June 2021 Moms
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Product Spotlight 03/17: Travel Accessories
wanderlustsoul
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Hopefully this will be relevant in a post-covid world that will come soon....hopefully?!
Remember going on a trip and throwing a tiny stylish weekend bag together and waltzing onto a plane and scoffing at those bedraggled travelers waiting for checked luggage after the flight? Congratulations, those days are over! Now you will be traveling with an infant, or toddler, or child, and their mountains of gear.
Whether you're a seasoned traveler in and out of the airport every weekend, or only slog through the occasional big family trip, we'd love to hear all of your travel tips and accessory recommendations to make flying (or long-car-driving, or bus-taking, or train-taking, or boat-sailing) a little more streamlined and easy.
What do you do about carseats? Do you travel with them or rent at destination? Do you wrap them in plastic for the flight or use a carseat backpack carrier or one of those push-systems that attaches to the carseat? And what about strollers? Do you take your regular stroller or use a special travel one? And how about traveling with double strollers? Do you exclusively baby-wear while traveling instead? And where will baby sleep at destination--have you ever had to travel with a particular travel crib you'd recommend?
How do you pack? Do you have separate bags for you and baby, or one big suitcase? Do you have packing cubes you recommend? When you travel, what do you bring along with you for baby health (medicine, baby hygiene products)? What do you do with diapers and wipes--pack them in a special place, or at random, or Amazon Prime directly to your destination? Once they reach the toddler run-away-from-you-in-a-crowded-airport stage, do you use a harness or leash-backpack?
What snacks do you pack? How do you deal with breastmilk or formula through security and on the plane? What do you take with you on the flight for baby/toddler distraction? Any tips on managing the system--e.g., getting TSA-Pre, or Global Traveler status for fast-tracked customs, or strategies for boarding the plane, or choosing seats on the flight? Please share!
Prior and Upcoming Product Spotlights
Remember going on a trip and throwing a tiny stylish weekend bag together and waltzing onto a plane and scoffing at those bedraggled travelers waiting for checked luggage after the flight? Congratulations, those days are over! Now you will be traveling with an infant, or toddler, or child, and their mountains of gear.
Whether you're a seasoned traveler in and out of the airport every weekend, or only slog through the occasional big family trip, we'd love to hear all of your travel tips and accessory recommendations to make flying (or long-car-driving, or bus-taking, or train-taking, or boat-sailing) a little more streamlined and easy.
What do you do about carseats? Do you travel with them or rent at destination? Do you wrap them in plastic for the flight or use a carseat backpack carrier or one of those push-systems that attaches to the carseat? And what about strollers? Do you take your regular stroller or use a special travel one? And how about traveling with double strollers? Do you exclusively baby-wear while traveling instead? And where will baby sleep at destination--have you ever had to travel with a particular travel crib you'd recommend?
How do you pack? Do you have separate bags for you and baby, or one big suitcase? Do you have packing cubes you recommend? When you travel, what do you bring along with you for baby health (medicine, baby hygiene products)? What do you do with diapers and wipes--pack them in a special place, or at random, or Amazon Prime directly to your destination? Once they reach the toddler run-away-from-you-in-a-crowded-airport stage, do you use a harness or leash-backpack?
What snacks do you pack? How do you deal with breastmilk or formula through security and on the plane? What do you take with you on the flight for baby/toddler distraction? Any tips on managing the system--e.g., getting TSA-Pre, or Global Traveler status for fast-tracked customs, or strategies for boarding the plane, or choosing seats on the flight? Please share!
Prior and Upcoming Product Spotlights
*Live, Love, Laugh, Learn*
Re: Product Spotlight 03/17: Travel Accessories
Travelling with a kid under 6 months old is the EASIEST. They don't do much and they're not mobile so it makes the plane super easy. Of course if your kid hates the car seat, that would be different. At 6 months, it started to get a bit tough as my DS was crawling and he wanted to move. At 10 months, he was walking and so he wanted to walk everywhere. The best advice I ever received is your kid does not know what they can do until they do it. Aka, you don't want them walking up and down the aisles of the plane? Don't let them know it's a possibility.
- Pack whatever you cannot buy in your destination. If you can buy diapers, then pack as many as you'll need until you can buy it. We typically do 1 suitcase for him and then my H and I always split a suitcase. I use packing cubes and fold everything super tiny. I bring all the emergency health stuff I would need - epi pens, allergy medicine, baby Advil, paracetamol, nose frida, nail filer, thermometer, etc. Anything I'd need in an emergency.
- Less is more for us. I never overpack but I do bring a few extra outfits just in case.
Carseats - we never bring it on a plane. It can be damaged in transit and you would never know. You can typically rent one, borrow one, or, most often, we never needed one so only got a taxi with car seats to get us from the airport to destination.
Strollers - I have the Bugaboo Ant and it's a great travel stroller. It fits on the plane in the overhead and it's super light but comfy. Usually I babywear in the airport but also bring the stroller to throw all our random stuff into it for carrying.
- Sleeping - we have a nuna aire travel crib and it is awesome. It's pretty light and easy to travel with it. We brought it when we went to Italy and Malta. I have the snoozeshade that goes over it and we put it in a corner for him to sleep in. My biggest recommendation is to have a strong bedtime routine and bring whatever you need for that with you. I brought his books, sleep sack, white noise and I did his bedtime routine exactly as it was at home. So he had no issues sleeping in the bed as the sheets smelled like home and he had his routine. He slept his normal 12.5-13 hours a night.
- Snacks - when they're older, bring ALL the snacks for the plane. Literally all. It's a good distraction. Before then, I was breastfeeding so I fed him whenever it was time without issues. When we flew at 3 months, it was easy as I'd nurse him to sleep and he would just sleep the entire plane ride with short wakings to play. I always bring tons of pouches on our trips since my son has allergies and it's a good holdover to find food.
On the plane, we divide and conquer. I have baby and my H has the bags. He gets everything we need out and set up and then I am in with baby. I usually recommend the front seats but we usually travel long distances with the dog so he has to go under the seat. Usually (and definitely more common now bc of covid) you can get an empty seat, which is great.
Other tips for the plane - bring some new never seen before toys. It always captivates their attention. Do whatever you have to do to survive the plane ride/road trip. When you get to your destination, you'll be glad you did the journey.
*Live, Love, Laugh, Learn*
*Live, Love, Laugh, Learn*
I have a running list of every snack, toy, drink that this babe will ever need. And chocolate and Netflix in case of a real emergency.
Me: 32 years old
DS1 Due 6.7.2021
*Live, Love, Laugh, Learn*
*Live, Love, Laugh, Learn*