Jet-setter Baby

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A the ripe ‘old’ age of 9 month little miss Jellybean has been to the east coast, west coast and Midwest!  Pretty well traveled baby don’t you thinks?!?!  Between the age of 3 and 9 months we’ve flown with Jellybean a number of times and taken two long car trips.  During each trip I learn of something new I should pack as well as what not to pack.  Finding the balance between enough and not enough stuff has been challenging.

The ability to wash clothes at the grandparents’ houses was clutch!  When we were in Seattle clean clothes were hard to come by and, yeah, we totally ran out of diapers … the trip was only 4 days.  The husband admitted (after the fact) he thought I over packed, and was completely befuddled when he had to hand wash a onsie and go buy more diapers on the last day of the trip!

Let me put my cards on the table here.  Traveling with a baby isn’t as bad as I thought it would be!  Do I want to travel with her weekly or even monthly?!  No, not really.  But all in all flying with an infant isn’t all that bad — even when taking into account the blowout we experienced on Mother’s day.

Traveling with all of the baby’s STUFF …. now THAT, THAT my friends, that is another story. :) For such a little person Jellybean’s suitcase and carry on bag {aka diaper bag} is overflowing every time we travel.

I did my share of Googling and surveying friends when planning how to best travel with our infant.  While I am clearly not an expert when it comes to traveling with a baby I did want to share what I’ve learned so far!

6 Tips to make traveling with an infant a little bit easier | Life's Tidbits

Tips to make Flying with an Infant Easier

  1. Gate check the stroller and car seat.  It’s free so there is no reason not to bring them with you.  Yes they are clunky, but the ability to put JB in her stroller/carseat and walk through the airport was amazing.  While a baby carrier is great I find carrying the baby plus carry-on bag to be a bit much!  If you little one is out of the car seat already you can check it for free after obtaining your boarding pass.  Not shlupping that thing through the airport is SO nice.
  2. Change baby’s diaper just prior to boarding.  Even if the diaper is just a tiny bit wet it’s best to start fresh.
  3. Boarding early .  When able, that is, apparently United doesn’t do early boarding for families, boo!  It’s nice to get on and get settled without having to navigate around others … or hold up the boarding process.  Better yet, when traveling with another adult, have one person get on early with the gear and then other board last minute with the baby.
  4. Allow for extra time to go through security.  TSA is super chill about carrying on formula/pumped milk, and purees/food.  TSA does do an extra check so it adds a tad bit of additional time for them to do the check.
  5. Place the diaper bag and ALL baby related items under the seat in front of you.  Inevitably something I thought we would not need became a MUST HAVE RIGHT NOW item during take off or landing – clearly if it’s in the overhead one will need it when we can’t access it.  :)
  6. Bring a baby carrier.  For most it seems like the baby carrier and stroller are an either/or travel item.  For me, BOTH are a must.  The carrier was clutch when we were flying to Seattle.  It was the only way I could have my hands free and allow Jellybean to take a nap.  I wouldn’t ever travel without it again.

BONUS TIP! Cheerios and/or Puffs are great for entertainment and containing the little one in tight corridors.

Here is Jellybean on her maiden trip to the Midwest :)

6 Tips to make flying with an infant easier | Life's Tidbits

Any travel tips? What is your must have items for baby when traveling?

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5 Months Old {Jellybean}

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Month 5 was one of HUGE changes.  Jellybean’s personality is really quite adorable.  She is a happy little soul who spends the majority of her day smiling and babbling.  I would give just about anything to know what my little one is ‘saying’.  She seems to giggle more each day, which means I spend a lot of time doing the most ridiculous things in hopes of hearing that adorable belly laugh she has.

JB loves to go outside.  As we stroll down the street her eyes are wide as she takes in her surrounding.  She listens intently to people as they speak.  She makes this little furrow brow at people when she first meets them.  Within a few minutes of them talking to her she turns on the charm and starts smiling.  Although she likes the attention of new people she completely flips out if someone she isn’t use to tries to hold  her.  We really need to work on that, because it hurts people’s feelings when she bursts into tears!

Jellybean has become quite the busy body wanting to listen and observe new people around her.  We took her to lunch a couple weeks ago and she couldn’t focus on eating because her head was caulked to the left trying to see and listen to some folks a couple tables down from us.

