It will suck {My personal studies have shown that as long as you expect it to suck, it will probably be okay}.
You will be pooped on. If your child is beyond the poo’splosion age, expect a bottle to burst, projectile vomit, overturned apple juice, or a simple pee accident. To combat this reality, pack 1 diaper per hour of travel and an extra set of jammies. I love pajamas because they pack up nice and small. Throw in an extra shirt for yourself too.
You will lose stuff. Hopefully, you only lose the poop-stained jammies, but it might be a precious security object, important part of your breast pump, or your cell phone charger. Expect it, roll with it.
You will annoy other passengers. Being the person with the crying baby is no fun. It might make you sweat (it makes me sweat). This coming trip I’m packing two packs of earplugs for every passenger within hearing range; it might not help, but they’ll know I’m trying.
Your kid will be in pain. I don’t know whether teething will start, an ear infection will blossom, or tummy troubles will kick in. I always pack children’s pain reliever in my carry-on even if everyone boarded the plane healthy. That stuff comes in handy!
There will be delays. Whether it’s an airplane stuck on the runway or stopping every 77 minutes to feed a baby on a roadtrip. Expect it to take longer and be pleasantly surprised if I’m wrong (I’m not wrong!).
Your sleep will get effed up for days. Expect an approximate four-day reentry window to train your little one to sleep and wake on schedule again. Coming and going. Room darkening shades can be your best friend but, as with everything else, you might as well plan for sleepless nights.
We do have a few tips and tricks, but I truly find that managing my own expectations and expecting an adventure is more than half the battle. But here you go, some friendly advice:
- Round-up of tips for traveling with a baby
- How to minimize sleep disruption by Nicole Johnson
- Beyond baby, tips for flying with a toddler
- Stop lugging car seats on airplanes
- 10 tips for breastfeeding during the holidays (travel, cocktails, etc.)
Happy Holidays, all! I’m getting on an airplane with my newly minted family of five soon. Can you tell I’m nervous? We can’t even fit in one car when we get there!
I don’t think travelling with a baby (or in my case, two) is really that bad! My 18-month-old twins have been on about 10 flights so far, including two international flights where I flew alone with them, and we’ve had no problems at all! A whole lot of snacks and entertainment does the trick for us!
Thanks Laura, every day I think about it, I imagine the poo’splosion and/or crying jags at altitude. I’m trying to be zen about it… Ommmm, the glass is already broken.
I liken it to labor and delivery. Much pain and suffering. And then it ends. Except it doesn’t really (hello jetlag) but at least you survived the worst. When we moved to israel with our six month old we had 8 EFFING DAYS of jetlag. It was a boon for my milk supply (read: took my body a week to stop producing so much at night), but otherwise sucked donkey balls. The older kids got back on track after about two days. Pretty amazing. Good luck mama!
I have a 2 year old and a 4 month old. I think they are both just as difficult to travel with! My 2 year old hates being strapped in and tries to take off his seat belt!
My family lives overseas and we fly internationally all the time- with two kids under 4 and one more on the way. For toddlers/preschoolers: have some new little toys (horded Happy Meal toys are great) to introduce at intervals. Travel with your own DVD player or video iPod with headphones. Bring plenty of disposable sippy cups. And, for when the poopsplosion is out of control (like my 2 year old’s midway through a 15 hour flight): the fabric on the bottom part of an airplane seat is removable. Happy flying! 🙂
Hi all
So I just got back from 2 weeks in west africa with a 4 year old and an 8 month old. I read all your tips before going but thought I’d summarise the best advice I got and things I’d do differently:
– taking a few tins of pasta shapes for emergency meals for the 4 year old were a god send when we ended up places with only very spicy food and when he had an upset tummy and wanted something fun and bland (spiderman & winnie the pooh were big hits)
– next time I’d put them both on Larium (a weekly antimalarial) getting a pill down a 4 year old every morning was hard work. Final solution was crushed and mixed with nutella on toast.
– if on a night flight, remember to take little one to loo and put on night nappie at gate (they don’t let you go on plane before take off, after which he was already asleep)
– babybjorn carrier for baby useful on flight
– I took a bottle of calpol on the flight, but luckily both slept so no need to use it
Happy travelling, Bx