Travel with baby

alisong10 · May 2016

anyone have any opinions on travel with baby? My little girl will be 6 months old at the time of our family reunion this summer. The road trip is broken up into 2 days- a flight would be 3 hours. The idea of either stresses me out lol. Which do you all think would be easiest. (I pump every 2 hours which is a downside to driving in my mind)

nackie · May 2016

I don't have any advice for the travel, but as far as pumping goes, you can get a car adapter for your pump and do it while driving. I've done it a few times and it was surprisingly easy. I would think it'd be harder to pump while flying.

stephanienjer · May 2016

The farthest I've traveled with LO is about 2 hours one way, and 2 on the way back. She didn't seem to bothered by it--she's a good napper in the car, and if she doesn't nap as long as you play music she likes, she seems to be fine, too. For longer trips, we try to have someone in the backseat with her. The one lesson I've learned--it's warmer in the backseat than in the front, so make sure you crank that AC!
My sister has flown cross-country with my nephew since he was 3 months old. Even when he was that little, she said it is worth it to purchase a seat for him. She said holding him just got to be too much, especially when you factor in all the maneuvering of gear for a baby.

Cricket99 · May 2016

We did a 5 hour road trip with DS and he did great. We just had to consider stopping to feed him every so often. We are doing a 2 hour flight next week and crossing our fingers it goes well. He usually passes out in the car, so a plane should be fairly similar

We are big travelers and we aren't planning on changing that, so DS will just have to adjust.

ctmamaoftwo · May 2016

I flew to Canada with my LO two weekends ago. I was really nervous about the air pressure but he took his pacifier (which he rarely does any more) and was just fine! I think it's easier to travel with them now than what it will be when they are toddlers. Haha just make sure you pack plenty of everything and you will be fine.

BarrettJ89 · May 2016

I drove 8 hours for a wedding with DS, who was 8 months old, and my 8 year old stepdaughter while 18 weeks pregnant with #2 (and without SO because he couldn't get off work). The drive itself was fine, but the hotel stay was not. DS was terrified and didn't sleep for 3 days. Literally. I thought I was going to die. I had never been so exhausted in my life.

I even went so far as to bring his swing for him and he still wasn't having it.

I would try to get baby used to sleeping in unfamiliar places. DS had only slept at home or in the car, never at someone else's home, etc. And he was a downright awful napper, so the same applied there. Trying to get him to sleep in an unfamiliar hotel room just didn't work for us.

MissMheMhe · May 2016

I second buying a car adapter for your pump! I've used it during my daily commute and it's so easy! We are planning a family vacation in July, but only 3 hours one way, and will be flying in August. If you do choose to fly, I'd pump as close to take off as you can and plan on plugging in as soon as you land. I've seen some airports are putting in special nursing/pumping rooms, but I also know some ladies who just find an outlet, cover up, and pump!

tepr14 · May 2016

I flew with LO when he was 3 months, about a 4 hour flight. He actually did really well, I kept him in my lap the whole time and made sure he was either eating or sucking on something during take off and landing for his ears. He was fascinated with the people around him, and since he doesn't do well sleeping in public I just brought a lightweight blanket with me to cover his head on the plane to help him sleep.
I'm not comfortable driving for that long just because he goes nuts if in his car seat for an extended amount of time.
Like pp said some airports have nursing stations to feed or pump, also I learned when going thru security if you are bringing already pumped milk they dont have to test/check it if it's over I want to say 3.2 oz.
Oh! and if you decide to fly, if you ever wear your LO it really comes in handy when walking in the airport...total life saver- at least in our case!

juliaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa · May 2016

Traveled quite a bit with our baby already too. Mostly road trips. She is not a fan of the car seat but has done surprisingly well on long drives. we just needed to plan extra time and seems we did a 30-60min stop every 2 hours or so. It seems that talking to her and explaining what we are doing helps

. We enjoy traveling and it seems like she is game for it too ! Hope it will go well for you !

EmmyMommy123 · May 2016

I've done two trips by plane and one by road - 8 hours on the way there and the way back was broken into smaller chunks.

My baby is also one that hates the car seat but did really well considering!!! I just sat in the back with him the whole time, had toys he likes, teethers and soothers (even though he rarely takes them), music he likes and some tools to help him sleep. When it was "nap time" in the car I would turn white noise on on my phone, tightly tuck a blanket all around babe in the car seat and put the blanket car seat cover I have on over the car seat so it was dark, say our usual bedtime story and he was always out within 20 minutes, if he took the soother more like 5-10. He's a terrible napper though so naps were only 20-35 minutes in the car. We stopped every 2 ish hours or 3 if we could spread out his nap, but he didn't eat big any of the times we stopped on the trip which was unusual...not sure if the constant motion made his tummy queasy or too much distraction or what but I was bursting after each drive!

For flying we did direct 5 hr flights at 2 months old and thanks to bfing and a soother he slept most of the time. At 3.5 months we did two 2 hr flights and those were tougher as he was getting hard to put to sleep in public...it was a "just make it through" kind of trip, but I still say it's all worth it. We love to travel!

I'd suggest bringing whatever you can from home to keep things familiar...for example he still sleeps in the pack n play so we brought that for smooth sleep adjustments. I second baby wearing and even think the stroller can be skipped depending on your situation. We didn't bring the stroller on the road as he doesn't love it and I could easily baby wear for any walking, whereas we brought it for air travel to make carrying multiple bags through the airport easier...it's just a little challenge to take it through security and collapse at boarding.

Have fun!

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