Everything and I really mean EVERYTHING she can get her hands on goes directly into her mouth.  I wonder how long it will be until we see a tooth!  This kid even tries to put my cheeks and nose into her mouth.  I am just going to believe that she’s giving me kisses.  =)

We have quite the mover and shaker on our hands.  Baby girl tummy surfs, rolls back to front and front to back as well as caterpillars all over and OFF her play mat.  We have to watch her much closer now and true baby proofing is in our immediate future.  When she isn’t trying to make it from one place to another her little arms and legs are constantly moving.  It’s no wonder she’s hungry all the time … I mean she is just constantly moving and burning up those calories!!

5MonthsOld_wBrownie

Sleeping

Jellybean is napping about 3 times per day.  The two morning naps are about 30-45 minutes and occur around 9 and 11:30am.  I would love to get this down to one consolidated nap lasting about an hour or so, however I’ve had no luck.  All the books I’ve read explain how to get a baby down for a nap, not how to lengthen it (suggestions?!).  The afternoon nap is anywhere from 1 to 2 hours.  In order to keep to the bedtime routine the nanny and I implemented a ~2pm start time for afternoon nap.  It has been working out really well and Jellybean seems to adapt well to the scheduled nap.

Nighttime sleeping is improving now that the dreaded 4 month sleep regression is over!  Bedtime is anywhere from 6:30 to 7pm.  We’ve stuck to the same bedtime routine since Jellybean was 12 weeks … if it aint broke don’t fit it.  Jellybean still wakes once a night to eat.  We’ve toyed with the idea of a scheduled waking to eat, however I prefer for her to tell us when she’s hungry.  There are nights we are up at 1am, but others where she won’t wake until 5am to eat.  This leads me to believe she is almost ready to drop the night feeding.  I have a feeling at the 6 month doctor’s appointment the doctor will to tell us to stop the nighttime feedings, but we shall see.

Eating

Jellybean is a good little eater.  She rarely, if ever, turns down a bottle.  As soon as the doctor gave the OK to start the introduction of solids I was all over it!  We began with oatmeal and slowly graduated to apples, pears and sweet potatoes.  I have been hesitant to introduce too many new foods too fast.  I’m more nervous than I thought I would be about food allergies.  Next up I want JB to try cauliflower, prunes, peas and avocado.  It’s so much fun to watch her expression as she tries new foods.  Seems like she is surprised by the taste of food at the beginning of each feeding even when she’s had the food before.

5monthold_jellybean

Wearing

JB wears size 2 Pampers Swaddles diapers.  For clothing she’s wearing a wide range of sizes.  The wardrobe consists of 3 month, 3-6 months and 6 month clothing.  It’s kind of crazy how many different sizes she fits into.  I guess similar to adult brands each one runs a little bit differently therefore size varies by brand.

Milestones

  • Smiles ALL the time
  • Shrieks/Talks – testing out the vocal box
  • Found her feet {and attempts to get them into her mouth!}
  • Giggles
  • Rolls front to back and back to front
  • Tummy surfs (not sure if that’s a real thing)
  • Caterpillars

handsfeet_5monthsold

Any favorite moments from your little one’s 5th month?

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Newborn Necessity Items

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I’m not sure where the time goes, but Jellybean is already two months old! When parents say “kids grow up so far”, they seriously weren’t kidding.  Not only is my maternity leave flying by, but JB is getting bigger, stronger and (of course) cuter by the day.  Before Jellybean arrived I spent a good amount of time preparing for her birth.  Decorating her nursery was just as important to me as purchasing the necessities.  All in all we were very well prepared for Jellybean – as far as “stuff” goes … the whole sleep deprivation thing … NOT so much!  Over the past two months the husband and I quickly identified our must have and necessary items for a newborn.  While it is similar to my pre-baby/pregnancy registry must have list this one is bigger and more accurate.

newborn necessities and must haves / Baby Registry | Life's Tidbits

Sleeping – Warm Onsies with Feet / Swaddle Blankets / 2-4 Bassinet Sheets

1 – Since JB is a winter baby warm onesies with feet on them (as recommended by my mother) are essential.  I would highly recommend purchasing at least 5 and get the button ones over the zip-up onesies.  While I know many folks swear by the zip-ups as they are easier the buttons come in handy during those 3am diaper changes.  Unzipping the whole onesie makes our baby colder (and often more cranky) than quickly unbuttoning just the legs and tush areas.

