Is it possible to go to the sea with a baby? What to take with you? Traveling with a baby by car Traveling by car with a baby and children.
November 9th, 2015 , 01:55 pm
In the first year of her life, my daughter visited 16 countries, made 30 flights (5 of them transatlantic), sailed on a ship, traveled by train, traveled several tens of thousands of kilometers by car and conquered more than one mountain. We made half of these trips just the two of us.
I decided to put my experience in writing. Most of these things are pretty obvious, especially after traveling ((: And personally, I would be glad if someone shared this with me before.
1. The most important thing is sleep mode.
This is much more important than food and a clean diaper. At one time, it became a discovery for me that children do not know how to fall asleep on their own and until a certain age they need help with this. There are a whole bunch of books on sleep norms and wakefulness time. Even half an hour of wakefulness beyond the norm can disrupt the regime and subsequently result in many hours of attempts to put the child to sleep. Most likely with hysterics.
On the other hand, a well-rested and happy child will support you in any of your adventures, including the most daring ones, such as a four-hour trek across the Arizona desert to The Wave.
The easiest way to keep track of your regimen is to use specialized applications for your mobile phone. There are many of them, everyone will find something to their liking. Personally, I use Baby Tracker, it allows you to track your sleep even when changing time zones.
War is war, but sleep is on schedule (:
2. The second most important thing is your own Zen.
Relax and don’t fuss (: Growing Zen is our main weapon. The child has gone too far and is yelling at the whole plane, and the neighbors are making comments - unpleasant, inconvenient, but not scary. The child will soon calm down, and you will never see these people again, thank them affectionately everyone for their advice and forget it ((% Someone put on a crooked diaper and now everything around is covered in baby poop - well, it happens, I’ll soon wash myself and change clothes.
Children perfectly read all moods. So the main principle is simple: calm parents mean a calm child.
And you should never take it out on a child. Even at the age of 1 month, he is already a living person and a full-fledged personality. And while he is not the one who buys tickets and plans travel, he has every right to get tired of queuing at passport control after several flights and report this in every way available to him. Relax, the line will end soon, you will get to your home/hotel, pour yourself a glass of wine and go to bed (:
All problems are divided into easily fixable and ending on their own.
3. Don't take a lot of things with you.
A little traveler will need a lot of luggage; you can start preparing for this mentally. ((: But it can and should be optimized as much as possible. For example, it is not necessary to take sippy cups with you. You can teach your child to drink from sports/children’s bottles. And then you can only carry with you a neck that fits any bottle from the nearest store. In addition half of the sippy cups, in my experience, leak mercilessly, which is especially pleasing when you discover this when you take it out of the bag, where it was lying with a bunch of other things, a la a camera.
Also, you don't need to take a bunch of toys with you on trips. After all, there will always be a lot of new and interesting things around. Babies find toys and trash all equally interesting (garbage is even more so)). You can take one super favorite toy. And buy another one on the trip, so that, for example, you can give a new one on the plane on the way back.
There are also children's stores with diapers, food and clothing everywhere. I take only the essentials; if you need anything else, you can always buy more. And in general, how can we do without this mimimi of children's shopping ((: So you need to leave room for it in advance.
The energy saved on carrying excess luggage will still be needed when dragging a stroller or car seat.
4. Luggage.
The suitcase must have 4 wheels. Good. I'm ready to adore our Samsonites (all three, different sizes) - they roll very easily, in any direction and in any position. It’s better to overpay for a good suitcase than to find yourself in a situation where your Chinese misunderstanding is torn or has lost its wheels, and you are alone with a child in one hand and a carsite stroller suitcase and a couple of carry-on bags in the other ((:
In my luggage I take a supply of diapers and wipes for the first two days. In case we are too lazy to look for stores, we won’t have time to find our way, etc. The same thing with baby food - a mandatory supply for the first two days, the rest is at will and the amount of free space in the luggage ((: A child’s favorite plate and spoon do not add much weight, but we are not tied to anything.
5. Things to take with you.
For children's things (diapers, wipes, food, toys, change of clothes, etc.) on the plane and in the car you need a separate bag. But you don’t need any fancy dipper bags with a bunch of pockets and a special compartment for a box of wet wipes. The simpler and lighter the better. Ideal - a soft shoulder bag or a soft backpack. It will fit into any free space and will take the shape of exactly the crack where you try to push it.
A must-have set of children's bags that go with you on a flight and in the car. A double set of diapers, a pack of wet wipes, a bedding for the changing table, a favorite toy, several pacifiers, a change of clothes, a bottle of water (with a special neck or a sippy cup) and baby food. You can take water and food for your child on the plane in almost unlimited quantities.
I like to take a couple of shopping bags with me (for example, from IKEA): they are weightless and compact, but can accommodate any heavy load and are much better than simple bags. Just in case (:
6. Diapers and wipes.
It's surprising that someone still manages to neglect such wonderful inventions of civilization as disposable diapers and wet wipes for the butt. Therefore, a separate point about the fact that you don’t need to complicate your life, especially when traveling.
Pampers and haggis are sold all over the world. For example, there are no excellent Japanese diapers in Europe. Not in the USA either, but there are others there that are no less wonderful. So you need to check in advance whether standard brands are suitable for your child. If not, you will have to carry a supply with you for the trip, alas.
7. Clothes.
Firstly, you need to take a change of clothes for both your child and yourself on the plane. One perky pfff of puree and you turn into a local scarecrow, which also smells. And poop that leaks due to a crooked diaper can actually become a local disaster (% On the Internet, I have seen recommendations to buy a set of white Gerber bodysuits and, if they leak, throw them in the trash. This is convenient, especially when you can buy them for 8-10 pieces for $10, and it’s difficult to wash while traveling.
