My friends, Magnus and Cheryl, are amazing nomads who have been around the world and back only to set off again with a baby and another time with two toddlers. They have chronicled their journeys, triumphs and tantrums on a blog, with loads of tips on touring the world with young kids. Since they’re expecting baby number three any day now, I caught up with them and asked them to share some stories and advice. Merci!

Lessons learned from international trips with tots

We planned an 8 month soiree from August 2011 until March 2012, with hopes to travel from Scotland to Barcelona, dip into America, zip across Japan and Korea, traverse New Zealand, dot around Australia, take time out at Thai beaches before ending up in scrumptious Sri Lanka.

Traveling the world with young kiddies – exhausting chaotic craziness, yes, but with the payoff of a close-up view as our two tiny people grow and change with each passing day.

Destinations: Where’s safe & fun to go with the wee ‘uns?

Recommended child-friendly itinerary:

• Camping across Western Europe: safe, manageable but a lot of driving miles.
• Drive the U.S. East and South: family friendly but again, large distances to cover.
• Japan: Nuclear reactor cooling down (though we kept south to be safe) and a country that can use our tourist cash as it rebuilds.
• South Korea: Diverse, safe, user-friendly and not widely visited.
• New Zealand: Stunningly beautiful and family friendly parks and barbecue spots everywhere.
• Australia: Sunny beaches and familiar culture but scary poisonous critters to avoid.
• Thailand: Asia fun-style with great tourist infrastructure, lovely people and no malaria in the south.
• Sri Lanka: Cool varied culture, civil war in the past, a bit like India-lite!

{Read how and why we picked our Destinations}

Packing: What to pack on a world trip with toddlers

We found packing to travel with kids worked out fine: just keep your grown-up kit to a minimum. Also remember the obvious fact that there are children everywhere: you can most likely find any essentials wherever you are in the world. Be ready for a few embarrassing interactions, though, like Magnus mistaking the label for ladies sanitary pads for nappies (diapers) in a Japanese store!

Of course, some things have worked out better than others: the pram turned out to be a god-send, giving control over our crazy kids in busy train stations (but less handy going up and down subway stairs); the child-carrier allowed us to take the kids on a multi-day trek in New Zealand and the ukulele has brought joy to neighboring rooms in hotels across Japan and Korea. On the downside, e-books are not as easy to use as an old-fashioned print, we couldn’t survive without running shoes to keep us in shape and the kids needed a regular refresh of their toys and books to keep them interested.

{Read our actual Packing Lists and how they changed}

Travel Days: Surviving long transit days with toddlers (planes, trains, & automobiles)

Japanese trains are particularly cool because you can sit in the front carriage and look through a glass window to watch the driver pull his knobs and turn his dials to drive the train – great for inquisitive youngsters.

However, the magic lasts for but a few minutes until their tiny attention spans turn to the rest of the carriage. The cool, polite silence of the carriage with the people and occasional children sitting with restraint and impeccable manners.

Books, toys, treats and threats can also buy you a little time but, again, a journey of over 2 hours made the train carriage seem like a prison, with us the inmates being punished with the shame of damning eyes as our uncontrollable toddlers charged up and down, climbed the seats, fought and wailed when reprimanded. {read more Travel Days}

Even more reflections on our world trip with toddlers:

• The Fear Factor: Founded and unfounded fears when traveling with toddlers
• The Jabs!: Kiddy inoculations/vaccines

I excerpted this post as part of our series on traveling with babies, toddlers, and small children. Sheryl and Magnus have been some super amazing places. Go visit their blog to see inside more of their adventures. 

[All photos from MagnusandCheryl, all rights reserved]

Do you already know about busy bags? They are super-awesome-contained kits of amusement for little people. [Related: 5 preschooler busy bags] Our guest contributor, Jennifer Marshall Pesetsky, has two new ones to share today.

Plane rides are perhaps the most stressful thing for me to prepare for. Since we don’t fly frequently, and because my toddler develops and changes all the time, I never know what mood she will be in for the flight. Will she be content sitting and reading? Or, will she need many activities throughout the trip? Will she make friends with another passenger who will keep her busy and amused? To deal with many potential situations, and because I’m a crafty mommy, before we flew to Atlanta in December, I created four toddler busy bags.

These are not my original ideas; influenced by pinterest, I made them myself. Here are two of them:

Felt Popsicles

To make these, you need:

• Craft sticks. I found a bunch at our local craft re-use store – East Bay Depot For Creative Reuse
• Felt. I bought eco felt in different colors from Michaels
• Sharpies in different colors. I like the fine point
• A button (optional if you want to make the bag)
• A sewing machine or hand sewing supplies.

