Traveling with toddlers and preschoolers

Welcome back to the traveling with kids series!

My last post was about traveling with babies, and since we recently traveled to Texas with my 15 month old and 3 year old, I thought I would talk about traveling with toddlers/preschoolers! We actually moved back to the states when my oldest was 14 months old, so it was funny remembering how different Camden and Lucy are as traveling toddlers!

The most important thing about traveling with any age child is to keep their routine with eating and sleeping. Make sure you have enough food for protein rich meals and snacks. The worst thing is a fussy toddler who has only been eating goldfish all morning! Pack food/snacks in individual bags or containers so there are a lot of "new" things to get out of the bag. Little bags of hot dog/chicken/turkey/beans/hummus, etc. are great for protein, and I also like to pack little bags of snack foods or fruit, too. Remember that too many sugary snacks for a toddler that they aren't used to eating can be hard on their stomachs and also wire them up and make it harder on you! I like to add a few new foods they haven't seen before to keep it interesting as well. You can also ask the flight attendant to bring you a cup of water with a lid for your toddler. I also ask for mine with a lid/straw as well to avoid spills! I have had a drink or two spilled on my lap by a 2 year old before I learned that trick!

The other important thing to remember is to plan flights/drives around nap times. If it's a long flight, chances are that your child will need to take a nap during your travels. I prefer for the kids to sleep during the flight/drive so that I get a little break during the travels. Between the ages of 1-2.5, I have found my kids are the most active/busy (I prefer to say this rather than "difficult"), so having a little rest during the trip is nice for all parties involved. Know how your child will rest the best in a car or a plane. Or bring some options if it's your first time. For my oldest, we would literally have to hold him so tightly as a toddler until he fell asleep in our arms bc he wasn't used to doing that. Bring favorite pacis, blankets, or stuffed toys that your child sleeps with. On the trains in Europe, we knew our son fell asleep best in the stroller as a toddler, so we would keep the stroller open in the entry car until he fell asleep. You can even bring soothing music for the car or use your phone as a white noise machine if they are used to that in their room. The natural white noise on an airplane/train/car has usually been enough for my kids, although this flight to Texas, Lucy kept waking up during her bedtime sleep cycle and we had to keep sushing and rocking her back to sleep like a baby! After my oldest fell asleep on a plane, he would sleep for at least a couple of hours on the long flight back from London. During our recent car trip last week, we planned to start driving right when both kids would normally be napping, and as luck would have it, they both slept for the entire 2.5 hour drive!! So use that to your advantage!

To pack toys, or not to pack toys!? This is the one thing I always go back and forth on, and something I have also observed from friends/other strangers during my travels with kids. It seems most people are lugging giant bags of toys around the airport that their kids never even use. On a road trip to San Francisco (6 hours from LA) recently, I forgot to pack any "toddler/baby" toys for Lucy and she didn't seem to care as long as the kids music was on. I think we listened to "Under the Sea" 30 times while we waited 2 hours at the end of our drive to get through the bridge toll at the bay bridge!!! Camden (3.5) was content to draw/color and watch his show on the iPad as well. Also try to remember  what we did as kids on road trips before DVD players and iPads, too! Games, art, and  talking with each other about the scenery outside and where we were going is also fun! As far as planes are concerned, this 3 hour flight from LA to TX, we only brought a few board books for my 15 month old to thumb through when she got bore and a play cell phone. She looked at the books during take off and landing, had some snacks and water and went to sleep for an hour and a half in between. I'm so glad we didn't over load our bags with a million toys! My oldest did the same thing he did in the car (art and iPad). We also spent a long time talking about the plane and where we were headed. We never even got out the magazines or cards in the seat back pocket like we normally do! Please post below for any questions or other ideas to add for traveling with toddlers and preschoolers!

Traveling with babies

It's been a really long time since I posted on this blog, but I recently sent a very detailed list to a friend about traveling with her new baby on an airplane. Many people have asked me about this topic, and so I wanted to start a little series on this blog about traveling and living in new places with kids! I have lived in 2 different countries, and 3 different cities since having my kids, and my oldest son (3.5 yo) has been on upwards of 30 flights. My daughter (13m) has been on 6. 

I wrote a very detailed play by play (something I wished I had before embarking on my first flight with a baby when Camden was 6 months old. It can be very scary because you just don't know what to expect. Well, rest easy, now you will know! And as my mom always said, the flight will eventually end!

Feed baby (and yourself!) well before leaving for airport. Upon arrival, place baby in carrier (Ergo or Ring Sling) so it's easy to get on/off if they make you take baby out at security. I prefer ergo so you can go potty easily if you are alone) and have a backpack carry-on, or one that will easily set on top of the rolling suitcase you will be checking. Check bag/car seat. Airline will give you a large plastic bag for a car seat if you need to check one. I always prefer to see if I can borrow one wherever I am going or rent one from a cab company. If you have a stroller, wait until you get to the gate and ask for a tag to check it at the gate. You will drop it off right before you get on the plane. 

