Help me prepare for our Hawaii trip

[babyfiorina1]

Well, we are going to Hawaii end of next month for 9 days for vacation. This is going to be our first airplane ride ever since DD was born. I know I should be excited and I am, but at the same time I'm also nervous thinking about our by-then-14-month-old DD, the 8-hour airplane ride and 9 days over there in Hawaii... I'm freaking out and so many things suddenly rush into my head as of what to prepare and how to deal with this toddler who can't stay put for even 1 second *scratching head*

1. Do I need to get a car seat, if so what would be appropriate for a 14-month old and can you gate-check this ? we are renting a car or I can rent car seat from the car rental place ? Would you recommend so ?
We have BJCM stroller and we plan to gate check that. So I guess we're taken care of for the stroller part.

2. The sleeping part. DD will only sleep in her crib, which is kinda good, but traveling-wise, not sure how she would react). We have reserved the pack and play from the hotel. Anything else I left out ?

3. Food-wise, I know I'll prepare plenty of her favorite snacks for the airplane ride, but for the next 9 days, would you bring anything for that ?

4. I probably also need lots of toys/books for distraction in the airplane, any recommendation ?

and of course anything else I need to take note of ?

Thank you as always for sharing.

[connor_mommy]

1. If she has her own plane seat, I would install her carseat in it. She would be more comfortable, especially when she falls asleep. DS was 18 months when we took him to Hawaii, and we told him that he needed to stay in his seat for the plane ride. We might have taken him out to let him stretch, but he napped and played in his seat most of the time.

2. We co-slept, so I can't answer your question. But bring your own sheets for her.

3. What island are you going to? You should be able to get the foods that she likes there. If you're going to Maui, check out Mana Foods in Paia. Oahu has Target and Whole Foods. Also, buy milk at the airport just in case the plane doesn't have any. I usually grab a couple of the kind that doesn't require refrigeration.

4. Make sure to have her favorite toy or lovie for the plane ride. You can try some new snacks as a distraction. A new book, some new toys and post it notes are a few things that come to mind to keep her occupied.

[babyfiorina1]

Originally Posted by connor_mommy

1. If she has her own plane seat, I would install her carseat in it. She would be more comfortable, especially when she falls asleep. DS was 18 months when we took him to Hawaii, and we told him that he needed to stay in his seat for the plane ride. We might have taken him out to let him stretch, but he napped and played in his seat most of the time.

2. We co-slept, so I can't answer your question. But bring your own sheets for her.

3. What island are you going to? You should be able to get the foods that she likes there. If you're going to Maui, check out Mana Foods in Paia. Oahu has Target and Whole Foods. Also, buy milk at the airport just in case the plane doesn't have any. I usually grab a couple of the kind that doesn't require refrigeration.

4. Make sure to have her favorite toy or lovie for the plane ride. You can try some new snacks as a distraction. A new book, some new toys and post it notes are a few things that come to mind to keep her occupied.

Actually DD won't have her own seat :/ I don't know if we will regret this or not!

We are going to Kauai and Oahu. Thanks, I'll take note on the milk.

[mom2binsd]

DO NOT RENT A CAR SEAT..so many reasons not too, but you could end up with a piece of junk, with missing pieces, no manual, who knows what type of stains.....

If possible get the baby as tired as possible before the flight so she konks out.

Bring your carseat right to the gate, perch it ontop of your stroller while going through the airport, you may get lucky and there will be an empty/extra seat and they will let you take your carseat on board and use it, I can't imagine holding a 14 month old for that length of time.

At that age I always installed the carseat rearfacing as the baby faces you rather than having the seat in front of them right in their face (and the seatback ripe for kicking). They are more likely to fall asleep RF and less likely to drop things when RF, BUt for such a long flight it's an inconvenience for the person in front (but then again so is a kicking/unhappy baby lol).

Bring extra clothes for you and baby, babies have this knack of throwing up on you right off the bat and nobody wants to sit for 8 hours in a stinky shirt.

Does she like Baby Einstein type video's, you could let her watch those on a portable DVD player.

At the hotel, open the pack n play right away, check for mold/stains etc, and ask for another if it's dirty. I would almost order one and have it shipped to the hotel so you'd have new one, and give to the hotel when you're done. Always bring your own sheets, if you buy a new set of pack n play sheets wash them first.

