Thursday, January 7, 2010

Traveling advice please- UPDATED

So Brynna and I leave for Sea-town and Disney on Saturday (same day Batman leaves for OTS) and I am at a complete loss on how to pack, travel, survive this whole ordeal with her.

Has anyone traveled for 10+ days with an infant? Are there some tricks of the trade I need to know? How in the heck am I supposed to pack that much stuff? What are the essentials that I wouldn't think to take?

HELP!!! AH!!
**UPDATE**
Here are a couple clarification:
Brynna and I are flying to my parents on Saturday- where there will be laundry access if needed
My mom, Brynna and I will fly to LA on Wednesday, but my brother and dad will be driving down a couple days prior and will meet us there (they can take things like the stroller, pack n play, etc)
We return to Seattle on Sunday and then return home on Wednesday

Does that help? Ha! I should probably give out all the information before asking for advice, huh? Thanks for the advice so far!!

Oh, and if you haven't delurked yet, please do so :) I love adding more blogs to read :)

8 comments:

The Captain's Wife said...

I can
t wait to see the replies. I am taking Baby K to the FL Keys for 10 days in Feb...and am at a loss on the packing...

Morgan Owens said...

10 days? Goodness girl, you are going to have your hands FULL. I went out of town with Mason for 4 days and it was pretty grueling! lol!
I learned:
-You can NEVER take too many clothes, at least 2 outfits a day in case something happens to one (that would be 20 outfits for you LOL! whoa)

-Take any meds she can have (like tylenol infant drops) in case she starts to feel bad you wont have to run to a Walgreens.

-Not sure if yall are driving or flying, but take entertainment for her. We drove 4 hours with Mason and he got so bored and cranky!

-I'm sure you know this already..but take her bath soaps. I don't know what I was thinking when I forgot Mason's soap..so I had to run to Walgreens before his bath.

-Take extra bottles and binkies (if shes a binkie baby)..you can never have enough.

-Last but not least, some nerve pills for you. LOL! It was very hectic and nerve wracking taking Mason out of town. You're outside of your comfort zone and so is baby!

Hope this helped some!! :) Have fun!

-

Christina said...

We've only been away for one day with Annika and we brought a ton!

I agree with Morgan, you're going to need at least 20 outfits. Also bring a bag to put dirty clothes into because nothing stinks up a suitcase like one little outfit with spit up on it (learned that the hard way).

Wipes and diapers. If you aren't sure how many you use in a day count the diapers for the day, multiple by 10 and then bring a lot extra just in case. We brought a whole pack and then had to go buy more because someone decided to be a peeing machine that weekend!

Anonymous said...

hey tiff,
i just had to chime in here. i took my little girl overseas for 14 days when she was only 3 months. here is my advice:

*a travel bed. target sells one by eddie bauer that folds up and fits in your suitcase. only $30! way easier than a pack n' play.
*a few baby washcloths & a travel size baby soap/shampoo. we didn't have a tub where we were, so we just bathed her in the sink. used the regular towels to dry her off!
*3 outfits per day. yes, i know that sounds crazy, but spit-up, blowouts, etc. all can warrant a wardrobe change. now i had access to laundry though, so i was able to pack less. even so, i still brought almost everything she fit into at the time.
*a few blankets of different weights. for the car, sleeping, naps, playing, etc. i would say 3-4 would suffice.
*just a few toys. i brought a bunch of books & toys and really didn't need them at all. she was just content to be with me and other people and watch the world go round. i probably could've gotten away with just the few that clip on her carseat.
*carseat. duh. but you can skip the base. we just buckled her in with the seatbelt.
*stroller. and if you're flying, they will plane side check it and your car seat for free!
*only pack enough diapers to get you from point a to b. then buy them & wipes when you arrive.
*pacis if you need them. my little girl hates them!
*i also had bottles & formula, but it looks like you're still going strong with the nursing - woot woot! :)

oh, and if you're flying, pack about 2 extra warm outfits for her and one for you. you never know when you'll need it! although i did make it through two 8 hour flights back to back in the same outfit!!

umm...i think that's it. i was totally overwhelmed when i was packing thinking i would need everything - swing, bouncer, pack n play, playmat, toys, books, crib, etc - that i left behind, but it was really quite easy traveling with a baby. i think it'll be much harder when she's older and can tell me she wants to bring the whole world along. haha.

good luck & safe travels!

Mama Bear said...

Everyone else gave you pretty good advice. I would second the previous post on toys...I packed toys on our trip last year thinking I would need them but Noah was so happy just 'watching the world go round' and we didn't use them at all.

One thing I NEVER leave away from home with is Noah's comfort (Mr. Giraffe). Miss B might still be too young to have a comfort (stuffed animal, blanket, toy...) but sometime being away from home and out of their element they have a harder time sleeping but it helps to have familiar things around to ease the transition.

Happily Married said...

You've gotten some great answers here Tiff. And although I haven't BTDT yet, I have been looking into this quite a bit because we travel back and forth to see our families and we'll also be traveling for 16+ hours just to get to HI when we go in a few months.

One thing I haven't seen suggested here is using Space Saver bags. I usually use them to pack things away & put in the basement but I'll be using them to pack our stuff when we go on vacation. It reduces the amount of space you need for things a LOT! I get mine at Bed, Bath & Beyond but you can get them for a little more $ at Wal-Mart too.

I'd definitely recommend taking the diapers & travel wipes you'll need for the trip to & from the parents and then purchase what you need there. If Brynna uses a special bath soap I'd bring it with you, otherwise it may just be easier to purchase a small bottle when you get there.

If Brynna likes a sling or wrap (like the Moby, etc) I'd bring that (wear it) to make it a bit easier to get her, yourself and your carry on luggage on and off the plane.

Dress in layers to make it easier to stay comfortable. And another suggestion I saw was to make friends with one of the airline attendants as soon as you board so you'll have someone to hold her if you need to pee during the flight & can't wait.

I hope you have a wonderful trip & it goes as smooth as can be. You'll have to update us on how it went and YOUR been there, done that advice when you get back! Best of luck to you!

Melissa said...

I have no advice as I never braved a lengthy trip with my daughter (going to the supermarket with her was more than I could handle, lol).

But definitely pack plenty of clothes, Mylicon and Tylenol, bath soaps that she may need, burp cloths, lots of wet wipes and hand disinfectant, and maybe a thermometer as well since it's cold & flu season and she'll inevitably be exposed to germs on the airplane (can you tell I'm a germophobe?).

Yikes, good luck! Can't wait to hear how your travels pan out.

Kelly said...

Sorry that I don't have any advice. I just wanted to say to have fun!