Okay, so instead of a travel system, H and I would like to get an infant carrier frame stroller, then upgrade to a jogging stroller for all use when they have full neck support (6 months-ish?). Does this sound do-able, or ignorant?
@cjs260 I think that's doable. Depending on the running you guys do, there are some travel systems that include the jogging stroller but it's not as high quality as some of the one's that don't connect. I stopped using the infant carrier when little one was around 5 months I believe because it was heavy. We still used it as his carseat in one car though and I'm pretty sure used it on the stroller. I'd say just do your research on your jogging stroller to understand the requirements since each are different. If you don't plan to use a regular stroller after you get the jogging stroller then there is no reason to get the full travel system (I don't think). I will say, even our babytrend jogging stroller (travel system) is bigger and a little harder to maneuver than a traditional stroller as a part of a travel system. We actually just purchased a light weight stroller for my son for events that we don't want to be battling a bulky stroller. Just some things to think about when you are looking at costs.
@cjs260 I'm a FTM, but that is exactly what all my friends recommended strollerwise, plus an umbrella stroller for the car/travel.
We live in the suburbs, and 1 of my friends who had an uppababy vista said getting that in and out of the car every day got really old really fast. She had 2 kids close together and once the youngest was old enough she ended up getting a double umbrella for the car and a double BOB for longer walks, hikes, etc
I think it boils down to your lifestyle, eg, whether you walk a lot or are in and out of the car frequently, where you're walking, etc
@Carly79 I think we were thinking jogging stroller for most things and a cheap umbrella stroller for an easy option after the carrier is out-grown. I plan to baby wear as much as possible, and I want to go on long walks on uneven terrain and jogs with the baby when it's age appropriate. I just think the extra stroller wouldn't be used past the carrier stage. Thanks so much for your input!
@KRB22 Right now we live in the city, so we walk to a vast majority of places. I'm glad your friends recommend that! Makes me feel better Is that what you're planning to do as well?
Ok, kind of a random question, but I'm wondering how STMs feel about traveling with an infant. We go away with my extended family every April, normally around Easter, and I'm trying to anticipate whether my DH, baby, and I will want to / be able to go next year - when baby will be about 3 months old. We need to plan a few months in advance because things book up pretty quickly.
It's a 2-hour flight away, and I know it's probably pretty straightforward to fly with a baby that little, but I'm more worried about germs and stuff on the plane, especially since it will be the tail end of flu season. Driving down is another option - usually takes about 13 hours without a lot of stops, but we'd probably break up the trip. The upside of driving is it would also be easy to bring all the baby gear, but it also seems like a long trip with an infant.
NB I do plan to discuss this with the pediatrician when we get around to choosing one, but I'm interested to hear about anyone's experience traveling with infants, either by plane or car.
@cjs260 The Baby Trend Jogging Stroller travel system has bike style wheels which is why we got it. We do some apple orchards in the fall and see moms trying to get the regular plastic wheels around and decided we want more flexibility. My husband runs but we don't do any jogging with the stoller, the big wheels just make it much more versatile and a smoother ride. So, depending on your use, something like that may be an option too. Still suggest the umbrella/lightweight stroller once you are done with the infant carrier. My son stopped wanted to be worn for any length of time about 8 months. There are times still I wish he would let me wear him. But he loves his stroller.
@cjs260 I'm still trying to decide. We've actually been offered a couple of hand me down strollers (including my friend's uppababy), so I want to take stock of what we might get for free first. I do like the idea of a versatile travel system, but I also worry about having to lift it all the time. I don't run anymore, but we do go on lots of long walks and hikes, so I will definitely want something that can handle varied terrain. The other issue I'm having is the car seat I really want isn't really compatible with any snap n go frames, though it might work with some lightweight/umbrella strollers... Need to look into that some more.
ETA: I think some jogging strollers are compatible with infant seats with adapters? If you're mostly on foot this might be an option and you can forgo the snap n go altogether.
