Baby Corner

[Susita 175]

Nessa ~ I love the new pictures of Ben! Looks like the Madagascar party was a big hit

[Nessa 23]

thank you susita

i think i'll get him the coupe, so we can go on base and i can push him for now and when he's bigger he can play by himself.

[Vi Mazzella 4]

Susita@ Is the baby home? and Sof has the vaccum but it scares her

[Mommy2ZaidnSalma 11]

Zaid LOVES the vaccum

[Nessa 23]

Ben loves the vaccuum

[EricC 0]

Hey everyone, its been a while since I've posted on this thread. Anyone have some tips for bringing your baby overseas? We are going to visit the Philippines for 3 weeks next month and Roland will be 1 years old then. Just wondering how it will be on the Plane ride for like 16 hours? Any tips on helping them be calm and stay behaved. Also anything that I should need to bring for him? And how are baby's responses to Jet Lag? Thanks everyone.

[Dr. Obvious 49]

My two cents:

No lap babies for you and your baby's own sanity. The seat is worth every penny. Bring the car seat, if possible. Bring favorite books and toys. Look for places for the kid to walk/crawl around when stuck in the airport. Bring a large light blanket, if possible. Maybe the kid might be interested in the in-flight entertainment. Worth a shot.

Be prepared for things to go wrong. Like getting stuck in an airport for 12 hours with your 12 month old. Good times there. If you are a formula feeder, bring more than you think you will need.

12 month olds can't really 'behave' themselves. You can only hope that they are good enough to sleep the vast majority of the flight and that you can distract them well enough when they are unfortunately awake.

Though there have been plenty of opportunities for my daughter to have been jet-lagged, it is only on the last flight we took that she seems to have been so. Sorry I have no advice. YMMV.

[chri'stina 190]

The first time we went to India all together, Kavi was just over 1 yrs old. We had him on our laps for a 3 hour flight and then a 15 hour flight both ways. That was of course very tiring. This year he was over 2 and he had his own seat, in his carseat. Much easier.

When he was 1 and when went, he did ok on the flights. Except for some crying on take off or landing bc of ear pressure I believe. If your international flight has the tv screens behind every seat and a wide selection, I think that can keep your child interested while awake. Once in India, he slept a lot trying to adjust to jet lag but he wasn't very grumpy. Though the first night or two, to me, feels like complete torture with that much of jet lag(ours 9.5 hours), with a very small child, in a very far away place. If you need to sleep and your child won't, there isn't much you can do. It gets better after adjusting more to the time difference.

We took continental both years and they have lots of choices of what to watch, and kids' programs. On the way home from India this year, Kavi's screen was the only one I saw that wasn't working! Argh. But he mostly slept anyway. We bring minimal toys on the plane, nothing that makes noise, and if you are carrying a car seat and stroller around an airport, you will not want to lug around lots of other carry on baggage. This year we managed to get all our carry on into one small suitcase(with wheels), only very needed things.

Being 2yrs old in India this year, was a different story from last year. He had a horrible adjustment the first week or so. I wrote about it a couple pages ago on here. His emotional adjustment to the trip was much better when he was 1.

[Susita 175]

Yep she's home!!

Bring on the sleep deprivation! LOL

[TracyTN 237]

Yep she's home!!

Bring on the sleep deprivation! LOL

That'll be me in a few months! Hope it's not too bad for you. It'll be nice to have her home regardless.

[Nessa 23]

enjoy, susita

@ericc: I agree with the baby having his own seat and bring the car seat. Is he breastfed?

[EricC 0]

yes he's breastfed

[Susita 175]

That'll be me in a few months! Hope it's not too bad for you. It'll be nice to have her home regardless.

Last night wasn't too bad at all! She kept me up off and on until about 3am and then she slept till 7:30. When Luis got home from work at 8am, he took her for 2 hours for me while he ate and watched the Peru news with her. I guess comparing this to twins makes it seem so much easier. She was having a hard time with latching on at first because she was becoming so used to the bottles they gave her in the NICU with my pumped breastmilk, and it's so much easier to get milk out of those bottles. She was fine nursing all night though, she got frustrated and cried a few times but then she eventually latched on. I always have a bottle of pumped milk in the fridge/freezer just in case.

[Nessa 23]

yes he's breastfed

I guess you have the feeding part of the flight already figured out, then.

[Anna C. 4]

@ Eric: I flew with my son when he was 8 months old alone, non-stop San Francisco - Frankfurt. He was a lap baby. He did great... I bought nursing tshirts before the flight so I could discretely nurse him which helped soooo much! he fell asleep nursing during take-off and didn't wake up til we were over Great Britain (aka nearly done with the flight!). The last hour he played in my lap and was happy... The extra space for his seat would be nice, and I did have that randomly on my way back, but he wouldn't have been happy in a carseat I think. We recently flew (he was 18 months then) just domestic and he we bought a seat for him... HORROR. He didn't stop screaming until he was out of the car seat. It was a complete waste of money!

@ Susita: Sounds good... If there is any trouble, you can always contact a lactation consultant.. But I think it sounds great, I was using nipple shields still at that point!!!