With the warmer weather, finally here or just around the corner for some of you, let's think about spring vacations with our littles. If you are like me, and taking a flight with your infant or toddler makes you nervous. This episode is for you. Today we are chatting about travel tips with your baby and how to have a good time on vacation or maybe a staycation if you're going somewhere maybe an hour or two away, and that's still kind of a big drive for your little one. We're gonna dive deep into all of the fun topics. Thanks for joining us. This is newbies.

Kaile Hunt 1:16
Welcome to newbies. My name is Kaile Hunt, and I'll be your host today. If you haven't already, be sure to visit our website, at New mommy media.com and subscribe to our weekly newsletter, which keeps you updated on all the episodes we release each week. Another great way to stay updated is to hit that subscribe button in your podcast app. And if you're looking for a way to get even more involved in our show, then check out our online community. It's called Mighty moms. That's where we chat more about the topics discussed here on our show, and it's also an easy way to learn about a recording so you can join us live. Our expert today is Azja Pryor, a cbws trained baby wearing educator with six years of experience who is passionate about supporting parents in this journey by introducing them to the transformative benefits of baby wearing. So fun. Fact, Azja has been on our show before. We did a whole episode about baby wearing, and I'm just taking a wild guess she's on the show today, because baby wearing comes in handy when you're on vacation and when you're traveling. Azja, thank you for being here. Tell us more about your family and where you're located. Yes, thank you for having me back.

Azja Pryor
Kaylee, this was so fun last time. So I look forward to today, or today's topic, um, so I'm located in Los Angeles with my family, my husband and my seven year old daughter, and we also have a 25 year old son, so I we've got a huge age gap there.

Kaile Hunt 2:40
I love that. But I'm assuming, when you do go on vacation, you have to think of places that can accommodate both, right? So when you did have a toddler, something fun for the toddler, but then something fun for your like, 20 year old, you know what I mean, or something fun for parents and something decent, you know, for, you know, you're a teenager and you're newborn. Anyway, I'm excited to get into all of the fun topics. Vacationing is one of my favorite topics. Honestly, I wish I can vacation more often. But anyway, we'll talk about all of that and the tips for bringing mom your child after this break.

Thank you for joining us. So we are discussing practical family travel hacks. So let's just jump right into it. Let's chat about your first trip with your daughter, right? So when she was under one, how did you feel? I'll say for me, I lived in Hawaii. My husband's military, so we were living in Hawaii. She was born in Hawaii, and Hawaii is very small. There's we Island topped with her. And then both of our families, my husband and I are from California, so we would always take a five hour flight to see them in the bay. And so my daughter her first plane ride, I think she was like, 12 weeks old. It was just as soon as we got the clear from our doctor that she could safely travel, we did, and so I was a nervous wreck. And everyone told me, you know, at 12 weeks, at three months, like you're gonna be fine, you need to be worried about toddlers traveling, right? And now that I have a toddler, they are so right. So I want to say to all this, the new moms listening to this, it's okay. Like taking a newborn, slash, barely an infant was such a breeze. Anyway. Question for you, Asham, taken away the spotlight, when did you first travel with your daughter, and what was that like?

Azja Pryor 4:34
You know, her first trip was she was around three months old. As I mentioned, I have an older son, and we took him and dropped him off at college, actually, and she was three months old, and that was a trip from Los Angeles to Atlanta, Georgia. Oh, wow. And, you know, I was really worried. I, you know, I did all of the research. Um. Oh, just, you know, worried about her ears on the plane. Oh, yes, you know. Then you know how we had, you know, when you're traveling with the with a baby, you feel like you have to pack up the whole house to take with you, you know. So it's like, what was I taking? How would she do on the plane? And I totally just put too much thought into everything, because it just all worked out at the end of the day. It all works out so her first trip was to Atlanta, Georgia. Yes, I wore her in our baby carrier through the airport, which made our lives a lot easier. She was content. I felt great. I felt confident that she was close to me, you know, that she was safe, and you know, people's germs weren't covering her and all of that. And once we got there, you know, was just fine. So lots of tips to share when traveling with babies of all ages, you know, and making it work for you. I

