Packing a carry-on for infants and toddlers

The bigger they get the more they can help you carry all their stuff!

This list is assuming you are also checking luggage.  Our method for long flights (I'm talking 25-30 hours travel time with 16 hour legs) is to have 2 diaper bags.  One bag goes at our feet and one up in the overhead bins.  Each is complete with some of all the items, and the bag at our feet can be re-stocked during layovers or mid-flight when depleted.  Here is my list of must-haves for our two little ones:

• Diapers: more than you think you will need at least to get you through the flight and the first day at your destination.  In a pinch some airlines have them, and some airports, but don't count on it.
• Wipes: great for more than just diaper changes
• Clothes: a few changes of clothes for the plane; think comfy/cozy and something that will make diaper changes in those tiny bathrooms easy; some for the grown ups too if you have space, but really, who has space?
• Entertainment: toys (quiet ones that won't roll down the aisle if dropped), books, coloring/drawing supplies, ipad (toddler headphones - amazing!), etc.  New items are a bonus.
• Meals and snacks: like diapers - more than you think you'll need (what if they hate the in-flight meal, what if there is no in-flight meal?); snack trap
• Milk/water bottle: (watch the pressure changes; our camelbak kid's water bottle [which, by the way, is the best we've come across in terms of leaking in non-pressurized settings] become geysers mid-flight, it's pretty embarrassing when you spray the surrounding 5 rows)
• Medicine: tylenol, diaper cream, aquaphor - whatever your go-tos are.  Travel-size it if you can, otherwise I've had good luck getting things through security since they are baby items.
• Plastic bags or wetbag: lots of uses, when you need them you need them
• Blanket for domestic or budget airlines: use it as a blanket, pillow, mop up spills, play peek-a-boo

Other things you may need: formula, pump, special blankets/stuffed animals, prescriptions, and pacifiers.

With each person getting a carry-on + personal item, and lap seats getting an additional carry-on we haven't had a problem with airline allowances when also checking luggage.  It does get to be challenging to carry all that around the airport plus the kids though!

Good luck!

Spring break: Part 1 - Kiev, Ukraine

We split our spring break between 2 places - Kiev and Stockholm.  Probably sounds a bit random, but we have friends in both places we were visiting.

Kiev was much nicer than I was expecting. It definitely had what you would think of as a Russian feel to it (though we've never been to Russia so who knows). We found it had good food, transportation, parks, enough shopping but not crazy shopping, and was incredibly inexpensive (has obviously fluctuated a lot in the last year).

With an absence of playgrounds in Kathmandu, this was one of our first stops

Watching the kids play at the playground

Independence Square, or Maidan Nezalezhnosti, the central square in Kiev; 

site of massive protests in 2013

Candles at Independence Square

Coffee from a pink snail?  Yes please.

Another park

Andreevskaya, or Saint Andrew, Church on Andreevsky Spusk street

Architecture

Love the gold roofs

We spent 4 days in Kiev and could have spent more, but having a friend/tour guide certainly helped!  Next up: Spring break Part 2 - Stockholm!  

Flying: The good, the bad, and the ugly. The family edition.

We fly a lot.  And while we're getting pretty good at flying with young children (and our kids pretty much rock at it), there are those times when you reflect on the bad moments and appreciate the good.  This post is a result of some ups and downs on our last journey to Kathmandu from the states, one that took 57.5 hours, a 16 hour flight leg, 1 missed flight, 1 night in the airport, and 7 pieces of luggage that didn't arrive with us.  I give you my musings on the good, bad, and ugly of flying (with kids in particular):

The good is sleeping children.

It’s an empty seat next to you.

It’s a lounge with good food, a playroom, and showers.

It’s airport seating that doesn’t have an armrest between each seat preventing you from laying down.

It’s an outlet near a comfortable seat. 

It’s a USB charging plug on the plane.

It’s an in-flight children’s meal.

It’s the stewards and stewardesses that love babies and kids (and will entertain them for awhile, even hold them while you go to the bathroom!).

It’s an upgrade.

It’s flying without children when you regularly fly with children.

It’s getting comments at the end of a flight saying how well your children did (all that work – packing snacks and entertainment, constantly supplying those said snacks and entertainment, monitoring seat kicking and volume of speaking, and special privileges [ipad for hours at a time, sure!] and wonky sleep schedules you’ll later have to cope with – paid off).

It’s being met at the gate by family or friends.

The bad is being awake at 3am in the airport trying to sleep on tile floor next to your toddler in case he wakes up and tries to wander off.

It’s airplane food.

It's a baby that won't sleep.

It's flying pregnant.

It’s a pen exploded in your bag.

It’s trying to sleep on the tray table in a desperate attempt to get comfortable.

It’s overnight delays.

It’s lugging around too much carry-on luggage (packing a diaper bag for 30 hours of travel requires a LOT of stuff!).

It’s sitting under an overhead compartment when someone is trying to put a piece of luggage that is too big.

It’s a baby on your lap and no room to put your tray down to eat.

