https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Fri, 10 Apr 2026 01:47:32 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/traveling-us-to-milan-italy-for-a-wedding-with-4yo#post-2799489 Wed, 24 Jan 2018 14:10:18 +0000 MrsLonghorn 2799489@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@yoursilverlining: awesome! We've done that in the US for other things (not a carseat) so I will definitely look into it. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/traveling-us-to-milan-italy-for-a-wedding-with-4yo#post-2799481 Wed, 24 Jan 2018 13:51:18 +0000 yoursilverlining 2799481@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@MrsLonghorn: I know you found your solution ( :silly: ) but wanted to throw another option out there. We rented a carseat and biking/ hiking sturdy strolled (like a BOB) from a babygear rental place in Italy. There are several, if you Google them. It was super reasonably priced and nice not to have to haul gear ourselves. Not everyone might be comfortable dong so, but the places we contacted were all very professional and the gear we received was in excellent condition. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/traveling-us-to-milan-italy-for-a-wedding-with-4yo#post-2799474 Wed, 24 Jan 2018 13:41:43 +0000 looch 2799474@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>As a tourist, it's okay if you use an American car seat in a European car. If you get stopped, it won't be an issue.</p> <p>We have family abroad, we keep a car seat there and/or borrow someone's. But in other areas where I don't have one, I bring our own. I check it. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/traveling-us-to-milan-italy-for-a-wedding-with-4yo#post-2799437 Wed, 24 Jan 2018 12:45:59 +0000 MrsLonghorn 2799437@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>***ignore this comment - I can do a seatbelt install. duh!! of course my car seat will work in Europe!*** :embarrassed:</p> <p> if anyone is still following along....what did you do about a car seat? Should I just check it on the plane, and then assume/hope it works in European cars? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/traveling-us-to-milan-italy-for-a-wedding-with-4yo#post-2799387 Wed, 24 Jan 2018 11:09:38 +0000 bubblegum 2799387@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@MrsLonghorn: Amen! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/traveling-us-to-milan-italy-for-a-wedding-with-4yo#post-2799379 Wed, 24 Jan 2018 10:49:02 +0000 MrsLonghorn 2799379@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@bubblegum: hi! :happy: I can't imagine a 12 hour layover with a toddler - ain't nobody got time (or patience) for that!!</p> <p>@jennypenny: adjusting halfway sounds like a good idea, thanks </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/traveling-us-to-milan-italy-for-a-wedding-with-4yo#post-2799378 Wed, 24 Jan 2018 10:46:57 +0000 MrsLonghorn 2799378@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>oh my goodness, I just got to work and logged in to see all these responses. You ladies are fantastic - thank you!</p> <p>@raspberry: @looch: I'm going to look at the options but I'm thinking we do home-&gt;NYC-&gt;Milan on the way over there, and Milan-&gt;Rome-&gt;home on the return for exactly that reason.</p> <p>@LAMARINIERE: thank you! DS loves airplanes, so the flight itself should be pretty good....it is the jet lag and napping and adjusting that concern me. (We actually got delayed on a domestic flight earlier this year and a 3.5 hour trip took 8 hours - it didn't bother him at all!)</p> <p>@yoursilverlining: this is really good to know and reassuring. I think we will still try to do the short leg first if possible, but I won't panic if it doesn't work.</p> <p>@beehive: I hadn't thought of that at all, and was intending to arrive early specifically to adjust him to the time zone. I like your idea though - I don't know what time the wedding is yet, but I wouldn't be surprised if it goes late into the night. We are actually planning to bring my sister along as a babysitter, because we know that DH and I can't leave any of the events early, but DS will need to go to sleep before they are over. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/traveling-us-to-milan-italy-for-a-wedding-with-4yo#post-2799375 Wed, 24 Jan 2018 10:41:40 +0000 JennyPenny 2799375@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I would do the NYC layover. You'll have to do customs/border control once you arrive to Italy and I'd hate trying to do that with a flight to catch. </p> <p>I also second @Beehive's suggestion. Only adjust your kid at most halfway to the new time zone. This is what we do with our kids in Europe and it limits jetlag coming home and makes for a more enjoyable vacation. In Italy especially a lot of restaurants won't open until 7 or 8 for dinner so pushing bedtime back is a must if you want to do anything in the evening. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/traveling-us-to-milan-italy-for-a-wedding-with-4yo#post-2799339 Wed, 24 Jan 2018 09:21:06 +0000 bubblegum 2799339@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@MrsLonghorn: Hey girl!! :heart: I've only been to Italy BC (before children) so no tips as far as that goes BUT just wanted to say I hope you guys have a great time! I hope your overlay is not too crazy. When we went, we had a 12 hour layover on the way back and it was killer. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/traveling-us-to-milan-italy-for-a-wedding-with-4yo#post-2799328 Wed, 24 Jan 2018 08:47:25 +0000 looch 2799328@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I would consider the trip home and arrange it so that I would not have a connecting flight in the US, because trying to get bags and clear customs at first point of entry and make a connection can be tight. