Tips for travelling with a 10 mo old?

[JaysTeri]

Hi,

Our little family will be attending a wedding in rural East Ga in a couple of weeks. This will be our first time staying in a hotel with a baby...and I'm pretty sure I need all the advice you can give me! We've already checked and there are no suites. Our room will be adjoining dh's sister & her family. There will be a crib provided and I plan to take my own linens for ds. Jonathan has just started crawling so I will be taking the biggest quilt I can find and a zillion toys. We will be there for 3 nights.

What are the things that you did (or wish you had done) to make the trip easy on everyone?

TIA,

[lmariana]

Hi there! We've travelled quite a bit with Gabe since he was 4 months old, so we have the hotel thing down.

Here are some of the things that have worked well for us in the past:
- Stroller with full recline for naps on the go
- Call the hotel and ask if it's a full crib, travel crib, or Pack n Play - so you can be sure to bring the right linens.
- Bring a full tub of wipes for the room and refill your travel case from there for outings
- Bring tons of ziploc bags! Large gallon sizes work well for dirty diapers and soiled/stinky clothes.
- A laptop or portable DVD player for baby videos
- A place for solid feedings in the room - we've used the stroller, portable highchairs (Me Too works great), and the Bumbo. I think the Bumbo was our fave.
- Love the 2 Red Hens Toy Nest for a nice play blanket and to wrangle toys easily. Very portable and would be great for an active baby during the wedding reception.
- Large diaper bag so you can pack everything for a full day, just in case you're out longer than planned
- Swimsuit for the hotel pool
- J&J or Huggies Baby washcloths with the soap built in for easy bathing
- Hat/Sunglasses for our lovely GA sun
- Lots of bibs
- Extras to keep in the car: diapers, tub of wipes, blanket/linens, change of clothes

Where in GA are you visiting? There are a ton of us in the metro Atlanta area!

Mariana
Owner of HappyDayBaby
Mother of Gabriel, 08/2003
www.heinzandmariana.com

http://lilypie.com/baby2/030814/1/5/0/-5/.png

http://lilypie.com/days/051017/0/0/1/-5/.png

Join the BBB Preggo Pals!
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Pr

[JaysTeri]

Wow! Thanks for such an extensive answer. DH asked me if you had it already written somewhere and pasted it in.

This will be our 2nd time travelling with ds and the 1st staying in a hotel. We're going to a small town outside of Swainsboro, Twin City, GA. There isn't a pool at the hotel so I don't have to get my post-baby body in a swimsuit. Hurray!! Thanks for the heads up about the cribs. I had no idea that there were different size cribs! I'll definitely call and ask.

I'm not familiar with the Bumbo or the Toy Nest. We have a FP booster seat that I planned to bring along...and my lovely bumblebee shopping cart cover from SewCuteBoutique.com

On a personal note, would you be the same Mariana that was in the Engaged class at NPCC Summer of 2001. If so, then we've met! You don't hear the names Heinz & Mariana too often!

Thanks again,

[lmariana]

Yup, that's us! What a small world! I'm sure we'd recognize you guys in person. Are you still at NPCC? We've moved twice since we got married. Once to rural Alpharetta and just recently to Marietta.

Yeah, depending on the hotel we're staying in, I'll sometimes bring our own Pack 'n Play to use as a crib, since the cleanliness of some hotel cribs can be questionable. I'm not germophobic, but I don't like my baby to get sick either, so I wipe down all the hard surfaces in the room with Lysol wipes. I'd especially clean the remote control and the crib (if you don't bring your own) and anything else your little crawler might get his hands on...which always end up in the mouth. :)

The Bumbo is a cute little baby seat that you can use as early as 3-4 months. It's foam and holds little babies perfectly. We loved the Bumbo for restaurants during that awkward phase where the baby is too big for the infant carrier but too small for a highchair. One Step Ahead carries them. The FP Booster should be fine though!

The Toy Nest is a 3'x3' fleece blanket on one side and water resistant cute fabric on the other side. It zips up into a tote, keeping all the toys inside! www.2redhens.com

You know, I've lived in GA for about 20 years, and I have NO idea where Swainsboro is! I hope you guys have a nice time at the wedding and can make some time to enjoy your first trip away. Gabe always did so well in hotels until recently. He won't sleep in the Pack N Play or hotel cribs anymore, only in our bed! So weird, since we never co-slept with him. At least he still sleeps well and alone at home. :)

Mariana
Owner of HappyDayBaby
Mother of Gabriel, 08/2003
www.heinzandmariana.com

http://lilypie.com/baby2/030814/1/5/0/-5/.png

http://lilypie.com/days/051017/0/0/1/-5/.png

Join the BBB Preggo Pals!
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PreggoPals

[lynettefrancois]

I had no idea that
>there were different size cribs! I'll definitely call and
>ask.

There's also different AGES of cribs. Ask how long they've had the loaner cribs so you'll have an idea if you need to bring your own for safety's sake. HTH! Lynette

[JaysTeri]

Thanks so much, Ladies. DH is going to email them today and ask for specifics on the crib.

Mariana, we're still at NPCC. We only live about 10 min from there, towards Duluth. You mentioned that there are lots of moms on the boards in Metro Atlanta. Do you guys ever get together? That would be so fun!

Take care and thanks again!