To make the red popsicle, I cut out a piece of red felt in the shape of a rectangle. You may have to do some experimentation to figure out what size rectangle will work best on your popsicle sticks. Then, fold the rectangle up – sew the 2 sides together. Then, flip them inside out so the seams wouldn’t show. On 2 sides of the popsicle sticks, I drew a dot of the color; on one side I wrote out the color (red), and on the last side I wrote out the flavor that I thought that color popsicle would be (cherry). Repeat for the other colors.

To play, the kid matches the felt part of the popsicle to the appropriate popsicle stick and puts them together. Kids of different ages and abilities can play because kids who can read can match by word or flavor, and younger kids can use the color of the dots. My daughter also got to use the bag to practice her buttoning skills.

Shapes

To make these; you need:

• Craft sticks again
• Little velcro circles
• A sharpie
• A zippered bag (or supplies to make one)

To make, Create your shapes out of the popsicle sticks; I created a straight line, a triangle, and a square and affixed the velcro sticky things to each end to keep them attached. Then with the sharpie, I drew a picture of the shape and wrote the name of the shape. Finally, I took them all apart, put them in the bag.

To play, my daughter got to practice making shapes. She also got to use the zipper on the bag which was hugely popular.

+++
Thanks so much to Jennifer for sharing her tips and crafts today. Jennifer Marshall Pesetsky lives in Berkeley, CA with her husband, her almost 3 year old daughter, and blogs at www.berkeleymommy.blogspot.com. She has many great ideas!

One year olds will make anything a toy — like that tube of butt cream or disposable coffee cup you keep trying to throw away — but since those don’t make the best birthday presents, we have some ideas for you. Here are our favorite go-to best gifts for a one-year old:

If you want a gift for under $10, this Playskool shape sorter is my fave. I’ve purchased it about five times for my own kids and small friends after testing others.

Need somebody smaller to love? Toddlers of all genders love to cuddle up with dolls. This one’s a cutie and less than $20. You can find African-American, Hispanic, or Asian dolls from JC Toys in the same general price range.

My little guys love to push a baby in a stroller like this one. There are several models for about $20. Baby beds and other accessories are a good bet.

Speaking of WHEELS, boys and girls love vehicles. Green Toys makes their popular dump truck in two flavors to suit your preferences for about $25. The trucks are super durable and made from recycled milk jugs so I’m willing to pay a little more.

Whitney’s kids always had fun pushing around play food or anything at all in this adorable and durable shopping cart from Melissa & Doug (about $50).

Another big hit from Whitney’s family, this ball pounder from Melissa + Doug teaches cause and effect, fun with balls, and the joy of whacking things. Just keep it far from your glass coffee table, ok? It retails for less than $20.

This Radio Flyer wagon is so well-loved at my son’s daycare that I wish we had it at home. Kids take turns riding and pushing. If you don’t have a friend to drive around, your teddy bear will also enjoy the ride (Or more likely, my left shoe and our remote control).

Related:
Clutter-free gifts for babies and toddlers
First birthday party ideas
Favorite ride-on toys for toddlers and wobblers

This post is based on a real-life facebook query we received:

Dear Rookie Moms,
Our 8-month old baby refuses to sleep in a pack n play and is too little for a regular bed. She is way too active to cosleep with us. The city where my family lives doesn’t seem to have any crib rentals or hotels with full-sized cribs.

Considering putting a mattress or just folded blankets on the floor and using a play yard fence around it to improvise a crib, which doesn’t seem very safe, but not sure what else to do!

Our fantastic readers came to the rescue with these suggestions, what do YOU think?

• Jane: We use a pop-up kid tent. Works even better than a pack and play.
• Annika: When my son was about the same age, I had him sleep on the pack & play mattress on the floor. It’s practically flat so no worries about him falling off of it. It seems weird to me now that he didn’t crawl or roll away, but I don’t recall that happening. We also used this go crib.
• Dana: What about your stroller? I’ve done improvised cribs before and somehow my kids would always wind up rolling into an odd corner or escaping.
• Aimee: Look into the peapod. It’s a pop up tent sleeping thing. Not sure how it would work for an 8m old but worth looking into as it is so small u can pack it in your suitcase.
• Lysa: I use a toddler size inflatable bed. It has bumpers so the can’t roll onto the floor.
  
• Shana: We had success with babybjorn’s travel crib. But…I always had to curl up in it to get R to sleep. Thankfully, I’m not that tall, lol!
• Whitney: My baby always slept in his car seat for the first months. We never had a problem.
• Lisa: We use the toddler Aerobed.
• Sarah: We’ve put a mattress on the floor before. Worked okay for our kids.