Secondly, your own clothes should be as comfortable as possible. Especially if you are traveling alone with a child. You need to forget about belts with tricky fasteners and jeans with a thousand buttons. No one will help you unfasten them at the moment when you are standing in the toilet cabin of an airplane with a child in an ergo hanging on your stomach, and there is also turbulence ((%
8. Ergo backpack.
The most necessary thing for flights (and in life in general)) is an ergo, and not a cradle ordered in advance. Yes, a stroller is great (especially ours, which folds down to micro-size and can be taken with you to the cabin) and it is also needed on trips and at the airport. But in the ergo you can put the child to sleep before boarding and not wake him up with various fastenings and movements (not always, but most often). You can go to the toilet without the help of flight attendants. Yes, and one’s hands don’t fall off while walking around the plane if there is no opportunity to let the child freely roam around (:
If the flight is at night, and you are a dad, then it is better for the child to sleep in an ergo rather than in a cradle. With a cradle, you will either stay awake all night, or you may not wake up on time (the wet nurse's sleep is about the mother).
9. Stroller.
It is needed (provided the child has a good attitude towards it, of course). We use the stroller both as a means of transportation, as a bed for naps (so as not to depend on hotels), and as a high chair.
You can take any stroller on the plane for free. Even if it is a huge cradle consisting of two parts. It’s possible, but it’s better not to buy a huge one ((:
Most often (but not at all airports), the stroller is checked in at the airport at the plane's steps, if you want, or you can immediately put it in your baggage. Even if the child is sitting in an ergo, you can put all the rest of the trash in the stroller and not strain yourself. Receiving a stroller at the gate upon arrival depends on the willingness of local loaders to work and the rules of the arrival airport.
We have a wonderful babyzen yo-yo that you can take with you to the salon. This eliminates unpleasant surprises in the form of loss of the stroller (at the maximum), breakdown or dirt (at the constant minimum - before the advent of the yoyo, we flew with a buggy and had to wash it every time). And we also collapse/expand it when it’s convenient for us, and not when other people want it. This stroller fits in any car and is generally super cool ((%
This is our bugabushka, also beautiful, but not for traveling
10. Car seat.
I hope no one needs to explain the need for this device (:
In most cases, it is better to bring your own infant seats. Firstly, so as not to pay hellish sums for them at the rental office (it is often cheaper to buy them on the spot and then throw them away) and so as not to run into surprises when the ordered chair is not available at the rental office. Or it will be in the wrong category. Or simply done (and sometimes kids feel sick, yes) or broken. The car seat is checked in for free or goes into the cabin if it is certified for flights and the child has a separate seat.
You can also take a set of chassis + car seat instead of a stroller.
I received this chair at a rental in Montenegro: dirty, torn, of a completely different category and inappropriate for its age.
11. Pacifier.
Nowadays the trend is to criticize this device. But I don’t really know how to breastfeed a child when, for example, you’re driving along the highway, and he’s crying in the car seat in the back seat. So we have a whole mandatory supply of nipples.
12. Buy and throw away.
It’s convenient to purchase many devices locally for pennies, without having to carry them home. For example, we bought a baby bathtub in the states for $5, washed our two-month-old baby in it for two weeks of the trip, and then just threw it away.
An umbrella and an inflatable pool worked well on a beach trip.
I think we will do the same with the potty and booster in the future.
13. First aid kit.
I prefer to have a supply of essential medications with me. Because in the new country the opening hours of pharmacies, prescription drugs, instructions in another language, etc. are not known. There are not many basic medications - salt water in the nose (such as Salina or Aqualor), a thermometer, antipyretic (paracetamol and Nurofen), rehydron and smecta, something for allergies (ointment and drops).
While traveling, my child suffered from roseola with an unbreakable temperature of 39-40, rotavirus and ARVI. Usually it all started at night and the medicines stored were very useful.
14. Children's cosmetics.
Cream for butt irritations. Bepanthen ointment. If we go to the sea, then sunscreen for babies with maximum protection. With the first tooth, toothpaste and a brush were added. The rest can be purchased locally as needed.
15. Insurance.
We always buy health insurance for ourselves and our children. We usually take the cheapest one and don’t bother reading reviews. Fortunately, we have never used it yet.
16. Documents.
Of course, the child needs a foreign passport, preferably a separate one. It makes no sense for infants to get a new passport for 10 years, because according to the rules, the passport must be changed as soon as the photo no longer looks like a person. If you make a passport in one month, then in a good way you need to change it within a year. So for 5 years it’s quite enough, and it’s officially done in Moscow in a couple of days.
My child and I have different surnames, so it is mandatory to bring a birth certificate with us. It is almost always asked at passport control when departing from Russia. They asked several times when crossing the borders of other countries.
No further documents are required for the child if he is traveling with at least one of the parents.
17. Baby without a place/with a place.
Children up to two years old fly for 10-30% of the cost of an adult ticket (sometimes, but rarely, and completely free) in the arms of adults. You can order a bassinet on the plane (from those airlines that offer this) if you are flying without a seat. Even if the baby does not sleep there or exceeds the weight limit (11 kg), the bassinets are attached to the hard walls behind the business class. These are always places of increased comfort, with plenty of legroom and living space (: You can put all your trash in the cradle ((:
If it’s hard to hold your child in your arms for the entire flight, but you have the means, you can buy him a separate ticket. Up to 2 years of age, you still need to be in the handlebars during takeoff/landing, but for the rest of the time, you can take a car seat certified for flights on board and secure it in a separate place.