Proceed to security. They will let you go in the family, medical, liquids lane. Slip on shoes are easier with the carrier on. Have your formula/baby food/breast milk in a bottle out separately or in a plastic bag in case they want to test it. If you have all powder and water in bottles, they shouldn't care. They may do a dipstick test for the water/breast milk. I have taken water bottles for kids and they just dip a stick and say you are good to go. You might need to allow a few extra minutes for that in case they are backed up. They will have you proceed through scanner with baby still in ergo (They have never asked me to take baby out of ergo/carrier to go through security), and hold your hands palms up after you go through so they can swipe them for bomb traces. They will know you are an avid flyer w baby when you do that and not second guess you! :) Get carry on and re load formula/baby food, etc! Head to pee before getting on plane. It's really annoying to try and go in airplane bathroom with carrier on. Get on plane when they board family boarding or before if you have A group (southwest). Try to score an aisle so you can ask flight attendant easily if you need anything. Place carry on at your feet so it's accessible and ergo up top (or at your feet) in case you do need to pee again! I always want to keep baby on normal feeding schedule so I never nurse or feed at take off or landing if it wasn't time to eat. The paci is the same idea if baby will take one! If not, you can nurse/feed if baby is unsettled. I have never noticed it "messing" with either of my kids' ears. You can use the seat to place baby down before you get off if you need to load bags, get carrier on, etc. Get your suitcase and pee again before getting in car to drive home! Yay! You did it!!!

Packing for carry-on bag:

I put all my different items in separate gallon-zip locs so I can find things easily. 

Snacks for you! (In their own zip-loc) Easy to eat w one hand while holding baby (granola bars, sandwich, etc).

Put a book on your iphone to read if baby falls asleep! Regular book is too hard to read one-handed.

Formula/bottles in a separate zip-loc (I would make 2 extra than you need just in case!)

Paci's in a case or zip-loc in inside/outside zipper compartment of carry-on

A few toys/books (I don't usually have those in a zip-loc bag)

Extra clothes for baby (2 outfits for a domestic flight) and an extra shirt/pants if you want, for you (in case you get pooped/peed on!). Has happened to me more than once!

Blanket in case it's cold for baby. If he's bothered by the light, sometimes I put a blanket over my shoulder and their face to block some light. I always wear pants and layer tops.

Diaper clutch, w 2 diapers, that you can easily take to airplane bathroom (front bathroom is usually the one with the changing table). When you walk in look on the left wall, and it folds off from the wall. Put hand sanitizer in that clutch to use when you get back to your seat bc it's nearly impossible to wash your hands holding a baby!

I put a separate zip-loc in my carry on with 8-10 diapers and extra wipes so I can refill my clutch after I use those. In case you get stranded on tar-mac or unexpected landing somewhere, it will be good to have extra. 

For international flights, I brought a small carry on suitcase I could fit my boppy pillow in. It was a Godsend for nursing and holding a sleeping baby for long flights. You can also request the bulk head seat on international flights before hand which will include a little bassinet for baby to sleep in. We never used it bc it was too small for my 6 month old, but the extra leg room at the front of the plane was brilliant!

Hope this helps! Comment below with any questions!

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Carsland

Yesterday we had the opportunity to go to Carsland with our friend Lindsay from Pixar. She's so sweet in always offering to take Camden to Disney and Lucy got to make her Disney debut, too! It was hot so she lasted until it got too warm to be worn in the carrier or sleep in her carry cot anymore (About 3:00). We arrived at 10 so we spent the better part of a day wandering and seeing all the fun characters. Luckily, Camden just likes looking at the characters from afar so we don't have to wait in lines to take the photos, and I tried to take him on Little Mermaid ride, but he said it was too scary, so we watched the Phineas and Ferb dance party show instead. We even got to go under the limbo stick! Lucy did great thanks to the Air conditioned baby care centers in each park. They even had rocking chairs, changing tables, toddler potties, food, bottles, etc. in case you forgot anything! Camden even got a sticker each time he used the potty there. So cute!

Here are some pictures our friend Firat took. We had our hands full with the kids so I think I literally got 1 pic on my phone!

 Lucy at Flo's cafe!

 Camden with his favorite tractor. He always wants a picture with this one! Jared was posing with him and he said bye bye daddy. Guess he wanted a solo shot!

 Red! The line to take a pic with red is always a lot shorter, so we got one with him!

 Splashing around in the bug's life water play area.

 This kid loves to splash!

 Lucy and I at Flo's

 Right before Jared was dismissed from the photo!