Related:
Sleeping in a bucket or a bin on a trip
Sleep tips for summer travel

We originally ran this guest post SEVEN YEARS AGO thus the babies in this story are now in 2nd grade.

Even if this isn’t an activity you’ll do today, you might find yourself on an airplane sometime this year. Before turning one year old, Holden had flown cross-country at 3 weeks, 3 months, 6 months, and 7.5 months. Each time, Alec and I worked as a team to cover the travel-parenting duties, so I didn’t get to fly solo until my second son was born.

The hero of this story, therefore, is my friend Beth, who flew to Chicago from Sydney, Australia alone with her 6-month old, Alice. She is the master. She shared some of her best tips with us:

• How to plan ahead
• When to consider drugging your baby
• What to do with your free hands

Make 2 lists. Start a week in advance so you can jot down those brilliant things you remember at random times. One list is “For the plane” and the other list is “At destination”. I still have my list (for future reference) .

For the plane/airport, this is what I needed:
stroller, diapers (3 times as many as you think you need – they don’t sell them in airports), wipes (travel pack or 2), disposable changing pads (Target sells ‘em – very handy for the “ewwwww factor of changing baby in a public restroom), few favorite toys & books (does mean that you have to be vigilant about not dropping/losing them), changes of clothes (I took 2 for baby, 1 clean shirt for myself), favorite blanket, a burp cloth, baby Benadryl*, and pacifier (even though baby didn’t regularly use one, we had one on hand!).

If baby was older I would consider a portable DVD player for Baby Einstein videos.

* Note about Benadryl: I talked to the doctor about the appropriate Benadryl dosage in advance. This was really useful when baby was CLEARLY tired but couldn’t quite fall asleep because I was holding her instead of being in her crib. We held off using it as long as possible. Be sure that you test the Benadryl at bedtime before the trip. In 10% of babies they don’t fall asleep – they get really hyper! You don’t want to find this out on the plane that your baby has had a bad reaction and is shrieking from being over-tired and strung out. If you give it to baby at home and they go to sleep, then you should be fine on the plane. If you give it to them and they’re up for the next 6 hours, you probably don’t want to use it in flight.

Keep hands free. I packed everything in a large backpack (instead of a shoulder diaper bag) which was great for keeping my hands free to push stroller, find id and tickets, etc. I also had my purse-items in the backpack. So it was me, baby, backpack to take aboard, rather than multiple bags.

Most domestic US airlines no longer let you pre-board with children so get ready to board with the masses. Southwest stills let you pre-board.

For baby’s comfort: Remember to breastfeed or give them a bottle/pacifier during take off and landing to help with pressure in the ears. For take off I would suggest waiting until you are actually zooming down the runway to start since there can be long waits in taxiing before take off (and I heard about a woman who gave baby a bottle and baby had finished it long before take-off). For landing I found that it is really the last part that needs the sucking – 10,000 feet or the “final descent”.

Dress the babe in layers. Think through in advance what baby is going to wear on the plane – planes are often very warm or very cold. We did layers – onesie with outfit over it. When it was time to sleep it was easy to take off the clothes and switch into PJs, or pull on a blanket-sleeper-bag.

Pack one trashy magazine. Overall I would say that flying back from Sydney to Chicago with baby by myself was exhausting. I didn’t need ANY reading material- maybe one trashy magazine – because even when baby is asleep you feel the need to be awake guarding against any possible problem.

Consider a 2nd seat. To ease the burden slightly on the return trip we bought a 2nd seat for me (in Coach) for the LA – Chicago leg. We didn’t travel with a car seat, so it wasn’t for her to sit in. This was just for me to have space to spread out since I was alone – space to put diaper bag / toys on the seat, room to breastfeed without knocking into the person next to me. It was a lifesaver when we spent 2 hours on the plane, sitting on the runaway before leaving LA. Babies are very wiggly – I don’t know how long you could hold one by yourself in one of those 14 inch wide seats. (It was hard to explain to the airline what we wanted – basically had to buy a 2nd seat as if I was an obese person. But it was the only thing that kept me sane!)

Sing, sing a song. Lastly, I know that singing always calms her, so I sang about 47 rounds of Old Macdonald softly in her ear and had about 294 Bears in the Bed fall out. But it kept her entertained and quiet when we were sitting on the plane doing nothing. She did fuss for a few minutes before putting herself to sleep, but she always does that so I just had to be strong and endure (and endure what I felt was the pressure of 50 eyeballs watching me).