@KRB22 We did a 14 hour road trip from California to Colorado when our son was 4 months old. Overall, he did really well. We broke it up into 8 hours one day and 6 hours the second day. I sat in the back with him and kept him company. The biggest problem then was that he slept through our planned stops so he could get out of the seat and play a little on the first day. He spent the last hour of the trip crying. But once we got to our hotel, he was happy and fine.
We decided to do 10 hours in one day on the way back, but we left super early and he was sleeping so he didn't know he was in the car that whole time. He actually slept through the first four hours of the car ride and I wasn't afraid to wake him up at our stops that time around. It made the trip a lot easier.
@KRB22 We flew with my son when he was about 5 months. Flying with an infant is easy. They are tiny, they are non-mobile, you can baby-wear them and keep them on your lap on the plane, and feeding them usually fixes any issues with ear pain due to pressure changes. They're small enough that changing them in an airplane bathroom is doable, and they usually can't cry loudly enough at that age to really disrupt other passengers. Flying with a toddler, on the other hand...I'm still having flashbacks.
@cjs260 and anyone else deciding about strollers: whatever you do in terms of a big, expensive stroller, definitely get one of the cheap $20 umbrella strollers. We kept ours in the trunk of the car and it came in handy so many times when we ended up unexpectedly needing a stroller. Plus, the best thing about it is if you use it in the airport and gate-check it, you won't care much when it emerges from the plane completely beat to shit. I once saw a family get their giant expensive stroller back from the cargo hold at our destination gate and one of the handles had been snapped entirely off.
@KRB22 we never flew with our baby but we often drove long distances including 9+ hours (the longest was 14 hours straight I think when she was about 5 months) 4 times before she was 6 months old. So much easier then than it is now! I'd sit in the back and pump and give her a bottle, wed pull over to change her, but really she slept the whole way more or less.
@vgempis@sagoon@katesmama0706 thank you for the feedback! I'm leaning towards driving as of now, but may change my mind when we get closer. Good to know that we aren't nuts for planning to go ahead with the trip.
I have 5 younger brothers and sisters and we traveled from NY to CA many times when I was younger... I still recall how crazy that was once my little brothers were mobile. Not even sure how my parents did it and maintained their sanity
@cjs260 omit the travel system. This is a kickass idea. Guess how many times I used my travel system stroller? Maybe three. It currently collects dust in my garage. We used the snap n go constantly and when dd was bigger we bought a nice umbrella stroller. Now we have a modular stroller than can accommodate 2.
Third time mom+ question: what do I do with my toddler during the winter months when I have a newborn? Last winter we went to classes/storytimes every day, but I am SO worried about the January germs getting my older daughter, the baby, or me sick. (I'm less worried about the baby because breastfeeding should keep the germs at bay for her-I hope). We may go insane from January-April.
I also have a travel related question, but it's more towards travelling while pregnant. It REALLY makes me sad to think that we won't be able to visit home in late December for Christmas. I'm due Jan. 19th. How realistic is an 8+ hour long drive when you're 8 months pregnant? Is it even advisable by a dr most times? I'm thinking I'd do the shower while I'm back home within the same visit if I could go.
@AriB08 uh I wouldn't. My sister got married an hour away when I was 38 weeks and even that made me nervous. In my opinion, the final 4 weeks of pregnancy are intense.
@ThePax89 Is your daughter old enough to do preschool or an organized activity like that without you? Not a third time mom but that's my plan for Owen. He'll do preschool Tues/Thurs mornings and hang with his Nana Wednesdays (he goes there now on Wednesdays when I work) so I'll only have both kids all day Mon/Fri.
I'm due a week before you, and I've been told anything from 36 weeks on, you should be close to where you want to give birth... for me that is December 15, so for you, around December 22. If you really want to visit family, could you do an early December visit?
Best case scenario is that you don't go into labour: I still imagine sitting in a car for 8 hours (each way!!) is going to be incredibly uncomfortable at that stage in pregnancy. And worst case scenario is that you give birth at a hospital that is out of network and away from your care provider that you have established a relationship with and away from all the baby stuff you've purchased for the newborn stage. You'd have to bring a car seat with you on the trip because the hospital won't let you leave without one.
