Mama Monday Disclaimer: I am nowhere near an expert mom. I am on a mama journey just like all of you are. However, I'm more than willing to share my experience with you guys. If today's topic is something that you have an experience with then I hope you'll share too...either on your own blog (be sure to leave us a link) or in the comments section.
Several people have recently suggested that we discuss this topic and what better time to do it than summer vacation? We're headed on a vacation of our own in the next week so these tidbits (and all the great ones I know you'll have to share) will be fresh in my mind.
Here we go. Traveling with kiddos, Cobb style.
1. Food. It's my best friend when we're traveling. I am not above letting my kids snack themselves into oblivion on car and plane rides. While I still try to keep things relatively healthy I do try to choose things that are a bit of a novelty - yogurt covered raisins in little boxes, 100 calorie packs of cookies, fruit slices, various crackers and chips, banana bread or homemade cookies, etc. For car trips I like to pack our snacks in a flip-top plastic tub so they don't get smooshed and they're always easy to find.
2. When possible we try to reserve a good bit of our travel for evening/night. When we drove down to Orlando (a 12 hour drive) we didn't leave home until around noon. The kids only had to stomach about 7 hours in the car before conking out for the duration. Sleeping while traveling = good. Sarah travels with a plush stuffed animal that works perfectly for a pillow. She has a neck pillow that we may try out on our flight this weekend. When we're traveling at night we try to make one last stop before bedtime when we'll eat, potty, gas up and change into jammies (the kids, not us!). Then we try not to stop again until we get where we're going. Stops ALWAYS wake our kiddos up.
3. The DVD player. Okay, here's the thing. Before we had kids we swore up one way and down the other that we would never do this. We were going to be the family that played car games and sang songs and laughed and giggled and never said a cross word in the car. Before we had kids. Now that the little boogers are here I've realized a few things: 1) I still wish we were that family. Sometimes we are. Sometimes we're not. 2) When we were growing up and traveling (sans portable electronic devices) we didn't have to be strapped down for hours on end in super tight 5 point harness systems. That would really stink. I feel their pain. If watching a little tube eases that uncomfiness for a bit so be it. 3) A movie or two on a road trip means Brent and I get some much needed talking time. And who can argue with that. So there. Hate me if you wish. =)
4. Kid bags stuffed with fun stuff and accessible to the kids/adults. For Sarah that means a vast array of books, stickers, the magnadoodle, DVD player, crayons, etc. Inevitably things get scattered about as we're bouncing along but we always try to reorganized at every stop so that things are findable once again.
5. Stopping to eat. When possible we try to either plan a picnic for a rest stop so we can run around and get some energy out or hit up a fast food join with a playplace. If we go the fast food route then we like to get our meals and eat while Sarah is playing. We get her meal to go and give it to her once we get back in the car. It gives us about 20 minutes to eat and her time to play. Letting her eat her meal in the car gets us back on the road much faster and (literally) eats up some of the drive time for her as she occupied with her happy meal or whatever it is she has.
6. Kids Music. We have a vast array of children's music that Sarah adores. Sometimes we all sing along but most of the time we turn the speakers on the in the backseat and let her rock out while we're free to talk in the front.
7. Portable potty. For car trips we put Sarah's little potty in the car so that if she has to go we don't have to haul everyone into a restaurant or gas station just for a potty break. We can just sit her on the potty wherever we are. Trashy, maybe. Convenient, definitely. =) For plane rides we bring her foldable potty seat cover.
Okay, I know this wasn't full of revolutionary material but it's a start. If you have any questions post them in the comments and I'll add to the list. Can't wait to see all the awesome things you guys have to say on the subject!
Buddy Posters:
Heather at the Sarah Bear
Lindsay at Life in Motion
Isabel at Life of the Williams
Christie at At Least We're Married
Sarah at the Petrie Family
Heather at Tiger Tales
Kristi at Thoughts of a New Mom
Marian at From the Mountains
32 comments:
We regularly make 12 hour drives from Va to Fla. We always try and stop at a Cracker Barrell along the way. When my oldest (I have 3) was a baby, I would leave a safe space in the back of the SUV where I could lay out a blanket and she could lay flat and roll sround a bit. Now we schedule stops for running and playing. As for car music - here are our favourites:
Mary Thienes Schunemann at www.naturallyyoucansing.com
The "This is the Way We Wash A Day" cd is great for family sing-a-longs
Elizabeth Mitchell's
You Are My Little Bird - Folk-type music that I actually listen to when I'm in the car with just the baby, but my older two totally love as well! This is an absolute requirement for car trips - available on Amazon
Our new favourite:
The Singing Bible
from Focus on the Family, but also available on Amazon. Flat out Awesome!! One of my best purchases this year!
