Daily Travels - My top tips for flying with baby!

Having just returned from our 10 day trip to the UK to visit my parents, Owen now has a stamp in his passport and 20+ hours of flying time under his belt.  We were prepared for the worst but hoping for the best.  Turns out that he's a pretty good little traveler and handled both flights with relative ease.  That being said, I definitely came away from the experience with a few tips and tricks that I figure may be helpful for somebody out there.  So, here you go (in no particular order of importance)!

Are we there yet?

1) Call your airline to double check their individual policy, but it should be standard allowance to gate check a stroller for free.   Even if the baby's not in it, use it to tote your luggage through the airport.  I highly recommending shelling out the $14 for this gate check stroller bag.  When we arrived at Heathrow, it was raining (no surprises there) and the bag was soaked from making the trip off the tarmac in the rain, but it kept our stroller dry.  It also provides a level of protection against heavy-handed baggage handlers, who would potentially mangle your stroller should it pop open at some point. 

2) If you aren't booking a seat for baby, find out if you can get a bassinet/bulkhead seat.  It may cost a little extra, and there may be weight/age restrictions (depending on the airline) but, if you can't buy a seat for baby, the bassinet is a great option.  It cost us $50 each way, but having somewhere that we could put him down and he could play was well worth the price.  Unfortunately, it meant that he was in front of the screens (not that he was going to let us sit quietly and watch a movie anyway) but on the flip side, the bulkhead gives you a little extra leg room too.  They're available on a first come, first serve basis, so I recommend calling as soon as you book.  [UPDATE: Since writing this, a reader made a good observation that the bassinet option may only be available on international flights.  Something to keep in mind.]

3) Order your meal selection for the baby while you're calling about stroller checks and bassinets.  As it turns out, our request for a low sodium meal for Owen didn't make it into the computer.  The flight attendant very nicely arrived with some Gerber baby jars on a tray for him, and we had to inform her that there was no way he'd eat it.  She was able to procure a meal for us though and he chowed down quite happily on the regular food.

Makes pulling an all-nighter look easy

4) Speaking of, bring some of your own food too.  We packed a couple of the Plum Organics pouches - just make sure you declare them at security.  They didn't even look at them at LAX, and at Heathrow they just took a quick look to make sure the pouch was sealed.  While we didn't on this trip, you can also bring breast milk and formula through security too.  Here is what TSA has to say about it.  

5)  Ask the flight attendant for a bottle of water early on.  They were happy to give us a liter bottle so that we could use it for ourselves, the sippy cup etc.  Much easier for them than having to bring us water repeatedly throughout the flight.  It also made us the envy of our neighboring passenger who asked what the magic trick was to get a bottle, and I informed her that having a baby would do it.  The flight attendants also offered to warm up bottles etc. if we needed it, so that's always a good thing to know.

6) Head off to the dollar store and get some "disposable" toys.  I spent about $5 on some board books, flash cards, plastic discs, etc.  They were new and kept his attention for a few minutes at least.  It was also no hardship if they got lost along the way and it wasn't a question of losing a favorite toy.

7) Alternatively, random things on the airplane make great toys.  Simple things like plastic spoons and cups are easily wiped off and make great toys.  Owen spent quite a bit of time dropping one of his links into a plastic coffee mug over and over.  He also spent a good 20 minutes on the flight to Heathrow "sharing" his coffee with Husband and I.  It's the simple things.

8) Load up some baby apps.  Fisher Price and Baby First both have some nice options.  Some are flash card type apps, others are interactive story books.  Either way, a little screen time isn't bad given the circumstances.  Also, check out the kid's programming for in-flight entertainment as they probably have some kid-friendly options.

9) Bring at least a couple changes of clothes for the baby, plus a change of shirt or two for yourself.  I actually recommend having this in the diaper bag for the entirety of the trip.  It came in super handy when Owen, who had never previously projectile vomited in his 11 months of existence, decided to get a bit Exorcist all over himself, me, and the floor at Waterloo Station.  The horrified look on the face of the teenagers that he almost nailed was classic, and probably did serve as instant birth control.  I was, however, super happy to be able to change us both out of the offending puke covered items and back into something less offensive.

