traveling with twins?

LittleLady77

Please school me on traveling with twins.  It will be a 5 hour plane flight, then an hour drive to a hotel on the beach. Kids will be 8.5 - 9 months.  We have 3 seats on the plane for hubby, the twins and I and two cribs will be in our hotel room already.  What do I need to bring? What can I skip?  What tips can you share with me? 

Share all your MoM knowledge! 

carrotcake06

Third seat is a must if you all plan to sit together since you can only have one lap child per row.

I haven't flown w the twins but I've flown w my singleton a bunch. What is your car seat and stroller situation? Still in buckets? Gate checking? Might also be a good idea to bring a carrier to free up a set of hands.

Millimeter

Whenever we stayed at a hotel, we pulled the crib sheets off their beds and put them on the hotel cribs. That way they still smelled like home. We also brought our sound machine and tried our best to keep the same bedtime routine.

LittleLady77

The twins can be in their buckets or the stroller seats.  They like the seats so much more but it might be a PITA to bring both the car seats and the stroller seats.  I'm still trying to decide. 

We will definatly be bringing 2 Ergo's. 

auntjessy

I haven't flown with mine, but I do a 5 hour car trip back home with them at least once a month and have been since they were about a month old.  They're now 8 months old. Here's what works best for me when traveling:

A new, interesting toy or 2 for each of them.  Bonus points if it's got lots of ribbons handing off of it and plenty of bits that shake.  

Bottles with pre-portioned formula in each (if you formula feed).  Then, just add bottled water wherever you are and shake.  The pre-portioned packets are nice, too.   

Extra pacifiers in your back pocket.  

Don't pack a ton of diapers or wipes, you can buy those when you get where you're going.

White noise machine and whatever other sleep associations you use.  My twins use pacis and we have "Wubbies" they only use in their cribs, so that's been really helpful.    

When we have to go to hotels, I try to find one with a suite so the bedroom is separate.  Might be too late for that.

Mine don't really nap well away from home, no matter how hard we try to accommodate them.  So, factor in how fussy they'll be with no nap time and that you might need to head back to the hotel much earlier than standard bedtime.

What you will wish you brought more of: socks, onesies, sleepers, burp cloths.  What you will regret packing a ton of: adorable outfits.  

I throw all plans and expectations out the window when traveling with the babies.  Go with the flow and you won't be disappointed if things go differently.  Remember, different does not equal bad.    

Have you considered this?  https://www.travelswithbaby.com/planning/vacation_babysitters.htm#USA

CaliCarly77

This is great! We leave next Saturday with our twins (flights with a plane change mid way from California to Connecticut!). We have a large hotel room with two cribs, too. We also bit the bullet and got the 3 seats for the 4 of us. 

We are bringing our frame stroller (Joovy) and car seats, since we don't plan on using a stroller much while at our location (visiting family, so no sight seeing). I figure I will gate check the two car seats and the Joovy frame. My final concern is bring car seat bases for our rental car. Wish we didn't have to but I think that's going to be a necessity! 

Here is my "for the flight" list based on my internet research:

For Airplane:bottled water (buy in terminal)
pre wrapped formula  packets (enfamil)
Puffs/cheerios
3 Playtex bottles and 20 liners
Toys (bug, the other velcro ones)
Teethers
ipad with games/movies (someone suggested fisher price peek a boo games - but our girls are 11 months and kind of into that now)
lovees - yellow giraffe and snakey
baby food squeezies & squeezie spoons (the spoons attach to the squeeze packs!)
pacifiers
4 changes of clothing
changing pad
wipes
diapers X 15
1 each changes of clothing for mom and dad
6 burp cloths
2 swaddle blankets
2 bibs
tylenol
heavy blankets (elephants) to cover babies

Someone suggested a plastic ziplock to pack with wipes, burp cloth, paci, & a toy to keep in the pocket of the seat in front of you for easy access. I will also have my “diaper change kit” in the seat pocket that is a zip lock bag with 2 -3 diapers, wipes, changing pad and throw away bags in it - perfect for the plane.

skeppler1

we just came back from a thanksgiving trip from TX to PA (3hr flight)
Both babies actually did very well. Had a morning flight going and a late afternoon coming back and they both slept for the majority of the time. We fed them taking off so it would help with their ears is they did have any problems.
I had a bunch of "just in case" stuff but I was glad I had it. the one thing that I found on amazon were these that I absolutely love

https://www.amazon.com/Baby-Buddy-Count-Secure-A-Toy-Straps/dp/B00ENUQP2A/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1418684170&sr=8-2&keywords=toy+secure+strap&pebp=1418684179504

kept all the toys from falling on the nasty airplane/airport floor. Attached it to their umbrella strollers we took and then to the tray bars on the back of the seat.

Also bring grocery bags to put the dirty clothes or burp clothes in so you don't get anything else dirty. Also zip lock bags for after you give baby tylenol for the syringe since it will be sticky.

Ask for any empty plastic cup when they come around for drinks, they kept my daughter happy for a while.

I hope you have a great flight and just make sure you have enough food/snacks for flight and drive to hotel.

kgs0505

If you will be driving, you must have car seats at your destination.  Sometimes you can rent them from the rental place, but I don't know what kinds of guarantees they have.

Last time we traveled as a family of 5, the girls were 10 weeks old.  The ergos were a life saver for the plane/airport.  We checked our car seats.  We purchased the Britax car seat covers specifically for traveling. Pricey, but they fit the infant seats with bases and the convertible seats we had (my son was 2 at the time).  They also protected the seats very well.  I also checked two strollers, the DSNG and the umbrella single.  They were in a single gate check bag and got lost. Totally sucked.  There was damage to the bag, but not the strollers when they showed up the next day.  So, if the kids travel well in the stroller bring it through the airport with you and gate check it.  There really ins't a great bag for strollers like there is for car seats.

You can check car seats and strollers for free, unlike your luggage.

As for carry-ons, the lap infant doesn't get one technically speaking, but the ticketed one does.  Will you have a layover or a direct flight?  A direct flight will be simpler because there are less unknowns.  A layover complicates thing because there may be delays between flights.  I plan for a a full 24 hours of food/formula. Plus enough diapers/extra clothes for the same period of time.

I put less stuff (like enough for the actual flight in the diaper bag I keep by my feet and then throw all the extra in a roller case I put overhead.  For their ages, I'd bring smaller toys and books and lots of snacks to keep them entertained.  My kids tend to sleep a lot with the drone of the plane, so that helps.