Travel Tips pt 1

Travel for the Holidays

 Back in 2006, my husband and I welcomed Number1 into our lives. We were young and having a baby was unbelievably scary but everything was worth it to see the smile on his whenever the would walk in the room or hear is baby giggles as we played "Peek-a-boo" with him. He was born in early October and before he had even turned a month old the questions began.

"When are you going to bring the baby by so I can see him?"

This line of questioning is one that is familiar to all new parents. And while normally it is no big deal to just pack up the baby and take a drive to the relatives' to show off the new addition, however, my family is spread out all over the Eastern US coast from New Hampshire all the way down to Alabama, Louisiana and even Florida. I can get in the car and start driving in either direction and by the time I reach the furthest family member I would have driven 20+ hours.

20+ hours as just two young adults is a breeze. Challenge Accepted! Road Warrior badge earned! 20+ hours in the car with a baby (or now with 3 children) is more like a quest to insanity. Needless to say, I have traveled a lot with my kids to visit family.listed below are some of my favorite travel items that have helped to maintain peace in the car and yes, even some of my sanity.

Car:
My top must- have item for the car is the SeMe CarBaby Mirror.

Thsi is a little mirror that clips easily on to a back seat head rest to provide your still-backwards facing toddler a much better of you in the front seat as well as the world passing by around them. I was at my wits end when my state passed a new seat belt regulation  that would require Number 3 to stay in a backwards facing car seat until his second birthday. Facing backwards was very frustrating for him and short trips to even the grocery store would be long enough to spark tantrums from my generally laid back child.

Since I have added the SeMe CarBaby Mirror, every time I glance in the rear view mirror at his reflection in his little mirror all I see are my good-natured baby's smiles. Now this is not a panacea or "magic bullet" for pleasant car rides. Number 3 can still be afflicted with sleepiness or hunger and that can cause a stressful ride, but it does eliminate a good bit of the back seat crying. Now if I can only get the older two to stop crying/whining.



Airplane:
Must have item: CarSeat travel Cover

Once the long drives got to be too much me and my family, we did try using air travel. It was more expensive but promised to be much  faster and quite a bit less stressful. While it was less stressful than traveling by car, it is still very stressful. One of the main sources of stress for me was making sure that I had all the baby gear needed for the trip; mainly the stroller, the pack and play portable crib and the car seat. Let me tell you, bringing a car seat on a flight is a huge pain in the rear end. The item is bulky without any good hand holds on it and there is no telling what will get on it after you check it at the plane itself.

It got to the point where I would just have family members ask around to borrow a car seat during our visit just to avoid having to take one with us on the plane. This car seat cover is an item I wish I'd had from that very first flight. It completely covers the car seat, which is no small feat as I have Britax Boulevard 70-G3 Convertible Car Seat Seat (one of the biggest on the market but definitely my favorite that I have ever used). The car seat travel bag is made out of polyester, this makes it durable as well as water resistant. I am confident that the travel bag will protect the car seat from most mishaps that can happen in transit. The travel bag has a little tag window, where you can put your contact information should it get separated from your flight. I personally have never had any luggage not make it to my destination, but knowing my luck if anything were to not make it, it would be the car seat. The bag does have a handle sewn on to it and it also comes with a shoulder strap to make lugging the car seat around the airport a little easier. For me the best feature that the fact that it can fold in on itself into a little pouch with a zipper! This makes for easy and convenient storage especially while traveling.

I have yet to take the family on a cruise or a train trip. These are things that I would like to do over the next few years. But since I have not tried them yet, I am not sure of what unique challenges they present to traveling as a family.

Now that I have shared with you some of my must have items for traveling, what are yours? Share your advice and suggestions in the comments section below.

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Please note that in accordance with FTC regulations, any items mentioned in my blog may have been received for free or at a discount in exchange for a fair and honest review.