Hellobee Boards

I usually bring a nightlight when we travel, namely because the room can be unfamiliar if you have to get up in the night and you don't have to rely on keeping the bathroom light on.

I also bring a few things to help me organize the hotel room, like pop up bins that fold flat to corral laundry and toys, and I always pack a power strip (I learned that tip on these boards) so that we can easily charge our stuff.

On the plane, I pack in ziplocks, so i can see what I have and grab what I need. I usually bring 2 gallon sized ziplocks with a few diapers and a small pack of wipes, one goes in the seat pocket in front of me, the other in my husband's seat. I also bring a few plastic grocery bags for garbage and dirty diapers. To expedite getting off the plane, I pack a fold up bag and just throw everything that came out of a carry on in there and reorg at a later point. I bring empty water bottles through security and fill them up at the water fountains before I get on the plane.

I carry a small cross body bag, containing all my personal/valuable items, I wear it the entire flight, so if i have to leave my carryons, i don't panic that someone might pocket my cash!

@pregnantbee: I brought a diaper bag, purse and backpack and noone said anything. Technically according to AA it wasnt allowes. Each carrier has their own rules....

Lots of fun snacks were always good for my LO- yogurt melts worked well for us on plane rides. I also liked to bring a bottle of pumped milk because it gave us an option if he was being fussy about the boob or if I didn't feel comfortable nursing for whatever reason, and also that gave us the option of having DH feed LO and not just me. We also used the Ergo to get through security and for part of the plane ride itself.

@pregnantbee: on most airlines, a lap baby is entitled to a diaper bag as a carry on. So you can have a backpack, purse for your carry on and a diaper bag for your baby's carry on.

I dont recommend checking a carseat as baggage, even in a padded bag. It can sustain damage equivalent to being in a minor car accident. Have you seen how baggage handlers toss around checked items?

Infant carseats can be gate checked. I have never tried gate checking a Convertible carseat, so not sure about that, but I think most are too big.

@pregnantbee: Yay!