Flying with Babies, Part II

AHHHHH, we're home. Back to routine, back to sleeping normal, back to bone dry, breathable air. The vacation was awesome, we all had a great time. The weather was perfect, the ocean was beautiful and I really think Charleston might be one of the most beautiful places on the planet.

I'll recap the vacation in the next few posts, but figured I better share how the actual traveling part went while the details--both the good and the very, very bad--are fresh in my mind.


1. Snacks.

The Innobaby snack containers were (and are!) in a word, awesome. I used them for church this last Sunday, and I anticipate us using them a lot in the future. The fact that I bought these so long ago and never bothered to use them until now really bums me out--they seriously rock. The cups hold the perfect portion size, plus it gives Boston options for a snack. The cold snacks stayed nice and cool in the bottle cooler with ice pack. Star rating: 5

2. Toys.
Obviously, Boston needed things to occupy him on the plane. Packing his backpack with his stuff worked really well, mostly because it kept all his crap centralized and out of my bag.
I don't really think the wrapped toys were a big deal to him. Rather, I don't think wrapping the toys made a difference. He was really excited to have new stuff to play with, so that part was definitely good for keeping his attention, but the actual wrapping paper part I probably won't do again until he is a little older. I think he is still a little young to grasp the concept of gifts, so the wrapping paper really only added extra garbage I had to throw away.
The ABC cards were fine too--nothing spectacular, but they kept his attention for a bit. He liked looking at the different pictures and naming things he knew, but I wouldn't say they were groundbreaking. I'm not too worried about his lack of enthusiasm for them. I plan on pulling them out pretty frequently to help him start learning letters, so they're more of a long-term activity to me.
The tablet was a life saver. He played lots of games and watched plenty of movies. It also ended up being our saving grace to be able to turn on a movie when he was having trouble settling down and going to sleep in a new place.
Star ratings--
Wrapped toys: 3 1/2
ABC Book: 3
Tablet: 5

3. Carseats.
Checking the carseats worked well, something I would definitely do again. Lugging Boston's huge seat through the airport and on and off the plane would have been hell. Maia is still small enough that holding her the entire flight is no big deal. We double bagged both seats in heavy-duty garbage bags to keep them from getting too dirty, but Southwest ended up having huge bags available as well. I've read horror stories of carseats coming back broken and filthy, but ours were fine. The bags were a little torn up (as expected) but thats what they were there for. Star Rating: 4 1/2

4. Mei Tai/sleepy wrap.
Surprisingly I didn't use the wrap as much in the airport as I anticipated. I knew I couldn't keep her tied to me through security and as we boarded the plane, but I planned on wearing her the rest of the time. Once we got through security and had to repack bags, put our shoes back on, etc I didn't see a point of tying Maia back on me for a 5-minute walk to our gate. I just held her as we walked, which worked fine. Same thing when we got off the plane. I will admit probably the biggest reason I ended up not using it as much was because we had so many people with us. Between Jason, my dad and my siblings, I had plenty of help in carrying bags and babies. I imagine if I were to ever travel with both kids alone I would utilize the wraps much much more. (I did use the wrap plenty during the actual vacation. Anytime we went shopping, sightseeing, etc she was tied to me.)
Star Rating: 2

5. CARES system
Overall, I think this was a pretty cool thing. It was easy to use, quick to take on and off at the beginning/end of the flights, and one of the pilots actually made a comment about how great he thinks they are. I also I think the design of it helped Boston feel more like he was in a carseat.
My original thought was that it would help prevent him from taking his seatbelt off. It did for almost the entire flight out there--he figured out how to unbuckle it close to the end of the flight. The flight home was kind of a different story. He remembered how to take it off, so if we didn't keep him occupied he would try to escape. Keeping a blanket over his lap also helped keep it 'out of sight, out of mind.'
Star Rating: 4, because it cost me less than $15 to try out. I'm not sold on it enough yet to pay full price, but it was worth renting.

