Going abroad - travel journal!!

[Mel32]

Hi,

As previously mentioned, I thought I would journal our trip away as it might help other mums and mums to be & you might be able to help me! I hope its OK to post in this section

A little about us and our holiday:
Me and my husband are travelling to Paris for 5 nights with our 15 week old (he'll be 16 weeks when we leave). Its all last minute, we booked last week and leave on Friday... eek!! I am exclusively breastfeeding. We also have a self catering apartment with a balcony so we can take turns at enjoying some sunshine when we need to stay in.

I decided to do a 'trial pack' today of what to take for our baby. I plan to take his stuff as hand luggage as I do not want it to go missing! My quantities seem strange (and might change), but I have more of some things for options (long sleeves and trousers in case we need to use a carrier, short sleeves and shorts in case we use the pram which might get warm), I have less of other items as I have a washing machine in the apartment.

I'm at the trial stage, so I'll be taking things out if we are short on space (like nappies which I can just buy there) and I welcome suggestions.


From left to right:
5 x long sleeve white bodysuits - to help protect arms from sun
5 x thin cotton trousers, 1 x linen trouser - to help protect legs from sun
3 x shorts if we are out of the sun, but its warm
1 x white polo shirt
2 x thin cardigan/hoody just in case it gets cooler
1 x large cotton blanket, 1 x small receiving blanket
3 x muslins
4 x bibs
3 x socks
5 x short sleeve vests should I swap these for t-shirts??
1 x neoprene swim nappy no current plans to swim, but if we do it will need to be indoor
1 x spare wipes
1 x sun hat looking for his other one too
1 x snoozeshade uv protective car seat cover
1 x suncream I believe its best not to use this on under 6months old but I felt I should have the option
nappies I can leave these out if we are low on space & buy there

not pictured:
travel docs
1 x changing bag with usual contents
1 x pram chassis
1 x car seat
1 x baby carrier

 

[scn]

What about a couple of babygrows for sleeping in case it's cool at night?

 

[mollythemama]

Wow, you are amazingly organised! Look forward to hearing your updates. How about a little toy, like a colourful high simulation thing in case he gets bored? You mention hand luggage, so I assume you are flying but then you're bringing a pram, carseat and UV carseat cover? Are you driving? Sorry, confused x

 

[Mel32]

We are flying sorry I wasn't clear! Easyjet allow you to travel with two child items (so I'm taking pram chassis with car seat instead of carrycot because I want him safe in his seat during transfers) and a small changing bag from what I gather / really hope!! I paid a little more to fly with them both ways. So his clothes will go in what would have been one of our hand luggage bags. And ours will mostly go in the hold. Good call on the toy, that will be in his small changing bag or in hand for easy access.

Good suggestion SCN thanks but Baby sleeps with us at this stage hence lack of babygrows, theres no way he will be too cool. However they did cross my mind for sun protection with no vest. So I'm a bit undecided.

 

[scn]

Won't need babygrows then lol
Don't think I would add anything else then Mel, it's not like you're going to another planet ...... if you 'need' something you've not got it can easily be bought whilst there xx

 

[Mel32]

Leaving tomorrow! Also going away for the weekend the morning after we return so I need to get myself organised.

I hate flying too ugh. Glad I will have a little distraction!!

 

[scn]

Have a great time x

 

[Mel32]

First day update... All went relatively well until we got on the plane and he was so severely distressed (completely out of character) he was inconsolable. Have to admit I wasnt fully prepared for that, so many people said such positive things about flying with young babies ( they just sleep etcetera..)

He wouldn't feed or anything. I think it was all new and the lap belts keep them quite restricted during takeoff. I hate flying so he might have sensed that too.

Anyway that was only take off, and towards the end of the flight thankfully other than that he was calm or sleeping .

We also had a stress getting through to the apartment people on the phone to have someone meet us. We started to taxi to their office instead but figured out my mistake part way there so just had to pay a lot extra!

Anyway on to the positives. We are relaxing in the apartment with the balcony door open ( refreshing breeze after being all stressed out) and baby is sleeping on me. We bought quite a lot of supplies so we can rest up here if needed instead of going out.


Things I've learned
-So far very glad I brought pram / car seat
(We had quite a delay to get it back but nothing seems damaged at all)
- Breastfeeding on a plane is hard if you are flustered and don't have s practical top on
- 5 days might not be Long enough to get over a stressful flight

Anyone else travelling?