THose are great tips! Thank you! I dread travelling with children, I don't know why. Maybe its because my husband is so anti-stopping the car. I frequently travel to knoxville, about 3.5 hrs, alone with my 14month old (who is still in a rear-facing car seat) and I load up my front seat with board books and a few toys. I just pass them back one after another when he gets fussy and I defnitely don't stop. I have found though that I can't make a 4 hr drive without stopping.
My youngest was a barfer. Gallon size zip-lock bags within easy reach and wipes were necessity! Actually, they come in handy for lots of stuff so it's always good to have them close at hand!
We don't travel much any more, but when we did we would chart out all the rest stops along the way. I know it adds a bit of time but even if you just stretch your legs for 5 minutes every couple of hours it helps!
I fly quite frequently with my 22 month old and myself so here are my airport tips...
-Backpacks are your friend. It keeps both of your hands free and has cool pockets to keep wipes, snacks, and the sippy cup handy
-Buy diapers and wipes at the place you are going. I always pack an extra outfit for me and her with diapers to last a day...but it gives you more room in the suitcase.
-The Monkey Leash-aka the Eddie Bauer Harness Buddie.
http://www.target.com/Eddie-Bauer-2-Harness-Buddy/dp/B0011UNHQ2/sr=1-5/qid=1216057053/ref=sr_1_5/601-0551732-7518542?ie=UTF8&pricerange=&index=target&field-browse=1038576&rh=k%3Amonkey%2Cn%3A1038590&page=2
*This is a life saver. It lets her have "freedom" while being close by and get out all that energy!
-The One Spot at Target-beautiful! I buy a few suprises and let her "open" them on the plane.
As for driving...We always leave at naptime and do a lot of the stuff you do. It is wonderful to eat dinner and watch your little one burn off some energy.
Great topic and very timely :)
Any suggestions for a 28 hour plane ride with an 11 month old?! I'm a tad freaked out about that.
Great tips you guys! I love the Target One Spot idea...I'm always looking for a good excuse to hit that place up.
Oh Daphne, I'M freaked out FOR you. But so, so excited!!!
Oh man...Katie and I are pros at flying by ourselves. We have never taken a long road trip though. We fly from TX to CA maybe 3 times a year so it's a 3 1/2 hour flight. My parents also have a carseat so we don't have to worry about that. Here's my little tips:
1. I do the stroller through the airport thing. It's not for everyone but Katie hated any sort of carrier or sling so it's what worked for us. It makes security a bit tougher but in my opinion (and my back's!) it was the way to go.
2. Speaking of security, I pack my backpack in a very certain way. Anything that needs to be removed for security is easily accessible (ie dvd players, juice, laptops). I also always wear flip flops and Katie wears slip on shoes.
3. FOOD! Erin mentioned this as well but Katie snacks the whole way too. I too bring a lot of variety and try to make it things that are a novelty. For example I typically buy the whole grain gold fish but for plane trips I buy the rainbow ones and she has a blast sorting the colors etc.
4. DVD players...my saving grace. I always have her pick out a special new DVD (usually from the sale rack!) for the plane trip. We always have quite a collection with us in a CD case.
5. Her own seat. My flying life changed for the better the day I bought her her own seat! It cost me a pretty penny but omg it's so much easier on the both of us.
6. I always buy her some sort of special book or toy for her backpack that is something she hasn't seend before. Sticker books are awesome!!!!! She can play for hours with those. Also they have these magnetic story book things. The most recent one was princesses, which was a big hit.
7. They always let people with kids get on early but I learned quickly that was not a smart idea. I want to spend the least possible amount of time on the airplane and really it doesn't take much for us to get settled. We are usually the last ones to board because I let her run around until the last minute.
I'm sure there's a ton I'm forgetting. Now that number two is coming I'm sure this will all go out the window! :P
ok i'm going to go out on a limb and consider myself very close to an expert airplane flyer with kid. i say with 'kid' because we haven't done it with TWO yet. in time.
but alla took 13 plane trips (that's trips, not actual individual airplanes, which would be too numerous to count) in her first 3 years of life, so i'd say she's well traveled, and she's become quite the good traveler.
i will also say that despite that, i HATE to travel with kids. HATE.
the DVD player is our friend, as is the fact that alla will sit and watch an entire movie and then some elmo or signing time episodes after that.
a travel doodle.
carseats ON the plane. that helps her stay put.
we traveled a few times on a red eye when she was an infant. i'm not a fan. scheduling flights during naptimes works much better for us.
books we haven't read in a long time or NEW books, toys, playdoh, etc.
antibacterial gel wiped ALL OVER that seat area before we get comfy. alla (and, consequently, 15 others who got it from her) got rotavirus after a flight when she was almost one, and we're 99% sure it came from the plane.
a kiddo backpack with her own stuff in it.
drammamine.
change of clothes for kid AND mom AND dad.
cover for carseat to haul it thru the airport.
