Travel Tips For Babies

Traveling with kids is hard. It's even more hard when you are traveling with a baby.

I used to get so stressed out when I went places. Now I just think, I can always go shopping when I get to my destination. That thought process really helped me.

Travel tips:

Somethings you just can't buy in the store. Like a child's favorite blanket, forgetting a mom's breast pump would be a pricy thing to pick up at the store. I've gotten in the habit of replaying my day and packing to go with that.

I make a list of everything I might forget about.

If you are driving plan on stopping often. Your baby may sleep the entire time. Other times your child could be very needy/cry the entire time. If you prepare to stop often, you won't get disappointed if you end up having to. Remember babies love to be held. Don't drive around and hold them. They need to be in a car seat. This is why you may need to stop often.

If you are pumping and your pump has the ability to be battery operated, bring many batteries. Have a mini cooler to store breast milk. Check with your hotel ahead of time to make sure they have a refrigerator in the room. 

Have extra clothes and diapers handy.

Here are some helpful travel items for baby:

Baby MEDBASICS

The first thing that I think is a travel must is Baby MEDBASICS. It's a helpful travel pack that is portable and is filled with infant emergencies. Not everyone know what to do if a baby chokes, has a seizure, spikes a fever. It's best to call 911. Sometimes you don't have time for that and have to act fast.

 

Color-coded tabs helps identify different topics.

Included topics are: Choking, CPR, Fever, Bleeding, Burns and Poison.

It's spiral bound and pages are coated.

Easy to follow and detailed illustrations.

A page for your emergency contact information. Your child's allergies could be included in this section.

Dimensions: 5" x 6 1/4".

Comes in 3 different colors. 

It is $25.

I could have used this a few times when my kids were little. 

1. My youngest son Isaak spiked a fever with meningitis. Thankfully the on call nurse was very helpful and quick. Not all doctors have on call nurses. 
2. It would have been helpful to store all the boy's doctors and their phone numbers in. 
3. My oldest son Mica was allergic to penicillin. He was on home IV antibiotics to get rid of a staph infection. All the sudden my 7 month old was covered in hives. I was on the phone to home health right away. They contacted Mica's doctor and told me what to do. It's information like this that can and should stay with a parent all the time. That's where this book would have been handy.

MyLittleSeat Compact Fabric Travel High Chair 

This product called MyLittleSeat Compact Fabric Travel High Chair is for a little older baby.

 

I think it's so cute! It stays compact. It's a high chair that folds down to the size of a diaper! It has it's own matching bag.

Dimensions: 5" x 6 1/4".

Comes in 3 different colors.

For babies who can sit up with no help (6 months to 30 months).

Fits many chairs. 

Made to go to visit places that do not have children.

Comes in 6 different patterns.

Attaches to a diaper bag, suitcase or stroller with a clip. 

It is $29.99.

Do You Ever Feel Like Yelling?

I do. I have to say that I don't as much as my mom did. Maybe as generation go by, we'll work our way down to minimal yelling! I'm a minimal yeller. Meaning, I don't do it that often.

Yelling in a fit of rage is not good for anyone. Especially for a baby to hear! How do you, or I overcome the urge to yell?

  

Here are 10 tips that have helped with our family (not that we're perfect): 

1. When you want your older kids to get something done, whisper. Whispering is sacred to kids, they love a secret, so they are more apt to do what you want them to do.
2. Play music when it's time to get household tasks accomplished. Kid's get really into listening to music. When it's playing, it lifts the spirit a little more. It makes the dreaded task much more fun. Try and see how much a kid can do before a song finishes up.
3. Set the timer. This works for kids older then age 5. They may not know how to tell time yet; they do know when something starts it has to finish. If you show them a timer, and explain how it works they will be more motivated to get the job done in a timely fashion.
4. Clean with your kids. Sometimes tasks are HUGE in a child's eyes. They need a little help.
5. Break up. Have one parent do one task, while the other does something else with the kids. Then you feel like you get something done.
6. Take a timeout yourself. Sometimes even parents need one!
7. Praise your kids for doing things right. Then they won't feed off of negative behavior.
8. I know some people are very anti counting, but if it works for you do it! We do.
9. Give one instruction at a time. My oldest really needs this break down! He is single task minded.
10. If you feel like yelling, you still can. It's not that you yell, it's that you are directing your anger out on your children. Have a yelling match just for fun. The kids will think this is fun. They won't think you are yelling at them. **Don't do this one around a baby. They won't enjoy it. Go outside and yell!

According to Adults and Children Together Against Violence:

Too much yelling can be counter productive. Over yelling can be just as harmful as physical abuse. “Children can become immune to being yelled at and start to tune it out,” according to psychologist Myrna B. Shure, Ph.D., of Drexel University.

