Natalie's Travel Tips

As we approach the holidays, I wanted to pass along some of my favorite airline travel tips for traveling with young children in case it helps you in your travels.

What to bring along for your kiddo in their 'diaper bag': 

-a few (small) new and favorite toys

-a few favorite books

-favorite sleep item (i.e., blanket, animal, or lovie)

-ipod (or something similar) for watching movies and playing fun apps like 'whiteboard'

-leak-proof sippy cup (make sure to leave it empty while going through security)

-spoons & bib

-antibacterial wipes (for clean up & wiping clean the airline armrests before you sit down)

-baby food if age appropriate

-favorite snacks (i.e., crackers, baby puffs) - bring plenty as a hungry baby is an unhappy baby

-fruit pouches (baby food in pouches that do not require a spoon to feed - less mess!)

-removable diaper kit - this is preferably a small bag that slings over your shoulder when you need to go give a diaper change. It makes things readily accessible, especially in a cramped space like the airplane lavatory (you really do not want to bring in your whole 'diaper bag').

-don't forget to have things like tylenol and hand sanitizer on hand (I transfer these in after we go through security)

-nursing cover if you are nursing

-extra outfit

Recommendations on child gear:

-If you do not need a stroller in your destination, I'd recommend ditching the stroller in favor of a car seat. When you travel with infant on lap sometimes if there is an extra seat, the airline will let you have it for your car seat (you will need to ask when you check in or at the gate); this is amazing on a long flight because it means that you and your child do not always have to be in contact, especially when they are sleeping. If you have some connecting flights that do not have room for the car seat, you can simply plane-side check it (make sure your gate agent gives you a tag for it), which is not an issue. One suggestion for helping you get your car seat through the airport is a car seat wheelie (like 'Go Go Babyz Kidz Travelmate'). 

-If you do bring a stroller, a small umbrella-type stroller is best (folds small and goes through the scanner easily)

-travel high chair. If you have your stroller, use your stroller as a high chair in cases where you cannot find one easily. If you do not have a stroller, then I'd recommend a cloth high chair (like 'My Little Seat Infant Travel High Chair') which is very small, lightweight, and machine washable.

-child carrier. I prefer the Ergo brand carriers because they are easy to put on in all circumstances (unlike the Moby wrap), and they hold heavier children easily on the front, back, or hip. I'd recommend the back carry when going through the airport because it enables you to do things like security more easily. One thing to know is that you do need to take the carrier off to go through security, and they may or may not let you keep your child in the carrier during take off and landing. 

-child leash just in case of an emergency. We don't really use ours, but I feel better having it along in case I get desperate in the airport.

What items to have in your carryon luggage (i.e., emergency items in case you get stuck somewhere):

-extra diapers (~10)

-extra pack of wipes

-extra 2 sets of clothes

-pajamas

-coats

-umbrellas

Ideas to make going through security less of a nightmare:

-put all items to be removed in one bag (i.e., computers, liquids, baby food jars) so that you can load everything onto the belt directly except for the 1 bag (we prefer a backpack for this). You can redistribute the items to better locations (like the baby food) once you arrive at your gate.

-keep your child in their stroller, car seat, or child carrier until you're ready to go through the metal detector

-ask for help if you need it, especially when traveling by yourself. When I traveled by myself in October, the TSA agents helped me load my bags onto the belt and then helped me collect them all back together after they went through the scanner. It was very helpful, and unless you're going through a large, busy airport to start with, I've never found this to be a problem.

-make sure your waterbottles are empty or they have to scan them

-you are allowed to take baby food and milk through security, but they do need to be out with your other liquids or they search your bag for them (which takes extra time)

-give yourself plenty of time to get through the airport so you are not stressed. We usually try to leave about 2 hours because we always have to check in with an agent since we have an infant on lap and security takes longer to go through. If you have extra time at your gate you can find a child play area or just let your child run around - we find this to be very helpful.

-try to pack any 'iffy' items in your checked bags (i.e., cheese fondue - yes, they almost took our packaged cheese fondue because they said it 'squished' and therefore could be a gel)

-request to go through the metal detector holding your child instead of the newer fancier things

-try to minimize carryon items since you will be hauling everything at all times (i.e., it might be worth the extra bag fee not to have to have an extra bag with you in the airport). 

Ask your flight attendant to:

-refill sippy cup with juice or water when needed

-if they have snacks for your child

-warm food if you need

-help you open your food, get your tv set up, or adjust your air vents if your child is sleeping (if you are flying alone).