I'm really looking forward to starting the tradition of spending Christmas as a nuclear family, and I view this LO as doing me a solid by giving me a medical excuse to get the ball rolling a year early. But if you want to have everyone around, could you do Christmas at your place?
Hey STMs, did any of you have to get a colposcopy while pregnant? How was it? My OB wants to do one to double check everything is fine when I'm 17 wks. My Pap smear came back normal at my first OB appointment (at 9 wks) but since I had a *slightly* abormal pap Sept '15 she just wants to make sure she doesn't see anything. She said she is not taking any biopsies. Thanks
Me: 26, DH: 31 Diagnosed with Hashimoto's 06/17
BFP #1: 05/11/16 DD born 01/01/17, Happy New Year TTC #2: 01/2019 BFP #2 09/24/19--Ended in chemical pregnancy BFP #3 07/02/2020 Due: 03/10/2021
@ThePax89 I have been wondering the same! Both my boys were summer babes so I wasn't as worried when winter rolled along! And we are moving up to the NOrtheast in a few weeks and I just can't even fathom what we are going to do in the winter without getting everyone sick! I guess we will be doing lots of frequent hand washing? What all do others do in the winter with an infant?
@KRB22 traveling with an infant is a lot easier than traveling with a toddler or tyke! Travel as much as you can while they are that young!! With a baby that young, you just want to bring a couple pairs of backup clothes in case of blowouts (and you too, just in case the blowout gets on you) and try to nurse him/her during takeoff and landing (it'll help their ears adjust to the altitude). Chances are they'll sleep the entire time (the airplane white noise is soothing). I recommend baby wearing through airports and not bringing the stroller on the airplane. If check in early, the airline employees may try to make sure the seat next to you stays empty so you can have your baby in the infant car seat carrier strapped in next to you.
I've said it a few times before but I splurged on a travel system which I absolutely hate. He wheels are only good for mall floors and the like. I made my husband go on a walk with me -- just to prove that I needed a better stroller -- he agreed with me before we reached my halfway point. I got caught in the 'the pack and play and infant car seat and stroller match!!' situation that I did not see past. ...I hated the pack and play too. Haha.
What's the youngest you would've felt comfortable traveling with your infants?
We took DD on our family vacation to the beach when she was 2 months old. We took it 4 hours/day for the drive there (total of 8 hours each way plus stops for diaper changes and food). Actually traveling with her was a breeze, but I found that the beach with a 2 month old is no fun, at least if you only go once a year and are unaccustomed to it with an infant. It would take us an hour to get ready between feeding her, changing all of us, and applying sunscreen, then 10-15 minutes to walk to the beach, then we'd only be there for 40 minutes before she'd have enough and want to leave. So that aspect of it kind of sucked but the car ride itself was a breeze.
This conversation on travel system versus umbrella stroller has been super helpful. One question - one thing I heard on the benefits of a travel system is that if your infant is asleep in the car seat, you do not need to take them out o the car seat to put them in the stroller (you can just snap the carseat into the travel system stroller). So if I just went with the car seat and cheap stroller until the baby was older, would it be a hassle waking the baby up and moving the stellar? Or does that not happen very often?
About me: Me 35, DH 36 (Unexplained Infertility, possible PCOS) TTC for 3.5 years. 10 clomid cycles (TI & IUI with ovidrel triggers - all BFN). *Loss mentioned & Trigger warning #1 IVF May 2015- resulted in 15 5-day Blasts - SET (fresh) with BFP. Ectopic Preg @ 5w2d, treated with Methotrexate. #2 FET, Sept. 2015, SET MC@8 wks with D&C in November 2015. 13 remaining blasts sent for PGS testing. 1 did not survive the thaw. 6 came back normal from PGS. #3 FET 5/16/16 SET - BFP 5/20/16 Beta's looked great and so did ultrasounds- officially released to my OB! EDD 2/1/17.