European airlines provide a special child seat belt during takeoff/landing, while American airlines believe that it is safer without a seat belt. Therefore, if you are flying on an American airline, you can simply put your child in the ergo, sit in the seat and fasten yourself with a regular seat belt. And if you are flying on a European airline, you should not let a child sitting in an ergo fall asleep before departure and boarding the plane; anyway, they will most likely wake him up, force him to pick him up and fasten him with a child seat belt.
18. Flights.
During all the flights, we never once had blocked ears (even when the child was sick with enterovirus). I read somewhere that until the fontanel is overgrown, the ears don’t get blocked, but the pediatrician said that this was nonsense and had nothing to do with it. However, the breast/pacifier/water bottle, although not useful, was always at the ready.
When flying, it is better to choose regular flights and avoid charters. Charters always mean departures/arrivals at the wrong time, this is always uncertainty - according to the rules they have the right to move them within 24 hours. It's almost always a trashy cabin with an uncomfortable layout and rude flight attendants (probably they don't hire them to work in decent places, yeah). These are people flying on vacation, who often begin to celebrate their vacation already in duty-free.
Better with a transfer than a long direct flight. During the transfer you can stretch your legs, walk around the airport, and get new impressions. Of course, if the flight is not overnight.
19. Time of day for the flight.
For babies, everything changes so quickly that each flight, even a week apart, is different. But in general, with Aliska we and everyone around us are lucky so far, tfutfutfu ((% Early morning flights are the best: the baby has already slept for some time, he was woken up at night closer to the morning, he stared around in surprise for 2-3 hours on the way to the airport and at the airport (the mood for active exploration of the world has not yet appeared) and sweetly passed out for a few hours of flight. If there is a transfer, then it’s generally great: the child crawled around the airport, received new impressions and is ready to continue to sleep sweetly for some more time. and time zones disappear.
On daytime flights, parents have to show more imagination to entertain their restless child. But there is a significant plus - the parents themselves slept well and are ready for exploits.
But on evening and night flights there is a big risk that the child will not be able to fall asleep on time due to the abundance of impressions. And this, as we know, is fraught. Plus, the impossibility of parental sleep (one parent will keep watch so that the child does not fall out or crawl away at night).
20. At the airport.
At the airport, passengers with children have the right to go through security and passport control without queuing. In practice, you need to look at the situation: when you arrive on a charter, then even trying to walk through this whole crowd of angry people (half of whom, by the way, are also with children) is not worth it to save your own nerves (: What can I say if sometimes even standing in your place and not moving anywhere, you still run into the disapproving exclamations of some tired woman... In other cases, most likely, the people around you will let you go forward themselves, without any additional questions.
For inspection at the airport, it is not necessary to fold the stroller and take the child out of it to push it through the scanner; you can insist on manual inspection. Moreover, when you fly alone, it is very difficult to do this - you need to give your child to someone to hold, and security personnel, for example, have no right to touch him without permission. But here, again, it’s all about the human factor. Lazy workers don’t want to move for the sake of a manual search, so they’ll start grabbing you and force you to wake up a sleeping child... But trying is not torture.
21. In flight.
I always try not to create inconvenience to others. Therefore, I never leave a child unattended (or entrust him to his dad). If the child is not sleeping, then no one should know that he has become bored (: In distant infancy, the breast was enough for entertainment, then just look around. Every year we spend our entire waking hours walking/crawling around the plane. We look at in-flight magazines, eat rice cookies and other food, we play with paper cups, airplane headphones/slippers/remote control - whatever we can get our hands on. We try to drink more water.
If you want to go to the toilet, but the ergo/sling/dad is not at hand, then you can ask the flight attendants to hold the baby.
22. Change of time zones.
We flew to the USA and Canada several times a year, and this meant a radical change in time zones, jet lag, etc. It’s quite difficult, but in a maximum of three days the regime is rebuilt. The main thing is to monitor your waking time and sleep (:
For example, now we live according to the 2-3-4 pattern (two naps during the day). So after the flight, the main strategy is not to let the child sleep for a long time during the day (maximum two cycles of 40 minutes), and to spend his waking hours actively, walking as much as possible. At night, do not allow yourself to stay awake for more than 3 hours, preferably in dim light and with a minimum of games. In the USA, everything usually changed on the first or second day; returning home is a little more difficult.
23. Food.
We were breastfeeding until six months and had no problems. Then we started feeding in cans, by the year cans + a common table.
The situation with baby food is different in different countries. For example, I did not find one-component vegetable purees in Europe (this is important when introducing complementary foods), but in America I did not find milk porridges (there is a separate porridge, a separate mixture). No children's kefir or cottage cheese outside the ex-USSR countries. It will be difficult to read the ingredients in the local language. And the price of 2.5 euros per jar is a bit steep, especially when there are 4-5 such jars per day. So save some space in your luggage (: At least for the first few days, until you get to know the locals. In Europe, there is Hipp everywhere, in the USA - Gerber. Check at home whether the food of these companies is suitable for you.
With most airlines, even a child without a seat can order special food - baby food - for free. Usually this is a set of cans, milk, juice. This order does not affect the provision of regular meals to an adult (:
This is how we dealt with food on trips for adults: we tried to take the hotel with breakfast (or a cafe nearby), and porridge for the child. Lunch/lunch is better than sandwiches/takeaway and eat in the park while the baby is crawling/breathing air, after lunch canned food. And for dinner in a cafe - at first we went when the child was sleeping, but as we got older we had company and complementary food from our plates (: By the time the child was one year old, they already ordered separate food for the child.