Do you need to heat bottles for her, at that age my kids only liked warm milk so I had a small bottle warmer that I brought, it also worked to heat up jars of baby food.

Use your stroller as a high chair in the hotel room, or bring one of those portable high chairs that you can strap to any chair.

I'm jealous, Hawaii sounds just about heavenly right about now, have fun!

[babyfiorina1]

Originally Posted by mom2binsd

DO NOT RENT A CAR SEAT..so many reasons not too, but you could end up with a piece of junk, with missing pieces, no manual, who knows what type of stains.....

If possible get the baby as tired as possible before the flight so she konks out.

Bring your carseat right to the gate, perch it ontop of your stroller while going through the airport, you may get lucky and there will be an empty/extra seat and they will let you take your carseat on board and use it, I can't imagine holding a 14 month old for that length of time.

At that age I always installed the carseat rearfacing as the baby faces you rather than having the seat in front of them right in their face (and the seatback ripe for kicking). They are more likely to fall asleep RF and less likely to drop things when RF, BUt for such a long flight it's an inconvenience for the person in front (but then again so is a kicking/unhappy baby lol).

Bring extra clothes for you and baby, babies have this knack of throwing up on you right off the bat and nobody wants to sit for 8 hours in a stinky shirt.

Does she like Baby Einstein type video's, you could let her watch those on a portable DVD player.

At the hotel, open the pack n play right away, check for mold/stains etc, and ask for another if it's dirty. I would almost order one and have it shipped to the hotel so you'd have new one, and give to the hotel when you're done. Always bring your own sheets, if you buy a new set of pack n play sheets wash them first.

Do you need to heat bottles for her, at that age my kids only liked warm milk so I had a small bottle warmer that I brought, it also worked to heat up jars of baby food.

Use your stroller as a high chair in the hotel room, or bring one of those portable high chairs that you can strap to any chair.

I'm jealous, Hawaii sounds just about heavenly right about now, have fun!

Thank you so much for the input. That means we still need to bring our car seat along and we have the Safety 1st Deluxe Alpha Omega Elite and if we do decide to purchase a seat for DD, it's not FAA-approved :/

She likes the baby signing time DVD, so I'll bring that along to keep her entertained.

[babyfiorina1]

Btw, just saw this I just saw this http://www.kidsflysafe.com/buy-cares-choice and wonder if anyone use this before and would share their experience.

[connor_mommy]

We did. It was nice to not have to lug a carseat onto the airplane. We used it two years ago on DS#2. He was 3 at the time. I felt bad for him when he fell asleep. He just did not look comfortable. But your child needs to have her own plane seat in order to use it. How long will your flight be? I would bring the carseat to the gate to see if they have an extra seat. If they don't then just gate check it along with your stroller.

[legaleagle]

The cosco scenera is often recommended as a travel carseat because it's lightweight and cheap (can generally find for <$50). It'll last most kids for several years because it's decent sized and goes to 40 lbs rear and ff'ing.

Have fun, I love Hawaii, esp Kauai (I eloped on Poipu beach )

[babyfiorina1]

Originally Posted by connor_mommy

We did. It was nice to not have to lug a carseat onto the airplane. We used it two years ago on DS#2. He was 3 at the time. I felt bad for him when he fell asleep. He just did not look comfortable. But your child needs to have her own plane seat in order to use it. How long will your flight be? I would bring the carseat to the gate to see if they have an extra seat. If they don't then just gate check it along with your stroller.

We're thinking of getting DD her own seat now. From what I read airlines usually provide 50% off adult fare for children under 2 ?

The flight is going to be about 8 hours, so, yeah...I'm already having headache thinking about her on our laps!!

I just measured our car seat and it's already 20-inch in width and I think major airlines allowed up to 16-inch in width for car seats ? I guess, we need to get another one, should've thought about this when purchasing car seat because we might have another overseas trip coming up end of year :/

[babyfiorina1]

Originally Posted by legaleagle

The cosco scenera is often recommended as a travel carseat because it's lightweight and cheap (can generally find for <$50). It'll last most kids for several years because it's decent sized and goes to 40 lbs rear and ff'ing.

Have fun, I love Hawaii, esp Kauai (I eloped on Poipu beach )

Thank you, I'll check into that and for the price I think that's very affordable.