My hubby and I just got back from a glorious 8 days in Aruba. We were married in Aruba in 2008 and have been a few times before. Aruba always feels like home away from home for us. What an amazing feeling it was to be able to show our little one where his parents were hitched ;)

The thought of travelling with a 6 month old was a bit daunting. I approached it like I do most things...lots of research, lots of reading, and a ton of check lists.

I found this blog particularly helpful:


Here are some pearls that I thought i'd pass along:
Travel

1. If your flight isn't full, request that they block out the third seat for you. It made all the difference in the world to have the three seats all to ourselves. It's really uncomfortable to keep a bouncing baby amused when you are wedged between two people.

2. Use your umbrella stroller in the airport. We loved our Maclaren Quest. I picked up an inexpensive umbrella storage bag to keep it safe. What's super convenient is that you can gate check the stroller. Keeps you virtually hands free until you board the plan.




3. Carseats: We didn't bring a car seat. Anywhere we travelled with the babe (bus, cab, etc.) we carried him on our lap.

4. Carry-on: This was my most important piece of luggage! I packed wipes and diapers in ziploc bags so that I didn't have to bring the diaper bag. I also packed some new toys for my little guy and a couple changes of outfits. I brought a blanket for him too. I had no trouble at all bringing bottled water and formula through security in my carry-on.

5. Baby get-up: I dressed my little guy in a long-sleeved onesie and Baby Legs. Made for easy diaper changes!!

Hotel

1. Baby Bjorn Travel Crib: I can't say enough great things about this crib. It is ridiculously light-weight (11 pounds) and takes seconds to set up and take down. My little guy certainly isn't an easy going sleeper and he's quite comfortable in this stylish crib.








2. Fridge and microwave are super handy if you are dealing with purees or if your little one likes his bottle warmed. My son takes his at room temperature so that wasn't a big deal.

3. Dish soap & laundry detergent: I brought both and was so thankful that I did! I used the dish soap daily to clean his bottles, nipples, sippy cup and his dishes. The laundry detergent is great for cleaning swimsuits and anything that gets covered in spit up or blowouts ;)

4. Clothespins: Most bathrooms come with the hangy string in the shower to hang wet clothes. I find that things dry better when you use clothespins. You can also bring a string and rig up a clothesline on the balcony.

5. Don't forget to bring all of your sleeping gear from home: swaddles, sleep sacks, white noise machines, loveys, blankies, etc. You want to replicate the home sleeping environment as much as possible so your little one will sleep well!

Sun & Sand

1. Baby Banz. A UV swimsuit is a must for travel! Baby Banz makes great one piece suits that zip at the crotch for easy diaper changes. They also make fantastic sun hats and baby sunglasses to protect your little one's eyes. My babe didn't tolerate the sunglasses for too long but i've heard of a lot of other babies who don't mind them at all.




2) Bring a float. We found a great blow-up float with a sunshade for our little one to float around in. It was very similar to
this. We got it at the Pool Shoppe in Hamilton. They usually sell similar items on the resort but never exactly what you are looking for and often extremely overpriced.

3) Swimming diapers: We used reusable Kushie's swim diapers. The disposable ones work well too but if you are a bit crunchy like me you'll appreciate the reusable ones. It's also less to pack and much more economical. I made sure that I put them on him at the beach and took him out of them right away after swimming. Not great for him to be sitting in a wet diaper and also not great for Mom if she has to clean a poopy reusable diaper by hand...ICK! Remember that the swim diapers don't contain pee (you don't want a wet stroller!)

4) Sunhats: Find one that's light and dries quickly. The one I had was thick and my son hated wearing it because it made him so hot.

5) Sunscreen: Bring extra. Resorts always sell sunscreen but it's usually double the price.

6) Pool v.s. Beach: I found the beach fun for photo opps but super messy. Obviously my monkey wanted to put the sand in his mouth...we spent most of our time pool side. Much easier to keep the little guy clean.




7) UV cover: My little guy doesn't nap on the go too well. But if he did, this Jolly Jumper UV cover would have been a godsend.

Food

1) Breast is best! If you are nursing, it will make travel much easier! You can probably skip this entire portion. At this stage i'm nursing, bottle feeding and doing solids so it was a bit more challenging. Nursing came in handy when I wanted/needed to pacify my little one quickly (e.g. on the plane and on the beach). I brought my nursing cover but didn't end up using it. I was discreet and a towel usually did the trick.

2) Bottle feeding: I used Playtex Drop-ins for the entire trip. GREAT for travel! No sterilizing bottles. Just keep the nipples cleaned and your good to go. I used bottled water for his formula. No sterilizing here at 6 months...

3) Solids: Aruba is fully stocked with everything you'd need for your little one but I brought cereal with me. We hit the grocery store the first day we were there and picked up some bananas and avocados. I make all of my little guy's food but we bought the jarred stuff for the trip.

4) Highchair: We brought and LOVED our Phil & Ted's Me Too. They usually had highchairs at the restaurants and the resort had them too but they were old, wooden and looked really uncomfortable and dirty ;) The Phil & Ted's chair doesn't fit every style of table but when it fits, it works amazingly.



5) Bibs: Invest in a Mally Bib. Fantastic for travel. Just wipe it clean!!

6) Ziploc bags & plastic grocery bags: I brought a ton of baggies in different sizes. They came in handy for many things. I used them to carry the drop-ins, diapers, wipes, spoons, bowls, fruit, etc. You can even fill them with ice and stock up on fruits from the buffet for your little one. 
Diapering

1. I'm a cloth diapering Mom but I decided to use disposables for our week away. In retrospect, I probably could have done it successfully (great chance to sun dry the diapers too!) but for my first trip away I didn't want the extra stress. The nice things about CDing while you are away is you never have to worry about running out of diapers. Aruba is great for picking up things like that (they sell every brand of diaper you can imagine) but if you were somewhere more remote it might be tough...

2. Bring lots of wipes. I use cloth wipes for my son but I decided to use disposable wipes for our trip. I brought two refill packages and went through one in 8 days. I didn't bring the hard case...just the refill packages. They also came in handy for wiping down surfaces that looked icky.

3. Diaper rash: Our little guy didn't have any troubles with this but bring some ointment just in case.
All in all it was an amazing trip! My son slept better than he ever has before and I was asleep most nights at 9 pm (with some night wake-ups of course!). It was lovely to not have any house work or distractions to keep me up late at night.

Happy travels!!!



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