24. Rice cookies.
We bought this wonderful invention in the USA. You can order to Russia, for example, from iHerb. Free of sugar, milk, gluten, etc. They come in different shapes (large and small, like finger food) - a great activity for a child, for example, while we eat our plane lunch or we need to drive another half hour in the car. You can also use dryers or corn flakes with the same success. But rice cookies dissolve in the mouth and it was not scary to give them to a child already at six months old.
25. GV.
I’m writing about my experience, and for us it’s exclusively about breastfeeding for up to six months. It's convenient and free. There is no easier way to calm (and put to sleep) a child.
At some point I stopped being shy. Get yourself a nursing cloth and special clothes. Then everything will be simple and without damage to the psyche of others, even in line at Disneyland.
27. Traveling by car is a good time to sleep.
It is a rare child who is able to maintain a good mood in a car seat for a long time. So we try to make all moves happen during sleep. And you need to leave not at the minute when the child should already start sleeping, but about half an hour before. The child will be rocked smoothly until the situation reaches the point of overexposure.
You must understand that when traveling with a child there cannot be any clear plans. With the same chances, you can only manage a third of what you planned, or you can do three times more. Yes, it would be nice to sketch out an approximate route and go on a car trip while you dream. Just don’t be surprised if the child, instead of two hours of sleep, decides that 40 minutes is enough ((%
28. Life is on the move.
I allow the child to move whenever it is appropriate. Let him crawl around the airport before the flight, and not sit in a stroller. There is a boring flight ahead, but now there is an opportunity to get more new impressions. We go to the children's room (all decent airports have one) to see new toys and other children.
We definitely go to the park while walking around the city to crawl on the grass. Let the child explore the world - if he gets dirty or eats sand, it's not scary.
29. Vaccinations.
There is no need to fall for these obscurantist anti-vaccine sentiments. Especially if you are traveling. When a child vomits at night (rotovirus) it is scary. When you are not allowed on a plane because your child has a rash (chickenpox, rubella) - this is not only unpleasant, but also expensive. Even if you travel only to prosperous developed countries, this will not save you from airports, train stations, crowds of tourists, migrant workers, and refugees. Whooping cough and flu are very common in Europe and the USA.
30. Environment.
In general, everyone around us is happy about our baby, most of them tried to help (to let us go forward in line, help with luggage, get into public transport), even if we are the whole family with dad ((: European old ladies constantly grab the baby by the legs and cheeks. And lisp all over the street (: And if “they don’t like us,” then they will never tell us about it. But not in Russia. Here it’s considered normal to get in with your comments, which are very necessary at this moment, yeah. And they can also start doing dirty tricks. If one A flight attendant may be touched by how the child plays wonderfully and does not bother anyone, then another will easily come and forbid him to sit on the floor or walk around the plane, or not give the child a glass of water/juice because he is without a seat and he is not supposed to. ready. And remember that you and your child are traveling and are happy, but they are not happy with their life and are trying to take it out on a weaker and seemingly unprotected person.
31. Is it necessary?
In general, of course, a child at this age doesn’t care about all these new countries and cities. And yes, this is an extra hemorrhoid for parents (: The child feels good where his mother is. And if the mother cannot sit still and feels much better in constant movement and travel, then the child will be better off. I, for example, cannot stand it at home all day (when the weather is bad, for example, and we don’t go for a walk), I just don’t have enough imagination to entertain a restless child. On a trip, I don’t need to invent anything special - the whole world is in front of the child (:
Of course, it is incorrect to compare a traveling child with a child who is not allowed to travel abroad. But I think that such active knowledge of the world has a very positive effect on development. We learned new skills while traveling. As soon as you arrived in a new place, arms and legs were immediately found, the child sat down, began to walk and poke his finger at new objects.
Traveling long distances by car with a child can be somewhat puzzling and worrying for unprepared parents. Especially if the child is very small. Trips can be forced or planned. Most parents, on the eve of a trip, begin to chaotically pack things and equipment for the trip, without even really thinking about their need for the trip. And when a situation arises that requires immediate use of any item of clothing or medication, it is not possible to find it due to the clutter of travel bags and the trunk of the car. In order to provide for everything and ensure a safe trip for yourself and your child, it is advisable to prepare a few days before departure by collecting and packing things according to the list.
What do you usually take on the road with your baby?
If you are traveling by car with an infant, parents will have to do a lot of work the day before. Of course, a very important aspect for any trip involving small children is the seasonal factor. Sweltering heat in summer and very low temperatures in winter, accompanied by icy winds or snow and rain, always put the baby's health at high risk.
Parents prepare appropriate shoes, clothes, food, and toys for the child on the road. Each family decides individually what to take on a trip in the car with a child. Much depends on the characteristics of the baby, the changeability of the weather, and the length of the journey.
Shoes. Shoes on the road should be comfortable. It is advisable to take replacement shoes. If the journey is quite long, the baby will definitely sleep. When sleeping, the child takes off his shoes so that his feet can rest. In the summer, open leather sandals are ideal for the car. You can even remove the clasps to keep your feet comfortable. You can change into light flip-flops or flip-flops. It is necessary to ensure that the leg does not sweat.
If the trip is carried out in winter, the mother should take care of winter shoes and replacement demi-season shoes. Usually in the winter, the driver turns on additional heating means in the car, which create fairly comfortable conditions, close to a home environment. Shoes with fur will contribute to increased sweating of the feet and ankles. Sitting in wet socks will be very unpleasant. You can take demi-season shoes for a “shift.”
