Travel Gear

[saradrewes]

Help -- can anyone make suggestions about what I will need for a week long trip to visit family? We are flying, so I need to keep things light and compact. So far, I'm planning on bringing our Aria stroller, peg carseat and base, bjorn, and folding bath sling, as well as other baby needs (clothes, diapers, bottles, etc). My main concern is sleeping though. What do you recommend? Also, what other portable things will I need to make the trip a bit easier? TIA.

[booboo1]

First - how old is your baby? That'll help.

I travelled when DS was 6 months - to spend a week with my parents.

We only brought enough diapers for the travelling, plus a few, if we got stranded. We bought the rest there.

You probably don't need as many clothes as you think - if you're staying with family, you have the ability to do laundry.

We had DS sleep in a pack n play, that my mom borrowed from a friend. It worked great. We just brought his usual blankie and pacifier.

As for the carseat - do you have a convertable? It may be easier and more compact than lugging the carseat & base.

We brough a Graco ComfortSport. It was great, because it would hook onto our luggage with an extra luggage strap, designed to hold smaller pieces of luggage. On major airlines, even if you don't book a seat for your DC, if you call ahead, they'll try to book your ticket with an empty seat beside you - and you can then bring the carseat on. It's worth calling ahead.

We used a sling carrier (not a Bjorn, but same difference). It was great for getting on and off the plane - hands free for boarding pass or your purse or whatever.

You probably don't need bath sling - the sink will do fine, unless you have tons of packing space!

I exlusively BF, but again with bottles, you can probably use just a couple - and just wash them more frequently.

Other portable things? Well, the largest use of packing space for DS, as a 6 month old, was toys. And, we brought some on the plane, too, but made sure they were "quiet" ones. We also hid the toys we were bringing for a few weeks before the trip - that way they were new and exciting again.

Good luck!