Has anyone traveled overseas with baby?

[Hannah Rosenzweig]

Hi All:

We may go to London and then Italy to visit family for Thanksgiving. Has anyone traveled internationally with the baby yet? I'm nervous about the time change and getting sleep schedules out of whack...

Any thoughts or suggestions much appreciated.

Thank you!!
Hannah & Liv

[shei...@aol.com]

We traveled to Hawaii and to Scotland this year with both our boys (ages 5 months/8 months and 2.5/3 years for these trips)...  I think it would be harder with our little one now, as he's gotten a lot more active and would be hard to contain for such long plane rides, but both trips actually went really well.  We brought lots of books, toys, and snacks, nursed a lot, and kept him in our laps.  We also tried getting bulkhead seats so we could use the in-flight bassinet, but we had mixed results with this.  I do think flying at night might be easier when your baby is more likely to sleep.  The time change was the hardest part of both of these trips, though going east seems to be harder than going west--it took about a week to get everybody back on track once we got home, but we did get sorted out eventually.  I'm sure you guys will do great!  Good luck! -Susie

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[Amy Bendell]

We have had to do a lot of travel for various family things this year. And funny -- we also have been to Hawaii and Scotland/London this year too.

The flight to London is overnight, so if you can get your kids to sleep that's great -- they'll probably be pretty tired. The ergo carrier was key, I rocked Gwen to sleep in that and she slept on me on the plane. The ergo was very helpful throughout the trip; whenever she needed a nap, she could sleep on us (if a stroll in the stroller wasn't a possibility). I too did not love the bulk head bassinet. 

When we went to London, we decided to keep her schedule as close to the one at home -- she goes to bed around 7 here, so there we had her go to bed closer to 11/12. And that meant she slept later in the morning. That part was amazing. But, she still didn't get as much sleep as she did at home, so we did more cat naps during the day and just went with her cues. And the longer we were there, the earlier her bedtime became, but that worked too. Our motto is to do whatever it takes when on vacation. They need extra comforting when they're in an unfamiliar place.  

I too was so afraid of the trip and the return home...and it really wasn't that bad if you allow yourself to let go and be flexible. Gwen got really sick at the end of our trip to London. Her first high fever. I definitely recommend bringing an American thermometer (as we found out -- the UK's are in celcius!) and baby tylenol. We had to cross our fingers and give her some British medicine equivalent.

When you get back, it's helpful to keep baby busy with activities to get back on schedule. 

[Hannah Rosenzweig]

Thank you so much Susie and Amy... so helpful to hear your experiences!

[Sophie Donelson]

(Playing catchup on email!!)

Hannah, 

I 100% agree with Amy's technique. I've done London (10 weeks, old TOO easy!) and Sweden (10 months old, harder). 

The sleeping in is the BEST part of heading to Europe (though, you can then put together what happens when you return home. Argh, not as fun.) Enjoy it, it's surreal! 

Absolutely agreed — keep the baby busy on either side of the trip and listen to cues for naps. Couple random tips (many that were shared by you all here!)

— WhiteNoise app on my (old/spare) iPhone went with us everywhere — I'd tuck it into the side of his stroller to encourage naps if he needed the help going down. (That said, we do a LOT of white noise at home!)

— Find out the config of your plane (http://www.seatguru.com) and book your seat accordingly – look for bulkheads without limited recline, or, if you're already booked, call the airline, tell them about your baby, they'll rebook your seat. If it's a 3 and 3, for example, you and your husband should be booking window and aisle, which increases the likelihood that no one will sit in between you!

We had much more luck having him sleep ON me (in the Ergo) vs. in the car seat, which I had the luck to bring on a underbooked overnight flight. He refused to sleep in it; it went on the floor instead. 

— Offer more water and food than you're used to — babies respond to flying similarly to us. 

Can't wait to hear about your trip....

On Sun, Sep 29, 2013 at 7:23 PM, Amy Bendell <amy.b...@gmail.com> wrote: