Recently our family went on vacation to Hawaii...with a 3 month old. Your thoughts right now are exactly what probably went through my mind ten thousand times too. I had read through many blogs, watched many youtube videos all to prepare me on what to bring. Although these all were extremely helpful, I learned a few things myself and felt it was my duty to share with you.
So here it is...
10 things I learned from experience:
1.
Burp Cloths: You can never pack enough. (especially if you have a spit up baby like we do!) They get super smelly so see #2.
2.
Pack Woolite or some other type of hand wash detergent. This way you can do baby laundry in your hotel tub or sink and not pay an arm and a leg for the hotel to do your laundry. Also check to see if your hotel has washer and dryers guests can use. Sometimes this isn't something that is mentioned or made a priority!!
3.
Bring dish wash soap and your bottle brush to wash your breast pump pieces. I had bought the Madela steam bags thinking I could just pop them in there and clean them that way. Total failure. The first hotel didn't have a microwave and the instructions tell you to wash with soap and water first. ...so what's the point of them again, right? Dish wash soap and a bottle brush would have also been helpful to wash the pacifiers and toys that fell on the ground numerous times.
4.
Co-Sleep. It's vacation! If you are comfortable with co-sleeping, do it!! You will sleep so much better, your baby will sleep so much better and you will enjoy your vacation. That said, you might have a baby who sleeps through the night. Lucky you. :)
5.
Pumping might be harder than at home. Don't expect to be able to pump as much as you normally do. My body was off and I might have been stressed every time I tried to pump. This didn't allow for me to maximize on relaxing by the pool or beach because I was having to worry about the next feeding. Who wants to go through the trouble of putting sunscreen on to then have to come in 30 minutes later to shower to be able to breastfeed?
6.
Feeding: If breastfeeding, use a thin blanket as your cover rather than one of those thick apron feeding covers. I can say I became a pro-breast feeder in public on this trip. Aidan and Anais blankets saved me. They are so much more versatile, they're thin and were easy to pack.
7.
Choosing seats on the plane: When choosing seats on a plane, go for the window and middle seats rather than an aisle seat. This way your husband is the only one next to you when breastfeeding and you have both arm rests. Only downside to this would be when you have to change the baby. Kate slept pretty much the WHOLE plan ride so we didn't end up getting out of our seat much. In the end I would have preferred window seat and made the aisle person get up. The other side to this would be if you were bottle feeding. If that was the case, I would have chosen the middle and aisle seat. All depends on your situation.
8.
Go braless. If you will be nursing on the plane, wear something you can easily breastfeed in. I wore a nursing cami, a cute green cardigan,
no bra but yes to nursing pads. I didn't want to have to worry about all the different layers. This made it so easy to just pull down and nurse. My nursing cami had a built it bra layer that helped the nursing pads stay put. One thing I would do for next time is to have this type of outfit for each way on the plane.
9.
Pack in 2 suitcases. That is, you and your hubby pack in one and pack your baby in another. Two suitcases for the 3 of you. It made life so much easier not having an extra suitcase to lug around. You probably will even have extra room in the babies suitcase anyways. Now, ask me next time we go somewhere cold and the clothes take up twice the room, it might not be able to happen. Thankfully summer clothes are smaller, lighter and easier to pack.
10.
Don't stress out. The worst thing you can do is to stress out going through security, getting settled on the plane, etc. Take your time, don't care what others are thinking and be confident. They can wait. Your life will be 10 times better if you don't stress.
10 things I learned from online research:
1.
Baggies: Pack everything in baggies (quart size, gallon size, you name it!) It was so helpful to just pull out a baggie with an outfit. It also was nice to have them to store soiled clothes and burp cloths in so they wouldn't touch clean things.
2.
Bring the sound machine (if you use one) ... they usually aren't very big and they make your hotel room seem more like the babies room. We love our HoMedics SoundSpa.
3.
Pack more clothes than you need. Baby cloths take up hardly any room. Pack at least 2 outfits per day. One cute one and one onesie to wear. Then add PJs.
4.
Don't forget your swaddle! Pack everything that you normally use in your daily routine and don't forget the little things like your swaddle.
5.
Buy a car seat carrier gate check bag. This prevents it from getting all dirty and nasty! If your vacation was like ours, your baby will live in their car seat and you'll want it to be clean.
6.
Gate check your car seat AND stroller. No need to check it with your other bags. You'll want it while wandering through the airport.
7.
Bring a few of their favorite toys as distractions. We packed her bunny (which also served as a blanket on the plane! Score!), her Sophie, her hanging zebra from her play mat and OBall.
8.
Nurse or feed during all take off and landings...and DON'T start until you are actually going down the runway or descending. The whole point is to help their little ears from popping. How awful would it be for them to finish prior to.
9.
Pack enough diapers and wipes for your travel days (plus some extras). This obviously depends on your destination and the convenience of buying diapers once you arrive. If traveling within the 48 contingent states, look into Amazon Mom or Diapers.com and have them sent to your destination prior to arrival. I was planning on doing this, but because Hawaii is not within the 48 contingent states it was going to take longer than I had for them to arrive. Rats! I wish I had known that earlier or I would have purchased them and had them sent earlier.
10.
Diaper bag within a diaper bag. In your normal diaper bag, pack a gallon size baggie with a few diapers, travel wipes and an extra outfit. Stick this in the plane seat pocket for easy access when you need to change them. That way you aren't lugging a huge diaper bag to and from the airplane bathroom. They aren't very big ya know... :)
My packing list for Kate and myself is soon to come. ...stay tuned.
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