Monday, May 26, 2014

Anyone's got tips for traveling with babies?


 Baby Y. will be going on her first transatlantic flight, and as we slowly start to prepare, I am getting a bit overwhelmed with all the tips around. What seems to be clear is that we should make sure she is sucking on something during takeoff and landing.

So far, inspired by these parents, I am preparing goodie bags with some traditional Dutch candy (Haagse Hopjes, butterscotch caramels, Kandijkoekjes) and earplugs along with a funny little note.

Other than the basic stuff (plenty of diapers, enough clothes, baby wipes, a few toys, and a couple of blankets) is there anything else that we should be bringing? 

  
Our stroller is huge, and as much as we love it, I don't think we are bringing it, as we have heard baby gear gets really bad treatment, so what we are bringing is her baby carrier and her car-seat. I kind of wish we had this gadget that lets you move the kid around the airport and also functions as an extra luggage trolley. 

Does anyone have any experiences here? Opinions? Ideas?


5 comments:

  1. Hola :) Qué emoción que ya estás en preparativos. No dejes de avisarnos, tenemos muchas ganas ed verlos y conocer a YU, haremos todo lo posible :) Te conecté por FB con una de mis mejores amigas que ya tiene experiencia en esto de los viajes trasatlánticos con pequeñas. Seguro tendrá tips.

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  2. I only did a short flight (3 hours and then a short one hour), but I can tell you, at six months, it went better than expected! I didn't bring a stroller either, just my favorite carrier (I have so many!!), and that was great for the airport and on the plane (although 2 of 4 flights I had to take him out for takeoff/landing). He refused to nurse or suck during takeoff or landing. Lol. That being said, he only cried one time out of four flights (landing) and took lots of naps. Buy new toys and if she's eating or drinking water, those are fun distractions (non messy foods like dried fruit to chew on). Also, I downloaded a bunch of apps on my iPad even though we don't normally do that, which distraction him for 2-3 mins here or there. Honestly, other passengers were the best entertainment. People are bored and like trying to get a baby to smile ;) oh, and I flew alone...no husband, so you'll be fine! We're flying to London when he's close to a year old, so that could be a whole other story!

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    1. p.s. Got your email! I am planning on writing you back as soon as a have a second to write a thoughtful reply!

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  3. That is so thoughtful of you to make a package for the other passengers!! Sounds like a lot of work though...

    We have a few flights planned so please share your tips with us once you get back. I hope you have a great flight :)

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  4. I collected a lot of advice as well although not all was useful. Couple of things that were:

    1. if you can time flights for when Yu will be sleeping, our overnight flight back from the states was way better than the flight during the daytime on the way there

    2. Do try to have her sucking on something for take-off and landing but I was really worried about this and they actually were so overstimulated they wouldn't eat at all! so dummies worked just fine, or my finger in P's case

    3. No one mentioned this to me before but for some reason the way bassinets work on the plane means that if you have the tray for the bassinet down you can't have your TV screen up without essentially totally trapping yourself in your seat. Not that you'll really get to watch any movies anyhow but you might want to make sure to bring a book. This may not be true on all flights but was on both of ours and has been true for others I've spoke with.

    we didn't do the whole kit for the other passengers but did write the notes and gave out candy and everyone absolutely loved it. they kept coming up to us and saying how great the twins were the whole way!

    you won't be able to keep her in a sling for takeoff/landing or if there's turbulence, just FYI. don't know why as it seems safer that way but anyhow.

    I'm sure it'll be fine, we had a pretty rough time but I would say that is 99% down to having 2 babies (and S having a pretty bad flying phobia, good times) so we never ever got a break and one of the babies had to essentially sit with total strangers given the way the plane was set up. As you guys will be able to take turns/have breaks/not have a baby on you the whole way it should be a lot easier!

    good luck, let me know if you need anything else! we're doing another trip to the US in 2 weeks with two nearly-toddlers which I'm not looking forward to at all - when we went before (at 7 months) at least they were pretty content to just be held the whole time. now I'm guessing not...

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