Kaile Hunt 6:00
so agree, I wore my um, daughter, yeah, in the airport. And I love and even, like, I remember I was worried about TSA, and I even, this is so silly of me. I breastfed on demand. I pumped to alleviate pressure, not to she refused a bottle, and I still packed breast milk. You know, I don't know. I was just one of those moms. I was like, Well, what if she takes a bottle this time? And I will say we have episodes about specifically breastfeeding and flying. But for me, going through two TSAs, one in Hawaii and one in San Francisco, it was so easy. The TSA agents were very insecure, and they were all very accommodating. They're like, Oh, breast milk, you're good. You know, they like, wipe it down really quick, I guess. And they would wipe my hands, and I even wore her through the monitor. And with I didn't have to take her off, you know. And so for any moms who are worried about that, and I will say, I think once my daughter was walking, I would just pick I still, I to this day, she's like, just, she's almost two. She turns two in like, two days. Um, we never had to have her stand by herself and get screened anyway. So all that being said, way less stressful than than worst case scenarios that new moms think of, which is so, so helpful. Um. Next question really is, let's talk about flying, since we're on this um topic, what? What are some things that you brought with you? Let's do like, age two. So that's two, like, maybe six months and under. Okay, what are some things that worked and some things that you probably didn't pack once your baby was a little bit older, or maybe this was the second, third flight, and you knew you didn't need that. So what are some good things to pack when you are flying with an infant? Great

Azja Pryor 7:39
question. So when you're flying with an infant, obviously you need a car seat. You know, the FAA does suggest, even though children under the age of two can fly sitting on a parent's lap, what's considered a lap child. The FAA does recommend that each child have their own seat, and that they use a car seat in the plane seat. I personally did not do that. I definitely took advantage of that under two flying free. And so you know whether you prefer to bring your car seat on the plane, or if you check it, you can go that route as well. You will need your car seat, though, the car seat and a stroller will check for free, so that's not considered part of your your bag allowance, I would say diapers. So what we did when our daughter was under six months, and we took quite a few trips. We would check her car seat. We had the car seat cover, right? Because you definitely want to protect the car seat. We would pack the diapers in that cover of the car seat so that we didn't have to worry about the diapers taking up too much space in the luggage. So that's definitely a hack right there. Go ahead and load up your car seat and get one of those covers. You can get them on Amazon, one of the car seat covers, and pack as much as you can in there. You You know, I also suggest a small travel size stroller, because while baby wearing is super convenient, sometimes a stroller is, you know, is really useful. Let's say you're going out to eat somewhere, and you don't want to have to be eating and dropping crumbs on your baby's head. You can sit them in their stroller while you're out having a meal. So I would say a travel size stroller. A lot of times, I think parents forget to pack extra clothes for themselves. Yes, no, we know. Okay, pack at least two or three extra outfit for outfits for baby. What? What happens when baby spits up on you or has a blowout, an epic blowout that, trust me, that happened when my son was an infant on the floor. Saying, you know, you want to be able to, you know, have a change of clothes for yourself as well. I would say, especially as your child is getting older. Around six months old, they're still fairly young, but six months and up, you want to bring some type of activity for them, you know, whether that be some type of toy, something that gets their attention. You know, for those longer flights, definitely be mindful of the pressure when babies are on the airplane. You know, they're in their ears, so you'll want to either give them a pacifier or nurse them while during takeoff and landing, or give them a bottle, something that they can suck on to help alleviate that pressure in their ears. If you are baby wearing, you can baby wear. You can keep your baby in the carrier on the plane. However, they will ask you during takeoff and landing just to take them out of the carrier and hold them in your arms. But then once that plane takes off and they're in, you're in the air, then you can go ahead and put your baby back in the carrier. I also suggest that if there are larger items, let's say or heavier items, let's say you are bottle feeding your baby and you need to get a bunch of formula, maybe wait until you get to the destination. Maybe just take what you need for travel, and obviously extra just in case there's any delays, but any of the heavier items you know you can buy when you're in a store, once you've gotten to your destination,

