Thursday, April 3, 2014

Packing

We've never traveled with a baby before. Like ever. I'm pretty sure the farthest we've gone with Ellie Jo was in the car to North Bend, and that was me with Leah & Ashley. I had reinforcements. I had more than one other adult.

This time, we're going to Las Vegas. And it's Robert and me with the (now mobile) baby.

The trip is next week, and I'm nowhere near ready. We have everything set up for house sitters, work absences (of course, this is a business trip for me, but Robert is using 4 days of vacation time to accompany me with our still-breast-feeding baby), ministry absences (we aren't actually missing much, since it's Spring Break for Awana), etc. Packing, on the other hand...that's a different story.

I've spent the last week reading blogs, scouring Pinterest (Google was absolutely no help for this), and absorbing as much information as I can about traveling with babies, packing light for travel, babies and planes - you get the idea.

Now it's time to get down to business. I'm putting everything in Excel, since I've already scrawled out my lists on paper (and it looks horrible).

Next, I have to figure out if our suitcases/ travel bags are even accessible (we are only checking one bag between all 3 of us; everything else will be carry-on and personal bags), and lay everything out. My Excel lists have everything from quantities to which items go in which bags, and they are separated by each of the three of us. I went to the store already to get pretty much everything we needed, and all I have to shop for is our plane snacks.

But seriously....

We're less than a week away, and I feel like the only thing I've done is read. My house is a mess, my kid is cranky (and she can tell we're doing something different, because there's stuff all over the house), and we still have to get on the plane and get to Vegas.

There's a saving grace or two in the mix:

  • Shannon and Mike are meeting up with us for dinner on Wednesday (Robert's cousin and her hubby - they live there), and Shannon will be meeting up with Robert again during the trip
  • Steve and Stacy are traveling with us (my co-worker and her hubby)
  • I've got all the arrangements made with the airline and the hotel for the baby 
And I'm out.

Any must-haves for traveling with babies (11-months old) that you want to pass on? Post here, please! 

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Be prepared with a pacifier or to nurse her dyring take off and landing.

Unknown said...

I read a story where the parents made little kits with ear plugs and notes of apology for the passengers near them.

Unknown said...

Amber, my plan is to nurse her, but sometimes she insists on seeing everything going on around her.

Brielle, I saw that idea, but I have two problems with it: 1)My baby is not an inconvenience to others; she is my child - a human being - and she deserves to be able to fly just like anyone else. Crying or being uncomfortable is just one reality of life when it comes to that part of traveling with babies. 2) I feel like if people want ear plugs, they should bring them! Ha!

In short, I don't want to apologize for my kiddo. She's a baby who only knows how to express herself in ways that do not include speech. Not that those little kits aren't clever - they truly are! They just aren't for us. (And, I want to also state that I have been on flights where children who CAN speak have been unbearable for the entire plane ride simply because they didn't like the word "no." In that instance, it's the parents' fault, and they ought to provide free ear plugs, lol!)

pottymouthmom said...

Don't laugh, but this was a LIFE SAVER....we traveled with Corina as 2-3 times from cali, to Arizona, to florida---

The bathrooms are horribly small to change a diaper in. The changing table is a complete joke. We got gallon baggies. Stuck a diaper in the baggy along with wipes already to use. It was like a kit. So if she craps on the plane, you can take as little as possible, change her, and even put the diaper back in the baggy. We had a few set up this way to minimize taking the diaper bag back and forth.