Seats we prefer:

-Bulkhead seats. We always buy economy because we're cheap, but if the plane is not full, sometimes they will hand out bulkhead seats or you can pay to upgrade, which to be honest, is probably worth it. On our flight to the US this Christmas it was great because we had the three bulkhead seats which meant that Carsten sat in his carseat when he slept and ate, and then he would stand and play in between our feet in front of his car seat. This meant that he had somewhere to stretch his legs without bothering anyone since there was no one in front of us. The only downside to these seats is that there is no underseat storage in front of you, but the benefit of stretching your child's legs outweighs this minor inconvenience. Make sure you ask for the seats you want when you check in or at the gate.

Tips on the airplane:

-Feed your child during take off and landing because this helps their ears pops and minimizes discomfort.

-Walk your child up and down the aisle when you can.

-Play with your child. Think of flying in an airplane as enforced one on one time with your child. This is not a time for you to relax and watch movies on the plane, it is a time to pay attention to your child and see to their needs as much as possible. This means reading books, playing, and talking with your child 24/7. If you have two parents traveling with one child (like we do), you can have 'relaxation time' by putting one parent in charge for a period of time and then switching. If you have more children or are traveling by yourself, there is no relaxation time unless your child is sleeping in a car seat.

-Both parents need to help. We've seen families that travel where the dad has earplugs inside his headphones while he's watching a movie to drown out noises from his own children. Please do not do this to your spouse. Even if your child is sleeping, your spouse may need something so pay attention.

-Patience. This is your best friend because most likely you will not have slept for the duration of your flight even if your child does. Getting upset only makes things worse (i.e., your child picks up on your mood too). Remember that the flight will end, eventually :).

-Don't let grumpy old men get to you. Traveling economy with an infant on lap sometimes means you bother other people no matter what you do. This is ok as long as you are doing your best to minimize disruptions to other passengers. They'll get over it eventually :). Similarly, don't get frustrated with other children on the plane, their parents are trying too.

-remember that anything new can be a toy. For example, Carsten played with the plastic cups that the drinks are served in for a LONG time. And we did not have to bring them on or take them off the plane. Perfect :).

-some people recommend giving a baby benadryl or some other similar thing to make the baby sleepy. It turns out that it makes Carsten crazy. Just in case you receive the same recommendation realize that it may have the opposite effect...

Our approach to jet-lag:

-when traveling west, try to keep baby awake in general and just do frequent naps (if they can handle it). This has helped Carsten adjust nearly seemlessly this time around. He took three 1 hour naps (1 on each leg) and this seemed to do the trick. 

-when traveling east, try to let baby sleep on the plane in accordance to the time zone you just left, and gradually adjust when you arrive; this will take a few days. We find going east harder to adjust to than going west.

-We tried adjusting Carsten early by a couple of hours before we left, but this was not worth it as it just caused sleep issues prior to traveling. I think it's best to go into traveling as well rested as possible, and since Carsten did not adjust to the small changes well prior to traveling, we will not be doing that again.

Well, I think that's all I have for now. Please feel free to chime in if you have some other suggestions! :)

In Iowa for Christmas!

Well, we survived the TransAtlantic trip to Iowa, and once again, Carsten was an amazing traveler. We had a long, long trip due to two connections and three different flights, and I'd have to say that Carsten was a champ on all flights especially considering he only took an hour nap on each flight (which gave him a grand total of 3 hours of sleep in about 20 hours). We all have adjusted fairly seemlessly to the 7-hr time change, which has been an answer to prayer. I sincerely believe that my son's (relative) inability to sleep except in his crib went a long way towards automatically adjusting him to this time zone. Unfortunately, it won't work quite as well going back to Switzerland since we'll need to go the other direction - oh well :). Anyway, just thought I'd post that we had arrived and will write more updates of our vacation as we have time.

Carsten is 15 months!

Happy 15 months Carsten!

I used to wonder why parents would quote their kids ages in months until they turned two; I now know why: they still change so much that the distinction is still merited. Carsten has changed quite a bit since his first birthday, and every day keeps getting more and more fun. Here's an update on what Carsten is like now:

Physical Prowess: He's been walking for almost 5 months now, and is even quite proficient at running around the house. His most recent skill is climbing onto the couches, which he discovered he could do yesterday. Carsten is thrilled with this new-found ability, and I think climbing other things like kitchen chairs and probably out of his pack n play will follow soon. He's a very active boy, and we're often told by nursery attendants that he's very 'busy'. This is very true as he will not sit in one place for very long. It's often difficult to read an entire book unless he's quite tired. I'm sure he'll want to read books with us again soon, but for now he's having too much fun exploring and running around.