It’s a seat that won’t recline.

It's luggage overages.

It’s a budget airline flight.

It’s headphone jacks that require the silly 2 or 3 prong headphone plugs so you have to use the airline headphones.

The ugly is waking up realizing you either: drooled or were in your neighbor’s space… or worse – both. 

It’s being the neighbor.

It’s the Kathmandu airport bathrooms.

It’s when that crying baby is your own.

It’s dealing with a child who has to pee “really really bad”  right when the seatbelt sign goes off after the plane has landed (you know that moment, when everyone instantly jumps up and gets their bags down as if they might not make it off the plane if they don’t).

It’s coping with upset stomachs and the inevitable traveller’s diarrhea.  That line for the bathroom after a meal has been served is a nightmare.

It’s being the only woman on a flight.

It’s the vomit bag and needing to use it.

It’s sitting next to (behind, kitty corner, in the general vicinity of) a person who needs to use the vomit bag.


Here's to hoping your next flight has more of the good than the bad and none of the ugly.

Paris from a different perspective

Both Jeremiah and I had been to Paris before, and I'm glad we had because this trip was totally different than the Paris I think of. Instead of meandering through the Louvre, sipping coffee with croissants, and seeing the sights at night all lit up, we carried children around, managed oozing Nutella crepes and sought out playgrounds. Not that any of that was bad, just different and a wee bit exhausting.

We bought some good kids books...

watched boats go by...

wondered where all the keys were...

put on temporary Shakespeare tattoos with water from the public fountain...

and rode the carousels ("again please, again?")

Seeing the sights in and around Rodez

While in France for spring break we got to see some of the beautiful architecture and countryside around Rodez. Cathedrals are of course the thing the see while in Europe, and these didn't disappoint (except from Tegan's perspective since she had to be quiet while inside!). It was equally nice to walk small roads of small towns and admire the cobblestone and stone buildings, such a contrast to the brick buildings of Kathmandu.

Moving abroad with young kids

Have an infant or toddler (or both!) and thinking of taking your family abroad to live? Already taken a job abroad and are thinking about what you need to plan for your little ones? Though our kids were born while we were already abroad, we have some thoughts on this based on our experiences and those of others we know.

1. Seek out other families already settled in your new country well before you leave - what advice do they have?

If you are going overseas because of a job that regularly places people overseas they should be able to help with your transition. But if you are on your own find blogs/message boards/etc with families already living in the country or town where you will relocate to and reach out. I get emails all the time and do my best to answer questions. Ask them the questions you know you have, but also ask what their day to day life is like, this can give you a better idea of what to expect.

2. Think ahead to what you might need for the next few stages.
Will your baby start eating solids and need baby food? Start walking and need shoes? Will your toddler hit a growth spurt and need a whole new wardrobe (seemingly overnight as is usually the case)? What medicines will you need? Diapers? Training diapers? Once you have brainstormed, try to figure out what will be available in your new country. It's also good to know about shipping into the country and if there are restrictions.

3. People will have opinions about your move, and will probably voice them. Be ready with your response.
We come across a lot of surprise, polite questioning of motives, the "oh your families must miss you", and "I could never do that because..." (which is really often a judgement in disguise). We know why we live abroad and the benefits for our family and share these to varying degrees depending on the individual. Some will never understand. Some will be inspired. Some will live vicariously through you.

4. Make a plan of communication with family and friends.
Find a time that Skype works for you. Set up a blog. Facebook pictures. Email. Do what works for you and the folks back home.

5. Bring traditions from home and start new ones.
Christmas in a country that is Buddhist will never be the same as Christmas at home. Easter will go by without a blink of an eye. And you will have new holidays to learn and celebrate. Make the best out of all of it. Bring things from home or recreate holiday traditions and find some new things your family can do and possibly take with you when you leave.

6. Find other families to hang out with.

It'll help. For everything ranging from figuring out where to buy the good diapers to what preschool options are out there to venting about ____. Support networks are always a plus.

7. Think of some routines for bed and nap time that are not place specific.
Moving abroad will inevitably involve many different cribs/beds/airplane seats/laps/car seats - you name it - both during the trip there, but in settling-in and travel once you get there.

8. Know that things will be different, and different is ok, it can even be great! (Though fried pork fiber for baby? Not great).

Are you raising a young family overseas? What advice do you have?

Dashain break in Bali

We took a family vacation to Bali, staying in Sanur, with another family over Dashain break.  Bali was a great place for our group: a 33-week pregnant woman, a 2 month old newborn, a nursing mom, a toddler, a pre-schooler and 2 dads.  Mostly we hung out at the pool, ate on the beach while the kids played in the sand, and took one day trip to Ubud.  Sanur was a nice, slow pace for us, clean but not over-the-top resort-town feel.  Ubud was much more touristy but we saw some nice sites on the way.  It was all a good change of scenery from Kathmandu!

House pool

Bali Bird Park

Temple

Temple

Ubud

Goa Gajah (Elephant Cave)

Goa Gajah (Elephant Cave)