Travelling W/baby & Hotel Stay Tips

One thing I love for traveling is the huggies disposable washclothes. They are soft, and they come pre-soaped so you dont have to worry about packing the baby's soap. I just stick a few in a ziploc and it takes up very little room.

Make it a fun adventure. Baby will react how you "want" them to. If you anticipate a problem, a problem is what you'll get. KNOW all will be smooth.

Don't forget:

- Child-proof socket covers
- Large rug for the floor for crawling (hotel floors are filthy)
- Some of baby's favorite toys and his/her blanket from bed
- Have hotel put crib in your room (most provide free)
- Keep his/her sleep schedule the same if possible. Allow an extra hour for them to fall asleep in a new place
- Have hotel put microwave/frig in your room to store milk and other items.
- First Aid kit for baby
- Travel "Ivory" and brush to clean bottles in the room

Have a great time!

We have traveled with our kids a lot when they were younger. Bringing the crib sheet is good. bring her blankets and if she has a special lovey type thing don't forget that. also if you have any kind of "white" noise type thing thats good too as there is sometimes a person in the next room with the tv going too loud. if possible get a suite type room rather than just a room as that way you can put her to bed in a darkened room rather than trying to get her to go to sleep way before your ready. take her to the pool to swim that always tired mine out. then up for a bath and ready for bed with the usual routine. good luck.

I drove around tons when my son was a baby (back and forth across the country).

My mum did the same. She always said to expect any road trip to triple in time if you want happy kids and happy parents at the end of it, but I found by leaving after lunch that I could just double the drive time instead of triple it. (We "won" "fastest drive time with kids award in my family"... but these were multiday trips).

Here's my list of "must have" tips or tricks:

- Leave right after a meal right before naptime. That way you get a couple hours of drivetime in off the bat while they sleep in the car. (We usually left right after lunch, after spending the morning doing our normal "routine" / books/ playing/ pool/ etc... just like at home. Then grab lunch and fall asleep in the car).

- Stop at either a fastfood place with a play place or an Applebee's/TGIFriday's etc and ask to sit in an unused section so the baby/toddler can stand on a seat and bounce while the grownups get real food. ((ALSO stop during "odd" times. Like 10am, 2 or 3pm, 7 or 8pm so that they're during "slow" hours)).

- If they wake up near a rest stop, plan on stopping for at least 30-60 minutes to get the wiggles out after changing and feeding.

- For walkers, stop at mega stores (hunting, walmart, whatever) and park. as. far. away. as. possible. That way they get the wiggles out crossing the parking lot and inside the gihugo store while you buy 20 cents worth of gum, or drinks, or sunglasses, or nothing at all. Gas station rest breaks aren't.

- McDonalds/Burger King have clean bathrooms from one end of the country to the other. Great places to wash your face & pee... as opposed to nasty gas stations. All for the cost of a packet of fries or apples.

- Bring lovey's and check them off just like your kids when you leave *anywhere* rest stops, hotels, what have you.

- A cooler in the middle seat with drinks & snacks.

- Sunscreen (sun through windows can burn).

- The backseat makes the world's best changing table. The trunk lid is a close 2nd.

- Check into ground floor rooms so we can run a bath and have kiddo play in it without annoying people below us.

Our personal schedule

Leave right after lunch. Drive until kiddo wakes up (about 2-3 hours later). Stop for about an hour (snack and play). Drive for about an hour. Stop for about an hour (food and play). Drive for a few hours while kiddo sleeps. Stop for about an hour (food) and change into Jammies. Drive until about midnight. Check into hotel. Stay until lunchtime. repeat.

We always traveled with outlet covers for the hotel room when we had little ones. Also, as someone else here suggested, plan on the drive taking longer than it would if it were just you and your husband/partner alone. Like, twice as long. Make sure that you have stops where your child can move around. Good luck!
A.

Mine traveled very well. Long car rides do keep baby from moving around & so we would have our kids walk hallways etc to get some excercise. My daughter tended to get constipated unless she excercised. The excercise would also help to wear her out & she would sleep pretty smoothly. good luck.

You have gotten good advice already but I want to add to bring your own pack and play or something to sleep in if you can (unless you are okay with having the baby in your bed occasionally). I had hotels tell me they had a crib when I called and not have one when I got there (sometimes the same day). This happened to us more than once so not we make room to bring it just in case. I takes up a lot of space in our small car but I just go fed up with hotels not following through.

I work at a Hampton Inn, you seem to have everything you need to travel with, but I have a few cautionary tips for your hotel stay. A public pool is treated with a higher concentrate of chemicals than private pools, if at all possible don't let her go under or ingest any water (it can cause a terrible upset tummy). I wouldn't suggest letting her crawl/lay on the room carpets either, while higher end hotels clean their carpets regularly, it is still not often enough! If you do forget something (milk, a blanket, etc.) don't hesitate to ask the front desk. We stock quite a bit of "most forgotten" items just in case. I hope you have a great trip!!! When I traveled with my son, I got him a kid tough cd player and headphones. I also made a few soothing cds for him to listen to. I started this when he was 1, it made the car ride more interesting.

Don't feel badly if you end up putting the crib in the bathroom so you all can sleep.