Suggestion:  Drink beer before giving can to baby

10) Dress the baby in an extra layer.  We didn't need any costume changes on the way out, but on the flight back, there was a little more vomiting.  Fortunately, I was able to take off the outer layer of clothing (revealing that Owen is indeed Batman) and let him hang out in a onesie until we could get him an appropriate change of clothes.  It may be worth having an extra layer for yourself too...in case the vomiting is projectile, or a poop-splosion happens.

11) You probably want a stash of plastic bags on you too...you know, to hold all the gross stuff that I just mentioned in the previous two points.  My aunt taught me many years ago how to fold plastic bags into nifty little triangles for space saving.  Here's a video - it's a neat trick.

12) Wear the baby.  I wore Owen through security both times, and was not required to take him out of the carrier.  That freed up the stroller for our carry on luggage.  In an airport like Heathrow, where you have to walk a mile to your gate, that can be a great help.  Be aware that they won't let you wear the baby for take off and landing though.  The airline will provide a lap belt attachment for you to use.  Personally, I feel like they'd be more secure in the carrier, but I don't make the rules.  There was no way that we were going to get Owen to sleep in the bassinet, especially with the screens right there.  We would turn them off and he figured out that if he smacked them, they'd turn on again (the downside of touch screens).  I managed to get him to sleep by popping him in the Ergo and taking him to the galley where I could sing/rock him to my heart's content without bothering our fellow passengers.  Once he was asleep, I went back to the seat and tried not to move too much.

13) Don't forget to ask for wings to mark the first flight!  We were flying Air NZ and they don't have wings, but the flight attendant was nice enough to fetch us a little packet for him to commemorate his first journey. 

14) Find out which bathrooms have changing tables as soon as you can.  Turns out the Air NZ had changing tables in all of their bathrooms, which was a win because it meant no waiting for a particular bathroom to open up. Granted, there is nothing fun about trying to change a poopy diaper in a confined space like that, but you do what you gotta do.  It's also not fun when you find out that your child has figured out how to open the door lock while you are trying to use the facilities, leading to one-armed grappling with baby, pants, and door in an attempt to maintain some kind of modesty.

In the end, it all went much smoother (barfing notwithstanding) than I thought it would and we found everybody to be quite understanding.  We are lucky that Owen is generally very friendly so delivered smiles to security agents, immigration, customs, flight attendants, and neighboring passengers.  I think that people have such a preconceived notion that any baby on a plane is going to be a problem that they are thrilled to see parents trying to make it a pleasant experience.  We never even had to offer up the earplugs that I'd packed in our carry on!

I've probably forgotten some things here, but if this list is helpful to anybody, then I have done my job! Happy travels....

Daily Travels - Chicago Photobook

I posted about my baby shower photo book a couple posts ago.  It arrived, looked adorable, then I popped it into the bookshelf without remembering to review my thoughts on it.  As it happens, I had another free coupon code, so decided to make a book for our trip to Chicago.  It was the last big trip that we took before Owen's arrival and it was 3 days of good eats, tons of walking, and beautiful architecture.  It's actually a city that both Husband and I felt like we could live in, except for the ridiculous weather.  We happened to be there at a beautiful time of year (end of May) but even then, the last day was crazy humid to the point of not really wanting to go anywhere and getting bug bitten to hell down by Lake Michigan.  From a photography perspective, it was a dream.  I wasn't actually sure that twenty 8x8 pages would do it justice, especially given how many pictures I actually took, but it certainly got the message across for the fantastic time we had.