Eating: Carsten is a good eater, and he pretty much likes most things. Luckily, he's not allergic to anything, and since he's not too picky, this makes cooking pretty easy for me. He's proficient at eating finger foods, and we're working on trying to teach him how to eat with a spoon, which he's very excited about. He drinks a lot of water and milk during the day from his sippy cup, which is a pretty nice change from even 3 months ago. He does not care for too many sweets except chocolate :).

Teeth: We've seen quite a few teeth come in the last three months, and I'd have to say that teeth seem to bother Carsten's sleep, especially at night. So, he gets tylenol before bed, and this seems to help a lot. Carsten is up to 10 teeth (4 in front on bottom, 4 in front on top, and 2 molars on the bottom). I'm pretty sure his 3rd molar on top (tooth #11!) is coming in because he has a blue gum, which I have been assured is normal and basically amounts to a bruise caused by the tooth coming in. I will say that I will be glad when the molar phase is done because honestly, they seem to bother him quite a bit at night.

Sleeping: Sleeping has been a bit hit or miss with Carsten, but probably part of that is due to experiencing jet-lag from our trip in October to the US. And more will probably follow in our upcoming trip back for the Holidays to the US. We struggled quite a bit with sleep in the month of November until we realized that he needed to drop his morning nap. Once we dropped the morning nap, sleep at night has improved significantly with him almost always sleeping through the night and taking a 2 hour nap during the day around 12:15 pm. We are all loving only having 1 nap a day since it frees us up quite a bit for errands, playtime, and we are all getting much better sleep. I should also mention that he's typically very happy to go to sleep, and even smiles and waves 'bye bye' as I put him down for a nap.

Weaning: We're down to a morning and an evening feeding, and since nursing was really helpful with jet-lag in October, we're just going to keep it up until we get back in January.

Communication: We started trying to do baby sign language around 8 months with Carsten, but he really hasn't started signing until the last month or two. He now will sign 'more', 'please', 'eat', and 'all done'. Having just these basic signs has been very helpful, and goes a long way towards helping us understand what he wants. Carsten understands English, or at least, he understands me pretty well :). He's very good at following commands and usually good at listening. Here are some of the activities that he will do 'on command':

Snuggle: snuggles blankets, pillows, or stuffed animals (we're working on getting him to snuggle us :) )
Kiss the baby: he kisses the mirror Carsten
Where's the ____: he will find items for you
Bring me ____: he will bring you an item
Drink block soup: he sips pretend soup that contains a wooden block (it's cute, trust me)
Find baby Carsten: he'll find pictures of himself around the house
No chewing: a frequent phrase to prevent chewing on books
Peekaboo: he'll hide behind a blanket
Itsy bitsy spider: he'll make the spider motion
Patty cake: he'll clap and roll it
So big!: he'll make the motion for so big
Wave bye bye: he'll wave bye bye; when Andy leaves he wants to wave from the window as Andy
             leaves the building, which is very cute :)
Wave hi: he'll wave hi
Kick the ball: just as it sounds :)
Throw the ball: again, just as it sounds
Bouncing bean: he bounces on the ball
Jumping bean: jumps with us on the exercise ball
Whoompa: he jumps on your tummy
Go flying: he goes flying with our assistance
Dance dance: he dances to music solo or with us
Happy dance: he stomps his feet repeatedly and gets very excited

I'm sure there's more, but that's all I can think of for now. There's a few things we're working on to add to this list such as giving us hugs and kisses :).

Travel: We've done quite a bit of traveling in the last few months. We've been to Michigan, Iowa, South Dakota, and France. And this month we're headed back to Iowa and Michigan where we'll see a lot of family and friends and hopefully will see some snow :). I'm thankful that he's such a great traveler as this reduces a lot of the stress when we're traveling.

Here's a few random photos of Carsten, please note the baby face, which often makes an appearance these days :).

Christmas Markets

We've had the opportunity to visit several Christmas Markets, or KindelChristmarkt, the last couple of weeks. We started out with the smaller local markets and then went to Strassbourgh, France.

