Ho Ho Ho
December 26, 2009 | Bits and Bobs, Travel, We Are Family
Hey Friends! I have a few minutes before Christmas Round Two begins, so I thought I’d pop in here and say howdy. The inlaws are on their way from Eastern Washington as we speak. I am reserving commentary. None of them know about this blog, nor are they web savvy enough to find it, let’s just say that it’s the holiday season and I’m feeling charitable.
Did Santa bring you all nice things? My favorite gifts were photography related, of course. I got this which will allow me to take dreamy looking old timey photos with my camera, and this spy lens, which will allow me to take pictures of people who don’t want to be photographed. HA! I’m actually most excited to use it for taking pictures of strangers on the street.
The main reason I came here today was to ask the advice of the seasoned mothers among you. In 3 days we will be leaving for NEW YORK CITY. Woot! (Long time readers will remember previous New Year’s trips, found here and here) We didn’t go last year because Clark was brand new, but we’re resuming our tradition! The fabulous friends we visit there have a kid now, too, so instead of a glamorous Manhattan New Year’s Eve, we will be celebrating in a rented cabin Upstate. We are so excited! HOWEVER, this little jaunt requares a long ass plane ride with our increasing sqirrelly and screechy 1 year old. So, ladies, bring on the tips and tricks. I’ve been collecting never before seen toys and planning snacks, but anything you can suggest would be greatly appreciated. The flight out there is a red eye, which could be awesome or TERRIBLE, but the flight back is an afternoon/evening. Also, what the heck am I supposed to do about the time change? Should I keep his schedule or try to make him conform to the East coast?
I hope everyone had great holidays! I have tons of disgustingly adorable photos of course, but not the time for uploading and editing and whatnot. Gah. I need to shower and plan a menu and get to the store before they get here so I better scram. Please fill my comments with all your tips for surviving travel, and inlaws, too.
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December 26th, 2009 at 1:46 pm, Kelly T Says:
We bought Aoife a notepad and crayons to color with. She’d never used them before and they provided hours of entertainment and nothing got ruined. We had TONS of little snacks, too. Raisins, graham crackers, oyster crackers. A friend suggested lollipops. We took them but I couldn’t give her one. Don’t forget to bring a favorite book or two. That reassuring stuff helps as much as the new stuff. Don’t be afraid to let him run/ crawl/ walk up and down the isles either. People love that shit!
We also use camilia drops to temper irritability. Our naturopath recommended them for teething, as well as plain ride moodiness. Have a great time!
December 26th, 2009 at 2:04 pm, Noreen Says:
First of all… So excited to see you! We should chat travel business. We have made this trip A LOT. We’ve been successful most of the time, but had a few rough trips, as well. Nursing is an excellent travel trick if you are still at it, and if a pacifier still works, it’s very helpful, but not necessary. We bring every snack under the sun on the plane and that is probably the biggest help with Gwen. She does love to eat. Rolling out new things to be studied, played with, loved, and enjoyed, is also big. We got Gwen a tiny baby doll for one of the early trips and she liked showing the baby where we were going, looking out the window. Books are awesome, a lifesaver on the last flight we took– new and old work. Does Clark have his own seat? I find that Gwen likes to sit with me for take-off/landing (they don’t let me do that anymore) but likes to have a little play area if the seat is open. We’ve lucked out with an empty seat next to us more times than is possible. It really helps. This is getting rambling now, so I will stop, but I know you guys will be great. I’ll send you another message if I think of anything profound!
December 26th, 2009 at 3:32 pm, beth c Says:
I second the nursing, esp. during takeoff and landing. It’s comforting, distracting, and I think it helps with the ear-popping too. Toys from Dollar tree that I didn’t mind if I never saw again. Liam had his own seat (and we put his carseat in it), which we would def. do again. And I was surprised at how nice other passengers were–stopping to chat with Liam, even offering to hold him (we didn’t take them up on it, but still). Not nearly as bad as we expected. The time change was challenging though, esp. when we got back. L-O-N-G transition back to normalcy.
December 27th, 2009 at 3:02 pm, Leah Says:
Please excuse the lengthy details but deffo milk on take off and landing but don’t start feeding until the plane starts taxi-ing to the runway in case of delay, you ideally want sucking action as you climb, this also goes for end of journey when you get the “crew, 10 mins to landing” annoucement! If you are not nursing anymore, take a few bottles of milk. If you have a insulated bottle holder, warm the milk up in starbucks (or preferred outlet of choice) on airside just before you board and take a wide necked thermos flask and because of airport security you can get starbucks to 1/4 fill it with hot water before boarding to heat for later unscheduled milk demands. Get SB to warm mid-flight bottles whilst you pacify – limiting crying time can be crucial so speed is of the essence.