That's a BIG fire truck!

Also, Camden got a high five from Buzz lightyear as they were switching characters at the toy story place. So cool!

Thanks again Lindsay! We had a blast!!

Lucy Louise!

Lucy Louise is here and is already 6 weeks old as of yesterday. She arrived very quickly on April 18, 2013 weighing in at 8 lbs. 3 oz. and 20 inches long.

Here's a quick recap of the birth story:
On Sunday April 14, my braxton hicks contractions started to intensify to the point where I thought I might be going into labor. The previous Monday at my doctor appointment I was already 3cm dilated so I thought we were getting close. I went to my appointment on the 15th and I was 4cm! Still not in active labor but contractions that would come every 20 minutes or so and then stop for hours. I left the appointment feeling like I would begin labor soon. On Tuesday morning, I lost my mucus plug and had a bloody show so again I thought it was imminent! I started having even more intense contractions that day but random intervals. On Wednesday I had my friend Rachel take Camden to Gymboree class and I took a nap. The rest of that afternoon I still had even more intense but still random contractions. That night, they started to come every 10 minutes or so and I thought we were really ramping up! Our friends Jenn and Patrick were even prepared to stay the night with Camden if we went to the hospital. I went to bed and everything subsided. This was definitely God's grace to get one final nights' sleep! The next morning I woke and had no signs of labor. I was so bummed and a little confused. I called my friend Sandra and we took the boys to City Hall to run around and decided to walk to Lyfe Kitchen for lunch at 11:00. As we were finishing lunch around 11:45, I felt a small gush of water leak out. It felt very similar to the one I felt when I began labor with Camden so I told Sandra I thought my water was going so I ran to the bathroom. Nothing else came out but I thought it would be best to walk home. As we started walking I began to have extremely intense contractions. Later, Sandra told me I was pretty much running home! Haha! As soon as I got there I sat down on the exercise ball for some relief while Camden was playing an app on my phone. (I had just purchased said app because he was playing it on Sandra's phone while I was in the bathroom at Lyfe and was very upset that I had to take it away to run home!). As soon as I sat down on the ball, water started pouring out! I ran to the loo again and it kept coming so I figured I should call Jenn to come down and watch Cam and call Jared to come home from work! I snatched the phone from Cam (again very sad bc he was playing the new Duck Duck Moose app!) and called Jenn and said come down! I called Jared and luckily he was already walking home because he didn't answer!! By that time it was 12:15. As soon as Jared arrived, my contractions were already 2 minutes apart and gaining intensity quickly. I told him he could eat the rest of my sandwich for lunch real quick, but 2 bites in, I changed my mind and said we better leave. Jenn put Camn down for a nap when we left. We hopped in the car and made the 10 minute drive to the hospital at Kaiser Venice. He dropped me off and somehow I walked up to the hospital and rode the elevator up to the fourth floor stopping along the way for contractions. I checked in and they sent me to a room to be checked. It was about 12:45 when I arrived. I told them my water was going and they checked to make sure. Duh, it was! Jared walked in from the parking garage with the giant exercise ball and I quickly realized we were way past that phase!!

They admitted me to a very large and nice labor room and I was having contractions 1-2 minutes apart and very intense at this point while a dumb nurse was asking me silly questions like what's the name of your pediatrician!! Could she not see I was about to transition!! She said, Oh your contractions are getting really close together! Haha yes, yes, they are. I couldn't even speak to answer her questions. They sent the midwife in to check me around 1:15 after I asked them multiple times. I knew I must have been atleast 6cm at this point. She checked me and I was 7 cm. I was a little disappointed bc it was so intense I didn't think I could make it another 3cm. I asked for an epidural and the midwife and nurse left to go order it. She looked at me and said, you know it will take 30 minutes. I think she knew I wouldn't make it that far. I was hoping I didn't have 30 more minutes either because I really wanted to experience natural birth since I was induced with Cam and wasn't able to.

The only place I was able to manage the contractions was standing up with my arms hanging on Jared's neck the whole time. So as soon as they checked me I hopped right out of bed and got back to that position. A couple minutes after I stood up, I felt an extreme pressure pushing down on me and I yelled "I'm pooping!" I knew it was the baby, but that's all I could get out. Jared ran out of the room because we didn't even know where the call button was for the nurse and no one was in the hall so he started yelling nurse nurse! I was just standing in the room and as soon as he walked back in I looked down and blood was coming out. The nurse ran in and said get back on the bed right now. The next thing I knew, there were 10 people in the room running around and my body was already pushing her out! They said don't push and so I started yelling to stop it! Haha! Like that was gonna happen! Then another lady came in and said don't yell put your chin to your chest! I guess I was supposed to start pushing now. I gave 3 pushes of 3 sets of 10 seconds and I looked down and saw her  head! I said is that her head!?? I couldn't believe how fast it was. Then one more push for the body and a final one a few minutes later for the placenta. What a rush!! It was an amazing experience as they put her up on my chest and Jared got to cut the umbilical chord. They took her to clean her off and weigh her and she only cried for a second after she came out and then was happy and quiet laying in the cot. Such a sweet girl from the beginning!

