There are certain things that have made traveling easier for our family and we have enjoyed about 5 different hotel trips since Roxy and Dru were born. We have gone out of the country and out of the state and all around.
First. Naming your child after your husband and his father is amazing. Fact.Checking in at the airport when 2 people have the same name, neither of which go by that name, is not amazing. Interesting point with twins is that you can not sit two babies in the same side of the aisle on the same row. This is some regulation of sort, and because of the number of oxygen masks. So we split the aisle when we bring our show on the road, but haven't had any problems since.
There are 2 obvious ways to get the babies to the plane, the stroller- which can then be checked at the gate..or wearing/carrying them. Imagine carrying a wriggly, worming, spewing 20 lb butterball and you'll get my drift. The next time we fly we will take the car seats on the plane for the Scalf Family Sanity plan. There are a million reasons why flying with babies in the seat is safer but for us the last few times were just easier when holding them in our lap. Here is an article about baby plane safety stuff from the NY Times that I found intriguing, I also found it after our last flight.(fail)
Car Seat Safety read I digress. Because we bought a new stroller that doesn't fit our car seats (I'm sure there are attachments available but I am sure that I am not wanting to spend another 150$ buying car seat stuff) we will be carrying the car seats and our carry ons,pushing a stroller and two babies (because it's awesome AND we feel like the beating put down on our luggage is lessened when we check it at the gate) and inevitably will be stopped at least thrice for questions about the babies- no matter how late we are running.
Sidenote: If you have water in your diaper bag for bottles just tell them at Security TSA check. They let you carry just about anything you need within reason for babes. We had bottles that had water in them, liquid formula, powder formula, baby food, sanitizer etc with no problems at any airport. You take off your shoes and hold baby and then you get your hands swiped for bomb residue. If you're super lucky and late like us, you show positive for that residue and get to be felt up by hundreds of strangers while holding your baby and waiting 15 minutes for a female officer to show up.
The babies needed no documentation except for leaving the country- so they have passports. It blows my mind- but they do. The passports don't expire for 5 years so when they are five how will Immigration really know if they are the people in the pictures?? They won't! That's bad baby security. Again, digressing.
At the hotel, I always set up a changing table like at home. This just makes sense for us because we change so many diapers everyday. It is usually a luggage table and I put down our changing mat and line up our supplies. I think it helps the baby have that normalcy of changing time, which for us is a time that we get lots of coos and giggles at home.
Bedding. Find out what kind of bed they will supply for you and bring clean bedding from home. I always replace what they have with my blankets and sheets and the babies have NEVER woken in the night when were out of town. I never travel without our noisemaker either. This helps with the night sound normalization. If what they see is different, I want what they smell and hear to be the same. Also, be sure to bring the lotion and whatever else is part of your routine so they can be comfy to sleep through the night. If they are normally co-sleepers, co sleep. If they're normally crib sleepers, get or bring a pack and play- but don't choose the out of town time to try something new or something new will happen for you and you won't catch a wink. I bring multiple blankets and keep them all wrapped up in luggage so I can switch out every couple of days and keep it smelling like home.
We showered babies with us and used the washcloths that come pre-soaped which made showering them so much easier. I take about 4 changes of clothes for each baby, each day- this seems like a lot. Ok, it is a lot but I am like a Mommy Scout- always prepared. Bring lots of diapers and wipes to save yourself the hassle of a store run on any vacation. Bibs and socks and bows and hats. Random stuff that is often forgotten- don't forget it. Easier said than done right?
Travel on Babies and Mamas!!