Xx

 

[MrsB2105]

At least you are there now and can enjoy yourselves I won't be travelling for a while I don't think x

 

[Phoenix85]

I'm hoping to in September/October, but not confirmed yet, it requires my parents to pet sit so....

Earliest I've flown with a baby was when my last DD was 5 months old, but she did just feed and sleep lol.

 

[Mel32]

I'm sure it will be fine phoenix. I felt really stressed with my fear of flying and it maybe rubbed off on him. I got so sad seeing him so upset, I'd say I've rarely/ never seen him that bad in 16 weeks since he's been born,

Sorry I don't say it to put anyone off MrsB, he played after take off happily and when he started crying again my husband rocked him to sleep so it wasn't all bad. I think everyone around us was like oh noo.... at the start of the flight.

I got here kinda pining after my own sofa.. but I haven't experienced Paris, yet... so hope we have a great time tomorrow.

 

[MrsB2105]

Aww you haven't put me off, we just don't have enough arms or money lol, we are doing the house up rather than holidays this year. We took our soon at 7 months to Ibiza, he went on a cruise at 10 months and went to Tenerife at 19 months, but traveling with 2 babies and a 2 year old won't be easy plus the house really needs doing

Never been to Paris I hope it's as good as it looks x

 

[Mel32]

Update!

So our first evening we ate in the apartment but then it was was very stressful at night. I'm sure at home I'd have brushed it off better; but being in an unfamiliar environment was scary.

I'm convinced he over fed even though I hear bf babies Can't? But it was night time and he puked like nothing I've ever seen, it was horrendous. I'll spare you the details other than almost nothing survived on our bed... even the mattress Protector! I'm a worrier so although he recovered quickly, ate more & slept...this unsettled me and the whole of Saturday I felt really unwell ( think it's combined with my fear of flying and generally worrying about everything!). Despite feeling massively Ill on Saturday we walked so far (too far) and saw so much that we are now able to take it easy.

We've had drinks (water or juice for me ) and dinner out last night, breakfast and lunch out today and done some window shopping but we came back as it's such a hot day 32 I think ...and will be hotter tomorrow. So we might go out tonight for a walk or a cruise on the seine when it's cooler as we still haven't seen Paris in the dark.

The snoozeshade is amazing for keeping the sun off or so it seems, we just watch it doesn't get too warm inside. I've tried a few tricks like putting the car seat pad in the fridge/ freezer for a couple of minutes, and a toy also from fridge for him to hold... but generally we keep in the shade and have the front of it unzipped to let air circulate. We also stop frequently for him to get out and stretch as it's a car seat on the pram.

The carrier in this heat is useless as I'm avoiding sun cream and just want him out of the sun. That said my husband has used it early morning.

Other things we do is lots of nappy free time and slightly cooler but quick baths.

No idea what tomorrow will bring because it's supposed to be 35 degrees... we might stay in as much as possible ( no chance of a tan here, even the balcony seems to stay in the shade). So much for choosing cooler place to visit!!

 

[MrsB2105]

That sounds very very eventful glad you are having a good time x

 

[Mel32]

So we're back!

I wanted to come back trying to persuade others to take the plunge because it's not that bad but... because of my fear of flying/general worrying about everything I couldn't calm down and enjoy it. But that's just me personally. I think I've pretty much lost weight with all the worry it was hot and hard to eat full meals.

I have nice memories of it but all the little stresses were made worse by the 36 degree heat! We were sensible but couldn't stay in the apartment 24/7 so cans of spray water were a lifesaver!!

The journey home was long, hot, stressy and eventful! We also couldnt leave our bags anywhere so just headed to the airport leaving us 5 hours to waste before flying!

We had some nice relaxed meals out and saw a lot of the main sites. And spent loads of time together as a family which was lovely.

The long sleeved vests and cotton trousers for sun protection where useless, just too hot! We just kept him under the uv cover and would cool the seat down with a bottle of something or put a cool bottle in with him. We also had it unzipped as soon as he wasnt in the sun for a breeze and used lots of cool water spray on him. We would get him out at each restaurant or boat trip to stretch and kick about because unfortunately he was in the car seat a lot. We couldn't have him in that sun.

One of my fondest memories was walking into a beautifully air conditioned pharmacy!!

 

[MrsB2105]

Aww at least you have some lovely memories

Maybe next time do a package holiday where you have a few more options for keeping cool etc and you would have somewhere you could keep your luggage rather than hanging out at an airport x