Contemplating international travel with a baby
December 9, 2015
At some point, we’ll likely take LB back to Asia to meet relatives. That sounds all yay family and fancy-like but every single time I say it, and I test it on myself every so often for desensitization purposes, alarm bells of Preparation, Will Robinson, Preparation! go off in my head.
We haven’t even flown domestically with hir yet, I’m not at all prepared to wrassle a child this active and interested in everything on a flight for double digit hours.
It finally sank in why my friend said Travel as much as you can in the first year. It’s all much harder after that. Oh. Some of them, when they can move, they MOVE. This one does. Holy mopeds, this one does.
Logistics
Passports: US passports for any minor child under 16 costs $105 and is good for five years. I don’t know in what world a child looks even remotely similar five years on but I’m not volunteering to pay that price more frequently.
Among other things, they require both parents to apply in person (or one parent goes, the other parent sends a signed, notarized form), proof of US citizenship, and evidence of the parental relationship.
Flights: Ze is a lap child until the age of two but since the last time I received sage travel advice, ze has become even squirmier. Even if we manage to squeeze in a flight before hir second birthday, I think our sanity demands a separate seat. This means an extra cost whether we manage to swing award flights or pay out of pocket.
Packing: Holy CATS I’m not looking forward to this. Bright side? Ze isn’t going through 11-20 diapers a day anymore. Less bright side: hir diapers are huge now, in comparison, and we still have to carry a supply of them. Also the stroller since it would be lovely not to be incapacitated by hefting this most-healthy, not-yet-walking, heavy child for miles. And of course, there’s the car seat thing. Traveling with a kid still in a car seat is most definitely anti-minimalist but I will do my best. It feels like Stroller City around here so I’m totally against buying an umbrella stroller to add to the mix, but I’m open to any other suggestions to keep the mess down.
Health check up: Ze was an absolute trooper for hir flu shot, after being given something to bite down on like any good ole Wild West character, but the battery of injections needed to go to Asia makes me cringe. Still, better a jab than a multi-week illness. *For the record, I got all the jabs and still got sick when we traveled to Asia as a youngun. If I wasn’t so sick, I would have been extremely bitter.
On the plus side
I suspect this will make for a good story, no matter how well or badly it goes. So as long as we survive, I’ll be excited.
There’s really no economic payoff on this choice, but I don’t think we expected there to be one. (Though, can you blame me for checking?) Oh but naturally it’s going to set off all my travel planning / deal hunting neurons and I’ll be obsessed with that for a good long while. You always need a good obsession to chew on.
Meeting family should be good. Right?
Yikes I don’t blame you for being nervous, although the parents I have talked to who have done it said it wasn’t as bad as they thought. There were moments, but it didn’t last the entire time.
I have heard the same, and it’s sort of reassuring?
We buy the diapers we’ll use there and on the return flight at the destination and don’t pack too many. We also leave diapers behind if we end up with extras at the end of trip. I view them as consumables and donate-able.
Ask whoever you are staying with/visiting to arrange for a borrowed stroller, bed, toys, etc at the destination (though strollers check for free at boarding on most domestic airlines) . Hotels usually can provide a crib if your LO still uses them. We also have considered (but not yet used, because people come through for us with stuff) renting kid stuff at the destination e.g., https://babysaway.com/ . Depends on where you are going but most major tourist cities offer this service in the US and Europe — don’t know about asia!
We traveled while L. was breastfeeding and then after she was completely weaned so bottles were never an issue for us, but consider food issues especially if getting a GI thing is a concern. Our travel was to Hawaii because that’s where my husband’s family is from and we were able to buy almost all the same brands etc there so even baby food & snacks was readily available. Depending on where in Asia and the availability of familiar products I might consider packing food….
Super long plane trips suck, but the time change thing seems easier to sort out when you have a long trip….
Hypatia, you are always awesome with these tips!!
I am really hoping that LB continues to eat everything we offer by the time we go out to Asia – so far so good but I know that can change with toddlerdom.
I remember flying solo with my two, then roughly 1 and 2.5 years old. In retrospect, I’m kind of amazed, but I didn’t really think about it at the time.
I seem to remember that the younger one rode in a backpack while the older one walked beside me through the airport. On the plane, I had a car seat for the older and the younger was a lap baby. If I had to do it again and could afford to, I’d get three tickets for safety’s sake, but it worked out okay. Mind you, it was a short domestic flight. On an international flight, I’d recommend getting LB hir own.
If you and/or PiC are up to wearing it, I highly recommend the backpack carrier. We used ours All. The. Time, and I think once we got used to it, we rarely used a stroller. Of course, you can’t see what’s going on back there, but the hands-free aspect is nice.
I have a Chimparoo. What good advice! I can switch it out to be a backpack..
@Sherry: I may have to ask you more about the Chimperoo later.
I’m impressed by anyone who can handle more than one kid at a time.
PiC would totally do it but it’s really hard on me to wear LB for any period of time anymore. Ze is a very heavy kid!
Ours is 11 months old and has already done four 13 hour+ flights, plus some shorter ones (five hours average).
A few tips:
-buy the seat. Buy the damn seat. Our refused to sit still on my lap even at three months. Plus, if you think seats are cramped in coach on your own, it’s even worse with a baby on your lap.
-if you’re buying the seat, try and get one where your car seat can fit in the seat. That way you don’t have to check in (possibly paying hefty fees), the baby gets a spot of their own that they recognize as theirs, and if all else fails, you can strap ’em in tight.
-bring more diapers than you think you need for the flights (ask me how I know…), but buy diapers when you get yo your destination.
-it is going to suck, no bones about it. But at the end of the day, it’s 10/12/15 hours of your life and everybody else’s. It’s blur in your memory and other people will eventually forget about it.
Wow! That is a lot of travel – congrats on surviving it š
I didn’t even think about the car seat fitting into the plane seat – I’ll take measurements.
We have to do this next year. I want to have him potty trained by then. *crosses fingers*
*crosses mine too*
My parents took me to their home country (which is in Asia), when I was 1 to meet the extended family. I obviously didn’t remember anything. My parents told me I had a lot of gas during the flight and was crying the majority of the time. Someone got annoyed with my crying and then my dad apparently got mad at that person. Sad to say, I would probably that same person who would get annoyed with a baby’s constant crying during a very long flight. Lol. (Can you tell I don’t have children?) Perhaps you should offer earplugs to the people sitting around you just in case. š
The flight could potentially be unpleasant, but your arrival and seeing family should make up for that.
I don’t think it’s impossible to be annoyed by the noise of crying and still have empathy for the poor kid who’s clearly uncomfortable and sad. As sucky as travel is for us adults who got ourselves into the mess, I’m sure it’s that much worse for the poor littles who are like WTF, why does everything suck so much??
I just get annoyed at parents if they’re ignoring the kid, but in truth, that’s not always fair since there is a limited amount of options when stuck on a plane!