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Toddlers: 24 Months+
genekelly
member
(Untitled)
genekelly
member
This discussion has been closed.
Re: (Untitled)
Bag the car seat on the plane, you won't gave any wiggle room and your LO will not want to be in a car seat for 8-10 hours. Gate check the car seat and the stroller ( you should be allowed to gate check 2 baby items). Strollers at CDG are allowed.
If you fly with any regularity invest in CARES harness and gogo baby ( the latter for the car seat).
For jet lag: we do this trip once a year. You will get in early. Everyone take a mid day nap and set an alarm. Nap for about 3-4 hours and then get up even if you don't want to. Then go about your day and go to bed at your normal time. If you have yo drive a bit LO will likely sleep but we still let DD sleep a bit once we get the destination, usually not past 230-3 pm. This has worked really well for us. The day after go to your normal schedule (as normal as can be on vacation). For the way back we usually get in late and DD usually naps for about an hour-1.5 hours on flight back to US. She usually sleeps entire leg back to CO and them goes to sleep at home (9-10pm when we arrive). She then usually wakes up around 3 ready to party. I get up with her for quiet play in a semi lit room and around 5 I put her back down for a couple of more hours and get her up at her normal time even if she is still asleep. Go to normal schedule the next day. She does this for 3-4 days and then is back on track . Jet lag has not been much of an issue for us doing it this way and that is with a 8 hour difference.
Get a letter from your DH. A friend of mine took his daughter to his native Costa Rica and was not allowed to leave until they had some sort of proof she was his kid. Probably not so much an issue in France but better to be safe than sorry.
Good luck , it really isn't as hard as it sounds :-)
1. We use the flight safety harness since we have not used a car while in Europe and it's easier to unbuckle and have him lay on you for sleep. Make sure if you are getting the bulkhead that the armrest can be raised so that he can lay on you. If you have a connecting flight once in Europe, I know that they are airlines (in our case AlItalia) that didn't allow a child under 2 to have their own seat, even if you purchased it and also that they have differing views on carseats. The leg out of the US should be OK.
2. No experience with carseat. If you are flying with the stroller on the way back, make sure they give you the gate check tag. We flew from Florence to Amsterdam and they told us they would gate check but then it went with the cargo and we had to have them go get it for us. Apparently in Florence, we needed to get the gate check at the check in counter vs. at the gate.
3. Jet lag is a pain - hopefully he'll sleep on the flight there and keep him awake when you get there. We have resorted to bribes such as ice cream to get him out of the hotel and go go go during the day. It takes a day or so for them to get adjusted. Once you get there, do your routine according to local time.
4. You will need a passport for international travel. You might want to also get a notarized letter from your husband to state that he is aware that you are taking your son out of the country. I always carry one when I travel with DD alone and I have been asked before by the foreign immigration whether my husband was aware of my travels but I didn't have to show the letter.