Vacation Late July with 9 Month Old

My first venture to CA was with an 18 month old, 3 yr old and 5 yr old (although I have flown with them as babies. I recommend getting your son his own seat and taking your car seat. 5 hours in flight is a long time to deal trying to juggle your 9 month old in your lap - even if you take turns. Coming back will be even longer as you travel with the earth's rotation. My child was bigger and mobile, so this was more of an issue, but I believe they all napped longer and better in their car seats than they would have in my arms - and it gave us stretching room. If you didn't purchase an extra seat, you may be fortunate enough to request a row with an empty seat that you can put your child into if no one will be using it (provided you have your car seat). The extra space will also come in handy if you have to change your baby. I don't recall a changing station on the airplanes we were on.

Many people suggested to us to give our child Tylenol, or some infant decongestant (Dimetap or Triaminic) in order to preempt the altitude pressure change (plus it makes them a little sleepy), which we did, but our children are prone to congestion from allergies anyway. Since I don't know your health history, I would probably talk to your ped about it. Some children do just fine with the cabin pressure changes.

At 9 months, your child will probably be just happy enough getting your attention and looking around the plane. We took several books with lift-a-flaps or textures to feel. We didn't bring the noisy books out of respect for the other passengers who would have to hear them for the duration of the trip. We also took four or five favorite toys (packable) and a favorite blanket.

Try to be aware of in-flight times and scheduled meal/nap times. If your child will be ready to eat close to the time the plane takes off, you may want to bump up mealtime. I don't know if you've got your child on cups or baby food (another reason for a separate seat), but, again, pack your diaper bag accordingly. Oh!, and take along some diaper bags for those dirty diapers/wipes. etc.

To make luggage a little lighter, we did not pack food, diapers, and wipes for the whole trip. We took enough to get us through a 2 days (traveling day and the next), and bought enough in CA to get us through the trip and back home. If you are using formula, I recommend getting the premixed solution to have for the flight. It's not the cheapest, but it's easier than carrying a tub of formula and water bottles, then still having to mix it all up. Trust me, when you're on the plane, crammed in your seat with an infant on your lap, the less stuff you have to mess with, the better.

As for the time change, we didn't do too much to take our kids off of our schedule because, by the time they got adjusted, we'd be coming home to have to re-adjust them, and I wasn't keen on that. My sister-in-law who would travel from CA to MD, felt and did the same when she traveled to the opposite coast.

So, we pretty much stuck to our east-coast time table with the kids although we stretched it. We tried to keep our children up a little later then usual,to get them to sleep in an extra hour or two. It may take a little more effort with your 9 month old to keep him stimulated. Hopefully, since it won't be light at 4:30 am, you may have to nurse/feed him to assuage his appetite, but he will go back down for some more rest time. Our attitude was not to force a new time schedule but also to not enforce the old one. It was easy for my husband and I to adapt and curb our sleep/hunger for CA, but we made ourselves aware of the kids' internal east coast clocks. Sometimes that meant feeding the kids when they were hungry regardless of CA time (although not east coast). Fortunately, you still have an infant who's eating schedule and meals are separate from yours anyway, so this would not be a stretch for you, just something to work in your CA daily plan.

Hope this helps - enjoy your trip!

Hey there, i went on vacation last year for the 4th with my daughter wich was 9 months old then we flew with only 2hr time change. It was really ok but she was sleepy for the first day and a half we were there, and the same comeing back home.but it didnt take long for her to adjust and readjust. It should be ok and shouldnt ruin your time in ca. Have fun!!!!

We flew to Egypt with our 2yo and also took a few short flights when she was a baby. The best thing to do is during take off and landing is breastfeed or give him a bottle to decrease ear pain, bring lots of toys and food. As far as time change goes, we started putting her on Egypt time a few days before leaving. So maybe start getting your son up a hour earlier 3 days before leaving, then 2 hours earlier 2 days before leaving, then 3 hours earlier the day you leave. We also made sure she was tired for the flight since it was at night (ie. a short nap that day) so she would sleep. Hope this helps, baby's are easier to travel with then toddlers so good luck and have fun.

R.,

Hi, my husband and I just returned from a trip to CA with our 17 month old. To keep her on schedule we made her stay up for the day once we got there. That way when she went to sleep she would sleep till about 8 like always. When we got home it took me a few days to get her back onto shedule, but I basically did it the same way. For the flight out and back, my pediatrician said that I could give her Benadryl. I tried it before the trip to make sure she didn't get hyper from it and she slept for most of the flight. This made it a lot easier to travel. I would talk to your ped and see if they would recommend Benadryl and if so what dose. Hope this helps.

S.

My daughter was 4 months old when we had to fly from Sicily to Virginia. The only thing I can really say about the time difference is to just go with the flow but if you can try to keep your son up as long as possible so when it's time to go to bed at night hopefully it will be for the whole night. Then again don't torture him either :-P For the flight though, and if they let you, give him a bottle during take off and landing. The sucking will help with his ears. If anything ask the flight attendant for milk. They want a happy baby as badly as you do.

I have dealt with time changes many times iwth my son. I thought it would be hard, but really...it only took 1-2 days for him to get used to it. The traveling always messed up the time and routine with him anyway. They adjust pretty quickly.

As for flying... just make sure you have something for him to suck on at take off and landing...oh you know. most airlines have a section on their site for helpful hints on flying w/baby. have some things for him to do...some new toys. books to look at. your baby is still pretty young. just wait til you try to fly with a 2 year old! ugh!

good luck.
J.

The travel on the first day was a breeze. Packed extra everything, had two rested adults to tackle any problems, flight attendants were super helpful.....even when planes were delayed, overbooked, had transfers, ect.....BUT as vacation days passed, everyone became tired, off schedual and worn out, making the trip home a challenge. I suggest you relax on the vacation, follow your inner clock, don't over plan and don't worry soo much if yours is the kid on the plane who's flipping out, the fellow passangers were a blessing, they were more worried for the baby and less concerned about the noise and distraction. Have fun and be realistic about the time you are gonna have, enjoy the fun times and the crazy times are just memories in the making. At the very least you will have an opportunity to see how you react to stress!!!

R.,
It will probably be easier then you anticipate. I just flew from Oregon to DC with both my daughter 12 months and son 3 years old last month. The time difference coming this way was actually pretty easy because we flew in late and went to bed late. It might be a little more difficult going the other direction. I would try and keep him up late for DC time, yet put them to bed a little early for CA time. This should even out the time difference. Flight suggestions make sure you have a bottle or pacifier for take off and landing to help equalize (pop) his ears. Books and small toys and snacks are always good. Is he going to be sitting on your lap or in his carseat in seat? This could make a difference on how easy it is or is not. I got lucky on the way out here because the Army was paying, so my daughter got a seat, but we also had to lug around the carseat. Because she was in her car seat she slept a lot and did very well. At least you will be going with you husband and will have extra helping hands. It was much easier then I had expected.