, but just wanted to say good luck and congrats! That is so exciting and such a wonderful thing you are doing. Also, come back and chat more on the board!

kyluvsaj

First off, congrats on the adoption!  How exciting!  I don't know that any of us have ever traveled that far with the babies but I know you can do it!

Can you break up the trip into a week so it isn't 30 hours traveling straight?  Bring lots of snacks, toys and make sure they are wearing comfy clothes!

luvmagoldn

Congratulations on your adoption!   Are you able to break up the flights?  I'm not sure how flights from that part of the world work but you might fly to the US then stay overnight somewhere and fly to Portland the next day.  Trying to go 30 hours straight seems like a lot of ask of anyone - let alone children!

I don't know if they are drinking cows milk yet but when we went to the Philippines a few years ago they ran out of milk on the plane (of course it was the loooong flight).  You might have some emergency stash of whatever it is they are drinking just in case.

Good luck and congratulations again!

cands

How exciting to go pick up your boys.

I've flown with my girls, but nothing close to that long.  But I'll throw in some thoughts:

1) Huggies overnight diapers are the best in my opinion at being superabsorbant.  It's a pain to change diapers on a plane, so I'd put them in overnight diapers for the trip.  You'll still have to change them in the case of poop, but it will cut down on the pee diaper changes.

2) toys: I'd try to limit the total volume of toys you bring on board, but to bring something from several catagories, like something for each of them to cuddle (stuffed animal, etc), maybe three or four books (Seuss, boyton, where is caterpillar are favorites in my house), and maybe one or two more toys.  Also, don't underestimate the entertainment value of ripping a magazine to shreds.

3) bring a blanket on the plane for each of them, planes can sometimes be cold.

4) have pacifiers if they use them, or sippy cups (or bottles if they aren't off the bottles) for take off and landing.

I'll try to think of other ideas.

 

jd0614

Wow!  How exciting for you - Congrats!

I've never travelled with my boys yet, so I don't have much advice, other than to make sure you have paci's and bottles that they can suck on during take off and landing - to eliminate ear pain!! And finger foods, like cheerios, puffs, that sort of thing! Good luck!

Jessarella

How exciting!

I have flown with my twins a few times. It is hard. They get cranky and dont like being restricted to one spot, so bring things for them to play with. 

1. A little Benedryl goes a long way.

2. Bring at least 3 changes of clothes each. Spit up, spilled drink, vomit. Better to be over prepared than have a sopping wet or naked baby on a plane.

3. how about getting a mini dvd player with a few Disney movies? 

4. warm clothes that are comfy, planes are cold.

5. Snacks, animal crackers, puffs, cheerios. There arent microwaves on planes so be prepared for that. 

6. You can bring juice and milk through security for a baby. Just keep it in bottles or sippy cups.

 Good Luck and Congrats!

gibs

Oh my goodness! ?That will be a memorable experience!

?

I suppose just keep in mind that it'll probably have high points and low points and it'll be worth it in the end, but wow. ?Good luck!

I would ask in Ethiopia to know their favorite snacks and drinks, and bring them on the plane, along with a few of their own belongings, because it's going to be scary for them to be with new people in such a new situation, so that'll help! ?And some new things like puffs and apple juice, etc...?

chocolatechip06

I have a coworker who just adopted from Ethiopia.  I C&P from their blog a list of what they purchased in Ethiopia and what they brought/should have brought

 

We started off by changing US$250 into birr. We also used US$ for some of our expenses.
So here is what we spent money on:
1000 b Assorted souvenirs by Post-office
$400 US
$190 Guest House tips (Driver, Cooks)
$80
550 b
$40 Ethiopian Visas
300 b Formula
253 b Coffee beans
100 b Minutes for phone
60 b Berberi peppers
49 b Wooden Ethiopian Cross
47 b Books
44 b Wine
43 b Baby bottles
35 b Cerelac baby food powder
34 b Internet access (15 minutes)
32 b Cold medicine prescription
27 b Baby wipes
17 b Shampoo
Totals: 2591 birr (~$260) and $710: $970 in total spent in cash

These are things we should have brought:
? More baby wipes
? More burp cloths
? More long sleeve shirts/warmer clothes
? More bottles
? Nipples w/ different flow rates
?  (recommend getting them in country)
? Sun hat for baby

These are things that we brought but did not use:
? ipod
? Travel Scrabble (we did use our travel cribbage board)

These are things that we brought that we were really glad about:
? Digital camera and camcorder
? Headlamp/Flashlight
? Oil of Olay face cloths
? Sim card phone


These are things we brought to donate
? Anti-lice shampoo
? Assorted donated clothes
? Desitin
? Knitted infant caps
? Permethrin (for scabies)
? Rubber gloves
? Underwear (boys? and girls', 2T-8)

While at the orphanage we asked what things they needed or what things we could tell other adopting couples would make good donations. They told us that they pretty much could get anything they needed so they didn?t have any real emergencies. However things that would make good donations included:
? Desitin
? Disposable diapers
? Hair-brushes
? Matchbox cars
? Permethrin
? Rattles
? Rubber/Soccer balls (or tennis balls)
? Sidewalk chalk
? Specimen cups (particularly for girls)
? Ziplock bags
The last two items they said were difficult to get and would come in particularly useful.

0Sept04Bride

A coworker is adopting a daughter from Ethiopia (is waiting on pins and needles until she can go get her) I remember she said something about talking the the pedi they will be using here in the US, and getting antibiotics to take along with her.  She said that since these meds are in short supply over there, most kids have ear infections.  IMO there would be nothing worse than the pressure changes in an airplane if you have an ear infection.