As for the Shutterfly books themselves?  I think it is a testament to the Shutterfly Custom Path software that I was able to put this book together in about 3 hours.  I used preset pages through the template I chose, but could tweak those to look exactly as I wanted as each template has a good number of embellishments to play with.  There's a range of photo layouts to use if you want to create each page from scratch and my only complaint in that area is that there's no option to just draw your own photo box where you want on the page.  Instead, you have to decide how many photos you want and move the photo spots around accordingly.  Not great if you suddenly decide to add a photo to the page late in the game! 

I don't really have other books to compare to, but I found the quality of the book to be nice.  The hard cover with title on the spine gives it a nice, professional finish, and I very much like being able to customize both front and back covers.  The inside pages feel heavy enough and the printing is clear.  There's also an extra protective page at the beginning and end, which I actually feel is a nice touch when opening the book.  I do love the look of a beautiful, glossy photo in a scrapbook; however, I know my limitations and that I would never get around to actually scrap-booking by hand (and it certainly couldn't be done in 3 hours!)  No matter what, better than the photos sitting on my computer.

My grand plans would be to create a photo book for each major vacation, and a more general "family yearbook" each year.  I love how easy Shutterfly makes this.  While I will possibly test out some other services for future books (Winkflash, Blurb, Costco), at least I know what to expect from Shutterfly and will definitely order again.  

What's your preferred method of scrap-booking family photos?

Daily Travels - Preggo on Safari!

Even though I went to college in San Diego, I never took the opportunity to visit the Safari Park.  We got some tickets half price through Living Social earlier in the year and with all the first trimester nausea, then summer heat, we never quite got to using them.  This weekend, we decided to go while I'm still mobile and take our last little excursion before the arrival of the little one.  We didn't quite manage to avoid the heat as the weather still isn't playing fair in So Cal right now (although starting to cool off a little it seems).  Despite the heat, it was a really nice 24 hours away and I had a great time hiking around the park!

So cute to come across this dog and cheetah on a walk.  Apparently they're best buds.

Flamingos with their babies	Pelicans
Rhino going for a walk	This guy was crossing the street in front of the tram!

A gigantic lion paw!

Elephants getting some shade	Check out the little baby  :)
What you lookin' at?	Regal looking male

Husband befriended this larakeet...who then promptly pooped down the back of his shirt!

If you've never been, I highly recommend it! It was a lot of fun (even with all the hiking while 7.5 months pregnant.) It's not cheap, but they offer some cool packages too - like the option to zipline across the park, or the "Snore and Roar" where you get to stay overnight. Those will have to be for another visit though... :)

Daily Travels - Chicago! (Part 2)

Continuing on our travels...I hope to have the last set of photos from our Chicago trip taken care of this weekend to share next week.  Meanwhile, heading on over to Millenium Park, which in itself has a wide variety of stuff to see.


We loved the Gehry designed pavilion, which seems like a beautiful place to sit outside and watch a concert (weather permitting of course as this probably isn't as much fun under 3ft of snow).  The pavilion stretches all the way back,and I can certainly see lawn chairs and picnics in the summer!

Then of course, we needed to take Bean to see "The Bean".  Ultimately, the best place to take strangely obscure pictures and put your finger prints on top of a million other people's.

Crown Fountain is possibly the coolest place to just splash around in hot weather that I've seen!  Two gigantic blocks spewing water into the space between them, complete with images projected on the blocks that change.  I had no idea what to make of it at first, but such a great feature for a park in the middle of the city.

In the meantime, any fun plans for Memorial Day weekend?  It's time for me to start working on the nursery...and by that I mean clearing space.  Let's see how far I get this weekend!

Daily Travels - Chicago! (Part 1)

In an effort to get in a short trip while I'm still able to travel comfortably (i.e. not hauling around an extra 30lb of baby, water and blood volume), husband and I decided to take a long weekend in Chicago.  Neither of us had been before and I do love a good adventure in a new town.

I will say that TSA was surprisingly helpful.  Both LAX and O'Hare have the new back-spatter x-ray machines, which I was electing to avoid so as not to subject Peanut to any weird radiation.  At both airports, I told the TSA agents that I was pregnant and would like to bypass the machine, and they nicely obliged both times letting me go through the regular x-ray machines with not so much as a pat down.

