These travel tips may be an ongoing discussion. Start with what I had to say about traveling with a two-month-old, and expect more in the future. I am obsessed with making it fun and manageable to travel with children.
The first time I flew alone with Pigtail was to Nashville for Blissdom. American Airlines, dear sweet American Airlines, let me take her on the plane in her car seat because the flight wasn't full. Essentially they gave me a free seat. This happened both ways. Incredible customer service? Yes, but it greatly benefited them in the long run because I will never again travel with an infant in my arms. Giving the child their own seat makes all the difference in how you arrive at your destination. You're okay, they're okay, possibly you even got to sip an icy beverage during the flight. This does not happen when you are wrestling with a baby in your lap for hours.
(Obviously buying another seat for your child increases the cost of your trip by hundreds of dollars. It made enough of a difference to me on the entire overall trip - I wasn't constantly catching up from that first travel day - that I highly suggest you build it into your budget when planning, if at all possible. Another option is to use airline miles for that extra seat. That's what we did, and it worked out perfectly. I will continue to use miles for Pigtail's seat in the future.)
In addition to the One Bag rule, I have a new rule for airport logistics: Wear cargo pants. I did this on accident, but halfway through the day I felt like a real genius. My One Bag is a backpack, so it is a real pain to take it off and dig through it every time I need my phone, wallet, or burp cloth. With the multiple pockets on my J. Crew Outlet cargo pants, I could stash my phone, a few dollars, and the thinnest little cloth. It made the One Bag rule even more doable.
Once you get where you're going, always make the bottle before you leave the house/hotel and bring a full package of wipes. I learned these lessons the hard way. When I'm running errands in my own town, I can make a bottle on the fly because I know where I can easily find a bottle of water. And I only bring a small stack of wipes in my Melobaby because if there's a real problem, we can just go home. When traveling, procuring a bottle of water may not be as easy as it sounds and in the case of a diaper blow out, wet paper towels are NOT the same. Trust me.
Sleeping on the road may be the biggest hurdle for most families. Lucky for us, Pigtail is pretty flexible about her sleep space. She's slept in a hotel crib, in my mom's crib, and on the floor of my sister's guest closet. All were fine. At my mom's house, I turned on the bathroom fan next to her crib for a little "white noise," but I don't think she needed it. For both Blissdom and my recent Oklahoma trip, I didn't try to adapt to the time change. I put her down at 10pm CST because her bedtime at home is 8pm PST. This worked great for us, and I think it is a good solution for shorter trips.
We travel a lot. My pre-baby systems are out the window. But I'm learning new ways to make trips better each time. What are your latest infant or child travel tips?
