Travel Tips

**For those of you who come here for a baby fix and could really careless about the tips/baby care stuff, I will post lots of pictures later today. No worries!!**

After coming back from our two-plus week travels, I have some new and improved ideas about what made traveling go very smoothly for us. Some things won't work for everyone, and I realize that, but, without further ado, my top five travel tips!

1.) We ditched the stroller and brought our ergobaby carrier instead. Never once did I think to myself, "I wish we had a stroller!" Lydia is happy in the Ergo, and it left our hands free. She strolled on the beach with Grandma Marie in the Ergo, ran through the airport on Daddy in the Ergo, you name it. We definitely made the right choice.

2.) White Noise. I have a white noise app on my iPhone, and it was really nice to have. It blocked out conversations outside of our room during the day and the roosters during the night. (Yes, kids, our beautiful ocean-view house was located right next to a man who raised roosters for cock fighting. Cock-fighting roosters must have an extra-special gene that causes them to crow 24-7 rather than just when the sun came up.) It also made it easier for Robin and I to sneak in and go to bed or get things, because the white noise blocked out the sounds we made. Thanks, White Noise Lite app!!

3.) Sleep training. Here is the part that I know is not for everyone. Lydia's ability to soothe herself and fall asleep on her own was invaluable. Despite the changes in schedule and environment, the girl pretty much stuck to her two-a-day nap schedule (give or take an hour or so and missing a nap here or there). She was able to fall asleep in her pack-and-play, and all was well. I never spent more time putting her down than I do at home, unlike her trip to Minnesota this summer when we were still rocking her to bed.

4.) Toys. We brought as many toys as we could possibly fit into our suitcase. This was particularly nice on the plane when we had things for her to play with. I read in an article that parents often forget toys on the airplane. That would be a huge oops!

5.) House vs. hotel. This isn't always an option, but I was so grateful that Robin's mom planned our vacation at a rented house. It allowed us to put Lydia down for a nap and sit by the pool, on the veranda, or downstairs in the living room. Great call, Marie!

I wish I would have...

1.) Brought her baby monitor. We don't use it in the house anymore because when Lydia wakes up from her nap, the girl lets us KNOW! It would have been really nice for those occasions when we were outside by the pool, because we would have been able to hear her without having to go inside and check. I know the baby monitor will be making it's comeback when summer comes and L naps while I sit outside on the porch and read a book (aka sun myself).

2.) Brought a hat for Lydia. We forgot. Oops. Poor girl sported a mean sunscreen hairdo for the week.

3.) Continued pumping at least once a day even though I was nursing her through the whole break. Not doing this has caused my body to majorly rebel against pumping, which I will talk about in a later post.