Travel 101

OK so now I am no longer a "travel with infant" virgin.  I really was quite nervous about traveling overseas and if we'd have to deal with crying for 7 hours straight and what do we bring on the flight?  And did we pack enough for the journey?  Good thing was all family had spare car seats so we didn't need to lug that around.  We just brought our umbrella stroller and I brought the ergo carrier but I didn't use the carrier at all.  I didn't pack enough diapers to last through our Germany trip but that was easy enough to purchase.  And our poor little one had bouts of motion sickness when in the car (maybe it was the automatic/stick-shift jerky movements as he never threw up in a car before) which I wasn't prepared for since he ended up puking all over his winter jacket...happened 3 times on this trip.  Since we were staying at families' houses, they were thankfully able to wash the jacket for us - and loan us some extra layers.  Throw up was not the funnest thing to deal with on the trip, but we survived it ok. 

For the flight, blessings - our little one passed out on the way over to Germany no problem.  I must say Lufthansa was very accommodating for us with infant.  They assigned us bulk head seats with a nearly empty center row, and we were able to have the bassinet set up (he just made the weight limit).  They gave him a toy rattle to keep him entertained, and they were just generally really nice and understanding.  The cool thing about traveling with infant is we got to board the airplane first.  Who needs first class?  Just take a baby.  We had an 8:30 night flight and he slept the whole way.  Woke up in Munich - I think our arrival was around 10am, no problem and no apparent jet lag.  Perhaps having loads of play time with his cousins helped him adjust quickly.  Munich to London was a 2 hour flight.  My friend had warned me ahead of time to make sure the baby is eating or drinking during take off and landing to avoid any ear pressure issues.  He did eat a handful of cookies when we took off to Germany.  I think he drank his water upon landing.  Anyway, he didn't cry so there were no issues with air pressure.  We flew Lufthansa once again from Munich to London, and once again they were so accommodating - they made sure the seat next to us was empty so we could sit the baby in between us.  On the flight, the baby refused to eat the snacks I gave him and refused to drink.  He practically cried the whole 2 hours.  I had prepared a bag of cheap 99 cent toys - separated into little envelopes - to break out when he got bored and restless on the flights.  He wasn't really interested.  Threw the toys down on the floor. He just kept crying until the last 10 minutes when the stewardess gave him a packet of gummy bears.  I'm thinking..sugar - bad for the teeth - future cavities - but we were on the verge of trying anything at that point. Viola!  Worked like a charm.  He started chewing and he stopped crying and was totally fine.  Maybe the air pressure was really bothering him this time.  Toddlers can't eat gum because they don't know not to swallow - gummy bears are the perfect solution..  Why hadn't I thought of that before?  Why didn't anyone recommend that on any of the parenting sites or did I miss that piece of info?  It sounds like practical info that I would have remembered.  Well, we definitely made sure to have a packet of gummies for the return home just in case.  On the flight home, he was pretty hyper.  We had an afternoon flight, and we flew United which I must say isn't as nice as Lufthansa.  No toy for baby - not even an attachable lap belt for infant during take off and landing.  We had to just hold him on our lap which can be difficult if he doesn't want to sit still.  He was wide awake and wanted to touch everything.  The flight was packed so we didn't have a row to ourselves.  It was a row of 3 seats and we were on the inside.  So we decided to change his diaper early on when we went to use the bathroom, so as to minimally inconvenience the person sitting next to us.  And what do you know?  15 minutes after we changed him and got back to our seats, he did a poo.  So I had to make the woman next us get up again..laptop...earphones..blanket, etc, take his supplies out of the overhead again, and go back to the bathroom.  I know the little man was very tempted to touch that woman's laptop next to us..All I can say is it was a good thing we had personal tv's on the back of the chair so he could press and play on there.  Eventually after about 2 hours of trying to crawl off our laps, staring at the passengers behind us, throwing any and all toys on the floor, kicking off his shoe, kicking the seat in front of us (it was really hard to prevent since we hardly had any space), he finally fell asleep.  I think he slept for about 4 hours all the way through to when we landed.  He only woke up when I put him into his stroller.  So overall, I would say not too bad.

Now we are just suffering the consequences of jet lag and he caught a cold which has progressively gotten worse....4 am wake up, 5 am wake up, hopefully it will be adjusted to the 7 am wake up he used to do.   I think I'll have to take him to the doctor for his phlegmy cough because it wakes him up at night  and he can't breath properly.   I heard they can't really give cold medicine to infants so not sure if the doctor can do anything to help.