First stop was actually doctors orders - get some deep dish pizza!

 Then we went straight on to Wrigley Field.  I'm only familiar with Dodgers Stadium, which is massive in comparison.  The game was relatively uneventful, but a nice experience to check out the stadium.

 
Day 2, we hopped over to the Skydeck at Willis (formerly Sears) Tower.  I'm not afraid of heights, but when you're suspended in a glass box, 1,300 feet in the air, it is vertigo inducing.  In fact, you almost have to question the sanity of whomever thought it was a good idea to build said box and, no matter how big the rivets that are holding it together, it's unnerving!  There is another picture of me standing and kinda freaking out (which husband found highly entertaining), but I discovered that sitting and then scooting backward on my butt was better.  Looking down was absolutely not an option. The views were truly amazing though, despite it being a little hazy.

After grabbing a Chicago staple - an Italian Beef Sandwich - for lunch, we headed on over to Lincoln Park.  Walking through that area really reminded me of some of the neighborhoods in London, and definitely seemed like somewhere I could live (months with several feet of snow, and other months with hot, humid weather notwithstanding).  We decided to check out the zoo - one of the oldest zoos in the country, with the added bonus of being free to visit!

We'll leave that as the end of part 1 for now.  We saw a lot in the 72 hours we were in the city, and I have 350-ish photos to process, so another installment to follow...  :)

Daily Travels - North Wales (Part II)

We woke up in Caenarfon to 80mph winds and I was tired as hell on account of the cat spending half the night trying to get up onto the windowsill (read: climbing on me and sticking her tail up my nose) above my bed in the hotel.

We set off into the town center and arrived just in time for the 2 minutes of silence for Remembrance Day.  This occurs at 11am on the 11th day of November (11th month) - recalling the official end of World War I and honoring those that have died on duty in the armed forces.  If you're ever watching British tv shows around this time of year and wondering why they're wearing red poppies, this is the reason. 

Caenarfon castle is incredibly impressive, and what's great about these towns is that they were built within the protection of the castle walls.  Both Caenarfon and Conwy are coastal, and defended the northern coast of Wales from attack.  Now, the harbor serves a more peaceful purpose.

 

I wish we'd had more time to go inside the castle and wander about, but we were heading for home through Snowdonia National Park.  We'd only just started the drive when we came across this gorgeous little chapel which was so peaceful with such an amazing view - seemed to me about as perfect a final resting place as I've ever seen. 

Now, onto the rest of the drive.  I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

 

I'm very grateful to my parents for deciding that we needed to do some sightseeing on this trip as it definitely renewed my love for my "homeland".  While it's nice to be back to normal at home again, these images will always stay with me as a reminder of what I left behind.  

 

Thanks for joining me on the recap of my trip.  Now back to regularly scheduled programming!

Daily Travels - North Wales (Part 1)

After taking off from Manchester, my parents had planned a trip into North Wales.  My dad is Welsh (from Cardiff) and despite having grown up in England, I've always had very fond memories of Wales.  It's my homeland and I'm proud of it - even if I have no idea how to even begin speaking the language!

The countryside is beautiful and it's so hard to give the colors justice in a photograph.  I love how the clouds are casting shadows upon the hills.

We drove through a little village, Betws-y-Coed, on our travels.  The name means "chapel in the wood" and is pronounced "betus a koyd".

Next stop was Conwy.  I was bummed that we didn't make it there until dusk as I was hoping to get a chance to stop at the castle (where my friends Holly and Paul got married last year!)  I grabbed a few shots with the light that I had though.

We made it on to Caenarfon where we staying for the night and grabbed dinner at a local pub.  I was contemplating the dragon sausages (not made from real dragons, but that's not the point) although settled on some fish-n-chips.

Caenarfon and Snowdonia are next...