My Top Ten Tips for New Mom's and Dad's

1. Sleep when your baby is napping. You may feel like you get enough sleep/or not. The truth is, is that you get a lot of interrupted sleep at night. The deep sleep that you used to getting is not there. You need extra sleep at your baby's nap time.
2. Don't push solid foods too fast. Wait until your baby shows signs like smacking their lips and following your food with their eyes. Food allergies are on a high more then ever, so it's important to hold off. I know it's tempting to see their reaction to new foods, but you will get to see that soon enough. Follow food timelines for when to feed what to your baby. There are websites and books that strictly abide by food timelines.
3. Try to use organic, or make your own lotions, shampoos, wipes, cloth diapers, laundry detergent and so on for your baby. Just like food allergies are high, so are skin ones. Why? Because of the chemicals in them. Your baby's skin is sensitive, treat it as such. 
4. Use a binki to soothe them to sleep. When babies are young, binki's are known to help reduce SIDS. Wash it often.
5. Throw the binki away! I know it's the opposite of number 4. When your older baby is throwing their binki out of the crib on purpose because it's fun; it's time to dispose of it. If you wait to break the binki habit, it will harder to deal with.
6. Put your baby Back to Sleep! Back to Sleep again reduces the risk of SIDS. I know experts have changed their mind about this time and time again. Think of it this way, if your baby spits up in their sleep while on their tummy they can drown in their own spit up. They can also suffocate with bumper pads and thick blankets. When they are old enough to roll over, let them.
7. Give your baby tummy time. Again the opposite of number 6. If you are around your child, tummy time is important. They develop muscles that they wouldn't develop otherwise to hold their head up, roll over and crawl. You don't want them to hate being on their tummy. A great way to give your child tummy time is to prop them up on a Boppy.
8. Hold your baby. Babies need love. You can't spoil a baby. They long for that affection. A baby would never be able to survive on their own in nature. They need their mom and dad.
9. If you want to breastfeed invest is a good pump and stick with it. Buying a cheep pump will discourage extended breastfeeding. Breastfeeding is one thing that gets easier with time. Babies later on nurse for longer periods of time and are more skilled at it. With that in mind, breastfeeding is not for everyone. I do not have this blog to bash anyone who chooses to formula feed. There are many benefits to breastfeeding that outweigh formula feeding. That doesn't mean that if you formula feed, your child is going to get tons of ear infections, be overweight and stupid when they grow up! That's just silly thinking! Everyone has a right to do what's best for them. Breast was best for me. It may or may not be for you.
10. Read and sing to your baby. They just love the sound of your voice. They appreciate books more if you start out early. Begin with cloth books, books that they can chew on.

Bath Tips

Tip Number 1:

We have a lot of bath time toys. With my first child I never really knew how to wash them. Now I take the plastic toys out, put them in a medium sized net laundry bag and wash them in the top rack of the dishwasher.

With the fabric ones I put them in a small sized net laundry bag and wash them in the wash machine with towels.

This way they get clean, but not lost!

Tip Number 2:

My youngest likes to drink bath water from his tug boat bath toy. Gross I know. It is a common trait that you can read about here.

You can A) Pick your battles. Let's just face it, as a parent we can't fight with our kids about everything. Experts say that you shouldn't encourage this behavior, but it's not going to hurt your child in a really bad way. Soapy water may give them a tummy ache. Germs however are everywhere. Kids are exposed to them on a daily basis.

You can B) Take them out of the tub to go get a drink of water. If your child is like mine, they will hate getting out of the tub because it's cold. The kitchen is after all the place for drinking. I tried this, but I found that it didn't just punish my child, but it also punished me. It was a pain in the drain!

You can do what I do C) Get a glass of water prior to bath time. Have them drink and go potty before bath. Maybe put a glass of kitchen water on back edge of the tub. If you see them drinking from a bath toy, have them drink from their glass instead. If they choose to drink from their toy after you have warned them not to, in my house they loose the toy.

Tip Number 3:

Get creative with your toys. Just like kitchen pans can be used as drums, so can other things in the bath.

Get a sponge and a small bucket. Why you might ask? My husband took my oldest to visit a Montessori School {Just to check it out}. They said that in order to build hand eye coordination squeezing a sponge builds the muscles in the hand. Then they can do things like cut and draw easier. They have fun messing with a sponge. Using scissors in the beginning can be frustrating for the child because they don't have the muscle coordination and it's a skill that's yet to be refined.

Throw a plastic pitcher and plastic cup in the tub. This too was a Montessori School tip. They were having 2 and 3 year old kids pour from a pitcher into a glass outside the tub. Guess what? None of them were missing. My husband couldn't believe it! To learn how to pour have them practice in the tub; where messes are ok! This too builds hand eye coordination.

Other ideas: Funnels would be fun! Plastic measuring cups could be a lesson about full and 1/2 full. I could see my kids playing with a Turkey Baster in the bath tub and loving it! This totally pushes creative play and again increases hand eye coordination.

A Giveaway:

  

EcoMom is giving away a $40 gift card at My Wee View. You can win it, and spend it on bath stuff {the stuff shown above is from EcoMom} or you can use it on whatever else you want! 

EcoMom also has a special 15% gift code that you can use: SBBL104.