Hellobee Boards

Just stop thinking of it as a vacation - try "trip."

a trip with a four-month old was much easier than a trip with a toddler haha! We first took J on a plane when he was 4 months and it was a dream. He was such a good baby anyway, but he slept on the plane and I pretty much wore him the whole trip and he did so great.

It wasn't until he was a toddler that things were more difficult. But fun, in many different ways. I think you should go for it and have fun!

We took K on a 5-6 hour car trip at 6 weeks, 10 weeks, to Europe at 3.5-4 months, Chicago at 6 months, Hawaii at 8 months. It's just gotten more challenging the older she's gotten. I think 4 months was a fun age to take her.

For Hawaii, we went with a 2.5 year old, a 2.5 month old, and K (8 months). The other 2 stayed on their home schedule. We adapted K to Hawaii time by the 2nd day. We didn't try to do too much, stayed close to the hotel for the most part, and went back for nap time. The best thing we did for that trip was to get a condo with a separate room and a kitchen! That way, when the baby napped, we could watch TV in the living room. Hawaii is super kid/baby friendly!

I'm late to this but thought I'd come back since I promised some flying with a toddler tips.

1. Bring food - not just for your little one, but also for yourselves. I find it a huge weight off my shoulders to know that I'm not tied to the meal service times (in case DD wants to walk/needs to be held while they are serving). Sometimes it's worked to have an attendant hold a meal for us, or to trade off eating, but it's nice to have other options. We usually bring something like Subway for our first meal, then pack something less perishable (PBJs, for example) along with lots of pretzels, crackers, cookies, etc. for later. For our toddler, I like to take food in small containers - part of the fun for her is getting to eat things out of the box/package that I'd normally put in a bowl for her. Pulling raisins out of a box one by one can be a great way to kill time on a long flight!

2. Toys - I pack LO's own backpack full of small toys/books (Babybug magazines are light and travel well) she likes. I mostly take things I wouldn't be crushed if we lost (again, one less thing to stress about), and include a few new, wrapped items (dollar store toys work great). A mini magnadoodle is a great alternative to crayons (and runs no risk of leaving marks on the cabin walls); my LO also had a great time taking things in and out of a cleaned peanut butter jar - I stuffed it full of plastic ring links, pop-beads, cloth finger puppets, textured fabrics, a sequined headband, etc. Toys don't have to be completely quiet, either - the white noise of the plane will drown out the noise from a play cell phone or an iPhone App. If you don't have kid-proof case for yours, the Fisher Price Apptivity case is great. I put the phone in upside down so I can still access the Home button without doing lots of in/out.

3. Don't plan to sleep. Honestly, you'll most likely get at least a few hours at some point. But at worst, you'll go, what, 15-20 hours without? Nothing you haven't done as a new parent before. Just don't count on it, and you'll feel more grateful for what you do get.

4. Be willing to wander. As long as your toddler isn't walking into other aisle, tapping sleeping strangers on the knee and saying "Hi! Night night!" like mine wanted to do, walking the aisles really shouldn't be seen as disruptive. I find it's easier to walk with my child as much as she wants rather than trying to restrain her.

5. Buy a seat for the toddler. If s/he is under two for both legs of the trip and you've got two adults travelling with you (one for each lap child), you technically don't HAVE to get a seat..and you MAY end up with a spare anyway. But if you can swing it, it's sometimes nice to have the peace of mind that there's a place for LO to be - particularly if you have an FAA approved toddler car seat you can bring on board and strap her into.

I think those are my big ones, but if you have any questions, feel free to ask and I'll try to help - we've done tons of travel (albeit only with one child thus far) in the past 18 months and have definitely learned a lot.

We went to the beach with LO when she was 4 months. It was way easier traveling with her then than it was during the 12-18 months stage. Now at almost 20 months it's getting easier again.

I think it works out best if you can divide and conquer, one parent focus on the toddler, one on the infant.

I'd buy a seat for the toddler, you're just under the lap child cut off, but they're at the age where they might benefit from having their own place to eat, do activities etc.

I only have one tip that hasn't been mentioned already and that is to pack a reusable shopping bag in one of your carryons so that you can toss everything that you took out during the flight into it without having to try to puzzle everything back together. And bring plastic grocery bags for garbage, you'll need them.

We just got back from a week long vacation with DS and he's 5 months old. I think it really depends on how your LO is, but here's how it went for us!

Flight - no problemos! He slept most of the way, and when he woke, he was fine. I was told to nurse during take off and landing, but DS always passed out right when we got on the plane! The change in cabin pressure didn't seem to bother him. We took 3 flights: 3 hours, 1.5 hours, 3.5 hours, respectively.

Out and about: I carried DS in the Ergo everywhere, and he napped and chilled in there all day long. I took him out of the carrier when we sat down somewhere to eat. We stood in long lines at some places (2+ hours), and he didn't seem to mind at all. He would just sleep when he was tired, and wake when he was ready to. We stayed out all day and he was trooper in keeping up with us!

We took a 2 hour bus tour and he sat in my lap and looked out the window the entire time!

Naps: He slept in the Ergo. If we were at the hotel, he would nap in the bed.

What to bring: \
- we brought a jacket with a hood and a thicker hat for DS to put on while in the Ergo.
- Plenty of wipes and diapers! DS was a poop monster during the trip and went through more than normal diapers and wipes.
- Burpy cloths. Super absorbent and super handy to have!
- Sunglasses if you'll be out in the sun or walking around much. Gotta protect those lil eyes