Traveling with Baby: NZ Edition

On the road again with baby girl and we found some items that made this long haul trip easier, a dark bedroom more comfortable and our overall happiness level higher.

Night Flights

To begin with we scheduled our trip to New Zealand at night time. We flew out of San Francisco at 8:00PM arriving at a day later. The night time flight allowed her sleep pattern to remain relatively intact, and it took her no time at all to adjust to the new time zone. Definitely booking night flights going forward!

Sound Machine

I will continue to sing the praises of our ROMA portable sound machine until my voice goes hoarse. Besides using our sound machine literally every night, this device is incredibly easy to travel with. It worked beautifully on the plane and also at our Air B&B to drown out noise. Love. There is a real panic now however when I see the quick flashing light, alerting me that the device is about to run out of power. It's a scary minute or two until I plug it in to recharge!

Night light app

This trip we stayed in a beautiful 3 bedroom Air B&B with my mother in law, sister and brother in law and their two children. We occupied the bottom bedroom, which although beautiful, was incredibly dark at night time. So dark in fact that you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face in the middle of the night. Huge problem when you have a 9 month old waking up scared/exhausted/hungry and needing momma or dada. I was excited to find a basic (and free!) night light app that solved this problem for us. The app itself used very little battery power on my phone so there was no need to worry about running out of power. To activate and deactivate the light you could simply tap the screen, and you can change the color of the nightlight.

Baby Mum Mum’s

I was first introduced to this teething biscuit through some awesome friends of mine, so I thought i would throw a couple in the diaper bag in case we needed them on the flight or during the trip itself. This quick snack kept Amelia occupied for a couple of minutes on the plane.

Patience

I remember my mom saying on several occasions “pack your patience” when I was younger. This adage from my childhood comes in handy now more then ever with my own very small version of myself running around. I (try) and pack my patience, as well as giving our family additional buffer time to arrive o the airport, check in, go through security and comfortably find our gate. I hate feeling rushed and frazzled when I board an airplane. Giving ourselves a little more time makes the entire journey less stressful and more enjoyable.

Shoutout

Shoutout to Auckland airport who has, quite possibly, the best family changing room I’ve ever experienced. Built in changing tables, a massive bathroom, private breastfeeding rooms, AND a little gated play area for any additional children you may be traveling with?! WOW.

Each trip with baby girl gets easier as we learn some tricks and gain knowledge and experience as we navigate through this first year with her. What tips do you have for traveling with a baby or children? I'd love to hear them!!

Yours in the air,

Lauren