You definitely need to think about underwear for your feet. If your baby travels in socks, they should be made of natural fabrics to avoid increased sweating and irritation of the delicate skin of the feet. In winter, you should also wear socks made of plain fabric, and on top, if it’s cool in the car, you can wear woolen ones. It is not recommended to wear a wool sock on a naked body; the wool will cause itching and profuse sweating.
Cloth. In summer, clothing should be made from natural fabrics. A child dressed out of season, and even in synthetic clothes, will simply “boil” in the car. If the car has a built-in air conditioner, then clothing should cover the neck, lower back and shoulders. The most sweaty places are the neck, back, lower back and legs. Being properly dressed, the child will not get sick.
In the case when the car is ventilated naturally with the windows open, the baby should be protected from direct drafts. However, everyone knows that in hot weather, by closing the window and thus stopping the air movement, the body immediately reacts to the heat - increased sweating begins. Underwear quickly becomes saturated with sweat, and a newly opened window leads to an inevitable cold. Parents when traveling by car with children need to take this problem seriously. The child should sit on the side where the window is closed, both on the back door and on the front door.
If clothes are wet, the child should be changed. When removing wet clothes, it is advisable to wipe your sweaty body with a damp antibacterial wipe, and then put on fresh clothes.
If a child absorbs a lot of fluids on the road, frequent increased sweating and the urge to go to the potty cannot be avoided.
In winter, traveling in a car may seem even more comfortable than in summer. It is advisable to remove outer clothing if it is a fur-lined jacket or bologna fabric with insulation. The baby can sit in the car in a warm sweater or overalls. Parents should monitor the temperature in the cabin.
If possible, it is advisable to take a large amount of water on your trip. A child who is potty trained will not be able to go to the toilet while seated. After which the pot will need to be rinsed with water. A large plastic canister with a capacity of up to 10 liters is well suited for this.
Hygiene issues
The topic of hygiene usually occupies a very important place when traveling by car with children. The child is constantly in contact with surfaces in the cabin, often asks for something to snack on, but this cannot be done with dirty hands.
Always have wet antibacterial wipes on hand. A small towel made of natural fabric will also be very useful. When you stop, you can take your child outside and wash his hands.
The mother must understand that when going to bed, the baby should lie on a clean bedding. You can take your favorite pillow with you on the road. The pillowcase should not come into contact with interior surfaces, fall on the floor, or simply lie on the seat. The ideal conditions would be a clean sheet on the back seat and a pillow at the head of the bed. When the child sleeps and starts to be awake, the bed needs to be removed.
Food taken with you on the road should not be perishable. Fruits should be washed at home before traveling, dried and placed in containers intended for transportation. It is not advisable to use cellophane bags, which are often used for this.
Very young children should be accompanied by a bib on the road. Having eaten while the car is running, the baby will keep his underwear clean. If your clothes are soiled with food, you need to change clothes. For this purpose, several sets of replacement T-shirts, shorts, and socks will not be superfluous.
Toys
On the road, your favorite toys will help keep your baby occupied and amused. You should not collect a large number of dolls, cars, soft toys. It is enough to take two or three favorite toys. Children often like to fall asleep with a large soft toy at home. You should not deprive your child of this pleasure while traveling. Let your beloved bear lie nearby.
For older children, you can take something educational, however, you should take into account the increased mobility of any objects while the car is moving and maneuvering. Toys should not fly around the cabin, upsetting the baby and unnerving the driver.
If the child already knows how to draw, then the ideal companion for him will be “coloring books” that can be filled in with felt-tip pens.
Modern tablets will allow you to listen to an audiobook or watch a cartoon on the road, which will make your trip special.
Traveling with a baby by car
Traveling by car with a baby and a child who has just turned one year old requires great responsibility.
Previously, Sergei and I often heard: “Of course, it’s good for you, but then, when we have children”... and then blah blah blah, a bunch of different arguments why after the birth of a child we are no longer destined to leave the house.
This day came, Sofia appeared, and we were naturally worried about when we would be able to resume trips and how everything would be now.
I found out about the minimum age for children to travel and it turned out that most airlines take on board passengers older than 7 days.
I also wanted to listen to the opinion of pediatricians. They almost unanimously repeat - from three months.
Starting from the age of one month, we went with Sofia every month or two. Our first big trip began when she was three months old - we went to Thailand.
In this article I will write the features of our trips depending on the age of the child. Perhaps this will help someone decide when they can start traveling with their baby.
Traveling with a child under one year old causes the most fears and doubts. Especially with grandmothers. But this is probably the easiest childhood age for travel.
This is especially true for babies under six months old. The child sleeps a lot, for now he only needs his parents for entertainment; if the baby is breastfed, then everything is completely simple. Children from six months to one year are also good companions, at least while they are accommodating.
Of course, traveling with a one-month-old baby and with a one-year-old are two very different things. Therefore, further about the experience of our trips by month.
Traveling with a one-month-old baby
At this age, we were only able to travel with Sofia by car. But often children at this age fly on an airplane.
These are probably the most trouble-free passengers - they mostly sleep. Babywearing and breastfeeding make these trips ideal.
Although, of course, in hindsight everything seems much simpler than at the moment when you are just about to go somewhere more or less far away with your child for the first time.
It’s difficult even purely psychologically, especially if you have to fly. Here you’re still not quite used to being a mom and dad, and suddenly you go out with your baby almost into outer space - a taxi, an airport with a bunch of people, then a plane, hotels. Viruses, people sneezing and unsanitary conditions are everywhere.
I can reassure you: it will seem like this at three months, and at six months, and at nine months. Gradually you get used to it and relax a little, but the first time is always difficult.