AND - found this valuable idea recently: http://chasingcheerios.blogspot.com/2008/06/toddler-activity-bags.html
ok that's all i got for now!!
i'm sure you'll be the game/reading family when your kids are older. it is too hard when thet are so little.
I'm gonna be buddy posting this. We just did or first travels with a baby (He was 8 weeks the first time, and 10 wks the second). It wasn't nearly as hard as I ever imagined.
I would have liked a potty seat when I was a kid... my dad would just pull over open the door.. to block traffic's view and make us go outside... classy I know. But we were always in the boonies where there wasn't a gas station or rest stop.
Amen to you using a DVD player!! We travel with our children and they look forward to it. Knowing they finally get to watch their DVD's, get a new gift or two (love Target), and play "car only" games....find 10 purple cars and get a sticker (purple cars on hard to come by so this takes some time), A-Z bill board game, addition and subtraction facts (my 4 and 5 year old learned their facts this way), etc... We do have one crazy car rule...no food or drink...it was hard to adjust to, but we (my husband and I) love it now! No clean up, no demanding kids, and great quick eaters once we reach our lunch/dinner stop. Love you Mama Mondays. Amy
Hee hee.
My sister and I always talk about the potty seat in the car. I actually haven't bought one because I have boys. This is great while traveling. One boy is still in diapers, which we change in the car, and the other is... well he's a boy! That means he can go anywhere! We go to southwest Colorado from "up north" about once a year to visit my husband's brother and his family. This is an 18-hour drive straight through so we MUST stop and stay the night somewhere with the kids. We didn't used to but there is no way around it now. That is my first tip. You have to resign yourself to the fact that you will be stopping quite a bit.
Second, we drive a lot of long boring highway miles where there isn't a lot of traffic or gas stations. So when Our 3 year old has to go, we pull over. We open the front and back passenger side doors and stand between them and let him go. This also works in parking lots but I would suggest parking a ways from the store when doing this. I've only done it in a parking lot once and I was sooo paranoid for some reason.(by the way, this is a for boys only tip)
Third, just take the plunge and by the stinkin' DVD player! It took us three years after becoming parents to give in to this temptation. We are so glad we did!
That to say, I totally agree and do everything else you said, Erin!=)
Just a reminder: Patience is a virtue. (that few of us possess on roadtrips!)
I'm in!!!
www.thesarahbear.blogspot.com
Thanks again for inspiring me to blog, think, and celebrate!
I am traveling alone with Max (22 months) this week...I knew I couldn't manage the carseat, stroller, diaper bag, etc. plus him through the airport so I bought this...
http://www.kidsflysafe.com/
I haven't used it yet, but will let you all know how it works this week.
My mom has a car seat for him once we get there, so this was a perfect option for us...
For me, I have older kids, ages almost 7 and 8.5 , their DS lite handheld video games are THE BEST! we have a 9 hour ride to grams and gramps and we buy them a new game and they are good to go for the ride. and some of them are even learning/reading games toO!
i say GROSS when it comes to the play places. GERMS and garbage in them YUK! I won't let my girls play in them! I would much rather stop at a wayside and let them run around for a bit. of course in the winter, that's hard to do.
This time on our little vacation trip we will be studying our math facts (multiplication for one and adding/subtracting for the other) oh what fun they are in for HA HA!
we also stock up on library books or stop halfway to buy a new booK!
oh and when they were a little younger ages 5 and 3 and i took the road trip by myself, i went to the dollar spot and got tons of little things and wrapped them as gifts. and every half hour i gave them a new gift if they were good. that worked WONDERS! they were angels the entire 8-10 hours!
tara
Hayden has been on 8 airplane trips (he's now 17 months). Some of those, he's been with just one parent, some with both of us. Being solo with him is so much more challenging. What I hate the most is managing all the stuff by myself, especially once he hit 20 pounds but was still not walking.
I always carry his carseat on-partially because I'm worried about it getting lost with checked luggage but mostly so I can use it if the airline has an extra seat. Oh, that's a good tip--if you've got an under-2-year-old that you don't have a ticket for, always ask at the gate if there are any empty seats. We've gotten lucky on about half of our flights.
Anyway, one way to make hauling all that stuff through the airport: (must give credit to Erin's wonderful sister Meghan for this tip) let the straps of the carseat all the way out, then use them like backpack straps. It's a fairly easy way to carry the darn carseat through the airport. I put Hayden in the stroller, the carry-on bag in the stroller basket, then backpack the carseat.
If they don't have an extra seat on the plane for you, you can gate check the carseat along with the stroller.
Daphne,
I took a 12 hour plane ride when my son was 10 months old and I thought that was long!! There are already lots of great tips here that we used- I loved the backpack for diaper bag so much that I'm really tempted to use it everyday :) We did not get an extra seat for my son, but we did use the airplane's bassinet. He just barely fit- thank goodness! He slept a good 8 straight hours plus a little nap and that was wonderful. We requested this in advance since you have to sit at the bulkhead seats to use it, they wouldn't garuntee it, but we got to the airport early and we fortunately had no problem.