Kaile Hunt 11:36
I so agree I would buy the smallest pack of diapers and take that with me. Like, that's what I would pack. Rather than take the 52 pack. Or, I think I would buy, like, the 20 pack or the 18 pack, because that would get me through a day, you know. Like, I know for sure my daughter's not going through 18 day prison a day. And so yes, I so agree, the bigger, bulkier stuff you can definitely buy once you get to your destination. I also would add, I love that you said, bring a pair of clothing for parents. This totally happened to me. We were on a flight, and it was just one of those sites where my daughter was just up the whole time, and she was drinking a bunch of water and, you know, eating food, and then she just, like, pees all over herself, and where is she sitting on top of me? Right? She had to change of clothes I don't, right, and so yes, I love, love, love that tip, definitely bring just an extra shirt and like an extra pair of shorts or leggings or pants or whatever it may be for parents, because that is so, so helpful. Last question in this little section for flying is, Why might it be a good idea to postpone some vacation ideas? Example, right? I personally am not comfortable on a 12 plus hour flight. I wouldn't want to put my daughter through that. Now, I do have a friend who totally went to from Hawaii, Japan's about nine hours, and she went to Japan, I think twice, with her daughter, and had a great time. Loved it, and it worked for them. I'm too stressed out about that, I guess pros and cons. You said you went international with your kid. What are some pros and cons to doing that? And how would you even prepare to that for that?

Azja Pryor 13:18
Another really good question. So I try to coordinate. So when my daughter was about 14 months, maybe 1314, months, we actually flew to Senegal, West Africa, but we flew through Paris. So we we intentionally flew through Paris so that we could rest there for a few days. From California to Paris, it is a nine hour flight. And so we stayed there for four days before then taking the five hour flight from there to Senegal. And so that was, you know, that was pretty intense. Luckily, my daughter

just was the best baby, and she, she literally did not

give us, you know, on the plane, she didn't give us too much of a problem. I think we were even, even able to sleep for a while. I you know, I mean, it's a little it's a distant, distant memory now, but, you know, I don't remember anything now. I do remember there was another family on our way back from Paris that it was just my heart just broke for them, because they were flying with a young baby who was not happy. And I mean, this baby cried probably six out of the nine hours. Poor thing, I know so I would say just to step back a little bit, my biggest concern with flying with the young children, children under the age of 12 months internationally, is that they there are usually certain vaccinations that are required. And, you know, obviously. You You have to be very careful with that. And so, you know, that would probably be one of my major kind of fallbacks when we're thinking about, you know, traveling with very young children. Now, if it's somewhere here in the States or, you know, somewhere else, I mean, just certainly the risk of illness. I know I always took comfort in the fact that I was breastfeeding. So, you know, I had read and learned that it really boosts the baby's immunity, so I felt somewhat safe with that. But I would say definitely that would be a major concern, I think, for some parents. And then also, obviously, you know, your your child, you and your child, your time, your sleep, is all out of whack. So, you know, trying to regulate a sleep routine when traveling internationally or taking those really long flights can be very challenging. And so I could see why some parents would opt to to wait a little bit longer until the child is a little older.

Kaile Hunt 16:01
I So, so agree. Yeah, like I said, I have not done that. Um, I'm not brave enough, and I love that you even mentioned that your daughter was totally fine on that long flight. I find nine times out of 10 when you look back, it's really not as bad as you thought it was going to be, or not as bad as it was in the moment. Every kid has a little meltdown. Every kid has, you know, little fussiness, and even like crying in the moment for two three minutes, seems like forever, but it really isn't. It's okay. And I've never had I've been on, I think, about 10 to 12 flights with my daughter and her little two years of life. And you know, she's gonna cry sometimes, and it's not, I've never had any complaints, you know. So I think most people are so accommodating, and they so understand. I do. Remember I was flying a really quick one from, like, LA to San Francisco, and my daughter was just not having it. She just, you know, that's a 50 minute flight, if that for like, 30 minutes, she's fussy, she's not screaming her head off. And, like, even that, I was like, Oh no, you know, like, let's look out the window, or let's, you know, look at the screen and and really, it was fine. You know, everyone was fine. Everyone around us had headphones on. So in the moment, I know it's stressful to think, like, Oh no, what if my kid has a meltdown? But overall, most people are very accommodating. And I promise you, you probably won't be the only person with a baby on a flight. There's at least one other person, which was always comforting. Yeah, I'm

