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April 2014 Moms
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Traveling cross country with LO

JennmoakJennmoak member
in April 2014 Moms
We just booked it - we will be traveling from Cali to Boston with the LO in 3 weeks to visit my east coast family! I am so excited!! It just hit me that I have to pack SO much more stuff now that I have a little mini me. Yikes!

We will be taking a non-stop (red eye) & the flight is about 5 1/2 hours long. For those of you who have traveled with their LO what were your must haves & flight tips?

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Re: Traveling cross country with LO

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    AcaAwkwardAcaAwkward member
    The actual flight itself is usually easier than you imagine with babies at this age -- they are generally pretty happy so long as they have a boob/bottle/paci at takeoff and landing for their ears. The plane is one giant white noise machine so they often sleep the whole time.

    For your carryon, "overpack" on diapers -- I do about 10, just in case of delays. 2 changes of clothes for baby (I like zip up footed sleepers bc they are so easy and planes tend to be cool), maybe an extra top for me in case of spit up. Paci, burp clothes, a few muslin swaddle blankets to use as nursing covers/changing pads/places to set baby down.

    We check car seats in padded travel bags. With 2 kiddos, we also check our double stroller. I checked the RNP for our recent trip to WY. We checked everything at the counter (not gate) so we could go through security just w/ carryons and kids. I wore DS in the sling.

    Good luck!
    image
    DD 2/21/2012 & DS 4/1/2014
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    JennmoakJennmoak member
    @AcaAwkward‌ @LalaMama81‌ thank you for the tips! Greatly appreciated ;) I also EBF so that really takes a load of my mind. Now I think I'll spend some time making a list so I don't forget anything essential!!
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    JennmoakJennmoak member
    edited June 2014
    LalaMama81 said:

    Good luck! It's really much easier than you think. It does take some careful planning, but it's an adventure that can even be a little fun. 

    Thank you for the encouragement. The trip is already packed full of fun activities (Boston Dirty Girl Mud Run amongst other things) so I think that if I just relax and plan a little it will be a perfect trip :D
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    JennmoakJennmoak member
    honeyzoo said:

    Relax is key!! We just flew Detroit to Bozeman yesterday. L slept the entire time (up to eat and play during our layover in MSP). We packed and needed extra outfits, diapers, bibs and burp cloths. Don't forget baggies for the dirty/used clothes. I packed a bunch of receiving blankets we heisted from the hospital too--to put down under our stuff, and if they got gross I had no issues tossing them.

    I was so worried about this trip that I woke up with my 2nd migraine of my life...and it went off without a hitch. I'm sure you'll be great!

    That's a good idea about the receiving blankets! I also feel like some Clorox wipes will make me feel better about having the LO on the germ infested plane.

    Thank you!!
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    JennmoakJennmoak member
    Sooooo now we are going to be taking a 6 hour road trip to Oregon for the 4th. Any good tips/tricks for traveling with the LO? I'm not as anxious about this trip as I am flying cross country with her but any suggestions are welcome! :D
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    LizmullenLizmullen member
    I'm a mobile lurker from May but thought i could be helpful..I just did this exact flight from Washington to Boston to visit in laws 2 weeks ago. (Without DH I might add!)
    What I found helpful:
    Ktan
    Changing my diaper bag to a backpack
    Extra outfit
    Extra diapers!! I'll explain why in a bit..
    Clorox wipes
    Tylenol or whatever you use for headaches
    Extra blanket
    Hand sanitizer
    3-4 large ziplock bags
    Pack yourself a snack (I was so preoccupied with the baby I forgot to eat when I should have and was glad to have a snack in my backpack!)

    I spent 4 days packing and mentally preparing for this trip.

    DS was 7 weeks at our trip and it was just her and I. I made sure my hands were as free as possible. I did bring my car seat with me to gate check because I have heard of them getting ripped or damaged being checked.

    Now my flight out was delayed 4 hours so if you add the 2 hours early, I was I was at Seatac 6 hours before our flight! (I was advised to pack enough diapers for a whole day. I'm so glad I did!) While waiting she also had an epic blowout. Only her 2nd ever so that was great.

    I found that the noise from the plane and a combination of being in a carrier made my LO a zombie. She did not eat much our whole flight and wanted to sleep most of the time.
    I made sure that I had an aisle seat and when I sat down I put wipes,diaper, bottle, and changing pad in the pocket of the chair so it was easy to access.
    Clorox wipe arm rests and belt buckles as well as changing table.

    I also found that in such a tight space I dropped a pacifier, blanket and bib on the ground and was glad to have extras of those items and put the dirty ones in a ziplock bag.


    I wish you luck on the red eye! I had a hard time with the red eye prior to LO so didn't even try it.

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