@TinaBelcher we travelled to "safe" places like family members houses at a month but waited for all other places until after the first big round of vax
I'm a germaphobe. I made my entire family get up to date on the pertussis vacs before they could hold my son... But I have to travel to a different city for birth - just a 2 1/2 hour flight away but I travel at 36 weeks (and stay with family) and don't leave until I'm ready to go home and have no day support and no one helping with meals and such. With my son, we traveled back home when he was 3 weeks and 2 days old. I was shocked when complete strangers would come touch him or rub his back like it was okay for complete strangers to be so intimate. Freaked me out - it's totally a thing. They don't care if their nose is running and they are hacking up a lung, they just want to touch. And they feel they are entitled to, if you don't let them, you are a villain. Prepare yourselves. Sorry I got sidetracked.
My son is 2 1/2 and I still use Clorox wipes to wipe down every surface (including the inserts) on the airplane before we buckle up (the lemon scent is usually a welcome change for everyone around). Each time I do this, we have multiple USED BLACK WIPES to throw away and usually a noticeable different in surface color... I don't think they are ever really cleaned. We wash hands religiously (sing the ABCs during lathering to ensure we are doing it long enough) and try our best to provide a safe environment. There's not much more you can do when traveling.
if you're like me, you'll find that many places don't clean their stuff as much as they should and you end up having to do something about it. My local field house has a tots play program with toys and a bouncy house -- they NEVER, I repeat NEVER, cleaned any of their toys unless it was obviously soiled, like with vomit or something. They have a regular cleaning schedule now... Food play areas are notorious for being filthy (with the exception of Chick fil'a, they are amazing). Where I live, Hand Foot and Mouth disease is always a worry as well as other really bad crap -- my son got a 16-hour vomit illness once after a day at a local playground park that caused regression in sleep cycles and nursing schedules. We're more vigilant about frequent hand washing now. Sorry, off on a tangent again.
RE travel system v. multiple strollers thing, to offer a different perspective, I actually have really loved my travel system. For the first year of DD's life we lived in a second story apartment with no elevator and no garage, so whatever stroller we got had to be kept in the trunk of my car, which until she was about 8 months old was a Dodge Neon. There was obviously only room for one stroller, and given that our money is pretty budgeted - I mean, we're certainly not lacking but we're both 24 and I'm a SAHM so there's not really room for extras - we went with the stroller we felt we'd be able to use for the longest amount of time and with the most versatility. Our graco click connect travel system has met our needs perfectly; it's grown with DD and if we weren't going to be switching to a double stroller in January I'd probably continue to use it until it either broke or she outgrew it. It doesn't do as well on trails and stuff like that as a jogging stroller would, but I don't really go off of pavement so that's not a factor for me, and I love that it has a pouch underneath for the diaper bag and a blanket if needed, which most umbrella strollers do not.
TL;DR I think it really comes down to personal preference but if you're looking for a decent stroller that will grow with your child but don't really need anything beyond the basics, a travel system is great.
This conversation on travel system versus umbrella stroller has been super helpful. One question - one thing I heard on the benefits of a travel system is that if your infant is asleep in the car seat, you do not need to take them out o the car seat to put them in the stroller (you can just snap the carseat into the travel system stroller). So if I just went with the car seat and cheap stroller until the baby was older, would it be a hassle waking the baby up and moving the stellar? Or does that not happen very often?
I think that really depends on the baby; until DD was about 2 months old she slept through ANYTHING and totally wouldn't have noticed, but then ever since she stopped being a newborn she wakes up at the slightest change in her surroundings, so even though I did have a travel system and all I had to do was pick up the car seat and put her in the car, she'd wake up anyway. She'd fall back to sleep pretty quickly but if that is THE reason you'd get one, it really depends on what your kid is like. And I'm saying that even as someone who loves her travel system haha
Oooo! How many weeks in did you still drive? What's the recommended cut off time for driving?
I was still driving up until like 3 or 4 days before my due date. The only reason I didn't drive past that was because DD was born at 1am on a Monday morning, so DH was around to drive me the whole weekend before she was born (he always drives when we're together).
Now as far as long distances go, my husband and my mom wouldn't let me drive by myself past about 5 months. I went to visit my parents a few times after that and either my husband would drive me or my mom would buy me a train ticket. I would've felt comfortable with the 4 hour drive up until about 8 months I think but they were worried.