At destination: Then my second list was what I needed when I arrived at the new location. For me that was: crib & sheet, car seat, breast pump, milk storage bags, bottle, baby monitor, highchair. Through some scrounging I was able to borrow almost everything, and we now know that in the US in some cities you can actually rent baby gear.

More tips on how to travel light when you’re a rookie mom…

Just because we had babies doesn’t mean we stopped loving roller coasters and fast rides. For parents of babies under the age of expressing their own favorite TV character, this is a perfect time to hit an amusement park.

Why spend your time in the kiddie zone when you can do what you want to do? Besides, you’ll find some small comfort in wheeling around a stroller child that is young enough to need a stroller (yes, at some point, we put our 5yo and 7yo in strollers to make a little speed but let’s not talk about them). I want to talk about bringing my baby to an amusement park.

If you stay on-site
There are a few key things that the Universal Orlando Resort (UOR) does really right for parents of babies beginning with the on-site Loews hotels. Because of a partnership with Fisher Price, families can get all matter of toys and baby gear from “star services” for ZERO dollars. We ordered Sawyer two large-ish toys during our stay, and he loved them — so much better than him getting tangled in our laptop cords or chewing on our shoes. He also received a few small toys as a welcome gift.

We also discovered that a special room of the hotel restaurant (below) had kid-friendly amenities and toys out the wazoo. Yes, my one-year old is at a restaurant in his pajamas.

Staying within walking distance of the rides means that one parent can return if the stroller nap just isn’t happening. My husband came back to the room for one of Sawyer’s afternoon naps. The second day, I returned to get out of the heat and go for an afternoon dip in the pool.

The affiliated in-room babysitter was completely kick-ass. I have moderately high standards when it comes to information about my son. You may or may not recall that I recorded his every eat and sleep for eight months (RELATED: confessions of a baby tracker) and the sitter surpassed my expectations. She brought activities suitable for his age and confinement in the hotel; sent me photos of him finger-painting and then sleeping; and documented their time together with her comprehensive log.

While at the theme park
At the bigger amusement parks like Universal, most rides have a child swap feature. Families can wait in line together then take turns riding while the other parent sits out in child swap. When the first parent is done, the second parent can ride without re-waiting. We used this amenity with Sawyer and the big boys too. Each room varies in entertainment value. But all seem to have a waiting bench and changing table as standard. Some have videos running or cool art on the walls. Almost all such rooms were air-conditioned and provided a moderately safe place for Sawyer to stretch his legs and crawl around.

What to pack for a baby theme park adventure:

• Enough diapers. One day, we did not. Come to think of it, one dinner and the flight home we had to bum diapers. Sorry, third child.
• Enough bottles and a way to keep them cold. We used two bottles and alternated which was full and which was water only or empty and ready to go. At each restaurant stop, I refilled my bag of ice. Breastfeeders, you get a free pass on this one.
• Enough food. I would LOVE it if Sawyer would’ve eaten finger food beyond his limited favorites. Instead, he slurped down pouches like they were going out of style (are they?) and poured Cheerios all over himself (Sorry, wait staff everywhere!). We nabbed extra Os from the breakfast buffet each morning.
• Stroller and hands-free carrier as alternative. Most rides require parking the stroller outside. I used my ergo to bring him along to the child swap or keep him close on certain low impact rides (Shrek 4d). In a few rare instances, I brought him into the child swap area in his stroller using handicap access routes. When he fell asleep, we took turns walking around outside in the heat and ducking in and out of air-conditioned shops.
• Light blanket that can cover stroller to encourage napping. We used a chip clip to attach a lightweight swaddle blanket to our stroller. It worked pretty well.

Most importantly, have fun!!

I wrote this post as part of our new series on traveling with babies, toddlers, and small children. My trip to Universal Orlando Resort was paid for by the resort; I received no other compensation. We stayed at the Royal Pacific Hotel; the pool was terrific with a beach entry and separate baby pool. I heard the pool at the Portofiino is even more fun for kids but I didn’t visit.

Related links:

• How to: Disneyland with a baby
• Loews Hotels for kids (partnership with Fisher Price, awesome!)
• Jyl’s 7 Reasons to Stay at a Loews Hotels During a Universal Orlando Resort Visit
• Carrie’s Five Kid-Friendly Perks at Loews Royal Pacific Resor

All photos are mine except the wicked cool roller coaster picture from Photography MC on flickr.

I have to admit that I’m intrigued, bordering on obsessed, by parents who travel with their very young children. As a travel LOVER, I aspire to leave the country every year someplace other than a Disney cruise. But somewhere between my good intentions and the realities of airfare and car seats, I freeze in my tracks. This guest post continues a short series from other real-world moms who have traveled with their little ones and lived to tell the tale.

