Travels with Baby

The critter is 10 weeks old now. Since I needed to use all my vacation time as a part of my maternity leave, we decided to go on a trip before I go back to work.

Going through the security checkpoint at the airport felt a bit chaotic with the baby and all the gear, particularly for seasoned travelers who generally pride ourselves in our efficiency at that. Once we were through security the air travel was good. I did a last minute change in the most secluded seat I could find at our gate. Prior to the trip I had gotten one of those nursing covers. It's like a poncho with a wide neck, so I can see what's going on in there. With that and a well-selected shirt the feeding "in public" wasn't an issue at all.

The flight was sold out, so we had to have a lap critter since we didn't pay for a third seat. We gate checked the car seat and its stroller. Critter slept for most of the flight. He woke up a bit hungry, and I fed him for the rest of the flight.

The first part of our trip was in DC to see family and friends and pick up hubby's old Jeep. Becoming a pro at public nursing, I even fed the critter in a restaurant while everyone was hanging out and finishing a pitcher of margaritas. I did, however, wimp out of feeding him on the National Mall after just changing his diaper at the WWII memorial attracted gawkers and strange comments. Instead, we pulled the car into what we new would be a fairly secluded parking lot on our way back to where we were staying, and I fed him in the backseat.

The drive to Savannah was a little more difficult. Although critter generally sleeps in the car, he was not ready to sleep ALL DAY in the car. After the first feeding/changing pit stop he started to be more alert and fussy even when the vehicle was in motion. I spent a lot of time reaching into the back seat and putting his pacifier in his mouth. On one leg of the drive I even sat with him. I held his hands and he fell asleep.

To maximize our feeding efficiency on the road I would pump while hubby was driving. (We have an inverter that turns the cigarette lighter into a regular plug.) Then, we would feed him from the bottle when we stopped, usually multitasking our own bathroom/food/gasoline breaks. As usual, he would also get formula when the breast milk was not enough.

I had estimated the need to stop, on average, 30 minutes for every 2 hours of driving, which proved to be quite accurate. We completed what Google maps called a 9 hour trip in a little under 12 hours.

On the drive the next day there was a detour because of an accident. Of course the baby woke up at that point and was hungry. It didn't help that the slow moving traffic wasn't as comforting to him as faster highway driving. I reclined my seat enough to feed him a bottle while he was in the car seat. I put a bib on him thinking this would create a big mess, but it worked surprisingly well. I guess I shouldn't be surprised since they say to hold a baby at a 45 degree angle when feeding him from a bottle and that happens to be the exact same angle of a properly installed infant car seat.

Today, critter got to meet his great-grandma, which was the primary motivator for this trip. It made her very happy to meet him, although it would have been nice if grandpa could have met him as well. Critter won't remember it, but we have pictures.

We are on the way to having a seasoned traveler. By the end of the year he will have already been in or through at least 10 states and the District of Columbia.