Christian and I are about to travel together on our third flight in his first 5 months. I was nervous before our first trip when he was two months old. Would he cry the whole time? Would the air pressure hurt his ears? Would passengers cringe as I came down the aisle with him? It turned out to be a pleasant flight (two as we had a layover), and I found that as opposed to cringing, fellow passengers were helpful and complimentary. Our first trip was to Jackson, Wyoming, and the ease of the whole thing encouraged me to buy tickets for our next trip 2 months later.
In May we headed back west, but this time we flew into Phoenix and drove up to the Grand Canyon. We stayed in the park so that we would have less driving in the morning for our hike into the canyon with him. From here we drove 6.5 hours to Palm Springs for some pool time and some more outdoor adventures. We ended our trip in Los Angeles, opting to stay in Venice near Santa Monica to be close to the beach.
Here are some tips on what worked for us traveling and some places I'd recommend checking out if you are headed to the Southwest. We only spent about 36 hours in each location.
Traveling with a small baby:
-Have multiple outfits in your carry-on as accidents will happen, and there is nothing worse than a wet, crying baby for 5 hours on a plane.
-Pack more diapers (cloth/disposable) than you think you'll need for your carry on. Double what you would normally use in the time period of your flight incase of delays. On the reverse you can always buy diapers wherever you are going and save room in your checked baggage.
-If you are nursing, make sure you can easily get your baby latched with what you are wearing. Also make sure you can maneuver your cover in a small space; I found it very challenging on my first flight to not flash my fellow passengers while trying to get him to latch.
-If your baby is known to be fussy, bring some ear plugs for your seat mates.
-Pack light for the whole trip, your baby doesn't care what they are wearing or if they wear the same outfit several times on the trip and no one else will.
-Avoid bringing a stroller if you can. We used the "ergo baby" the whole time including our hike into the grand canyon. It is so much easier to get around a city on foot without it and its one less huge thing to bring along.
-If you are renting a car, car rentals have the option to add a car seat to your rental, and it won't cost you very much, otherwise I would recommend getting one of these that has padding so that your seat doesn't get broken in transit.
-If your baby will take a pacifier, it will be a lifesaver for the flight.
Places we went that were baby friendly:
Grand Canyon:
-We hiked the Bright Angel Trail, Christian was the youngest baby on the trail, but it was easy enough to walk up and down while wearing him and there were areas to rest along the way to change and nurse him.
-Breakfast here was casual and inexpensive
-If your baby has food allergies like mine, you'll probably need to shop at the grocery store in the village as this is not a dairy free/vegan friendly place.
-We stayed here , which was not our original plan. We had planned to hike in and camp, but realized that was aggressive with a 3.5 month old and settled on this spot.
Palm Springs:
-We went out for some nice dinners while here, but were mindful of his bedtime and went out at 6 instead of 8. Jake's and Hacienda Cantina .
-Breakfast was at the Ace, which had the perfect breakfast menu for this vegan nursing mama.
-We hiked in the Indian reservation which took you on a trail through one Oasis after another and up through some beautiful Cactus
-Of course there was also plenty of pool time at the hotel, since that's what Palm Springs is all about.
-My husband did a round of golf here early in the morning.
Los Angeles:
-We stayed here, which was the only place where the baby had to sleep with us, but they were right next to the beach and had a kitchen to make breakfast in the morning.
-We went out to dinner on our first night to Gjelina which was phenomenal. If we had had more time in LA I would have dragged my husband and Christian to this area to do some shopping for the apartment.
-We did a hike with family at Runyun Canyon, one disclaimer, there is no public restroom here, so keep that in mind.
- We also went to the Getty museum which is FREE. If art isn't your thing I still recommend this museum as the views of the city are worth the trip alone.
In May we headed back west, but this time we flew into Phoenix and drove up to the Grand Canyon. We stayed in the park so that we would have less driving in the morning for our hike into the canyon with him. From here we drove 6.5 hours to Palm Springs for some pool time and some more outdoor adventures. We ended our trip in Los Angeles, opting to stay in Venice near Santa Monica to be close to the beach.
Here are some tips on what worked for us traveling and some places I'd recommend checking out if you are headed to the Southwest. We only spent about 36 hours in each location.
Traveling with a small baby:
-Have multiple outfits in your carry-on as accidents will happen, and there is nothing worse than a wet, crying baby for 5 hours on a plane.
-Pack more diapers (cloth/disposable) than you think you'll need for your carry on. Double what you would normally use in the time period of your flight incase of delays. On the reverse you can always buy diapers wherever you are going and save room in your checked baggage.
-If you are nursing, make sure you can easily get your baby latched with what you are wearing. Also make sure you can maneuver your cover in a small space; I found it very challenging on my first flight to not flash my fellow passengers while trying to get him to latch.
-If your baby is known to be fussy, bring some ear plugs for your seat mates.
-Pack light for the whole trip, your baby doesn't care what they are wearing or if they wear the same outfit several times on the trip and no one else will.
-Avoid bringing a stroller if you can. We used the "ergo baby" the whole time including our hike into the grand canyon. It is so much easier to get around a city on foot without it and its one less huge thing to bring along.
-If you are renting a car, car rentals have the option to add a car seat to your rental, and it won't cost you very much, otherwise I would recommend getting one of these that has padding so that your seat doesn't get broken in transit.
-If your baby will take a pacifier, it will be a lifesaver for the flight.
Places we went that were baby friendly:
Grand Canyon:
-We hiked the Bright Angel Trail, Christian was the youngest baby on the trail, but it was easy enough to walk up and down while wearing him and there were areas to rest along the way to change and nurse him.
-Breakfast here was casual and inexpensive
-If your baby has food allergies like mine, you'll probably need to shop at the grocery store in the village as this is not a dairy free/vegan friendly place.
-We stayed here , which was not our original plan. We had planned to hike in and camp, but realized that was aggressive with a 3.5 month old and settled on this spot.
Palm Springs:
-We went out for some nice dinners while here, but were mindful of his bedtime and went out at 6 instead of 8. Jake's and Hacienda Cantina .
-Breakfast was at the Ace, which had the perfect breakfast menu for this vegan nursing mama.
-We hiked in the Indian reservation which took you on a trail through one Oasis after another and up through some beautiful Cactus
-Of course there was also plenty of pool time at the hotel, since that's what Palm Springs is all about.
-My husband did a round of golf here early in the morning.
Los Angeles:
-We stayed here, which was the only place where the baby had to sleep with us, but they were right next to the beach and had a kitchen to make breakfast in the morning.
-We went out to dinner on our first night to Gjelina which was phenomenal. If we had had more time in LA I would have dragged my husband and Christian to this area to do some shopping for the apartment.
-We did a hike with family at Runyun Canyon, one disclaimer, there is no public restroom here, so keep that in mind.
- We also went to the Getty museum which is FREE. If art isn't your thing I still recommend this museum as the views of the city are worth the trip alone.
 |
| Views of the Canyon |
 |
| The little guy sunning himself by the pool |
 |
| Hiking the Indian trails |
 |
| Views from the Getty |
No comments:
Post a Comment