We just got back from vacation and boy, was it amazing! We had a fantastic time together and created so many memories that I will cherish my whole life! Watching Lainey experience the ocean/beach for the first time, her first bike ride, feeding the turtles, her ever expanding vocabulary, her first dining-in experience, and all the other amazing "little" moments in between were absolutely priceless!
I didn't quite know what to expect but was anticipating some hiccups. But honestly, everything went so smooth! We had a lot of stuff but managed to get through the airport just fine, Lainey flew great, we had the easiest rental car experience, our rental was in a great location, and we all slept wonderfully!
Preparing/packing for our vacation was definitely harder and took much more time and thought than traveling before Lainey. I made a list in my phone of all the things we needed so when I was actually ready to pack, I knew exactly what I needed. I tried to visualize everything and that really helped! Preparation is such a big part of parenthood, in my mind!
Here is the list I compiled for Lainey and is ultimately what I packed:
Lainey
Multiple outfits/combinations for 6 days, 5 nights
Shoes (beach, tennis shoes, going out)
Sun hat
Swimming suits
Sunglasses
PJs (x3 or 4)
Jacket/hoodie (if cold)
A few long sleeves & pants (if cold)
Books for reading
Sleep sack
Portable sound machine
Monitor & camera (& charger for monitor)
Pack n Play
Tent for Pack n Play (more on that below)
Pack n Play pad cover
Mirror for car
Stuffed animals
Sippy cups, utensils, plate/bowl
Portable high chair
Medicine & bathroom bag (comb, lotion, thermometer)
Hearing aid travel bag (all necessary supplies & change of batteries)
Diaper bag with change of clothes
ID for Lainey (copy of birth certificate - did not need since Lainey had her own seat and is under the age of 18)
A tough decision was the sleeping arrangement for Lainey. I spent a lot of time visualizing how this was going to go. Besides camping, this was the first one-bedroom rental we stayed at. Our other two vacations with Lainey were two-bedroom rental properties.
So our first big decision was where was she going to sleep? Lainey has a very early bedtime (we start the bedtime process between 6 - 6:30). If she were to sleep in the living room, she would see us (because we weren't going to isolate ourselves in the bedroom starting that early). After thinking through other alternatives, we decided that she was going to sleep in our room with us- in her Pack n Play.
Our next big decision was how was the sleeping arrangement in the bedroom going to work? After Lainey's experience camping, we learned that she could not see us sleeping in the same room (or tent) with her, because she'd want out once she saw us. We researched the SlumberPod, as well as black-out covers for the Pack n Play to obstruct her view from seeing us. We were set on buying a SlumberPod, but I slightly procrastinated and could not find any available online! So back to the drawing board. We thought creatively and decided to create our own set-up to obstruct her view from us. I found a large play tent on Amazon. It essentially was going to work like a SlumberPod, but wasn't going to be blackout. A great thing about the play tent is that we can put it in Lainey's playroom now and she'll love playing in it!
Upon arriving at our rental, Tyler got to work setting up her Pack n Play, as well as her play tent. The Pack n Play fit in very well and we had no issues whatso ever! We all slept great! Tyler and I would sneak into bed and sneak out in the morning, and Lainey never saw or heard us! I was a tad nervous about the side window but we had no issues at all! I don't think she had any idea we were in the room with her!
Other items we packed included:
For Beach
Sunscreen
Aloe
Beach towels
Beach toys
For Plane
Stroller (we bought a cheap one just for travel)
Car seat
Carry-on Bag, with bag of new toys
Stroller fan
Snacks
Suckers
Books
Juice cup
Empty water bottle
Crystal Light To-Go
Wipes
Extra plastic bags for garbage
Travel Day
We had a 8:15 am direct flight from Milwaukee to Savannah, GA. We left our house at 5 am. I dressed Lainey the night before so all we had to do was change her diaper and load her in the car. I thought she would have slept on the way to the airport because she hardly ever needs to be awaken for anything in the morning nowadays but she stayed awake the whole time! Must have been excited!
We arrived to the airport before 6 am and boy, did we have a lot of luggage! 2 check bags, 2 backpacks, 1 diaper bag, 1 roll-on, 1 stroller, 1 car seat, and 1 toddler. Somehow, we managed to get through the airport without any assistance! How? I'm not sure.
