Pre-travel Thoughts with a Toddler

I thought it would be fun to write about how I want our trip to the East Coast to go in a meer 9 days. First of all, I cannot wait! I am so excited I can smell the salty, humid air! I have asked for tips from friends and baby message boards and here is the plan. It will be fun to come back to this in a few weeks once we're home to see how much of a plan it actually is!

• Clothing: I will dress Logan in some light pants and socks, no shoes, a tee shirt and light sweat shirt. His shoes will be packed in our carry on.


• Traveling gear: His car seat for the flight and I have borrowed a carrier from a friend so I can wear him on my back through the airport. I may also bring his harness along.  My carry on bag is going to be a large purse I have. It has a lot of room for all my things plus diapers, wipes, snacks, etc. I may have one other bag just in case!


• Food: I will have 5-6 of fruit pouches, 3-4 boxes of juice and 1 sippy cup for water. Crackers, fruit snacks, cookies and dry cereal for snacking. Honestly, I don't care what he eats as long as it makes him happy!


• Entertainment: Computer with pre-loaded movies. He loves Thomas and Elmo, and we'll bring Shrek along (a new fave).  I will also bring along some crayons and a coloring book and a new, quiet toy of some kind I have yet to purchase.


• Comfort: Pacis...yes. I am going to bust out the pacis for Logan. He has been weened of them since February, but I happen to know this kid still loves them as he steals Baby E's all the time. ;) This is also for comfort with any ear popping and over all keep-the-kid-as-quiet-as-possible. I will also give him a half dose of Tylenol 30 minutes before take off and before you all jump all over me for medicating my kid, you'd do it too. I've traveled with many kids his age and it's necessary. His blankie and maybe Elmo will also travel in our carry on.

Since Logan is over 2, he will have his own seat so we are bringing along his car seat. We're hoping that the familiarity of sitting in it will help him stay calm enough for our 4 hour flight and maybe we'll even get a nap out of it. Who knows. I'm hesitant to just pull him out of his seat unless he is totally melting down for a walk up and down the aisle just because I know once he is out, the harder it will be to get him back in his seat.

I'm a little worried about the time change. Not going there, but coming home. It's two hours and if he gets used to waking up at 7am there that is wayyyy too early for us back home! He has started to sleep in later lately (past 7am) and we're loving it.

I'm already praying everything goes smoothly! That our flights are on time and that waiting is left to a minimum. I know how restless my toddler gets and the longer the wait, the harder it will be.

Do you have any other tips or tricks to pass on? Leave a comment. Thanks!