6. Extra Clothes
You guys, if there is anything to take away from this post......this. is. it. Packing a change of clothes ended up being the best decision I made the entire trip. We used Maia's spare outfit the day after we got there when she had a blow-out of such proportions, it was squeezing through er armpits and oozing into her hair. I'm going to save the story of Boston's outfit change for its own post, as it is something that will likely require a few more therapy sessions before I can write freely about it. Packing the extra clothing was so simple and took up only a little space, and I will never travel without doing it. If you don't end up needing it, no sweat. If you do, you will thank the heavens above you have it.
Star Rating: 10,000

7. Clothing style
I don't know if this actually needs a recap, as it is mostly my own warped rantings. Is it a coincidence that Boston was dressed very well for the plane ride out and his good behavior quite exceeded my expectations.....yet when I just let him wear whatever on the flight home we were all enveloped into the Seventh Circle of Hell? Maybe. Maybe not. The story for the flight home is where his change of clothing comes in, so once I work through all my Feelings and stop getting the shakes just thinking about it I will share with you.

And there is the recap. I have been trying to think if I could come up with a list of things I wish I had done, or would do differently, but I can honestly say that 90% of the traveling went as well as I could have hoped. I fully acknowledge that we were lucky to have so much family with us as it made things infinitely easier. Anyone who has traveled alone with small children has a special place in heaven set aside for them. And it comes with all the Diet Coke you can drink, and a free babysitter.

Flying with Babies, Part I

In 5 hours I will wake my babies up, pack them, 4 suitcases, 2 car seats, 1 stroller, myself and the husband in the car, drive to the airport, and make the 7 hour trip to South Carolina for a week of sun and beach. (Whose idea was it anyway to book a 6 am flight anyway? Mine? Oh. I guess when I booked it I was thinking, "getting up at 6 am isn't so bad..." well, duh.)

Now, for those of you who don't know Boston in the flesh, let me paint you a picture. Imagine a squirrel. In a room of shiny objects and mirrors. Who just drank 3 shots of espresso. He talks really well, and is possibly smarter than you. Oh, you have a new little baby squirrel you have to keep alive, too. (Who, to be fair, is actually a quite calm, laid back little thing, something you really think you have earned after the first described squirrel)

Now imagine you are to confine them both to a seat for 7 hours, keep them happy, fed, hydrated, and well-behaved. This, my friends, has been on my mind for the last 3 months.

I have put hours and hours of thought, preparation and planning into this 7 hour time frame. I have made lists, scoured the internets, and have possibly driven myself slightly nutty trying to prepare for every possible scenario. (ha.)

(ha ha.)

(ha ha ha.)

And so now, dear reader, I share with you my plans for tomorrow. My idea is to blog the plans I have made and the things I intend to do while travelling. When we get back I'll update you all on what worked, what didn't, and what was such a major flop of failure that I was left sobbing in Terminal 2, Concourse B.

1. Snacks. Boston is definitely a snack-motivated child. (Possibly common of 2 year olds.) While I know and embrace the fact the he can be bribed into good behavior, I also recognize that it isn't very prudent of me to think that "HERE! HAVE A SUCKER! Now, fruit snacks! Aren't you HAPPY? No no no, don't be loud or obnoxious on the plane, here have CANDY! MORE!" and then expect him to sit quietly and, well, behave is a little irrational. And so:

I have made good attempt to make his snacking options somewhat healthy, filling, and least likely to induce a sugar high. I also didn't want my diaper bag to be full of ziplock baggies of stuff that would just end up crushed into powder, smushed into goo, and all smeared over everything. I bought these Innobaby stackable snack containers months ago from Baby Steals and had yet to use them, so I thought this would be the perfect time! They hold around 1/3 cup of product, you can stack as many or few as you need, and have interchangeable lids. I have one of "dry" snacks --raisins, goldfish, pretzels, cereal and mini marshmallows. I also made one of cold snacks - cheese cubes, olives, and grapes. The cold container fits perfectly into a bottle thermos with a small ice pack.