Nancy Harper is a Canadian mom, writer and travel junkie who lives on a farm in Ontario. She is the author of Travellin’ Mama: A Parent’s Guide to Ditching the Routine, Seeing the World and Taking the Kids Along for the Ride, and the instigator of her family’s upcoming current two-month odyssey through Panama, Costa Rica and Nicaragua.

A few years ago, a random middle-aged guy told me that traveling with kids is IDIOCY. And he was kind of right in a way. Crappy stuff happens, for sure, like when I spent 36 hours trying to get from Melbourne to Toronto with a squirming, barfing one-year-old on my lap.

Maybe you’re wondering how young is too young when it comes to taking your kids on the road. Many parents say the best time to start traveling with kids is never.

While I agree that traveling with babies and toddlers demands a certain skill set – steely determination even – I actually think that hitting the road en famille rocks (even when it TOTALLY sucks!) especially if in your carefree pre-kids days you happened to dig traveling a lot. And here’s why: Because the altruistic mom who gives and gives without getting that regular gig for herself wakes up one day to realize the children she so painstakingly raised are not only completely spoiled but utterly incapable of knowing what it is to be considerate of, or even vaguely aware of, another person’s place in the universe.

I was really fortunate a few years back to experience a long-haul family adventure across Canada, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, and southeast Asia. And although my kids were older at the time (6 and 7) I do believe that babies and toddlers aren’t necessarily travel-averse creatures, or that we should automatically give up doing the things we love because of them.

The trick is in the approach (and of course the ability to keep your sense of humor handy at all times).

So here, in my humble opinion, is the long and the short of it:

Plus a few other tips:

• Don’t expect too much of them (no kid cares about the scenery!)
• Take on something you want to do (give your kid some credit – they can almost certainly handle something a bit more interesting than a playground)
• Lighten up and don’t forget to have fun
• Be flexible even if you have a plan
• When traveling by plane: Got a baby? Reserve one of the bassinet seats. Toddlers and older kids? Let ’em watch as much TV as they want!
• By train: Reserve a sleeping car if possible. Kids love the sense of adventure and discovery as much as you will.
• By car: See as much of the U.S. and Canada with the kids as you can. If you’ve got plenty of time, drive only a few hours day and give them plenty to get excited about at the next destination.

What I do know is that in all my adventures with my daughters – many of them awesome, some about as palatable as a poop sandwich – have reaffirmed for me something that most Rookie Moms readers likely already know: Going after what we want doesn’t make us bad or selfish parents, it actually makes us happier people, and therefore better parents.

I dig this philosophy so much I wrote a book about it. Travellin’ Mama is about the funny stuff that happens on the road with kids. It’s also about the unbelievably annoying shit that makes you want to start smoking again.

Mostly it’s about showing parents who yearn to travel that it’s not only possible to travel with kids, it’s amazing to travel with kids. And it sure beats living with the regret of having put off one’s own dreams to faithfully toe the modern parent’s sacrificial line.

We should all take the time we need to do happy-mom things. And if your happy-mom thing happens to be traveling, who’s to say the kids can’t come along for the ride?

Related links

• Nancy’s website
• Travellin’ Mama on Facebook
• Nancy Harper on Twitter: @TravellinMamaBk
• Top 10 Reasons to travel with your kids

[All photos from Nancy Harper and Travellin Mama blog except the snazzy header which Whitney made for our series of fun, real-world travel adventures]

Sponsored by our partners at giggle
This month on our column at giggle, we had two posts to show you how much we love and want to help — while still affirming that you’re already doing a great job following your own instincts.

As we gear up for more family trips, I shared 8 been-there-done-that tips for traveling with a toddler at the holidays.

Whitney wrote about the baby product she couldn’t live without. Wanna take a guess before clicking? I’ll give you 3 clues:

1. Some babies require them.
2. Others can’t stand them.
3. You could make your own.

(Could that be anything? Hmmm)

For my shopping confession, I will share my unexpected affection for play food. Love the stuff! We have play food and dishes coming out the wazoo. I love the little wooden fruits and veggies held together with velcro that small hands can cut with the included knife. I reluctantly admit that each year, I prevent myself from buying or building a sweet play kitchen because I tell myself that my sons have daily access to them at preschool, but I can’t get enough of the miniature fake food. What is that about?

Our friends, Karen and Ross, just returned from an amazing voyage with their eight-month old. We begged for all the dirty details. Once Karen shared them with us, our new travel series for rookie moms was born. I hope you enjoy her trip and tips too.