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/traveling-us-to-milan-italy-for-a-wedding-with-4yo#post-2799268 Tue, 23 Jan 2018 20:41:40 +0000 Beehive 2799268@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Sounds like lots of fun! We travel to Europe all the time with our son (and now our daughter too), and it works out really well. My biggest tip is *not* to adjust your son to the time difference very much. If you can keep him closer to your home time zone, he'll be able to stay up for late dinners, and will sleep in a bit. It makes vacations much more enjoyable, as you won't be stuck in the hotel with a kid who goes to bed early (and this might be especially useful if the wedding is in the evening). </p> <p>I agree that the home-NYC-Milan flight sounds better. Long flights with older kids are great - my son looks forward to them, because he knows that he will be able to watch movies on the plane (when he's not sleeping, that is). </p> <p>Have a great trip! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/traveling-us-to-milan-italy-for-a-wedding-with-4yo#post-2799250 Tue, 23 Jan 2018 19:27:32 +0000 yoursilverlining 2799250@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We had almost the same flight set-up as your second example above when we flew from Boston to Switzerland to Florence, Italy (flight was less than an hour from Switzerland to Florence) when LO was 4 and she wasn't grumpy at all for the short layover and short flight and the second flight wasn't miserable. </p> <p>We did an overnight from Boston to Switzerland and will always try to do that with littles. She ate dinner on the plane, watched a movie and then was old enough to understand that it was then bedtime. When we landed in Switzerland she had slept a decent night's sleep (we had not lol), and was fine for the layover and second flight. DH and I just grabbed coffees and were good to go as well. Doing the overnight also helped with jetlag - no one had any since we could start our days on Italy time correctly on day 1 of the trip. </p> <p>Have fun! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/traveling-us-to-milan-italy-for-a-wedding-with-4yo#post-2799249 Tue, 23 Jan 2018 19:26:47 +0000 lamariniere 2799249@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I think the biggest challenge will be the jetlag, and probably not the actual flight. What we normally do when traveling over multiple time zones is limit napping. I would nap (the whole family!) for a maximum of two hours that first afternoon and then try to stay up until 8 or 9 pm to get a good night's sleep. Also, stay outside as much as possible to get as much natural light as possible. We generally try to get on the local schedule as quickly as possible, but we usually travel for more than a week at a time. My kids are generally easygoing travelers, especially if we have an iPad or inflight entertainment.</p> <p>We were supposed to go to Milan last summer, and then we moved to Asia instead. :silly: But we had planned to visit Milan for a day or two and then drive up to Lake Como to check it out. I got some good suggestions here, especially from @amorini: <a href="http://boards.hellobee.com/topic/northern-italy-recommendations" rel="nofollow">http://boards.hellobee.com/topic/northern-italy-recommendations</a> </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/traveling-us-to-milan-italy-for-a-wedding-with-4yo#post-2799240 Tue, 23 Jan 2018 18:30:50 +0000 misolee 2799240@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>How exciting! With an almost 4 year old, you’ll find traveling is not as hard as you thought. We’ve flown 14 hours straight with my daughter when she was 11 months and also right before she turned 4. They have inflight entertainment, we took the iPad, she did some workbook games, she slept when she was supposed to. It was no biggie. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/traveling-us-to-milan-italy-for-a-wedding-with-4yo#post-2799236 Tue, 23 Jan 2018 18:21:16 +0000 Raspberry 2799236@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I would do the short leg first on both the departure and the return, if possible. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/traveling-us-to-milan-italy-for-a-wedding-with-4yo#post-2799218 Tue, 23 Jan 2018 17:21:32 +0000 MrsLonghorn 2799218@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I just found out the my sister-in-law is getting married in Milan, Italy over Labor Day weekend. DS will turn 4 just a few weeks after that. </p> <p>It's still a long way away, but I'm excited and ready to plan! Any advice on traveling that far with an almost 4 year old? Bonus if you have any recommendations of family-friendly things in Milan!</p> <p>----- (my brain dump of current plans is below, if anyone actually wants to keep reading) -----</p> <p>Timing: we plan to shift our travel so we arrive 3-4 days early and then leave a day or two after the wedding...so that we have maximum time to adjust to the new time zones before the wedding itself. What fun things should we do during this time? And any tips on how to adjust my almost-4yo to the new time zone? We will be arriving at 10:30 local time, and he will be exhausted but excited.</p> <p>Travel: we basically have 2 options,<br /> home -&gt; NYC -&gt; Milan<br /> home -&gt; Rome -&gt; Milan<br /> NYC is a shorter flight first with a layover late afternoon, and then takeoff right around dinner time. We could all hopefully get ~6 hours of sleep before landing in Milan.<br /> Rome is the long flight first. Even if it is overnight (I don't think it is), I think that doing a layover in Italy with a tired/grumpy toddler and then having to get on a second plane for just an hour is going to be significantly more miserable. Either way, it will still take another hour to get from the Milan airport to our apartment/hotel/wherever we stay....it is almost 24 hours door to door. </p>