Traveling with a Baby Tips

As I have said before, I am not an expert mom by any means. I am fortunate to be surrounded by great moms who give me amazing advice. I thought I would post some tips that helped us during our trip to Chicago (see below this post for our Day 1 update about the trip).

Items to Pack that may be Helpful:

• Water to mix your formula- (you have to worry about fluoride amounts in your water and when you are traveling you don't always know the fluoride amounts) I usually buy Gerber baby water or generic baby water (whatever is on sale), but I was worried about the jug being too big and bursting in our bag. I ended up buying a few big bottles of drinking water (they are big but not too big for your bag plus the plastic is thicker so bursting is less of a risk).
• Shout or some type of stain remover- Brayden sometimes has accidents that leak out of his diaper. These accidents can stain so the stain remover helps until you can get home and wash and scrub, scrub, scrub.
• Dish washing liquid and bottle brush- unless you are breastfeeding you will need this to clean bottles, pacifiers, bowls, spoons, etc.
• Clorox wipes- I hate germs! I love bringing Clorox wipes with me on trips to wipe down the room (especially the bathroom....toilet, sink, shower or tub)
• Newk's or Bulldog Deli or some type of cup of that size- Instead of cleaning your bottle nipples in the bathroom sink, you can put soap and hot water in the cup and soak anything that will fit in it.
• Medical Supply Kit- Some suggestions of items to include in the kit: thermometer, Tylenol, gas drops, Benadryl, Band-aids, and anything that you may need if something were to happen
• Carseat- Depending on what city you are traveling to, most cities require a child under a certain age to be in a carseat while in a cab. I looked this up before we left and Chicago and New York both require this.
  

Flying/Airport Security Tips (some of these may be for Southwest only):

• Call your airline company before your trip to discuss rules and regulations for babies (Southwest allows you to have your purse as a carry-on and a diaper bag. You can also bring your carseat and stroller on the plane)
• Get to the airport extra early especially if it is a busy/big airport. Allowing yourself plenty of time to get through security and the airport will help minimize stressful situations.
  
• You are allowed to bring any size bottle with formula or juice or water in it (I was concerned about this b/c of the liquid rule). Just make sure you are prepared to take all liquids out of the diaper bag for security to inspect.
• Brayden was asleep in his carseat/stroller/travel system while we were going through security. They make you put the carseat and stroller (folded up) through the X-ray/conveyor belt machine. We didn't know this so it kind of held us up at security check point. Now that we know, we are going to make sure Brayden is out of the travel system and have everything ready for X-ray (at Jackson airport this hold up wasn't a big deal but at a larger airport people in line may get impatient).
• Pack a few extra Zip-lock baggies in your purse just in case you packed something that is considered a liquid.
• If you get a flight that isn't full make sure to ask if you can have an extra seat for your baby. Brayden was considered a lap baby (lap baby is a child under the age of 2 who will sit in your lap instead of the actual seat). Since our flight was not full, he got to sit in his carseat.
• We brought formula and Pedialyte water (both were already in the bottles ready to go) for Brayden to drink. The most important thing is to keep them sucking and swallowing so their ears don't start hurting. Pedialyte water was actually a lifesaver, because it tied Brayden over until it was time to eat.
  
• Make sure to bring a blanket (it was really cold on our plane and Brayden would have froze), an extra pacifier or a soothing mechanism that works for your baby, and toys to entertain.

Things that We Did Not Expect or Think About:

• Our hotel does not have a bathtub. It only has a shower so we are going to have to either give Brayden a spit bath every night or figure something out.
• There is no refrigerator or microwave so make sure to bring formula that is not mixed. We knew our room didn't have these items, but we were surprised at how hard it is to find a hotel with them. Some hotels provide things upon request such as: Crib or pack-and-play, microwave, and refrigerator (I would call in advance to request these).
• The delays at the airport. Like I said above, the Pedialyte was a lifesaver during this delay. We planned Brayden's feedings around take-off so he was hungry while we were waiting. The Pedialyte will help you prolong a feeding. The water also helped during our landing. It wasn't time for Brayden to eat, but he still needed something to swallow to help his ears.
• Travel System was very helpful- We bought a small umbrella stroller but later decided to bring the travel system so Brayden could ride in a cab. It was a lot easier to stroll Brayden rather than carrying him. You will have enough to carry with your luggage and carry-ons and such.

Well, that is all I have for now. If you have any travel tips or suggestions, please share it in the comment section.