How to Travel with a 2 month Old

I know what everyone was thinking when we announced we were going to France when Jacob was 2 months old.... "They are crazy", "He's too young", "They don't know what they are getting themselves into", etc. But as usual, Micah and I didn't really listen to what everyone else thought and decided to do it anyway.  Hey, if you never do anything that might not work out or might be hard then you just stay home and NEVER do anything.  So off we went.  Now that we are back I can say that it was no big deal and a great vacation.  However, we did learn some stuff along the way.

Location:
We picked France because it is a "first world" country and I knew if anything happened we would have access to doctors, hospitals, etc.  We also picked for our first trip a place where we would only switch hotels twice and didn't involve a lot of driving.

Bedding:
Before Jacob was born I picked out this awesome travel bed that folds up like the spring car window shields.  Holly was nice enough to give it to us as a gift and it worked amazing! It was light and small enough that during the day we could move it out of the way.  In one hotel I literally put it on top of the shelves holding the mini-fridge. I also loved that it folded so small when it was time to move. I also brought his pack-n-play sheet to put on since it was the lightest sheet we own.

Daily transportation:

Our first day in the metro system was a little rough.  We didn't really have a plan going into it and we didn't have Paris's system figured out yet.  I would say we learned from experience on this one.  The first day we only brought the stroller out with us and every time we would get to stairs or a turn-stile I would take Jacob out and carry him while Micah would deal with the stroller.  Well there are A TON of stairs in the Paris metro system so eventually my back was worn out.  It also took some time for Micah to figure out the best ways to deal with the stroller. On day 2, we brought the carrier and I carried Jacob in that while Micah continued to deal with the stroller. We basically didn't take Jake out of the carrier until we were at our destination and done with the metro for a while. This way if the metro was really crowded Micah was able to fold the stroller to fit us in without worrying about Jacob. It was a much better experience our second day.  We also learned it was nice to have both the stroller and the carrier at all times to be prepared for any situation. 

Packing:

We knew we needed to pack light in order to survive taking the train to Normandy.  Originally I had packed a rolling carry-on and Micah convinced me to change to a back pack and I'm so grateful I did.  In order to get to our train we had several metro stops and lots of walking so we needed to easily be able to carry everything.  So,  Jacob and I had one bag and our over-flow went into Micah's bag. We also had a carrying bag for the stroller. Then Micah and I both had a back-pack. The morning leaving for the station I had Jacob in the carrier, my back-pack on my back and my rolling bag while Micah had his back-pack, the stroller, and his rolling bag.  And we made it!

For packing, I was mostly concerned with having everything we needed for Jacob. I found disposable bibs in Bahrain, packed 3 burp clothes, 3 pacifiers, diapers, and wipes.  I didn't worry about the amount of diapers and wipes since I figured if we ran out on the trip we could just buy more. Since Jacob is mostly nursing I only brought 2 bottles and a small canister of formula.  I also had a small thing of dish soap and would wash the bottles and pacifiers every night. 

Feeding:

We are super lucky that Jacob has always done well with either nursing or a bottle and he is also fine with formula. So everyday I would be prepared for either type of feeding depending on what worked out. I did learn to be way more comfortable with nursing Jake in different places and a little more in public than I used to be but you gotta do what you gotta do.  Jake was nursed sitting in parks, standing in the rain under a canopy, on the trains, etc.  

Sometimes nursing just wasn't feasible so Micah and I would get out the bottle and feed him where we were.   Also, since he takes formula and bottles so easily it allowed this Mama to drink wine at night and he would get a bottle at bedtime. This kid is awesome!

Diaper Changes:

Another thing you have to get used to when traveling internationally is changing a diaper wherever it has to be done.  We changed diapers on the grass in the park, in the stroller, on bathroom counters, in our laps, in the back of the car, etc.  I had this nifty changing pad thing that was AMAZING! It worked so great for all of those situations.  I got it on Etsy from Little Bits Beautique. 

http://www.etsy.com/listing/108541683/custom-all-in-one-changing-pad-diaper

Mine is OSU fabric of course :)

Other random things:

Jake loves sleeping swaddled and I figured out that our swaddlers have a hole in the bum so that you can have them strapped into the car seat or stroller and swaddled at the same time.  This was awesome! Jacob took 95-100% of his naps during the day in a car seat, stroller, or carrier. 

I say all of this to say that it is possible to travel with a baby and to have a blast doing it!