On top of these I have a small bag of other snackable items - fruit leather, applesauce (have you seen these? We loooove them), peanut butter-on wheat crackers, etc. He also has a sandwich packed in his backpack.

2. Toys. One suggestion I kept finding was to buy a few small, dollar store toys, wrap them up and let him play with them as a new and exciting thing.

Done and done. Small dinosaurs, a motorcycle, stickers, etc. Plus a new Mickey Mouse coloring book and crayons. All of these items are in his own backpack, along with diapers and wipes, a sippie, and a few other essentials. The plan is that he will carry his own backpack, but we'll see how long that lasts.

Last week a friend of mine was hosting a craft night where everyone could just bring whatever they wanted to work on and have a kid-free night of crafting. I didn't have any current projects so I decided to make Boston an ABC book for the plane. Despite a few setbacks and cosmetic flaws, I am pretty pleased with how it turned out.

We also bought a Viewsonic G-Tab a few months back. Boston already loves it, and frequently asks to play his games. Its also loaded with several movies. (This will also come in handy for the drives we will make between Myrtle Beach and Charleston)

3. Carseats. We have decided to check both car seats, to reduce the amount of items we have to carry to and from the gate. I went back and forth on this for a while, but hopefully this works out. Boston's car seat is very bulky and heavy, and carrying Maia in her is heavy enough, plus it makes it very difficult to carry anything else in that arm. (plus we didn't but her a ticket)

4. Mei Tai wrap. Since Maia is a lap-rider and we won't have her car seat, I'm planning on wearing her pretty often. Definitely through the airport to our gate, again after landing to get luggage, and probably fairly often during the vacation itself. She loves being in any sort of sling or wrap, and it gives me both hands to deal with other things. I can also carry Boston on my hip while wearing her if I absolutely have to. (Short distances.) Another reason for this is we didn't want to lug our Sit 'n Stand stroller around, so we are only taking a small umbrella stroller for Boston to use occasionally.

5. CARES system. Since Boston won't be in a carseat on the plane, my main concerned was him getting out of the airplane seatbelt. I don't anticipate it taking long for him to figure it out, and once he does keeping him sitting will be the biggest challenge. Enter this:

It's a CARES seatbelt system, specifically for planes. It hooks around the back of his seat, then clips across his chest, much like his car seat straps. I'm really hoping the familiar look will help him understand that just as we don't unbuckle in the car, we don't do it on a plane. They are crazy 'spensive, and unless you fly often I don't know if the cost is justifiable. We rented ours from a seller on Ebay for 12.99.

6. Extra clothes. I'm really hoping I don't have to use this one, but I have packed in the diaper bag an extra full set of clothing for each kid. Blowouts, major spills, etc - we're prepared!

7. Clothing style. This might make you all judge me a little (a lot), but both kids are being dressed in nice, coordinating, planned and ironed outfits. If you know me at all, you know that few things drive me more crazy that children who look unkempt. I take a lot (possibly too much?) pride in how my kids look. Not only do I think it reflects on me as a mother, I honestly believe that people are more forgiving of slightly obnoxious 2 year old behavior when said 2 year old is clean, matched, and looks put together. A snotty-faced, bed-headed, dirty play-clothed child having a tantrum is a lot harder for me to accept. This might be a last-ditch effort that despite my planning, he likely will have a small meltdown or two and hopefully people will be a little more understanding of that. (Read: He might be acting naughty, but damn he is cute....and that makes it a little better) Again, you might call me crazy, but I never said I wasn't.

Whew! On top of all these, I have my diaper bag packed with the essentials. I'm really hoping the plane ride goes smooth, and we all emerge on the East Coast with limbs and sanity intact.

Now I'm going to go catch a few (very few) zzzz's, as my 5 hours is now 3 1/2 hours, and if I thought this trip might be hard to begin with, just imagine it with a sleep-deprived, less-than-fully-functioning mama. Oy.