Our first stop was the market right by our train station in Zurich. We visited it on Thanksgiving, which was our special family time on Thanksgiving. It was night, so we didn't stay very long, but it was fun to look at the lights, booths, carolers, and drink the mulled spiced wine that is present at every market to help you stay warm. Here's a few photos from the Belleview market:

Excited to go to our first Christmas Market! :)

Blueberry spiced wine. YUM :)

This past Sunday, we went to the Christmas Market in Egg, our Swiss town. Somehow the town felt a big magical with all the lights, people, and shopping. It was so fun to see our town transformed and to wander around and gawk at the booths. We bought a couple of things, and I think Carsten also really enjoyed looking at all the people. Carsten even got to meet Samiclaus, the Swiss Santa :).

Cheese and sausage booth

Samiclaus gave Carsten a bag of peanuts :).

We had the opportunity to take a day trip with our friends, Kai and Vanessa, to Strasbourg, France, which is rumored to be the oldest Christmas Market in Europe. We rented a car to fit all of us and then proceeded to drive through Switzerland, Germany, and into France. Carsten and Eleanor both fell asleep for part of the ~2 hr car trip, which was super nice because that meant we adults could talk :). I had the privilege of being in 3 different countries in 1 day, so that was fun. We parked our car in Strasbourg, and then made our way to the main Christmas Market where we fed the kiddos lunch and then proceeded to grab lunch for ourselves from the booths. Lunch for us consisted of a pizza baguette, ham and cheese crepe, chocolate covered apple (this was not as good as it sounded), and spiced wine. Carsten really enjoyed the crepe as well :). At the end of our time at the main market, we let Carsten ride on a carnival ride, which he was super excited about (cars that went in a circle). He LOVED the ride and I think I see rollercoasters in his future :).

First trip facing forward. :)

Oldest Christmas Market in Europe!

Eleanor and Carsten. And Vanessa didn't quite make it out of the photo :).

Andy and Kai

The crew :)

The chocolate covered apple was not as delicious as it sounded.

We headed over to the gorgeous cathedral in town, where another Christmas Market was also located (there were quite a few that we ran into in the city). Carsten was really interested in the cathedral, especially in the windows when we went inside. I had him in a carrier, so we went through looking at all the windows. He kept making the baby sign for 'more', which meant that he wanted to look at more windows. This is the first time he's been super interested in something like that, which makes it that much more fun for us :). The church is famous for it's elaborate astronomical clock, and we also got the opportunity to climb up 60 meters to get an amazing view of the city. I carried Carsten in our Ergo carrier on my back, and yes, I did get a pretty good work out and he absolutely loved it. Here's our photos from the cathedral:

LOVE.

Trying to get Carsten to look at the church :).

He saw it and was very excited :).

Stained glass windows that Carsten loved.

Astronomical Clock

Beautiful organ

At the top

View of the city

Andy and Kai

Andy stealing Kai's camera :)

Much closer to the tower than we were!

We made our way to the part of town called Petit France, which is very cutesy and the architecture is definitely influenced by Germany. We bought 2 ornaments and Christmas pyramid to remember our time there :). We found ourselves getting cold, so we got hot chocolate inside and fed the kiddos. After that, we felt pretty refreshed and went out into the lit up streets since it had gotten quite dark while we were inside. We went back to the area by the church where there was a carousel, which both Carsten and Eleanor got to ride. Carsten was SUPER excited and it was fun to see him on his first carousel ride. After that we found a nearby restaurant serving local specialties, and I think everyone enjoyed their food. I had something that was very similar to my mom's scalloped potatoes and ham dish :).

Family photo opp

Kai, Vanessa, and Eleanor :)

Cute houses

Petit France area

Petit France Area

All lit up!

Carsten's first carousel ride :). 

By this time it was getting late and the kids were getting tired, so we headed back to the car to go home. Carsten fell asleep right away, which was a relief, and Eleanor wasn't too far behind him. We then got to talk for most of the way home, except at the very end when the kids were having a little bit of trouble sleeping. All in all, it was a wonderful day, and I think Eleanor and Carsten did amazing with our day trip. I'd have to say that it was super nice to travel by car because then Carsten could sleep comfortably in his car seat. I'm so glad that we had the opportunity to go with Kai, Vanessa, and Eleanor - what a wonderful day! :)

1 year photos :)

When we were in the states in October, we had the opportunity to get Carsten's 1 year old photos taken by Maria Straatsma, who is a good friend from Hope and a talented photographer :). I just LOVE these photos and often wish I was as good at capturing Carsten on the move. Here are some of my favorites:

My absolute favorite :)