Camden woke up from his nap and Jenn brought him up to see up just an hour and a half after she was born! What an amazing experience to have him there so soon after!!

Hope you enjoyed the birth story!
Here are some newborn photos we had our friend Rachel soon when she was 2 weeks old.

Adventures in Potty Training

So I decided to document our recent adventures in the Brient house...Potty Training! This is mostly for me to look back on, but hopefully an encouragement to some of you who still haven't taken the plunge! (pun untended??)

When we returned from our trip to New York in Mid February I had decided that we were going to attempt potty training Camden. When I say attempt, I didn't want to get my hopes up because he was only 27 months when we started, and if things didn't go as planned, I wanted to be ok waiting to try again after the baby came. However, as I read the 3 day potty training method by Lora Jensen, she talks more and more about how quitting is not an option, mostly for the sake of your sanity as a parent. So in true Robin fashion, I decided to take this ladys' advice and go full on with the 3 day method. No more diapers, throw them all out! No turning back!

Day 1: We woke up and had breakfast and talked to Camden about how he was going to be wearing his big boy underwear now and not diapers anymore! He was excited to put on the many different kinds of underwear we had purchased (Lightning McQueen of course, Spider-Man, and Mickey Mouse!).  We also were armed with many treats (hot wheels and Earths' Best Letter of the Day cookies). We had all the rugs covered with blankets and towels and we thinking it was going to be a huge mess!! We just kept asking him every 5 minutes if he needed to go potty, and every time he started going we ran him to the toilet. This approach went really well, and only took him a few times of peeing off the potty until he started running to the toilet when he needed to go. On the first day, he even got his first poop on the potty! We were so stoked and full of adrenaline to power through day 2. 

Day 2: We woke up excited to start the day and Camden even woke up with only a little pee in the bed.   We started to get frustrated when he didn't always make it to the toilet every time and were getting tired of being inside. This whole thing really takes a toll on you mentally because you have to be so excited for them when they go on the toilet, and also not show any disappointment when they don't make it. By the end of the day, Jared and I were exhausted. 

Day 3: We woke up with an excitement to "finish" potty training because it was a 3 day method. How silly of us to think that everything would be peachy and perfect after 3 days! Haha! Well, it was going a lot better than day 2, and I think we were ready to get out of the house!! We kept with staying inside to follow the method, because we didn't want to blame any failings on the method if we didn't follow it to a T! Camden had obviously gotten the idea that you run to the potty or say something every time you need to pee or poo, which ultimately is the point! Not to be 100% accident free after 3 days, which would be nice in an ideal world! We felt really great about how everything was going and were ready to continue on with it!

Post method: We decided we better get on with our lives and head out to the outside world the next day. We had a family outing to Chipotle with no accidents! The funny thing is that Camden never puts up a fight in public when we say it's time to go (ie if we are leaving and know it will be a while until we get home or to the next potty. It's funny how things have morphed into our own method now where we go before we leave the house or leave a public place if it's been a while since he's gone. He did really great with not wetting during naps even from the second day, so we didn't have to worry about that. I really think this method teaches them to gain good bladder control, instead of just taking them every "x" number of minutes and emptying whatever they have in there. I do tend to take him every hour or so if he's been drinking a lot of liquids and we are out and about just to be safe. Overall, it only took 2 weeks until we have been completely accident free! It's amazing how that can seem like an eternity, though!!

As far as night time goes, we had just put one of those pee pads under his sheet every night, and he was dry in the morning about 1/4 of the time. After about 6 weeks, we decided to use Pull-Ups at night for a while until he had more consistently dry nights. We've been doing that for about 2 weeks now, and we just call them underwear and have to sneakily throw them away in the morning. One day he found one in the trash and looked crushed. I almost started crying!! He's such a sweetheart and I didn't know what to do. I told him that one got a little pee pee on it last night so we had to throw it away, and then I distracted him with something else. He's had a couple dry nights, but not enough to go back yet. I'm sure he will at some point bc it's just a little in the early morning hours if we are diligent in cutting off liquids at 5:00 and taking him to pee twice before bed. He's 29 months now and still doing wonderfully! I'm so excited to have that milestone completed before baby girl comes, and feel so blessed that God allowed us the grace to see it through! It's such a difficult process for anyone. Please let me know if any of you need advice or encouragement to keep going! It really isn't for the weary!!