As for the car, it’s easier here. You are alone in it, no one around is sneezing or coughing. But a car means choosing the right car seat.
If you plan to move long distances and especially if the child is small, it is better to use a cradle car seat at one month of age. This chair is very similar to a stroller cradle, but it is fixed in the car, and inside this cradle the child lies horizontally, secured with seat belts.
And on the road, there is a very big temptation to take the child in your arms while driving. Particularly because at the age of one month, breastfeeding children eat for a very long time, sometimes for 40 minutes, until lactation is established. Moreover, at this time the child is a quiet and comfortable passenger.
In theory, you need to stop for this time. Both for safety reasons, and so that later such a problem as the need to accustom the child to a car seat does not arise. In theory, yes.
Traveling with a 3 month old baby
At three months old, Sofia flew on a plane for the first time; it took us almost 12 hours to get to Asia with transfers.
As a result, this trip was easier than 600 km. by car in 1 month. The plane vibrates much less and does not shake as much as a car, which makes the child much more comfortable.
There was nothing difficult about this flight. We decided to fly at night and, as hoped, Sofia slept most of the way.
The most difficult question here, again, is what to carry the child in, because not all airlines provide a special cradle for newborns on board.
S7, which we flew to Hong Kong, does not provide a bassinet, but allows you to take a carrier on board. In any civilized world, a carrier that just sits on a parent’s lap for the entire flight is savagery.
From Hong Kong to Kuala Lumpur we flew like human beings, with this very cradle. Of course, this is easier, the child does not need to be held in your arms all the time, but we flew during the day and Sofia did not sleep most of the way.
In my opinion, the ideal flight at this age looks like this: a short flight, lasting up to 4 hours, should be during the day; if you need to fly for a long time (7-8 hours), then it is better to fly at night. And if at night, then with the cradle provided by the airline.
Many people are afraid of acclimatization. If Sofia had one (we moved from autumn Russia to Thailand), we didn’t notice. In October, Krabi was still cloudy and rainy, with temperatures around 30.
I don’t understand... Getting to know the still gloomy sea.
Since such young children overheat quickly, air conditioning is key when moving to the tropics. Of course, you don’t need to turn it up to full blast, as Asians like to do, so in a taxi it makes sense to ask to turn it down if it’s cold.
But we definitely wouldn’t live in a room with a fan, as we lived before, with such a small child. Heat rash on the skin is just one of the troubles caused by overheating.
Many people believe that traveling with children of this age is solely a whim of the parents and even, in a sense, selfishness, because the baby is not able to see, appreciate and remember anything.
From my own experience I can confidently say that this is not so. Here in the photo is an absolutely happy three-month-old Sofia, who rejoiced every time she saw banana leaves in the hotel garden and heard cicadas.
When traveling, in favorable conditions, next to parents who feel good, the baby will definitely feel good.
Even at three months, we traveled with the child by car several times, 200-300 kilometers a day, once 700. To make the child less worried on the road, the key here, again, is to have a good car seat that dampens vibration at least a little.
We arrived in Thailand unprepared and did not know that buying a car seat in Krabi would not be easy. Therefore, for the first time we went from Krabi to Phuket with a regular carrier. If you are going to Asia, then remember that
Traveling with a 4 month old baby
At this age, we traveled from Thai Krabi to the island of Lanta and to Malaysia, to Penang. We covered a decent distance per day—500 kilometers. We already had a car seat then (the only option we could buy in Krabi).
The trip “there” was remembered as difficult. Sofia was worried and periodically began to cry. The worst part was that we couldn't understand why.
This is understandable, when everything around changes and it is not possible to more or less strictly adhere to the daily routine, it is sometimes difficult to understand the reason for the child’s discomfort. Hot? Cold? Wants to sleep? Eat? Tired? Too loud? Wet diaper?
During that trip we made a bunch of conclusions that I wrote. All subsequent trips we stuck to them and it was no longer as difficult as the first time.
On the way from Lanta. On a ferryboat.
The main thing is to stop at least once every two hours and stop immediately if the child is clearly tired and very worried.
Many people write that traveling with a very small child is extremely easy, but it seems to me that at that age they either didn’t travel or forgot everything.
In any case, I can say that now that Sofia is one year and two months old, it is much easier for us to travel far by car than at 3-4 months. Of course, she is curious about everything and does not sit still, this is a separate problem at this age, but driving with an incomprehensibly-crying-child is also not very fun.
Dad: it was still worth coming here! Sofia: sometimes you have to see the sights like this while sleeping. On Panang.
Traveling with a 5 month old baby
Gradually, the child becomes interested in everything around him, regardless of whether it is a fire hydrant or a beautiful flower on a tree.
During this period, I personally began to feel guilty that we were taking a helpless little bag to God knows where. On the contrary, the thought that “all this is not in vain” began to strengthen every day.
When a child looks at some tropical tree in admiration - “beautiful tree!” or seriously looking at the sunset straight from the sea, all doubts disappear.
Traveling with a 6 month old baby
At six months we drove the car as before, sometimes for a long time. We didn’t draw any special conclusions for ourselves during this period.
Traveling with a 9 month old baby
In nine months we had three flights. Of course, flying at this age is not the same as flying at three. In addition to the increased activity of the child, we are faced with the fact that most children at this age experience a period of distrust or fear of strangers.
This fear manifests itself in 8 out of 10 children when a stranger comes too close - the child may become nervous and cry.
On a plane, strangers are like olives in a jar. And we managed to notice a pattern: if the third seat next to us is free, then the flight is much easier and calmer.
The period of distrust passed for Sofia within a year. Now, on the contrary, she wants to communicate with everyone, especially with children, but adults are also suitable. So this is purely age-related and passes without a trace.
