Travel Questions!

Natty13umppo

First of all, thanks to all you traveling mamas who have shared travel stories and made me feel brave enough to take DD on vacation in a couple weeks!

DH is going to California for work and we decided that DD and I would fly out and join him at the end of his work and have a long weekend in San Francisco.  And as I said, while I was super nervous at first, I've remembered all the traveling some of you all have done and know I'm not the first to travel with an infant.    But I have a couple questions and hope some of you been there / done that moms can help me out.

On the plane...  I've actually flown with DD before.  But she was 3 months old (such a different age!) and DH and I were both there.  (And that was to see family and stay with them; this is a vacation with rental car, hotel, etc.)  Now I will be on a 3.5 hr flight (not to mention getting thru the airport!) BY MYSELF.  (I'm still a little freaked out about this part.)  Any advice for SOLO air travel?  What if *I* have to go to the bathroom (on the plane; I can handle going in the airport    )?  (Am I crazy to consider wearing a pair of depends?!) 

With the rental car...  We're bringing our own car seat (infant).  Should we bring the base or just strap it in?  (I've never done that before....maybe practice before leaving.  Any tips / tricks with that?)

Hotels...  So I've asked for a crib.  Any other hotel baby amenities I might be able to ask for?  I'm thinking of bringing a blow up travel tub so she can have her night time bath as I'm not sure I trust her sitting up in a big tub on her own.

Time zones...  If DD keeps the same schedule, she'll be going to bed at 5pm and waking between 4-5am (OMG).  Any tips on how to avoid this???  I figure we're just going to have to play this by ear.  I don't want to keep her up so late that she gets cranky and won't sleep.  But waking up at 4am.......oy.

Naps...  I know we'll just have to play this by ear, too.  At home, DD almost always naps in her crib.  Sometimes if we are out, she'll fall asleep in the car or stroller.  We're planning to keep everything low key and just do as much as DD can handle.  But did you all purposely go back to the hotel a couple times a day for naps or did your LOs just nap on the go? 

Any other tips for vacationing with baby or solo air travel would be appreciated!  Thanks, ladies!   

brainpagan

OMG! I am headed from California to New York in November by myself. For the most part I've been pretty calm about this travel date, but now I'M a little freaked. HOW WILL WE PEE IN THE PLANE 8) I am known for having to go way too much as it is.

 Also, good point on the sleep wake schedule. I'll look it up on some fav blogs and post if I find anything.  

smilelari

I flew alone with DS when he was 10 months old.  It wasn't that big of a deal

Entertaining on the flight.  This can be tricky.  I'd try to schedule the flight sometime around a normal nap time. Hopefully she'll just sleep.  Otherwise, I'd bring one or 2 new mesmerizing toys.  We have a baby einstein one that DS could just stare at for hours (this one)

The bathroom.  I like to wear the baby in airports especially for solo travel, so I'd be sure to dress in a way that I could pee without taking the baby off.  Maybe a skirt?  Or you could bring a stroller, in which case, I'd just push the baby into the stall with you.

Skip the base.  You don't want extra unnecessary stuff traveling alone.  Practice a few times without the base before leaving.

I don't know of any other hotel amenities.  But, be aware that they will normally give you a regular sheet with the crib, so you'll want to bring a crib sheet from home.  Call ahead and ask what kind of crib it is so that you bring the right size sheet.  Often times it's a PnP.  As for bathing, I'd just use the hotel tub and get in with DD.  Or just do sponge baths.

Time zones.  We never do anything special to adjust and we've always been just fine

Naps are always a disaster when we travel.  Going back to the hotel for naps is often impractical and even if we do, sometimes the kid refuses to nap anyways.  There's a lot of car napping and sometimes some grumpiness and early bed times.  Maybe you could get 1 nap in the morning before you start your day and that might help and then an afternoon nap on the go.

smilelari

Oh and the PP mentioned peeing on the plane.  I'd try to pee in the airport and avoid this issue, but trust me, flight attendants seem to love babies for some reason.  If you need a bottle warmed or for someone to hold your baby while you pee, they are on it.

alyss0nl

We travelled with DS to Europe last month, so I definitely have a little advice.