I also have a travel related question, but it's more towards travelling while pregnant. It REALLY makes me sad to think that we won't be able to visit home in late December for Christmas. I'm due Jan. 19th. How realistic is an 8+ hour long drive when you're 8 months pregnant? Is it even advisable by a dr most times? I'm thinking I'd do the shower while I'm back home within the same visit if I could go.
When I was 8 months pregnant an 8 hour long drive would've had me in tears. I was super uncomfortable during the drive to my baby shower at 8 months, and that was only 4 hours. I've accepted that I won't be going home for Christmas this year, which is super disappointing, but I know I won't be able to handle the ride home.
@adorebella she will be 2, but will have missed the cutoff for 2 year old programs. Plus, not sure she's ready to be on her own. Good idea though! I'll look into it. I'm still nervous about her coming home with all kinds of disgustion.
@ThePax89 I don't know your age gap, but my son was 25 months when our 2nd was born. In winter I used to take him to the mall and walk around and get lunch while the baby napped. I always avoid the mall play areas though, they gross me out. Our malls in winter during week days are always pretty empty. We also went to the library and read books in the children's area, but avoided the group library story times and music classes. If you happen to have a Barnes and Noble near you still they are good for reading books too, and playing with minimal interaction from other kids during weekdays. We also took walks outside on days that weren't too cold and I would bundle up and wear the baby. I also had a real thick sleeping bag type thing that can be used in a stroller that would keep them warm for short walks. For inside I would highly recommend getting a pop up fort/play tent and tunnel. My kids love to play in those and I save them for days stuck inside. They fold completely flat when not in use and I keep them under our couch. Watercolors and Colorwonders markers were good at that age too because they didn't need a ton of supervision and could sit up at our dining table. Also, hold back some of the toys you get from the holidays and keep 1 or 2 toys in her room and only let her play with them in her room. This saved me so many times when I had to put the baby to bed and needed my youngest to play by himself. He had certain toys we only kept in his room and he played with infrequently. I would put him in there for 20 or so minutes and it would keep him occupied because they were always "new" to him. Leapfrog videos were also big in winter. Hope some of this helps.
@JLJ2012 great ideas. 26 month gap. I'll stock up on cool crafts and will definitely be spacing out the gifts. (We are still giving her Christmas gifts from last year). I totally forgot about walking the mall! I'll for sure be avoiding the nastiness though, as much as I love colds and stomach bugs.
edit: pregnancy brain told me that a year year old was 22 months old. And that plus 2 is 24.
@ThePax89 Regarding the "disgustion" - if you do put her in a program I recommend putting her in at least a couple months before the baby is born to get a lot of that out of the way. We started DD in her Montessori for 6 hours a day in February and she was sick for pretty much 3-4 straight weeks. She was miserable on some days and spent a good deal of time camped out on the couch with me until she got through that initiation period. Ever since then she's been fine - I know she built up a whole bunch of new immunities, but the weather warmed and they started opening windows and spending more time outside. I know she'll get sick this winter when they're cooped up inside more, but I hope it will be individual colds and not weeks of back to back sickness.
Re: Ask a STM+ Week of 7/25
We live in the suburbs, and 1 of my friends who had an uppababy vista said getting that in and out of the car every day got really old really fast. She had 2 kids close together and once the youngest was old enough she ended up getting a double umbrella for the car and a double BOB for longer walks, hikes, etc
I think it boils down to your lifestyle, eg, whether you walk a lot or are in and out of the car frequently, where you're walking, etc
It's a 2-hour flight away, and I know it's probably pretty straightforward to fly with a baby that little, but I'm more worried about germs and stuff on the plane, especially since it will be the tail end of flu season. Driving down is another option - usually takes about 13 hours without a lot of stops, but we'd probably break up the trip. The upside of driving is it would also be easy to bring all the baby gear, but it also seems like a long trip with an infant.
NB I do plan to discuss this with the pediatrician when we get around to choosing one, but I'm interested to hear about anyone's experience traveling with infants, either by plane or car.
