Traveling with Babies

We just got back from a mini-road trip to visit Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa and to shower our new baby cousin with lots of love! Before reading this post, keep in mind I am EXTREMELY lucky to have two children who are amazing travelers. I don't know if it is because we started going on long road trips and plane rides before they were 2 months old or if they just love being in the car, but we are very lucky.

This is what our typical road trip is like:

One minute into the ride. "Fruit snacks pwease!" We hand over the fruit snacks. Obviously we do not want to start the trip with a tantrum. Car trips are not the time to parent and discipline. When the toddler is happy, everyone is happy.

Three minutes later, "Snack pwease. Need teddy grahams!" Okay, we actually made it out of our neighborhood! Sure, have some teddy grahams.

By now, Rory is already asleep. We made it to the highway. "Want drink! Want Mommy's drink!" No, you can't have Mommy's drink. Here is your water. "Need ice in my water, Mommy." Uh oh. We don't have ice, baby. Just drink your water. "Okay!" Ahh, disaster averted.

Once the snack and water situation is handled, we make sure she has a couple toys to play with. Raegan will sit in her car seat playing with toys and singing to herself. Finally some peace to enjoy the ride. We turn on the music. "Want MY music, Mommy!" Ahhh. Okay. The itsy bitsy spiderrrrr went up the water spout. We are about 10 miles away from home. Is it too late to turn around and forget about the whole thing??

After one or two songs, Raegan forgets about HER music and continues to play with her toys. We quickly turn off the music before we all go insane. Time to relax.

"Waaaaa!" Rory wakes up and is hungry. Oh, look. We actually made it to Delaware! When he was still nursing, we were lucky to ever make it out of Maryland before he needed to eat. Now it is amazing because he can eat food pouches and snacks and fruit.

We make a quick decision. Keep him satisfied for the short term or stop and eat an actual lunch. Why prolong it? We stop for a food and bathroom break.

Ok, back on the road. We are good now. Everyone has been fed and cleaned. The rest of the trip is usually pretty uneventful. Raegan plays, Rory sleeps. Everyone is happy. Usually we are good for the rest of the trip- at least until the very end. Only once (during a 11 hour trip) have we had to use the ipad or a movie to keep them happy. Having a passenger is awesome to entertain with peek-a-boos, singing, tickling, feeding, talking, and anything else the toddler demands.

The worst part about traveling is all of the STUFF you need to bring. Our family lives all over the place. We are always taking long weekends to visit them. I think there should be a rule: If you want us to visit you, you need to have a few of the essential items at your house so we do not need to travel with them. Anyone that has even the smallest chance of having a baby come stay at their house should have a pack and play, some sort of high chair, a baby gate, a few toys, and books. Okay, I am kidding but that really would be nice.

So, for most road trips, the back of the car is stocked with a pack n play, a travel high chair, a bag of toys and books, a bag of baby food, formula, eating utensils, sippy cups, snacks, and bibs, their suitcase of clothes, and a bag of other necessities such as diapers, wipes, monitors, etc.  It is border-line embarrassing making three trips bringing things into someone's house for a weekend trip. Kids should not need this much stuff.

Another difficult part of traveling: Sleeping. Babies need consistency in their lives. Traveling creates such chaos in their lives. They don't sleep in their own beds. They don't sleep at the normal times. They don't sleep in their normal rooms. They get used to falling asleep in the car. Also, bedtime and nap time routines are completely thrown off. If you are staying at someone's house, you want to be as minimally disruptive as possible. You don't want your kids to be screaming themselves to sleep. But, you also don't want to spend the whole night laying next to them in order for them to fall asleep. If you are in a hotel, you have to be as quiet as possible as you have to stay in the room they are sleeping in. These factors lead you to let them stay up later than they are used to, which makes bedtime (and transitioning to the regular routine at home) that much worse. There is nothing worse than an overtired kiddo. And when traveling, there is no good solution.

Basically, traveling sucks- even when your kids are amazing little travelers. For parents, it is stressful and extremely exhausting. But, for some reason, it doesn't stop me from needing to get away with the kids every couple months!