A Survival Guide for Traveling with an Infant

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A Survival Guide for Traveling with an Infant
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• Getting anywhere with a new baby can be tough
  here are some essential tips for road and air
  travel.
• Having a baby changes your life in so many
  different ways, its hard to keep track
  sometimes. One of the things that often gets
  overlooked is how challenging it can make
  long-distance travel. Remember being able to just
  jump in the car or grab a flight at the last
  minute? Not any more.
• But that doesnt mean it has to be a nightmare.
  With a little effort and a good deal of
  preparation, you can make things as comfortable
  as possible for everyone.
• Traveling with an Infant in the Car
• Plan for Emergencies
• With your infant in the car, your road trip is
  going to need to be engineered to allow for all
  sorts of emergencies, whether its diaper
  changing breaks, spit-up cleanups, or strategic
  pit stops to deal with insistent fussing. Youll
  need to forget about trying to make good time
  or get there by dinner. Instead, make sure you
  account for at least one pit stop every few
  hours. That way youll leave plenty of time to
  get there without stressing yourself out.

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Youll also want to map out a number of potential
places to stop along the way. While it may be
tempting to just wing it and find somewhere when
the need arises (who needs a plan when you have a
smart phone?), you never know where youre going
to be when disaster strikes. You could be in an
area that has slow or non-existent cell
reception. Or maybe your battery ran out from
entertaining your kids with their favorite app.
And even if your phone is still working, its not
easy to search for the right place to stop while
theres a temper tantrum going on. 2. Avoid the
Back Roads While local highways and backroads
may be less crowded and get you to where youre
going faster, theyll have less of the pit stops
and services youre likely need. Sure, you may
add a few miles to the trip by taking the bigger
interstate freeways, but it can be well worth it
with the time youll save trying to find the next
gas station or restaurant to stop at. Ideally,
you want to hit that sweet spot between the
congested urban roads and remote country trails.
You want relatively smooth sailing, with gas
stations or other rest areas available along the
way. But you dont want to end up winding around
some mountain highway with no human habitation in
sight.
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3. Getting It On the Go This next tip may seem a
bit counterintuitive. While its always great to
be prepared before you set out, sometimes its a
better idea to get things like diapers and
formula as you go, rather than trying to pack
everything into your van or car when you set out.
Of course youll want some of those critical
diaper bag items with you when you start. But too
much packing can be a nightmare, and all those
diapers and other items can leave a lot less room
for games, toys and other nice-to-have items that
will make your trip more fun. And in some cases,
stopping off to get a few things can be a nice
break. 4. First In, Last Out When it comes to
packing, always follow the critical first in,
last out rule dont bury the diapers and snacks
under your suitcases, or youll have to
frantically paw through the trunk on the side of
the road or in the parking lot. Make sure you
pack the least essential items first, and the
most essential items (those youll need to access
during your trip) last. Air Travel with an
Infant While youre most likely not going to be
doing A LOT of air travel while your child is
young (forget those Caribbean getaways or jaunts
to Paris), you may need to do a few short trips
by plane in those early years. Its no secret
that flying with an infant can be tricky. Youve
probably read all of the common recommendations
about bringing along toys and bottles and
whatever makes your infant comfortable. But here
are some slightly less conventional suggestions
for keeping everyone calm on the flight.
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1. Connections Can be Your Friend Usually the
goal is to get to where youre going as quickly
as possible. But with an infant, that calculation
may be slightly different. You may actually want
to embrace connections instead of trying to get
longer direct flights. While it may mean changing
planes or sitting in the terminal for a bit,
connections can offer an opportunity to retool,
take stock and calm down an infant before setting
out on another leg of a journey that youre
taking by airplane. And since direct flights
often cost more, you may also save a bit of money
in the process. 2. Take the Red-Eye One way to
avoid the hassle of dealing with the squirming
and yelling on a long flight is to make sure
youre both unconscious for most of it. By
booking a redeye flight or one that coincides
with their sleep schedule, you can hopefully
sleep right through the rough patches. With the
right mix of blankets, pillows and their favorite
stuffed animal, you can increase the chances
theyll sleep peacefully while youre all 30,000
feet above the ground. 3. Gift Packs Perfect or
Pandering? One increasing popular tactic for
helping fellow passengers tolerate your terrible
toddler is the gift-pack. While some parents
preach the benefits of giving out small bags
filled with ear plugs, candy and other assorted
goodies as a way of placating those who might be
disturbed by your little ones, some see it as a
pandering move.
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In general, other parents will be a lot more
tolerant of your toddlers occasional meltdowns,
since theyve likely been in the same boat
before. For childless travelers, or those whove
forgotten how hard it is to travel with children,
you may decide to go the extra mile to make them
happy. At the end of the day, its up to you
whether or not you want to make this connection
with other travelers. Dont worry about what
other people say, because youre the one in
charge. Which brings us to 4. Dont Worry So
Much One of the best (and hardest) tips for this
kind of travel is to not stress out about the
details. Millions of families do this all the
time. Compassionate people will understand and
those that dont probably have bigger issues to
deal with. Sure, caring about the happiness of
others is a great trait to have. You care for
your child all the time. But sometimes its
better to stop worrying about what everyone
thinks for a few hours. Lets be honest.
Traveling with a baby or infant is never going to
be a walk in the park. Theres always going to be
some level of stress and uncertainty involved.
But that shouldnt stop you from enjoying travel
and seeing the world. With a little bit of
preparation and a lot of patience, all of you
will get there in one piece. For more details
about Toco Warranty feel free to visit
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