1. on the plane: depending on the airline, you can ask for a bulk head seat so that way you have plenty of space for diaper bag and bottles and toys. you can also request an infant seat that they strap to a tray in front of you. For the bathroom situation, you can always ask a flight attention to watch your LO while you go, they usually love babies.

2. The less you have to carry or check, the better. We brought a convertible car seat, so when we were on bus tours, strap in and take it out when we were done. I would honestly leave the base and strap it in. Too many what ifs with bringing extra baby gear.

3. Some hotels will provide a baby bath tub that you can place in the bath tub. I know our hotel in London did this and even gave DS a rubber ducky Also, you can request a daily linen change for the crib.

4. Time zone changes suck. We had an 8 hour time difference between Phoenix and London. We let DS nap when he needed it, and tried to get him to go to sleep at his regular time, and it failed. He stayed up til 1:30am. I was exhausted. You have to play it by ear, they will adjust their sleeping schedule.

5. Since we were touring almost every day, with a day or two in between, we let DS nap in his stroller. Thankfully we purchased an umbrella stroller that reclined so we could lay him back, throw a blanket over the top and let him nap. If you are tired, go back to the hotel and rest with your LO, we did that, although we were on a cruise ship for the later part of our trip.

***make sure to bring enough formula if you FF. We almost ran out, and I was afraid of using formula that I had never heard of, and was manufactured in Ireland. 

magel050485

Do you have a baby carrier of some sort?  It's pretty easy to go to the bathroom wearing the baby.  Or go right before you board the plane (and don't drink coffee at the airport!).

We bought new toys for DS to play with on the plane that were quiet and also brought his favorite toys to the hotel.

I just brought the infant seat, no base.  It's really easy to strap in without the base and we actually keep it that way in DH's car.

I don't think most hotels supply more than cribs as far as baby ammenities go.  Bring your own sheets though, we've been to hotels that give you a PNP as the crib and other hotels that have the cribs with the sheets on there sitting in the storage area so the sheets were a little dusty.

Our son did not keep his own schedule because he was in such a new place.  He didn't sleep well at all on vacation because the room was so unfamiliar.  Him and I just hung out at the pool and in the room for most of the week since DH was in training.

Some airlines have weight limits for strollers so if you are bringing a bigger stroller double check that.  If they allow you to check both at the gate I would do that too.  A lot of people check their car seats at the counter but I don't like doing that for two reasons: a) it goes through the same system that your luggage does... you know, the one that scratches, dents, and tears your suitcase and I'm not okay with my carseat being knocked around like that and b) if the plane isn't full they will often let you bring your carseat on and take an empty seat for LO.  In the airport I just hooked the infant base handle over the umbrella stroller handles. 

magel050485

Oh, and I forgot to add that I just hopped in the tub with DS for bath time.

And, I would send as much as you can ahead of time with H since he won't be navigating the airport with a baby. 

scoobyd266

I've never traveled alone with baby before, but DH & I did just recently take all the kids to Aruba, so here's my advice. I agree with PP on a few things.

Definitely bring your own crib sheet.

Also better to pack the least amount possible, we got in the bath with DD while we were away.

Baby carrier if you have one is a great thing to bring. I have a baby k'tan, it was a lifesaver & fit easily in DDs bag.

Also, you could buy pretty much anything you need when you get there, especially a major city like that. Don't sweat it if you forget anything.

Happy & safe travels!

Natty13umppo

Thanks, y'all!  I will definitely be sending as much stuff with DH ahead of time as possible.  I hope all I'm taking is the car seat, stroller, and a bag of stuff necessary for the flight. 

I think I'll do a trial with the car seat, the stroller and the baby carrier to see what the easiest config is to get thru the airport, etc. 

I was also planning on taking a backpack instead of the normal diaper bag because I figured that would be easier than an over the shoulder bag.

Thanks for the info about flight attendants.  I would have thought that they wouldn't be able to hold the baby for you for liability reasons or something.  

I'm flying Southwest.  I'm *really* hoping there's an empty seat so I can bring the car seat on.  I'm also hoping I end up sitting next to a nice grandmotherly type as opposed to some dude that looks like chester the molester.   Because I'm also going to have to nurse on the plane.  Which I'm not too worried about, but airplane seats are just so tight.  Ugh.

Anyway....I'm excited!  Thanks for the tips, ladies!