I got some great tips from the mom on this blog http://babyjetsetter.blogspot.com/
Good luck!
I just posted a buddy post :)
www.blog.lifeinmotionphotography.com
:)
I also posted a buddy post!
http://lifeofthewilliams.blogspot.com/2008/07/mama-mondays-traveling-with-kids.html
I'm hoping to buddy post this-I've never done that before!! I love your tips and we just got back from our first trip!! I'll let you know when I get up the post!! Also-I'm totally gonna look for the singing bible!!!
It is funny yoou posted this thread-- we are getting ready to travel from NY to KS with 3 kids and a dog! We do road trips all the time, but they never get easy. We totally embrace the DVD especially for those moments that they have had enough of the car and they are borderline falling asleep. Those movies always do the trick! We also pack their Leapsters-- and my husband sometimes packs their V-smile for longer trips.
Like another poster, we try to hit the Cracker Barrels for our meals. The kids eat, and they stretch out by playing with the toys in there after meals-- the oldest and dad play checkers outside meanwhile we shop. Everyone gets a break from the car and if they behaved during their meal, they get to pick a treat! They have neat inexpensive toys and yummy candy!
I posted a buddy post, too! :D
HA! And a link to it might be deemed helpful. ;)
http://www.petrieivfamily.blogspot.com
Love the tips :) We've made a good number of car trips with Jackson, and it's changed greatly from those first couple of months when he just slept. We've buddy posted at bhamtigertales.blogspot.com
Daphne-
We did England last year with a 9 month old on an airplane. I know this sounds horrible, but tylenol helps with ear pain as well as pacifers on take offs and landings. Take some books, Elise loved loved loved reading. Her favorites were the touch and feel ones as well as Bright Ones which had bright pictures of babies, animals and other household items.
Also let the airlines know you are traveling with an infant and they will provide baby food on your flight. (This may not be the case now-we flew Northwest Airlines)
Just know that craziness is going to erput and just go with the flow.
Oh and I bought a blanket with a few toys for a layover put it on the ground and let her have a blast!
Good luck on bringing your son home! I am thrilled for you and your little one :)
Thanks for letting me participate!! Here are my thoughts-nothing new-it was just our first big trip so I'm glad I got to write out my thoughts!!
http://mom-kristi-e.blogspot.com/
Thanks for all the great tips!!! Hopefully we'll be good to go once we hit the road with our little one.
-Mary V
We make the 12 hour trip to PA at least twice a year with Luke, Jack and Zoe and we are about to head to OC MD next week. We plan our breaks around all the Cracker Barrells for the same reasons other's have mentioned. We also try to find an interesting place to stop along the way where the kids can spend an hour out and about. Sometimes it is a park, other times it is a science museum , etc... Back to Cracker Barrell, Luke, Jack and Zoe love games so this time I grabbed some car bingo boards. I think I saw four different sets and they are only $3.99 for two. Love the DVD...like Erin it gives Tony and I time to talk. We also hit the dollar Store and stock up on little "gifts". We wrap them and then randomly toss them back to the kids. They think this is hysterical!We also have each one pack their own backpack with books, toys etc...this way they had the choice of what to bring and that keeps them somewhat interested.
Are you kidding, the portable DVD player is Gods way of letting us parents know that he loves us!
Advice from the "Take-along Babysitter". I babysat for years during college but never vacationed with a family until my niece. When both babysitter and parents are present, be clear in who will do what. Will babysitter do all feedings, changes, baths, bed or assist parents as directed? The babysitter doesn't want to overstep her boundaries when the parents are present nor does she not want to do what is expected of her. Often the babysitter only has children when she is when yours, so remember she needs a break from the kids too. And most important, feed your babysitter well. My favorite family I watched would always get me adult portioned meals while watching their children during dinner time and overnight. No adult wants to eat mac and cheese and cut up grapes every time they are at your house.
We've just gotten back from Ava's (8 mos) second airplane trip. The first time we traveled, she and I were on our own, but she was really little so it was pretty easy. This time, she was much more active and she's much more dependent on naps. We tried to get her to sleep as much as possible so that she'd be a pleasant human. Anyway, the one thing we absolutely couldn't live without these days is the Boon Squirt. It's a spoon and food container in one. If your baby is still eating pureed foods, this thing is a lifesaver. You can feed your kid basically anywhere (so far we've done the car, shopping cart, airplane, and airport terminal) and, if you make your own food, you can put the frozen baby cubes in and just toss it in the diaper bag. It's insulated, so by the time you're ready to feed, the food is thawed but hasn't been sitting around warm.
Thanks for all the great tips!
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