Take a favourite toy but as many new toys (mini etch-a-sketch can be a good new plane discovery as mess free and re-usable sticker books) as you can carry as you get extra minutes exploring time with them but if its the red eye hopefully milk on take off will send him to sleep and you wont need them. If its not sleep time when you take off get SB to change diaper in plane toilet and put familiar smelling sleepsuit on him as it gets nearer bedtime, you may want to consider grobag too. If you do not have the airline bassinet dont forget something comfy for your arm so you don’t get a dead arm from holding him all night.
Treat type snacks as well as healthy options, the aim is to keep him as happy as possible but not sugared up so he cant sleep so that everyone around you on landing congratulates you on what a good baby he was rather than glaring at you.
Make sure SB paces up and down aisle to get ultimate cooing from airhostess’ who you will re-discover in a totally new light, at times we felt they were just there for us on the way to Australia. You’ll be fine, its not that bad. Try to sleep
Stick to his timing until you land and then keep him awake as much as possible until NY bedtime when you can switch his time zone.
December 27th, 2009 at 7:24 pm, Gayle Says:
Hi – I’ve been reading your blog for a long while and thought I would weigh in! I flew with twins from DC to Seattle when they were about 15 months old. I wish I could tell you that it was an easy trip… but it wasn’t. My main piece of advice is to make sure C has his own seat. We didn’t have seats for the girls and it was a nightmare. They were too young to watch videos, and they were walking, so all they wanted to do was squirm and walk up and down the aisle. I brought TONS of activities – even wrapped presents so that they would have something to open – and nothing kept their attention for more than 2 minutes. Snacks are key, and if he likes to watch TV or movies, bring an iPod or DVD player with whatever he likes. At least you have a 2:1 ratio, so you guys can spell each other. I think the redeye will be easier, actually, as he will hopefully sleep when things get quiet and dark and the hum of the plane lulls him to sleep. Finally – don’t feel bad about taking people up on their offers to help! Whether it’s entertaining him on the plane or stowing a stroller, let them help – it makes things so much easier. Good luck!
December 27th, 2009 at 9:58 pm, hliv Says:
well my dear you have tons of good advice here…i second most of it…the carseat depends on whether or not you think Clark will want to sit in it or not. If he tends not to like it (as Saskia does)then he will want to be in your lap the whole time anyway, and you will be kicking yourself mid flight for missing the extra space. But at least your mid flight will only be 3 hours instead of 7 hours! my girls dont do jetlag well. fortunately NY is only a few hours…so I would just let him keep his schedule. You have to just let them sleep when they sleep and be up when they are up. you can’t force kids to stay awake unfortunately. It takes a good week for them to adjust. Some of the worst tantrums of our girls existence were when jetlagged.
have a blast in NY, and see if you can sort some deets out re summer, as we need to start thinking about booking our tickets soon. Since you are doing upstate now, perhaps we want to do something different. love you and good luck with the weather!
lets talk soon
December 27th, 2009 at 10:05 pm, hliv Says:
also..let people help you…and our girls were terrified of the bathrooms LOUD! so we just changed them in the seat unless sooper poopy. and let people help. take deep breaths, and try to laugh it off. you will get off the plance dirtier and scragglier than you have ever been in your life. it’s okay. if you can, don’t bother changing c more than once (clothes I mean) as he will just keep getting messier and messier. then you can change him right before you land. hopefully security won’t be too lame. Seatac is pretty ok. ny depends on where you are flying into. have fun, take deep breaths, laugh…and no matter what dumb things he does, be thankful you have SB there to help you. be very thankful.
December 28th, 2009 at 4:10 am, Leah Says:
oh yeah, cheapest toys possible so you can ditch them
December 30th, 2009 at 6:50 am, wm Says:
I found plane travel easy up until about a year. Since then, it’s been pretty consistently difficult, somes nightmarish. If you figure out some secrets, please share. Drinking and having some toys on hand are good ideas, but in our case, were not sufficient. Also, I wouldn’t overpack the toys, as the airline safety brochure went over just as well as other toys. The one thing that does seem to make a difference is having a separate seat for the child, and especially, having a carseat in that seat (which is more securing, comfortable and I think easier to fall asleep in). We use Gogo Kidz to wheel the child and seat to the gate, pray that there is an open seat anywhere on the flight, then maneuver to get it. If there is an open seat, you can bring the carseat on board. If not, you can check it at the gate. Good luck!
January 7th, 2010 at 11:28 pm, Jenny Says:
Thanks all you wise, wise ladies for all of this great advice! We followed all of it! I had the most kickass McGyver backpack going on. In the end, he slept on the first flight and the second fight was AWFUL. But we survived!
January 7th, 2010 at 11:29 pm, Jenny Says:
Ooh! Also a shout out to Gayle and wm! NIce to see a new face or two in the ol’comments.