But if you find yourself on a plane, bus, etc. during this period, and you see empty seats, but not next to you, ask the flight attendant to change the person - everyone, including the surrounding passengers, will only be calmer from this.
Traveling with a one-year-old child
After a year, a child becomes nimble and curious. And also sociable. This has its pros and cons.
You need to walk a lot with your child and show him everything, but time flies faster on the road. The child is more willing to communicate with strangers, which means that you can find a nanny right on the plane, for example, in the next seat. And sometimes this comes in handy.
After a year, the child sleeps less, and most often during the day he has only one nap, two or three hours. A backpack or sling is no longer very suitable for sleeping - you need a crib or, at worst, a stroller. So all excursions and movements have to be planned taking into account this daytime sleep.
But at this age, children admire literally everything new. Cows in the village, soap in the hotel - it doesn’t matter, there can be any reason for joy. Trains, trams, beaches and picnics are all great and fun.
And looking at the world through the eyes of a child, you see for yourself that the world is nothing at all. You look at some even completely familiar things in a new way.
And children at this age absorb everything like a sponge (remember the wonderful book “After Three It’s Too Late”?). It seems to me that when you start traveling with a child at this age, you get a chance to raise a real cosmopolitan.
Pros of traveling with infants
First of all, when traveling with a baby, you still have relatively little control over your freedom. The baby does not yet have his own opinion on where to go and what to do.
People with small children go to the mountains (not extreme, of course) and to museums. Such freedom will no longer exist for long. But when planning a trip with a baby, you shouldn’t develop an overly active program either.
Secondly, by starting to ride early, you are guaranteed to adjust and adapt to the moment when the child grows up and riding becomes more difficult.
Thirdly, you will look at the world in a new way, because by the time children are one year old, absolutely everything seems wonderful.
Fourth, traveling is still inexpensive because a child under two does not need a separate plane ticket.
I think that while traveling with young children can sometimes be difficult for parents, there is actually a lot of positivity and fun in it.
Today's world offers us millions of opportunities every day. We are used to being mobile: for work we go on business trips to all corners of the world, for corporate events we go to warm places, on vacation we go to exotic countries and travel around the world.
When a child appears in a family, the question arises: is this really the end of our free and bright life? And now, instead of new impressions, we are doomed to walk in circles twenty meters from our own home? Or maybe it’s too early to call it a day, and the birth of a new person is just the beginning of our incredible lifelong adventure?
Today, there are two radically opposing opinions about whether it is worth taking a child on trips from infancy. Each of these points of view has its pros and cons, and the final decision, of course, can only be made by the young parents themselves.
Proponents of traveling from infancy argue that a healthy and happy child can only be from healthy and happy parents, and parents’ happiness lies in an active lifestyle. You can name the following arguments in defense of traveling with a newborn:
1. Traveling will not harm your baby’s health. Indeed, a child’s body is strong enough to cope with adaptation to a new climate. As for crowded places (trains, planes, hotels), it is quite simple to protect a child from infections: the mother’s body quickly produces all the necessary antibodies, therefore, if you put aside shyness and breastfeed the child, going into a new room, you can protect the child from possible diseases ).
2. Traveling with a newborn does not pose any particular inconvenience for parents. Nowadays, a huge number of different useful things have been invented to care for a baby in any environment - disposable diapers will eliminate the inconvenience of constant swaddling and washing; wet wipes can replace bathing if necessary; A huge number of convenient devices have been invented for carrying a child. If the mother has enough milk, then there will be no problems with feeding: you don’t need to carry anything special with you, your breasts are always with you. In addition, lately doctors have been inclined to believe that there is no need to boil and iron all baby items, which means caring for a newborn is not difficult. In addition, as practice shows, the child tolerates the new environment quite calmly, and in noisy rest areas most often falls asleep well, to the delight of the parents.
However, there is another point of view. In general terms, it can be expressed in the following words: a child is not a suitcase, and before taking him with you, you should think about how much this trip meets the needs of the child himself. Indeed, if trips with the mother do not cause physiological harm to the baby, then psychologically they turn out to be serious stress for him. By the way, this is why children fall asleep so well in noisy and crowded places: the child’s psyche cannot cope with such a quantity and intensity of new impressions, and the only method of protection available to a child under one year old is sleep.
Of course, we cannot be sure exactly how a child’s psyche develops from birth to one year - we can only guess with greater or lesser probability. However, according to one of the most widespread and well-founded versions today, at birth a child finds himself in a continuous, continuous stream of sensations - spots of color, smells and noises. An adult sees a house, a tree or a person; for a newborn these are strange spots of different colors and sizes; we hear speech, barking, music, but the child hears noises of varying volumes. Over time, very gradually, from the general stream of sensations, the child begins to single out individual objects - mother’s face, mother’s voice, crib, cup, toy, etc.; in the same way, the room in which he lives gradually begins to emerge around him - first a crib, then part of a room, a whole room, and so on.
So, if one day you take your child and board a train, then most of his painstakingly built world is destroyed, leaving only his mother’s face and his favorite toy. The baby needs to rebuild his reality; but on a trip there is too little time for this, too often new sensations give way to one another. This is a huge stress for a newborn. If physiologically he is able to adapt to a new temperature regime or air composition, then psychologically everything is much more complicated. After all, for him the concept of time does not yet exist, he does not know that he will return to the familiar world in a week - he simply sees that his familiar world is destroyed, destroyed; The baby is experiencing his own little end of the world. And one more thing: a newborn child does not yet distinguish himself from the surrounding space, he has not yet formed a perception of his own Self; That’s why the destruction of a child’s world is so painful for him.