We bought a cheap umbrella stroller (under $30) for traveling. We have a BOB Stroller that I absolutely love, and I did not want it to get busted or broke being tossed on/off the plane so we bought a really cheap umbrella travel for the purpose only of vacation. I sure missed my BOB but the cheap little stroller did the trick and I wasn't worried about something breaking on our stroller during travel.
When we bought our flights, we decided to buy Lainey her own seat and that she was going to travel in her car seat on the plane. For our own personal comfort and her safety, it was important she was in a car seat, and also, there was no way she was going to sit still on my lap for our 2 hour flight!
When buying our tickets, we made sure our flight was direct. Unfortunately, Southwest didn't have any direct flights so we flew United. We had to pay extra to choose our seats (there was no preferential family seating!) and we choose seats as close to the front as possible (so we could get off as soon as possible!).
For the plane, I packed my carry-on bag with new "toys" and many snacks. I found a lot of great items at the Dollar Spot at Target. I also added a few other household items, as well as a few items I bought from Amazon. I also made her own picture book from items I saw in a magazine. I put the picture book in an envelope as if it was "mail". (Lainey loves all things US Postal Service, as well as going to the mailbox for mail multiple times a day). Lainey did not see any of these toys before the flight.
I had suckers packed for take-off and landing, as well as her juice. Lainey's Pediatrician said we could give Lainey Benadryl to make her drowsy for the flight, but to try it before going (he said sometimes children react oppositely and are actually very rowdy). We decided to forgo the Benadryl all together.
I was a tad nervous not knowing how the change in air pressure was going to effect her, but Lainey flew great!! She had the window seat and loved having suckers. I didn't even reach into her bag of toys until about an hour in, and then we only went through 2 toys on both flights! She did not sleep a minute but seemed very content talking, watching, playing with the toys she did have, or sucking on her suckers! I kept Lainey's ears in during the flight (her Audiologist said it should have no impact on her) and Lainey handled the change in pressure very well! Descending seemed to bother her a little (she pointed to one of her ears and had tears welling in her eyes, looking uncomfortable) but no tears were shed. During that time, I tried to have her lick her sucker, drink her juice, or practice yawning. All seemed to work, or at least distract her enough to take her mind off of it.
Things that Worked Well
Having a direct flight, purchasing Lainey's own seat, flying with her in her car seat, having a bag of toys and a ton of snacks for the plane, and visualizing everything, particularly the sleeping arrangement served us well!
Another thing we did which helped was we put in a Target pick-up order for items that I didn't want to travel with. I really didn't want to take up space (and weight!) with our luggage for items like diapers and wipes. Plus, many of these items we were going to completely use while on our trip so why even pack them in the first place? I made this list ahead of time and put in the order a day or so beforehand. Before arriving to our rental, we did the pick-up order at Target and it worked great!
Here is what I ordered from Target:
To Get at Target in Bluffton
Snacks for Lainey
Diapers
Wipes
Plastic sandwich bags
Protein powder
Lessons We Learned
I thought traveling went very smooth! I was expecting hiccups but we really didn't experience any! I think our preparations served us well! There are a couple of adjustments, or things I will look into more, but nothing major.
First, I would weigh our luggage to confirm the weight is under 50 pounds. One of our bags (the bag with most of Lainey's s
tuff like her Pack n Play) was 61 pounds! There wasn't much we could do (nothing could get removed) so we had to pay the hefty fee - both ways, unfortunately! Next time, I will definitely weigh our bags to confirm they meet the weight requirements, before arriving to the airport. The only other minor adjustment I would make is to practice transporting our car seat a little better. We had a luggage strap that we used, and we strapped it to our roll-on luggage. The car seat was much heavier than the roll-on and we had to be very strategic about the luggage strap placement. It all worked but was just a pain! I'm not sure if there was anything we could have done better - car seats are just that big and bulky - but I will definitely research it a little more for next time!
Thank you for an amazing vacation, Lainey girl! You are an amazing travel partner! I absolutely love being able to show and explore the world with you! So big question - where to next??!
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