Traveling with a little one

I'm no expert when it comes to traveling with a kid. But after researching and traveling by car for up to ten house and now by plane, I figured out what works for us. This post may or may not help you but if anything, hopefully it gives you some ideas when you travel with your little one.

Blake is not even a year old yet, but we've already traveled down south to the Outer Banks and up north as far as Rochester, NY. This past week, he took his first plane ride all the way across the country to Los Angeles, CA.

The thought of a family vacation was awesome but as our departure date got closer and closer I started to get really nervous. First, Blake is still breastfeeding so I didn't know what to expect on the plane. And second, I was so afraid of being THAT mom with THAT kid on the plane.

Now that we're home, I can honestly say it was nowhere near as bad as I thought it would be.

How did I keep him quiet and pleasant during our flight? I packed a ton of little things. Lol! In my carry-on I had:

- a large resealable bag with a diapers, wipes, a small hand sanitizer, disposable changing pads, and a sample size of CJ's BUTTer
- a clear sandwich bag full of different snacks
- a large, resealable bag full of toys and toy cleaner wipes
- a reusable pouch with my manual hand pump to express milk
- a muslin blanket

And that's all we really needed!

I brought a diaper for every two hours that we would be traveling. As for wipes, I had a small sample size.

Our sandwich baggie included his favorite crackers, some organic cheese puffs, goldfish, and two arrowroot cookies. We had more than enough leftover after the flights but it was enough to keep him happy.

To keep him occupied, I brought a variety of toys. Plastic stacking cups, his drumsticks,a small squishy ball, a pretend cell phone, a crinkly counting book, his Indestructible book, and teething keys. I rotated the the toys and books out so he'd only get to play with one at a time. And it worked wonderfully!

The muslin blanket acted as a coverup when I was breastfeeding, a drool cloth for when he had a little dribble when he ate snacks, and as a blanket when the plane got a little cooler. PERFECTION!

So when I boarded the plane, I put my carry-on bag on the seat, pulled all of the baggies out and stuffed them into the seat pocket in front of me. That way I wouldn't have to worry about him and dig through my carry-on when we needed things. I actually had the carry-on stored away in the bin above us so I had a wee bit more leg room.

It's not rocket science but before our departure, it sure felt like it. Oh, and I brought my iPad and kiddie size headphones. I downloaded two episodes of Sesame Street before I left the house so it wouldn't require any Internet while on the plane. When he got super sleepy and fussy, that was my saving grace. He doesn't get much TV time at home so that was a real treat for him!