The other issue I'm having is the car seat I really want isn't really compatible with any snap n go frames, though it might work with some lightweight/umbrella strollers... Need to look into that some more.
ETA: I think some jogging strollers are compatible with infant seats with adapters? If you're mostly on foot this might be an option and you can forgo the snap n go altogether.
We decided to do 10 hours in one day on the way back, but we left super early and he was sleeping so he didn't know he was in the car that whole time. He actually slept through the first four hours of the car ride and I wasn't afraid to wake him up at our stops that time around. It made the trip a lot easier.
Jan17 Sept Sig: Pumpkin Spice gone too far
Jan17 Sept Sig: Pumpkin Spice gone too far
I have 5 younger brothers and sisters and we traveled from NY to CA many times when I was younger... I still recall how crazy that was once my little brothers were mobile. Not even sure how my parents did it and maintained their sanity
Best case scenario is that you don't go into labour: I still imagine sitting in a car for 8 hours (each way!!) is going to be incredibly uncomfortable at that stage in pregnancy. And worst case scenario is that you give birth at a hospital that is out of network and away from your care provider that you have established a relationship with and away from all the baby stuff you've purchased for the newborn stage. You'd have to bring a car seat with you on the trip because the hospital won't let you leave without one.
I'm really looking forward to starting the tradition of spending Christmas as a nuclear family, and I view this LO as doing me a solid by giving me a medical excuse to get the ball rolling a year early. But if you want to have everyone around, could you do Christmas at your place?
Diagnosed with Hashimoto's 06/17
TTC #2: 01/2019
BFP #2 09/24/19--Ended in chemical pregnancy
BFP #3 07/02/2020 Due: 03/10/2021
Due 1/21/17
Me 35, DH 36 (Unexplained Infertility, possible PCOS) TTC for 3.5 years.
10 clomid cycles (TI & IUI with ovidrel triggers - all BFN).
*Loss mentioned & Trigger warning
#1 IVF May 2015- resulted in 15 5-day Blasts - SET (fresh) with BFP. Ectopic Preg @ 5w2d, treated with Methotrexate.
#2 FET, Sept. 2015, SET MC@8 wks with D&C in November 2015.
13 remaining blasts sent for PGS testing. 1 did not survive the thaw. 6 came back normal from PGS.
#3 FET 5/16/16 SET - BFP 5/20/16 Beta's looked great and so did ultrasounds- officially released to my OB! EDD 2/1/17.
Edited cause spelling is hard today
My son is 2 1/2 and I still use Clorox wipes to wipe down every surface (including the inserts) on the airplane before we buckle up (the lemon scent is usually a welcome change for everyone around). Each time I do this, we have multiple USED BLACK WIPES to throw away and usually a noticeable different in surface color... I don't think they are ever really cleaned. We wash hands religiously (sing the ABCs during lathering to ensure we are doing it long enough) and try our best to provide a safe environment. There's not much more you can do when traveling.
if you're like me, you'll find that many places don't clean their stuff as much as they should and you end up having to do something about it. My local field house has a tots play program with toys and a bouncy house -- they NEVER, I repeat NEVER, cleaned any of their toys unless it was obviously soiled, like with vomit or something. They have a regular cleaning schedule now... Food play areas are notorious for being filthy (with the exception of Chick fil'a, they are amazing). Where I live, Hand Foot and Mouth disease is always a worry as well as other really bad crap -- my son got a 16-hour vomit illness once after a day at a local playground park that caused regression in sleep cycles and nursing schedules. We're more vigilant about frequent hand washing now. Sorry, off on a tangent again.
TL;DR I think it really comes down to personal preference but if you're looking for a decent stroller that will grow with your child but don't really need anything beyond the basics, a travel system is great.
Now as far as long distances go, my husband and my mom wouldn't let me drive by myself past about 5 months. I went to visit my parents a few times after that and either my husband would drive me or my mom would buy me a train ticket. I would've felt comfortable with the 4 hour drive up until about 8 months I think but they were worried.
DS2: 11/5/14
edit: pregnancy brain told me that a year year old was 22 months old. And that plus 2 is 24.