5 Things that helped Me Travel with Baby

Over the last month and a half, Eleanor and I have become quite the little travelers. In April, we flew to Florida for two weeks. Then we were home for a few days and went to North Carolina for a few more days. Then we took another trip to North Carolina. It was unexpected, but a great trip, none the least. Then, this past week we took a trip to New York. All these trips were to visit various family members. I visited almost all of my family, visited with some of Johns family, and even met some of John's family that I haven't ever met. It was a great opportunity.

But over the course of the last month or so, I have learned a few things about traveling with a baby that I wanted to share with everyone.

1. Car seat safety is not only important, it can save a life. Before I went on my big road trip, I made sure my car seat was installed correctly. I pretty much knew it was installed right, but I wanted to know for sure before we traveled 1000+ miles, halfway up the country. So I did a few searches on some Facebook groups and found a local CPST (Child Passenger Safety Technician). This is a person that has been trained extensively on the "do's and dont's" of car seat safety. The service was free. Here's what one of my local CPST's did. We met in a public place. She took a look at how my child was buckled in the car seat before we took her out. She un-installed my car seat to make sure there was nothing in the way of the seat (like anything under the seat or in the way of the car seat. Anything aftermarket that goes in or around the car seat is unsafe). Then she re-installed the seat (it was installed correctly the first time, by the way). It only took about 15 minutes of my time, but knowing that my seat is installed the right way, gives me such peace of mind. I know that if I am in any sort of accident, my child will be as safe as possible. I know that I can drive as safe as possible, but I have to take into account all the other Idiots on the road, and I have to be prepared for their stupidity.

2.  Mirror for the back seat. This thing is a life-saver. No joke. Hubby installed the mirror on the headrest of the seat that E's car seat is installed on. Then we adjusted it so that I can see baby from the rear-view mirror. Or the passenger can look back and see the baby in the car seat, rear-facing. Now that Eleanor knows it's there, she looks in the mirror all the time. She looks at herself (she thinks she is beautiful and hilarious), looks at me (in the drivers seat) and just has a blast. I dont really know what I would do without that thing now. Its just a simple Brica mirror. But it does have some fancy things on it that can come in handy. It has a light that can turn on to see baby in the dark. It also has music so that if baby is fussy, you can turn some calming tunes on to soothe baby. And all this is accessible from the handy, battery-operated clicker that attaches to the visor, just like your garage door opener.

 Here I am with my Beautiful Niece, Sophia and Eleanor in there too. You can see that she loves to look at herself.

3. Portable changing pad. I keep this bad boy in my car at all times. This comes in handy when the restaurants don't have changing tables in the bathroom (Gah, I hate places that aren't baby friendly!). Sometimes I can't even make it inside though. Since little girl likes to poop while in her car seat, I have just made it a habbit to check her every time she gets out of the car. If she's left me a present, I just take her to the other side of the car and change her right then and there. I have a great, padded changing pad from Vera Bradley. One of my dear, sweet friends gave it to me when I had Eleanor, and trust me, its gone to good use! And yes, I do have a changing pad that stays in my diaper bag too. This one is just a little larger, and covers more. I would rather not risk getting poop in my nice, still new, car seats.

4. Entertainment for the child. Going on long car rides stinks. When its a shorter car ride, I try to leave when it's sleepy time for E. But the baby can't sleep for 12 hours straight, so I needed to find a way to entertain E. My mom discovered that E loves the Giggle Bellies. Turns out, they have an App, and you can download a bunch of songs and watch them offline. Boy, that saved my bacon. I put them on my Ipad. And they have some handy iPad holders that can be attached to the back of headrests, but I was just too busy to order one in time for my trip, so I had to rig one on my own. I ended up slipping my case under the headrest and rigging it that way. E loved watching the giggle bellies, and I now know 7 GB songs by heart. Yay.

I attached the iPad underneath the headrest. It was far enough for her to not be able to reach it with her little toes, but close enough for her to see and hear. WIN!

5. Disposable place mats and high-chair/shopping cart cover. These two things combined were germ savers. You just never know who was at the table before you, and you dont know what it was cleaned with (if it was cleaned) after they left. And same with the high chairs. Those things can be so gross. Sticky. Stained. Smelly, even. I got a shopping cart cover as a baby shower gift by an experienced mom, and it sure has been put to good use. It stays in the car, unless its being washed, and goes in with me to almost all restaurants, and came with me to the hotel when we went to breakfast every morning (free continental breakfast, y'all!) I keep a stash of disposable place mats in my diaper bag too. When Eleanor started teething, she started chewing on everything. including the ends of the tables. YUCK. So every time we go into a restaurant, one of the place mats goes on the table. I can also set food on it for her, because most places don't exactly have baby plates. Now she can eat. SLURP!

There is also one more thing that I use all the time, but I didn't include it in my list because most people will look at my like I'm nuts. But its my Tula. I LOVE MY TULA. When I flew to Florida, I didn't have the time or the energy to lug a stroller around an airport, along with my carry-on luggage. So I used my Tula. It was so nice to have Eleanor on my front, diaper bag on my back, and both my hands free to use railings, roll my luggage and not have to push through a huge, busy airport with a stroller. I never had to leave a stroller outside while I used the bathroom, or wait to use the handicap stall. When I went on my road trips, I had to bring the Pack n play for E to sleep in, so trunk space was limited. I didn't have the room for a stroller! But I had my Tula so I was good. now that I babywear, I hardly ever use my stroller anymore. And honestly, I kinda regret getting such an expensive travel system when it doesn't even get used anymore.

I rock my Tula everywhere. Here I am at Niagra Falls. Baby was asleep, It was pouring and I had a poncho on. 

I also rock my Tula at target. Here she is on my back. She loves it back there. And my mom is there too, photobombing!

Travel on, my friends!