warning this is gonna get long...
i should start out this post by saying my son is really great. he sleeps through the night usually, does great with taking naps (not so good when we're on the go), and he eats anything and everything i give him. so if you're going to travel try to find one of these models.
flights * try to fly red eye if possible. little guy slept the entire flight minus the first 30 minutes. * try your hardest to get a row of seats to yourself! be nice to the ticketing agent, talk to the gate agent, explain that it's your first flight with kiddo and if there are any seats that have an open seat next to them you would be so appreciative to have them! i kept kiddo as a lap baby for both flights cause we can't afford to buy him his own seat. we had a row to ourselves going over (it was an overnight flight) so G could stretch out across two seats to sleep. coming back the entire flight was pretty much booked so he was in my lap the entire 9 1/2 hour flight..that was a little more rough. * the take off and landing pressure didn't really bother my son- he cried less than 5 minutes total for each flight. but i did have a cup of water handy with a straw and had him drink from that. it could have helped, not quite sure. * don't bother bringing kids toys or books- magazines, the tray table, the other fliers drinks or anything that is on their tray table are infinitely more entertaining apparently. * apparently the ipad is worthless for my son since he really doesn't watch tv or play any games or anything yet. YMMV * do bring lots of snacks. snacks are amazing.
strollers vs. carriers * the only time i used my carrier (ergo) was in the airports. this surprised me, i thought i'd use it a lot- especially when there were cobblestone streets and such. but 1) it was too hot to have that heatbox strapped to me for long and 2) i'm pregnant and tired enough as it is so i didn't want to carry a second 25 pound kid around... * the simple cheap umbrella stroller worked great. it was light so toting it up and down stairs wasn't too bad. * the stroller was not metro friendly. at least not in paris where we found it really difficult to find working escalators. so keep that in mind and don't bring a bohemoth.
cribs * i brought my sons pack n play. most hotels and rental houses offered to provide one though. in hindsight, i would try really hard to ensure your lodging offered one. it was a pain lugging that thing around on trains and to and from hotels. * cosleeping would also be advisable if you can do it safely. our son only will successfully fall asleep in bed with us half of the time we attempt it (which isn't often) since he's used to his crib. so we didn't cosleep on our trip.
lodging * having a refrigerator in the room is really nice! it prevents you from having to go out to eat every meal and it allows you to keep milk on hand, snacks, etc.
european attractions * we found Italy to be THE most baby friendly country! Everyone was so super accommodating for the little guy! Every woman stopped to tell me my son was an angel. Someone even told me we looked like the Madonna and child- ha! but seriously, they were so great. Most places let us skip to the front of lines because we have a baby which I have never experienced. * France, not as accommodating. the metro was difficult with a stroller- as i discussed above. but they did let us skip to the front of the line of the Louvre and at the airport for passport control so that's cool.
* neither Italy or France had many high chairs. we found about 2-3 restaurants that had them, otherwise it was all staggered eating. if i had to do this again i would have left the pack n play and brought a travel high chair/booster seat.
adjusting back home * baby boy took a few days to return to sleeping well. we had a day flight coming back and so for a few days after we returned he would wake up for the day at 5 am. we've been home since friday afternoon and last night was the first night he slept through the night until his usual wake up time of around 7:30. so that's 4ish days to get back to schedule. * i just rolled with it and tried to inch his schedule back slowly. i think 4 days is pretty good- the 5 am wake ups were brutal but temporary.
other gear * if this is useful to anyone: for almost 3 weeks of traveling i brought two sippy cups and three spoons. i should have brought a sponge and soap to wash the cups as not all of our lodging had washing facilities. and i'd probably in the future only look for plastic spoons when out and about. * buy new toys, either before and then give them to your kid there, or buy them at the destination. i brought some of kiddos favorites and they were apparently so super boring to him while on the trip. now that we're home they're the best again..go figure.
that's all i got. i wrote this entire post while my son has been napping annnnd he is still napping! whoo!
Submitted July 13, 2016 at 11:44PM by travelingag http://ift.tt/29DC58v beyondthebump
No comments:
Post a Comment