Azja Pryor 17:28
no, I'm so happy that you mentioned that, because that is definitely a very much a fear, I think, of a lot of parents, especially those parents who are traveling with multiple children that you know just just taking control of your kids and, you know, possibly having those meltdowns. And you know, to that, I say, yes, most people are accommodating. And if you happen to come across that person who's not, who's just, you know, giving you the side eye and making you feel anything less than what you are, which is a wonderful mother, you know, and doing your absolute best, then that says more about them than it does about you, because, you know, at the end of the day, we are doing our best, and you know, like you said, it's it's temporary. It's just in that moment. Just take a breath, you know, take care of your baby and just that's, that's all you can do. You can't worry about what anyone else is saying or thinking most I've certainly been on that end of it. Oh, trust me, while my daughter wasn't was great going to Paris, I've had real meltdowns on the plane, so I've been on both ends of that. And like you said, most people just show a lot of grace. And you know, most people, most parents, can relate. They've been there, you know. So I wouldn't worry about that at all, just taking a moment at a time, yay.

Kaile Hunt 18:56
Well, let's take a quick break, and when we return, I want to dive into like day trips and car trips and hacks that way. So we will be right back. Welcome back. We are continuing our discussion, so let's dive into day trips, car trips. Now. My daughter hated the car for probably eight to nine months. She was just not a fan of the car the car seat. Yeah, that was that was a stressful thing. I was stressed about flying car trips. For me, we still have not been on very long car trips. I think the longest we've ever been with her is one time we drove to Disneyland from the bay and I the next time we went to Disneyland, I flew with her, like, that's how bad it went. So I have some I have some tips for some moms who are have kids like mine. But question for you, let's talk about day trips. Um, what are some travel hacks you have for parents of kids under one so it could be three months, six months, nine months, whatever it may be. Um, for. Did car rides that are probably over. You know, your typical 90 minutes to two hours.

Azja Pryor 20:06
So I, too can relate. So my daughter hated the car from the time she came home from the hospital until, yeah, she was about one years old. She hated the car. She hated her car seat. I mean, I don't even think it was a car seat. I just, it was just something about the car, yeah, so yes, I understand. We avoided it wherever we could. But, you know, living in Los Angeles, and that Los Angeles traffic, what could, what should have been 20 minutes would turn into an hour. So I get it. What helped during that time, someone had suggested that we bring our white noise machine with us on car trips. And so we did that, and that certainly helped. Realistically, one of us, usually either my husband or myself, one would drive, and the other would be in the back seat, with,

Kaile Hunt 21:05
Exactly, yep, with

Azja Pryor 21:07
maybe, you know, doing all the things, singing and making the faces, and, you know, entertaining her by all means, and again, now that she's seven, I look back on it and it's a distant memory, but as we're talking about it, it's like I'm literally living that again. I remember, you know, but then that, that phase passed, it This too shall pass. Was my, was my, you know, my slogan, just going through that time. But day trips can be really amazing. So we live again in Los Angeles, and Palm Springs is a favorite family destination for us. It's about a two and a half hour drive, and so we would go and, you know, stay a couple of days in Palm Springs. This was after, this was, this was not the first 12 months. We just could not do it at that time. But I think she actually, she did do her first trip to Palm Springs. She was probably four or five months, and that was great, you know, I mean, I say take the trips where you can, where you feel comfortable, where you feel confident, because these are all great memories that we're creating with our little ones, with our family. They're only going to be tiny for so long. You know that first year goes by so fast. I know you know you hear it all of the time, but it truly does. And so if you can take the day trip, you know, to get out and in, make those memories with your family, then do it, you know, and I wish you all the best in the car. Yeah,

Kaile Hunt 22:49
I was so envious of parents who said that their kids would just, or their babies, right, would just sleep in the car, because that was so not my child. It would be like a hole, and I'm not even joking, like 15 minutes of crying before she would, like, Tucker herself out and sleep, and it would be me in the back seat with her hand patting her, pulling over and, you know, nursing her, and then having my husband pull back on the road. So my tip for long car rides, if you have a child who just doesn't like the car like mine. Um, be prepared for many, many stops. Um, I hated listening to her cry. And I always like set like an internal timer in my head, of like, okay, it's been about five minutes. Maybe she does need to nurse again, or maybe she just wants to be held and rocked for a little bit. And sometimes that would work, you know, she would fall asleep in my arms, and then I would safely put her back in the car seat, and we would be able to drive for like, 30 to 40 minutes before she would wake up. But yes, I would have tons of toys and unconventional toys too. Like I would have, I don't like a spatula would work for her, or like a remote would work for her, like, not just her normal infant toys, but like random toys, like cotton balls. She loved throwing cotton balls everywhere. And so I would have fun little makeshift things that I would bring. And then it does get easier once they start to eat. However it is, I've been told you really don't want a child to be eating in their car seat. Talk to your doctor about that. I don't want to give a certain age, because I don't know, but I do know I was told wait to have them drink and eat in a car seat until they're of a certain age and wait because it could be a choking hazard. So that is very good information to know, yes, but once they are of age and or of weight, snacks are so helpful.

