Have Baby, Will Travel

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):

1. 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.   
2. 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)
3. 2 Swaddles
4. 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)
5. Water Bottle - the flight attendants were really great about refilling my 750 ml water bottle so I wouldn't get dehydrated
6. 3 Ziploc baggies (for dirty clothes, etc).
7. 1 rattle and 1 book (for entertainment)
8. 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
9. 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.
10. 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. 

A Wealth of Information

With the advent of smart phones, Google, social media, message boards, website communities, FaceTime and text messages, I literally have the knowledge of the world and mothers everywhere at my fingertips. Being on maternity leave as a first time mom who is somewhat of a control freak/hypochondriac this can be both a blessing and a curse, but mostly a blessing.   I am able to pull information from a wide range of resources from the convenience of my couch to give me peace of mind that I am doing things correctly and raising a happy healthy baby boy…and if needed, I have the ability to purchase any additional equipment, tools or gizmos to fix any “issues” immediately thanks to Amazon (This past week I have bought two books on sleep training babies and a travel sized stroller).    

Below are just a few things I have learned since Oskar’s arrival thanks to both my iPhone and those around me:

Google has been an amazing resource, leading me to some great websites such as Kellymom.com and La Leche League to answer all of my questions… and I have had plenty of questions including:

• Caring for newborn umbilical cord;
• Infant shakes head while eating  (due to Oskar’s wolverine approach to eating); 
• When can you stop waking baby at night to feed? (turns out it is once he regains his birth weight…what they don’t tell you is that once he reaches his birth weight, he will stop sleeping at night); 
• Newborn eats till he pukes but wants more; and later
• How long do growth spurts last? 
• 3 week old, grunting in the early morning; (which led to):
• Helping Baby with Gas / early morning gas in infants, (which led to): 
• How to massage a baby and how to use gripe water; 
• 5 week old eats every 2 hours 
• Do the alcohol breast strips work? (yes, I am a terrible mother) 
• Changing diapers at night / burping at night 
• Places to breastfeed in San Francisco 
• How much expressed milk does a baby need 
• When to use a pacifier 
• 8 week old nap schedule 
• Breastfeeding with food poisoning (I may have eaten a really old slice of quiche one day) 
• How to find history of Google Searches

No joke, this is only a sampling of all the things I have googled in the past 2 months. 

In addition to answers and website suggestions, thanks to Google images and YouTube I was able to get visuals on the various shades of baby poop, learned how to use my moby wrap and how to sign key words/phrases in American Sign Language.

But I didn’t limit my questions and thirst for knowledge to just my iPhone… Through my personal network via Facebook, emails, phones calls and texts I was able to find a baby photographer, elicit information about tongue ties including the medical procedure to fix one, and speak directly to a speech therapist in New York about the benefits and downsides of the tongue tie surgery.

I have also reached out to my closest girlfriends to garner information about my lady bits (what really is normal), alleviate some of my mommy guilt related to breastfeeding and going back to work and find out when my baby belly will go away (turns out any flub left after 2 weeks post birth is up to me and some good old fashioned sweat to get rid of).   Not only a source of information, these ladies have helped to provide a reality check to my crazy ways and to keep me sane these past few weeks.

In addition, I was able to work with a doula after Oskar was born to learn the basics of breastfeeding as well as gain insights into the holistic herbs, teas and vitamins I could drink/take to help in the first few months.  And the Mom Group I joined in the neighborhood has been a great resource for local events and activities including baby swim classes and sing alongs at the library as well as getting reviews on the best products on the market (which I then promptly buy on Amazon). 

While I know information can only get you so far (I have also been relying on my motherly intuition) overall, I will have to say I feel very informed and most of the guidance I have received has been very helpful and insightful.   However I will note that one reference was incorrect.  Contrary to what the movie Sweet Home Alabama implies, you cannot in fact have a baby in a bar.  Martin and I learned that one a few weekends ago when we tried to take Oskar into our local pub Thursday afternoon to watch the Euro Cup Semifinals.  The bartender took one look at Oskar strapped to Martin’s chest and said he couldn’t be in there… it was an over 21 establishment.  6 weeks old and already kicked out of a bar.  (As a side note, just two days later, Oskar was back in another bar and naked this time!)

Family Photo Shoot (aka the Day I Broke)

At the insistence of friends I decided to hire a professional photographer to capture Oskar's first few days in the family.  I am glad I did as they turned out perfectly!  Below are my favorite photos from that day. 

What they don't show (thankfully), but will always remind me of, is the 45 minute meltdown that Oskar had that then prompted a 30 minute meltdown by me.    Oskar was hungry and inconsolable prompting his cries.  I was overly tired and ridden with mommy guilt for not being able to give him the milk he needed, prompting my tears.  And poor Martin was once again the rock of the family, calming Oskar down and reassuring me that everything would be okay.   We were able to work it out in the end and Amanda our photographer was not only incredibly understanding but was also able to capture some of the baby bliss magic despite the tears.