Before Oskar was even born, we
knew he was going to be a traveler… if he was going to be a good traveler or
bad traveler was still to be determined.
And within the first 2 months of his life, we put him to the test. We started off easy with a trip to Dunsmuir
and a trip to Pillsbury. But nothing
could prepare him (or us) for the big trip; a two week trip home to Germany at
the end of July to meet his German friends and family.
I did all of the research on how
to best travel with a baby, the whole family took the trip to Hunters Point to
get his passport and I made a few last minute purchases to ensure we were
equipped with all of the gear… but Oskar was the wild card and anything could
happen. And thankfully, true to his
name, he was a Champ!
The flight to Germany was a
breeze, with Oskar sleeping the entire time, waking up only to eat and have his
diaper changed. And he continued to
sleep during the 2 hour car ride back to Martin’s home. The flight home was a little less stellar,
with Oskar being a little crankier. But
thankfully the flight was smooth and Martin was able to walk the aisles with
him to calm him down. In order to give
Martin a rest we did break down and gave Oskar a pacifier to help him sleep (It
was a onetime thing only and he hasn’t had it since).
In between the two flights Oskar
adjusted relatively well with only minor jet lag… it helps that he wasn’t
sleeping through the night anyways. The
first few nights he woke up wide awake at 3am crying and wanting to play; so we
ended up turning on the lights and hanging out for an hour before getting him
back to sleep. During the day he was a little more tired
than usual, but that could also be due to the extra stimulation of so many
people wanting to meet him. He
eventually got the hang of the new time zone and was back to his normal routine
after three or four days. In the
meantime, it was nice having Oskar around as it allowed me the option of day
time naps and an early bedtime…both signs of weakness in the Breuer household
but somewhat allowable given the circumstances.
Traveling with a baby is
definitely a different experience. Gone
are the days of carry-on luggage only and breezing through the airport just a
few minutes before the flight. We packed everything Oskar owned including
clothing, towels, diapers, car seat, stroller, Mobi Wrap, etc. You name it we
packed it. And the crazy thing is we
used all of it. I can only imagine this
gets worse, the older he gets, with us eventually requiring a small shipping
container to get everything from point A to point B.
Below is a photo of us and all of
our stuff arriving in Germany and below is my cheat sheet / brain dump I sent
to a mommy friend who is embarking on the same intercontinental flight shortly to
help her prepare (and for me for future reference).
Great to meet you on Wednesday! And happy to share
some advice on traveling with the little one! Below is my brain dump
(which is probably way too much information, but it can't hurt right?).
We checked two bags for our 2 week trip to Germany. My
husband and I shared a bag and we had a separate bag for Oskar. We
figured two bags would be all we could manage in addition to the stroller and
carry on stuff. We packed pretty much all of his clothes that he owns and
then some. We did laundry about every four days but that is
generally our approach while at home as well
For our carry on we had our stroller and car seat (which we
gate checked) and then I had the diaper bag and my husband brought a
backpack.
With us on the flight we had the following baby related
stuff (in addition to the normal diaper bag stuff):
- Enough diapers for 36 hours (or about 12 diapers for us). Even though the flight is only 12 hours, if you factor in the transportation to the airport and then on the ground in Europe, we were traveling for about 24 hours.
- 3 outfits for Oskar and one change of clothes for my husband and I (we ended up going through 2 of the 3 outfits for Oskar and thankfully didn't need our change)
- 2 Swaddles
- Pacifier (he actually doesn't use one, but we brought one just in case... he ended up using it on the flight home to help him sleep)
- Water Bottle - the flight attendants were really great about refilling my 750 ml water bottle so I wouldn't get dehydrated
- 3 Ziploc baggies (for dirty clothes, etc).
- 1 rattle and 1 book (for entertainment)
- Moby wrap and his Ergo Baby 360 - My husband used the Ergo Baby to board the plane with Oskar while I folded down the stroller and put the car seat and stroller in the gate check bags and onto the jet bridge (I highly recommend the gate check bags...they are bright red and available on Amazon). The Moby wrap was super helpful throughout the trip since Oskar's jet lag made him more clingy during the day than normal
- My breast pump (I could have put this in our checked bag, but didn't trust the airline to not lose our luggage). We give Oskar one bottle a day and having the pump allowed me to continue this process while traveling. I have the Medela Freestyle and didn't need to charge it once during the two weeks! As a heads up, I believe the Freestyle pump is the only one that works with 220 voltage, so double check if you plan to bring your pump.
- I wish I had packed disinfectant wipes for the airplane's bassinet but forgot to pack them. We ended up putting a swaddled down for him to lay on but I would have loved to wipe down the sides.
For the checked luggage, we packed his medicine bag (which
includes his nail file, nose bubble thing, thermometer and infant Tylenol).
We thankfully didn't need any of those items other than the file (his nails
grow so fast!), but it was nice to not have to worry about finding the
alternatives in Germany. We also packed a few extra swaddles for him to
play on at our destination and an additional 24 hours’ worth of diapers and
wipes (We had my mother in law buy diapers and wipes for us ahead of time so
they were at the house waiting for us). We also checked his baby shampoo, baby
sunscreen and baby bug repellent along with a few small washcloths for bath
time.
For travel gear: we bought the Phil and Ted's Travel Crib
and have used it a few times for weekend trips. It is super lightweight,
packs up really small and is easy to put together. This crib has been
great and will get us through the next 2-3 years. However we ended up
borrowing our friend's Phil and Ted's Travel Bassinet for the trip to
Germany. And this thing rocked! It is a hard bottomed bassinet with
collapsible sides. It was super portable (the hard bottom meant we could
take it outside) and we moved it around the various houses we stayed at for
both naps and bedtime. The best part about the bassinet is it comes in a
travel case with two compartments (1 for the bassinet and then one for all of
the baby's stuff). While it won't work for long (which is why we bought
the crib instead) it was great to have and I kind of wish we bought one for
baby #2 (if that happens).
We also bought a travel stroller last minute since I was
afraid of having our proper one beat up on the flight. We ended up with
the Mountain Buggy Nano based on the reviews for a travel stroller that
works for both kids and infants (you can attach a car seat to it). I
literally bought this two days before our flight and am so glad I did. It
packs up tiny, is super lightweight and will grow with Oskar. It
isn't a single step to click in the car seat but definitely easy to use.
What else!
Oskar was great on the flight over. I fed him on takeoff
and landing to help clear his ears. I didn't time it perfectly (I forgot
that the time on the ticket is when the doors are closed, not when the wheels
are up) so Oskar was a little more hungry/cranky during taxiing to take off
than I would have liked and I know for next time to allow for the extra 30 -60 minute
buffer.
Okay, this is seriously way too much and way more than you
were asking for!! So sorry!! Hopefully at least some of it helps.
In the end, once I gave up the battle and decided to check luggage, it was much
easier than I thought.
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