Azja Pryor 24:33
Always helpful, yes,

Kaile Hunt 24:38
yeah, definitely helpful with that. And so I guess let's talk a little bit about baby wearing on vacation, right? I feel like that opens the doors to so much more. So rather than walking, let's say Disneyland, um, because I went a few times with my daughter, um, I we would bring the baby wear, and we could totally walk around and hold. Her. And even some rides you can baby wear, which is awesome, like Mickey and Minnie, runaway railroad wear away, whatever it's called, you can baby wear on that ride, which is amazing. I want to say it's the same for it's a small world and pirates, shockingly, anyway, but vacationing, amusement parks, day trips and all that. What's the benefit of baby wearing while on vacation, and how can it open up doors to do more? You know,

Azja Pryor 25:24
absolutely, baby wearing is just it's a safe place. Baby wearing is a place of convenience. Baby wearing is a place where you can keep your baby safely on your body. You can snuggle with your baby. You if they're having meltdowns or they are, they are completely overstimulated. Many times, putting them in that carrier and just rocking with them or walking will help to regulate them, regulate those emotions. So baby wearing while at home or baby wearing wall traveling is just such a game changer. Now, for many, I mean, you can literally pack your carrier up in a bag or in a diaper bag, and bring it with you, like you said, amusement parks where there are you're sunny in lines, and yes, there are strollers all over the place. There's stroller parking, but if you have to wait and align for 45 minutes, you know your arms are going to get tired at some point. So I definitely suggest bringing that carrier. It's great for those tight spaces where there's just a lot of people you know, or if you are walking through an area, if you're, you know, on vacation, and you're walking through an area where you know safety might be an issue. Maybe there's some big dangerous equipment around, or just a lot of people around, you know, just having your baby on your front or your back is really going to help you to be able to maneuver a lot easily, more easily through those areas. And also just, you know, especially as you start getting into the toddler years, you know, those little legs have, like, a mile limit on it. They get tired easily, yeah. And big kids need naps too, you know, and so having that carrier can, many times, be a safe space for them to get that nap, and also saving your arms and your back from having to hold them. You know, when you have that carrier. So I always suggest for any parent traveling. I know when we traveled, you know, whether it be to Atlanta or to Palm Springs or to Paris, like the wearing our daughter in the carrier was such a powerful part of that vacation experience, because it just allowed us a lot of freedom. And, you know, she got to see the world from up high. She wasn't in a stroller, just kind of looking at everyone's butts

Kaile Hunt 28:02
so true, or with the sun in their eyes too, I feel bad that's so true. Yay, awesome. Well, thank you so much. We have a few more questions coming up to wrap up this episode, but let's take one of our last breaks. You a welcome back to newbies. We are continuing our conversation so Asha, it has been a pleasure to have you back on our show. Where could our listeners find you if they want to, let's say they have a big vacation plan, right? And they're like, What baby carrier should I bring? Is this? Okay? Can I get a fit check I'm in the LA area. Where can they find you, and how can they work with

Azja Pryor 28:46
you? Instagram, I am at love Aja, that's l, o, v, e, a, z, J, a, and I am happy to answer any baby wearing questions, any carrier recommendations. That is my jam in LA I'm around. If we have any big events, we will have that on our Instagram page. I also work as a baby wearing educator with little baby, so you can also find them on Instagram at little baby.