My husband and I are no strangers to adventure: one of our early trips together involved a Chinese ice festival (at minus 40 degrees), we spent our honeymoon in Lebanon and Syria, and we were tracking gorillas in Rwanda right before I got pregnant. So as you can imagine, when I did get pregnant, my husband and I repeatedly vowed that we wouldn’t let a baby slow down our big travel dreams and plans. We didn’t book any flights until he was securely out of the womb and healthy, but at 2 months he hit Hawaii, and by 3 months he had his first passport stamp from Colombia. At 5 months he crossed the border into Canada, and we have just returned from an epic and awesome 2 weeks in Bhutan and Thailand.

We knew that traveling would be different with a kid, but we were determined to try it and see what happened despite all of the expected and imagined challenges. Some friends and family called us crazy – and a few even implied that it was somehow selfish or dangerous. But you know what? As a new mom and seasoned traveler, I have discovered something pretty shocking – something that I never could have imagined, and certainly something no one told me about: Traveling internationally is better with a baby. Before you call me crazy, let me explain…

You can finally meet the “locals”
My whole life I have wanted to travel in a way that allows me to “meet the locals” – the real people who actually live and work in a place. It turns out that in a lot of foreign countries, all you need to do to meet the locals is strap a baby to yourself in some kind of contraption (in our case: front-facing Bjorn) and walk around. You will meet men, women, people selling things, people buying things, rich people, poor people, kids, old people, everyone. People will want to hold your baby and touch your baby and tell you about their babies and their lives and talk for hours. I have never met so many strangers in a strange land as with this tactic. It is fantastic and it completely changes the trip.

A caveat: if you don’t like people touching your kid, this could be unpleasant for you. We had a lot of face, hand, and feet touching which we were mostly OK with (minus exactly one sanitarily-sketchy situation where I attacked my son with baby wipes as quickly as possible.)

You can spend actual, uninterrupted quality time with your family
When my husband and I are at home with our baby, it’s great! We can hang out together, goofing off, enjoying each other’s company, and trying to drink in all the fun parts of being a parent to a smiley, cute little baby… for about 15 seconds, until one of us has to change the laundry, write an email, return a call, run to the store, and so forth. On vacation we have all of the great parts with none of the stresses of everyday life. There’s no laundry, no email, and we can just focus our time hanging out together without feeling the pressure of needing or wanting to do something else. A major change of scenery (and ideally, a lack of free WiFi) can allow you some uninterrupted time with your kid and your spouse in a way that’s more challenging to get at home.

The flight may even feel faster and be more fun
Have you ever gotten off an airplane and thought, “WOW! That was super interesting and relaxing!”? I haven’t, despite my best efforts to bring snacks and books and electronic devices to entertain myself. I really feared that the hardest part of these long trips with baby would be the flights – but then I realized something: flying is not actually that fun or comfortable even if you’re alone, and a baby actually adds some distraction and time-wasting to an otherwise boring time slot. I was also obsessively worried about people being hostile to us because we were bringing a baby on the plane, but I’ve found that giving out big, open smiles right from the get-go goes a long way towards disarming people who don’t seem thrilled that you’re bringing baby on board. I think it communicates “Yes, I brought a baby on this flight – but I’m a considerate person and will do my best, so bear with me.” I’ve also noticed that when flying to or within other countries, people on the plane may have a different attitude altogether – and can be genuinely helpful and interested in the baby! What a treat. On a flight within Colombia during which my husband and I weren’t sitting together, the two businessmen next to me spent the whole flight chatting with me about their kids and grandkids, telling me insider info on where to eat in Cartagena, and cooing at my guy- and they happily held and bounced him when I needed to get something out of the overhead bin.

Because of all of this, I have found that some flights actually seemed to go by faster than usual because I was so busy dealing with the baby. My baby really loves the loud white noise of the plane and the fact that he gets to cuddle with Mom or Dad nonstop, so he tends to sleep a lot on flights, regardless of what time of day it is. Looking out the window, crumpling up the barf bag, and playing peekaboo with the passengers behind him is also a big hit.

One tip for long flights: in addition to all the stuff we bring for baby, my husband packs some food for us, so we’re not beholden to the airline’s meal schedule and choices in case it’s a bad time for baby. It also means we get to eat something we like. We usually pack some fancy (but not stinky) cheeses, some really good crackers or bread, and some grapes and bananas.

You can cut in line all the time
Airports, train stations, and the like can be a huge hassle with kids – but international travel is a different story. Even in the USA, the international flights usually have a security line set up for families and many airlines allow pre-boarding for international travel. In many other countries, families are treated like royalty, ushered to a special passport window, rushed to the front of the line, or given other accommodations to make life easier. All because you’re toting an infant.

