Packing for a week at a vacay house

DramaMama06 · August 2012

my parents have rented a house down the jersey shore and we're leaving next weekend! (woohoo!)

aside from the normal clothes and a few toys/books, what everyday stuff should i bring? i've thought of a baby gate, PNP, high chair seat, stroller, electrical socket covers... what am i missing to help child proof the house while we're there?

Sunidaze · August 2012

So I am totally not going to be of any help to you...but after going to lake with Stella for just one day this week, I can't even imagine packing for an entire week! Even with my larger new SUV, I don't think I have the room for that!

DramaMama06 · August 2012

lol! we have a tiny Hatchback. i have no clue how we're going to get everything in there...

SarahKate31 · August 2012

We rented a condo for a week last month and we brought the PNP, stroller, small booster seat, sippy cups and spoons for DS, bib, inside boys, beach toys, bath toys, bath & beach towels. We also brought some basic foods for DS (frozen veggies, yogurt, nuggets, meatballs, fruit cups). The thing I really forgot was household items - paper towels, tp, hand soap, laundry det., d/w det., etc. Of course you can just get all that at the store when you get there.

We did not bring a gate because from pictures of the layout of the house, we knew we wouldn't be able to use it, but if the house has stairs, I'd bring a gate.

Rachel5782 · August 2012

We went on vacation for a week to a cabin. We didn't bring any gates or plug covers. LO was outside most of the time and when he wasn't, he had plenty of family (my parents, aunt, uncle cousins) to watch out for him. The p&p and city mini were great to have. Luckily we didn't need to bring a high chair because they already had one there. We loved having plenty of toys/books to keep him busy. But honestly, we overpacked so much in the clothing department (since we had to pack for hot and cool weather) we wouldn't have had room for much else. We had plenty of food but I also made sure to bring "no brainier" foods I knew he would eat even if he didn't like what we were cooking. I didn't want to worry about grocery shopping on my vacation.

DramaMama06 · August 2012

thanks ladies!!! we're getting together with my parents to talk about the every day stuff like paper towels ect. i'll bring my own laundry, cleaning stuff and supplies for our bathroom just to make sure we're covered, and we're going to do a big grocery shop for the house when we get down there, so i'll pick up milk and frozen veggies ect then.

it was so much easier traveling with him when he was 3 mo old and not into everything! i don't even want to think about our dinsey trip in Jan when he'll be 18 mo and M will be 4 .... thank goodness we're renting a mini van for that one...

KKinATX · August 2012

Thanks for posting this! We are leaving next weekend to go to beach for 5 days so I've been thinking about this too. We also have a hatchback and another compact car so we are renting a small SUV for the week. We did that last summer when we went to the beach also. It adds more cost but we could never fit all our gear in our car. Plus, it's fun to drive a different car for a few days and really makes it feel like vacation!

akayf · August 2012

We are going to Hershey for 3 nights and staying in an all suite hotel so we have our own bedroom. Plus we have more room for the kids and we get a kitchen(I'll be cooking each night)

This is our 3rd trip there(first with 2 kids though!) We did this trip when D was 1.5 and then again 2.5.

For this trip we are bringing

*Umbrella stroller(we have a Maclaran Techno so it's not a flimsy little one)

*PNP with 2 sheets(just in case)

*travel high chair(a Fisher Price one)

*Ergo carrier(in case D decides he wants to ride in the stroller at the end of the day)

We jury-rig stuff. For example, D will be sleeping on the pullout couch. I create bed rails using chairs and the cushions from the sofa.

Another time when we stayed in a 2 level suite at a B&B, we moved the PNP to block the steps. We've moved chairs to block the bottom of stairs too. ETA-obvoiously I meant the empty PNP! So when we were upstairs playing, we didn't have to worry about him getting to close to the steps.

Since the cabinets in the kitchen obviously didn't have child locks, I just took the things I didn't want the kids to touch out of them and put them in the higher cabinets or on top of the fridge. You could also use rubber bands to make it harder to get into cabinets.

For toys, I bring 1 diaper box filled with toys. I'll have 2 this time.

Since you're staying in a house, I would only pack enough clothes for 4 days and then do a load of wash there so you don't need as many suitcases.

ETA-since you said you were going shopping there, I wouldn't bring diapers with you. Just buy a package there...well unless you CD of course!

MouseInLux · August 2012

We went away for a week with my parents, we didn't take ANYTHIING to childproof the house, we had enough adults to keep eyes on her all the time, they had a high chair but we always have our FP one in the car just in case anyway.They also had a PNP for us to use so we didn't bring that.

I brought clothes, a box of toys, diapers, laundry detergent and the stroller (never got used). The one thing I would 100% take that isn't a baby thing are sharp knifes for cooking if you'll do any of that, summer rentals always have the dullest knives ever!

stephdruskinis · August 2012

We just went out of town to a lake house my in laws rented. We had LO sleeping in the same room as us, so we needed to bring nightlights. It worked great since we didn't have to turn on the room lights when we went to bed a few hours after LO. I also brought a cheapie monitor (it's a Graco sound/vibrate one), so we could be down at the lake while LO was napping or sleeping. I wouldn't have been able to survive without those things! It looks like you had everything else I brought on your list. Have fun on vacay!

MammaBear81 · August 2012

We just got back from a week long trip on the shore in Delaware. We only packed for 4 days, and did laundry there to save space in the car. We planned meals and bought all non perishable items before we left (including TP and paper towels) because everything is more expensive to buy in "vacation areas".

My only tip would be to check if you need to bing your own linens. Our house did not provide sheets, blankets, towels etc, and we only packed about 5 of DS3's favorite toys... We were ourside a lot of the time, so no need to pack the whole playroom! Have a great trip!

slstine19 · August 2012

I would also pack Advil/Tylenol and orajel in case start bugging LO. We traveled one time and didn't pack that and should have.

amberpro · August 2012

We spent a week in a lakehouse with C in July. I packed:

clothes, swimwear, little swimmers, sunscreen, sunscreen face stick, hats, high chair, several travel packets of wipes, bibs, tylenol and advil with syringe, toys and books, baby gates, life jacket, bath wash, swim shoes, spring float, pool toys, pack n play, bubbles (just for fun), sippies

Once we got there, I went to the store and bought lots of snacks for the house and lots that were easy to throw in the boat bag.

We used the gate to baby proof the porch, but that's it as far as baby proofing. He did surprisingly well. Someone had to watch him all the time, though (at home I'll let him play by himself). I think we were lucky with the layout of the house. Last year with my nephew it was harder.

Have fun!

egpitt22 · August 2012

We were just at a house at the Jersey Shore the week before last---ahhh, I miss the beach!

Anyway---have you thought about renting a crib? That's what we do every year, because those PnP's are so huge, it would take up precious space in the car. Not sure which end of Jersey you're going to, but we rented from www.stoneharborcribrental.com they drop off and pick up for you.

I would also suggest more sunscreen than you'd think you'd need; we ran out by Thursday the first year and it was pricey to have to buy there because of course the price is marked up. I also suggest baby powder to get the sand off; i don't know why it works, but if you sprinkle just a bit of powder onto wherever they have sand caked on, it brushes right off.

egpitt22 · August 2012

Oh and we have a tiny car, too. We were able to get everything into it (though it was crammed beyond belief) when we only had 1 kid; this year, we had to get one of those soft-side carriers that straps on the top of the car. that was a lifesaver!

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