The results are not long in coming: stress from a change of environment causes the child to take a step back in his mental development (and sometimes physiologically: for example, children often noticeably lose weight after traveling). In a newborn, this is not as noticeable as at a later age; but, most likely, if the trip coincided with the very beginning of the child mastering some new action - for example, when the baby first rolled over from his back to his tummy, or just started sitting or crawling - this action will not be fixed, and he will have to learn again after the baby adapts to an unfamiliar environment. Thus, the more trips a newborn has in his life, the slower his mental development occurs, and the more stress he has to overcome.
Psychologists consider the age after which a child is ready to travel to be 3 years old - the period when the child’s “I” has already been formed, and the baby himself has begun to speak well. This is the age when a child’s world does not collapse from a change of place, and you can already clearly explain to him that “now we are going to grandma, and in a week we will return here.”
Of course, all these pros and cons are not a verdict. Each child is individual, each family situation is unique, and each family must independently make the decision that is right for them. But it is important that when making this decision, young parents carefully weigh all the pros and cons, advantages and risks.
Pediatricians argue that for a fragile organism (at least during the first six months of life), the road itself, and then adaptation to new climatic conditions, increase the likelihood of various diseases. In contrast to this opinion, there is another thing - there is no need to be afraid of traveling for the purpose of health improvement. Clean mountain or sea air can be an excellent soil for the formation of good immunity in a baby. In addition, sometimes circumstances develop in a certain way, and parents are forced to transport their baby from one region to another.
Young parents need to be aware that traveling with a child at a very young age is fraught with health problems because:
- the child’s immune system is at the stage of formation, and along with it at the stage of development are the sweat and sebaceous glands, the gastrointestinal tract and other body systems;
- this is the likelihood of contact with a huge number of strangers who are extremely rarely completely healthy (at airports, railway stations or hotels);
- the same places of mass crowds are places where huge numbers of pathogenic microorganisms accumulate, to which the baby has not developed resistance (remember the advisability of vaccination at this stage of development);
- many airlines adapt their services to the needs of young mothers (for example, flying a baby older than seven days), but in any case, this is stress for the child, which should not be allowed without unnecessary need and preparation;
- Traveling with a baby on a train is also not the best option - the conditions are far from sanitary standards, the constant sound of wheels, and the travel time.
The best option for traveling with a baby in your arms is a car trip. It allows you to fully complete the set of a “young mother” and transport your baby over a long distance as successfully as it could be done when traveling to the outskirts of your hometown.
When planning a trip with your baby, be sure to visit your pediatrician and consult with him about the advisability of such a trip. You can only take a healthy child on the road; travel should not become an obstacle to routine vaccination. At this stage, it is necessary to promote the formation of strong immunity in the baby.
What do you need to take care of when packing your baby for a road trip?
Safety. Many people are afraid of air travel, and others would not dare to cross the ocean on an airplane; however, according to statistics, car trips are the most dangerous for life. Accidents happen every hour and every minute, the mortality rate in them breaks all records, and a baby’s chances of survival if he gets into a car accident are close to zero if the car is not equipped with a special place for the baby. Mothers try not to let go of their little ones, but they may manage to sit in the front seat - this is a huge risk! What representatives of traffic inspectors and pediatricians insist on is a car seat for a baby as a necessary accessory for car-loving parents. An alternative to reliable child car seats, which are attached to the back seat and secure the baby with straps, are portable infant carriers for newborns. Such cradles are usually the basis of the stroller, which are unfastened from the wheels and attached to the back seat. Without this accessory, it is strictly forbidden to not only transport the baby over long distances, but also simply transport it in a car within the city.
Entertainment. If you are planning a trip lasting several hours or more, make sure that your baby does not get bored along the way. While an adult may be attracted by the scenery outside the window or a conversation with the driver, a child may become nervous and capricious from idleness. Take with you on the road a few of your child’s favorite rattles, diversify the assortment with something new. Various bright and shiny objects, plastic, soft, rubber toys, musical toys and rattles - all this will captivate the awake child.
Food and baby care products. The number and assortment of basic “children’s” necessities depend on the duration of the journey itself and the time the child spends outside his home. However, a young mother’s bag must include:
- baby formula, if the baby is bottle-fed, a feeding bottle;
- a small amount of puree and similar baby food if the baby is already a little older (but it is not recommended to take a huge assortment of food with you; all this can be bought at your destination);
- plastic breastfeeding bib;
- a change of clothes (consider whether you will have the opportunity to do frequent laundry);
- water bottle, drinking bowl;
- if your baby sleeps in a separate crib, make sure that one is present at your destination or place yours in the trunk;
- children's blanket and towel;
- diaper rash cream, baby sunscreen (with SPF factor over 25), packaging of diapers, bags for used diapers (for the time of travel);
- baby paracetamol, anti-colic medicine, nasal drops based on sea water, pain-relieving gel for gums (if the baby has already started teething).
Upon arrival at the place. If you are planning a vacation with a newborn, make sure that the hotel where you are staying provides you with a sleeping place for the baby, that there is a kindergarten or animators, and staff to work with babies. Choose family-type hotels in places far from noisy entertainment venues. It is necessary to ensure that the child does not suffer from aggressive solar radiation - do not expose the child to the sun during the period of greatest activity (from 11 am to 4 pm), the rest of the time use sunscreen.
For vacation, choose countries and regions where the climate is not radically different from what your child is already accustomed to. It is strongly not recommended to visit exotic countries, islands of Asia, Africa, and Latin America with young children.