You can nurse with abandon
I am pretty comfortable nursing my baby out in public, but I usually feel compelled to use a blanket or “hooter hider” as a courtesy to others. I have also been in situations close to home that have felt actively hostile to the idea of a nursing mother busting the boob out. In some countries, however, I have noticed that breastfeeding is what I *wish* it were here – a non-event that goes totally unnoticed by everyone, because it’s so incredibly commonplace. I was whipping it out left and right and never got so much as a sideways glance. Aaaaah. Now that feels like a vacation.

You don’t even need an extra suitcase
A lot of people are intimidated by travel with babies because they think they will need to bring a lot of extra stuff. I am obsessed with packing lightly so I was determined to make things work with baby sharing my suitcase. For a baby of 8 months I have learned that we need no actual toys (and if we bring them they barely make the grade) – his favorite toys on our last trip were: the strings on my sweatshirt, the room service menu, his own hat, and a tupperware lid. Clothes? Baby clothes are so little and dry so fast – I bring a smaller amount and wash them in the sink, leaving them to dry in the hotel room while we’re out for the day. Food? Depending where you’re headed, you may need to bring all of your own food – we found this great baby food in dried pouches, Nurturme, that works perfectly for destinations that may not have baby-safe food (and for the airplane.) Mix with bottled water and you’re good to go. It packs flat. We had no trouble able fitting 80 of his little diapers throughout our suitcases. The plus? More room for souvenirs once the diaper space is freed up.

And now for the few tiny parts that actually kind of suck
I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that there are a few things that are, shall we say, challenging. OK, they suck! The first and most obvious is the sleep. I don’t need to explain how a 13 hour time change is less fun when you’re doing it with a baby. If you’re flexible and have the patience to deal with it because it means you got to go on a super fun trip, it might work for you. Like me, my kid seems to adjust to his new vacation time zone in a matter of days, but needs about a week of readjustment (or in baby terms, screaming and crying and waking up at weird times) to get back to normal upon re-entry.

The second thing is planning. If you’re hanging with a baby, you have to plan better – if you’re stuck by yourself on a 12-hour flight with no food, you’ll be OK in the end, but a baby? No way. So you need to have all your stuff organized and make sure you have food, clothes, diapers, etc. so that if a poo-splosion occurs at 30,000 feet, you’re covered (but not covered in poo). This doesn’t mean you need to bring a lot of extra stuff – just the right stuff in the right places at the right time. Less spontaneity, more planning.

Other than that – I’ve got no major complaints. I’m going on record to say that on balance, traveling internationally is better with a baby.

If you’re experiencing Schadenfreude right now, I will tell you that Karen sent out multiple messages about the lethal powers of baby jetlag AFTER sharing these highlights. She still says it was worth it. I wonder where they’ll go next.

[All photos from Karen Merzenich except the snazzy header which Whitney made to kick off our series of fun, real-world travel adventures]

Reposted from the wayback machine because it’s that time of year!

Generally speaking, my extended family on my husband’s side (AKA in-laws) are a wonderful bunch of people that we don’t see nearly enough. Because we live clear across the country, we’ve grown accustomed to our own way of doing things so getting together involves friction. Every time. Yes, I’m a big ‘ol control freak. And when I’m on their turf, I’m not the boss of anything. Usually, a few days into the visit, I’m shedding tears because I don’t get to make any decisions.

In the ongoing quest to lower the bar and have happier holidays, I reached out to the professional happy people for tips. As a personal goal, I’m hoping to get through a cross-country in-law visit without crying every day — or maybe not at all! — but there I go raising the bar again.

Gretchen Rubin, the best-selling author of The Happiness Project, responded right away. We’re not BFF’s or anything, but she probably recognized this task as something she could clear out of her in-box in less than a minute.

Reflecting on my goal of less family drama at the holidays, Gretchen sent me these posts:

• 7 tips for getting along with your difficult relatives over the holidays: My favorite is #1 to spend a few minutes in advance thinking about how I want to behave. I can do this! I think I can; I think I can.

• 9 tips for lifting yourself out of the holiday blues: When she writes, “’Tis the season to celebrate – and also the season to feel overwhelmed, lonely, angry, irritated, and rushed,” I know she gets me. From this set of lessons, I resolve to pack my running shoes (among other deeper things like remembering the love).

• 10 tips for getting along with your mother-in-law: I might need to reread this one during the visit or copy down the key points on a tiny piece of paper I keep in my pocket. Clearly, I ought to remember my own values, but allow for grandparent privilege. Yeah, totally.