Kaile Hunt 29:18
We do have events from time to time, so just follow both little baby and myself, and we will hopefully get to meet some of your listeners in person. Yay. Okay, and so the last question I have, I'm switching it up this time I want you to share. And I have, I have a funny story too, just a parenting sale to make other new moms feel better, maybe about traveling, just to kind of say it gets easier. This happens to everyone. I already shared about my daughter peeing on me during the plane. Believe it or not, that was not the worst thing. I'll go first. And so for me, I don't know what I was thinking, but this was our first. First trip to Disneyland. And guess who doesn't bring extra clothes? Me. I don't, for my child too. For my child, I don't bring extra clothes. She and, of course, she is over six months at the time, so she's like, eating human food, fun. So I'm getting her, like avocado and like we were at I'm trying to think it was the Pooh Bear place to eat. I forget the 100 Acre Woods or whatever. That's where we were eating before it turned into Tiana's, anyway. But we were over there and, like, she just gets the chili all over herself. And so what do I do? I find the nearest store. And I had to buy her, like, a $35 onesie that, you know, I didn't want to get her. Wanted to get her, like cute ears or something. You know, anyway, parenting fail. It happens to everyone. So just try to remember to pack extra clothes for your kid on top of everything else, right, like the lights and the diapers. Fun fact, though about Disneyland, we do have really good nursing sections, or parent sections, where they basically have everything you need. So they have extra wipes, they have extra diapers, they have extra bottles, they even have formula for people who forget that stuff. So that's fun, you know? And then, of course, at every store there's clothes for every kid. But anyway, that is my parenting fail on vacation. Asha, I'm tossing it over to you,

Azja Pryor 31:16
yeah. So I have a major parenting fail. Um, one time we were staying in a hotel, and I typically will pack, like, just a trash bag or something to put, like, all of our, you know, dirty clothes that accumulate as we're gone. So I was doing that, I added everything to to the to the bag, and my husband not realizing that those were our clothes. Actually thought it was trash out to the dumpster, and we lost like, several days of clothes. Oh, wow. So definitely don't use a trash bag for your dirty clothes. Use something else or clearly communicate with one another, what, which, which bag is which. And so you, so you don't lose your clothes like us,

Kaile Hunt 32:12
that stuff, I will say, I love that you. I mean, not use a trash bag, but use a bag of some sort for your clothes. I didn't do that until I had a daughter, and so now me, my husband and my daughter, right? We're all going on vacation. I actually do bring with me, like, one of those foldable, like cheap, like $8 laundry baskets from like, Walmart or whatever. And that is, that is also a good travel hack. I definitely do bring a bag to put our clothes in, whether I do laundry or not. I like just having it outside of our suitcase, so it just keeps my brain a little bit less cluttered and less stressed. That sucks. You much better

Azja Pryor 32:51
option. I have since gotten a portable travel bag as well. I you know, just this was, this was early on, and her clothes were so tiny, you know. So the bag was light with, like, with her clothes and a couple of my clothes, and it just went all wrong. That's so funny. I

Kaile Hunt 33:11
can imagine you being like, where's the trash bag? And your husband's, like, the trash, like, what dumpster? Oh, that's so funny. Aja. You are such a joy. We'll have to have you back on. Thank you so much again for joining us.

Azja Pryor 33:25
Thank you so much for having me. I absolutely love talking about these topics with you and your audience, so I it's been my pleasure,

Kaile Hunt 33:34
yay. Well, be sure to check out new mommy media.com where we have all of our podcast episodes plus videos and more.

That wraps up our show for today. Thanks for listening. If you love newbies as much as we do, please consider checking out the amazing businesses that sponsor our show week after week, and we'd also love for you to tell another new momma about this resource, which, of course, is absolutely free. And if you want to check out some of the other podcasts we produce, such as pregnant pals, parent savers, the boot group and twin talks, then visit our website at New mommy media.com don't forget to follow us on Instagram for more information, giveaways and more. Our handle is at New Mommy Media. Thanks for listening to newbies.

Dis 34:30
This has been a New Mommy Media production. The information and material contained in this episode are presented for educational purposes only. Statements and opinions expressed in this episode are not necessarily those of New Mommy Media and should not be considered facts while such information and materials are believed to be accurate, it is not intended to replace or substitute for professional medical advice or care and should not be used for diagnosing. Are treating healthcare problem or disease or prescribing any medication. If you have questions or concerns regarding your physical or mental health or the health of your baby, please seek assistance from a qualified healthcare provider you.