2 – I had originally planned on using swaddle pods, however my baby HATES them.  We are talking blood curdling screams as we zipped her into them.  We quickly learned that while she absolutely wants to be swaddled she wants the old school method.  The aden + anais Muslin Swaddle Blankets are perfect.  They are big and enable even the worst of swaddlers (read me … my husband is the swaddle pro!) to wrap the blanket around and get a tight swaddle.

3 – I figured 1 bassinet sheet would be plenty… HA!  Amateur I tell you – AMATEUR.  Between spit up, regular linen changes and oh yes a couple of diaper blow outs having extra bassinet sheets was extremely helpful (thanks mom!).

Diapering – Pampers Swaddlers / Sensitive Wipes / Changing Pad Liners

4/5 – We tried Huggies and Pampers Swaddles with Jellybean was first born.  I must say we had less blow outs/leaks with the Pampers Swaddlers.  Like a mentioned before I’m shocked at the shier volume of diapers and wipes we go through.  STOCK UP before the baby comes or consider Amazon Mom, it saved us on more than one occasion.

6 – I would recommend getting a bunch of these.  They come in more handy than I thought they would and save me from having to wash the changing pad cover as often.  It’s almost as though Jellybean knows when I’ve removed the old diaper and I’m starting to put the new one on and BAM in the 30 second switch she pees hahaha.  Instead of taking the whole cover off I just quickly switch out the liner and I’m back in business.

Feeding – Boppy / Burp Cloths (thick ones) / Glider / Baby Connect App

7 – The Boppy has come in handy both for nursing as well as propping the baby up as I get situated.  Sometimes two hand is just necessary. ;)

8 – Although pretty burp cloths are definitely nice to have it is best to have a lot.  I’ve also found thicker burp clothes are better to help absorb any of those bigger spit ups which leak through the thin cloths.  My mom suggested we buy these, which are both affordable and thick.

9 – I spent the first few days at home attempting to find the best location for nursing.  I sat on the couch, the big chair in the living room, the glider and even tried breastfeeding in bed (worst place of all!).  I found the glider to be the easiest and most comfortable place to breastfeed.  There is a learning curve with breastfeeding (at least there was for me) and being able to sit comfortably and have good support for both my back and arms made the process a little bit easier.

10 – After leaving labor/delivery and getting somewhat settled into our recovery room the nurse handed us a sheet of paper.  She explained that all feedings as well as pee/poppy diapers should be tracked.  Given how exhausted we both were the idea of writing all the down seemed like a lot of work.  I quickly remembered my neighbor had recommended an app, which made tracking everything easier.  I downloaded the trial version and got to tracking.  The app is user friendly and my favorite part is you can pause and resume feedings as necessary.  I rarely pay for apps for my phone, but this one was well worth the money!

Other – Cradle Swing / 2 Stroller “Cuddle” Blankets / Wubbanub Pacifier / Dawn Dish Soap

11 – Originally I was against spending this kind of money on a swing not to mention it is pretty big and we live in a condo and have limited space!  When I figured out Jellybean like to swing side to side and not front to back I started toying with the idea of buying this swing.  The hubby’s work friends gave us a gift certificate to Babies R’ Us which just about covered the cost of the swing.  After a little push from my parents off to the store we went.  Jellybean takes a ton of naps in the swing…it’s definitely a MUST HAVE!

12 – These blankets are great for cuddling on the couch or keeping baby warm while traveling from one destination to another.  And let’s not forget how incredibly soft these blankets are as well!!

13 – This pacifier is not only cute, but practical.  The toy part lays on the baby’s chest or you can prop it up in the swing so the pacifier doesn’t pop out of his/her mouth as easily.  Makes for less getting up and down to pop the pacifier back in…winning!

14 – So has your baby had a blow out yet?  Well let me tell you when it happens it is GROSS.  What’s worse is trying to get the poop color out of the clothes (and/or whatever the poop got on).  Oddly enough the thing we’ve found that works the BEST is dish soap.  I have no idea what the difference is between the dish soap and baby oxiclean and/or dreft, but a little dish soap and warm water and we say goodbye to the stain!  Obviously after we get the stain our we run it through the wash using dreft so the clothes don’t irritate Jellybean’s skin.

So there you have it – my pretty robust must have list for a newborn. What items couldn’t you live without having a newborn/infant in the house?

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