I also want to give a nod to the Happiest Mom, Meagan Francis (author of The Happiest Mom). She is the happy mom of five children who prioritizes her own happiness and celebrates imperfection. If I can handle a few more great suggestions, she gives a couple:

• 4 helpful tips for moms dealing with critics: Does everyone else around the room have an opinion about your parenting? I love these tips for shaking off the critics. I could have used these last year.

• If I struggle or falter with my happiness during the chaotic travels of the coming week, I will remember that the relationship is always more important than being RIGHT. I will remember the great advice she gives in happy marriage advice from a previously divorced mom. Anyway, I’ll try.

And I will roll with it. Tears or not.

Related Posts:
Act the way you want to feel
Be selfish, be happy

Having dropped my kiddos off at their first day of school, Kindergarten and 2nd Grade, I’m back at home plotting a huge surprise while baby Sawyer naps. We are about to embark on a cross-country vacation adventure, packed with highlights that just might blow their little minds.

A couple weeks ago, Jyl invited my family on an amazing long weekend at Universal Orlando Resort including the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

My husband and I are super excited but we haven’t told the kids yet. We want the reveal to be worthy of the trip.

Here’s why this vacation is coming at just the right moment:

• We’re reading Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets together at bedtime, and it’s about to come to life in front of their eyes.
• They have the Spider-Man book loaded into the Tag (AKA reading robot) — and we’ll be able to ride Universal’s Spider-Man ride at the theme park.
• Despicable Me is on the iPad — and a 3-D movie-slash-ride thing promises to let us jump into the action of that film.

I have a few ideas on how to maximize the payoff of this secret vacation, but now I need to execute! How can I enjoy the biggest WOW factor from my big boys?

I could tell them at dinner that we’re spending the next two days of school at Hogwarts instead of regular school.

Maybe I’ll use black parchment and a silvery marker to etch out a coded invitation. Should there be a scavenger hunt? Not tell them until the airplane?

What would Pinterest do? I only have a few more hours to pull this off!

Either way, our flight leaves early tomorrow. We travel for most of the day with a three-hour layover in North Carolina. We arrive in Orlando late night (too late to explore) to stay in a hotel on site. Friday, we will tour the main Universal Orlando Resort and Saturday we will be in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter while staying at Loew’s Royal Pacific Resort.

How would you announce a surprise like this?

[updated! Per Alma's suggestion below, I just made this quiz for them to solve during dinner]

+++

Disclosure: All major expenses for this adventure are paid for by Universal Orlando Resort, which I so totally appreciate.

When I first unpacked my portable crib as a rookie mom, images of global travel danced in my head. Our shared wanderlust was so important that my husband and I almost wrote it into our wedding vows. Instead, we named the tables at our reception after each of the destinations on our around-the-world honeymoon itinerary and made a hand-shake agreement to leave the country together every year.

Eight years later and I’m glad that we only shook on it. (We’ve left the country 1.5 times.)

Though my son took his first airplane flight at 3 weeks old, we spent more traveling to Grandma’s than to Grenada. Since our honeymoon, we have not made it back to Asia, but have been camping a handful of times.

Lucky for us the portable crib is mighty versatile in the real world and not just the one in my head.

Here are 5 great uses for a travel crib that don’t involve travel:

1. Play yard (AKA Baby Jail). In a home that is filled with tiny toys for his big brothers, our baby has a safe place to play away from those choking hazards. See him lunging for the big boys and their LEGO creations with his bigger DUPLO blocks within reach? Yeah, the travel-crib-as-jail works like a charm.

   

2. Mini ball pit. Want to make the baby cage even more fun? We received the suggestion to create a ball pit at home from a reader and are eager to try it when Sawyer gets bored with his life.
   
3. Newborn’s first bed. Though we had a larger crib for the long haul, in the early newborn days we set up a portable crib in our bedroom when our baby seemed too wee to go it alone. If you live in a small studio or have other residents occupying the bedrooms, this arrangement might even last a couple years.

   

4. Baby guest room (just in case). Even when Baby Milo shared a bedroom with his big brother at night, we maintained a travel crib for daytime naps in our home office. Whitney kept one assembled in her bedroom for almost two years as the host of a nanny share arrangement. We both held onto our portacribs long after our own children fit in them just in case a friend stopped by for a half-sleepover. Also perfect for Camp Grandma.
5. Camping. Each of our children has been camping in their mini crib. If you’re considering it, let me add that camping trips are wayyyy more fun with other families (feel free to use my sweet camping-with-a-baby packing list).

   

+++

This post is sponsored by BabyBjorn as part of our series of awesome tips for rookie parents. Learn more about their super simple sturdy Travel Crib Light.