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Hi, I'm Robin. I just got done with a road trip to the border and back with my husband
and my not-even-two-month-old yet, and I want to share my tips from our trip.
Pack wisely. Don't pack things that you can only use in one situation. Gowns are great.
A lot of people love using gowns at night, so it's easier to diaper change, but I did
not pack any of them, because they could not be used in the car seat as well. Sleepers
could be used at night and in the car seat. Try on the clothes that you're bringing. If
you baby is anything like ours, they will grow very quickly, and you want to make sure
you have clothes for the whole trip. Think about what clothes will bother your kid - collars
or hoods or even those adorable little footies. Yeah, they're cute. Yeah, maybe it's their
favorite outfit, but will it bother them in their car seat? If you think it might, just
pick something else. Throw in extra onesies. If you need them, it's wonderful to have.
If you don't need them, they don't take up much space. Bring clothes that will match.
Any pair of pants will go with any shirt, because then you're not finding outfits. You
just throw on whatever, and all of them look good. New clothes is a bad idea. I know, you're
so excited to use your new outfit on your road trip, but they might hate it. They might
hate their new outfit. you don't know how they're going to respond. It's not worth the
space. Bring their blanket that they're most familiar with. A flashlight is a good idea
just safety-wise for anything, but especially if you have a newborn. If something falls
out of the car or if you're needing to clean up a dirty diaper and it's difficult to see,
you got your flashlight. Have two bags. Have one that's your diaper bag for right next
to you. You're just putting what you'll need - a change or two of clothing, enough diapers
for a stop or for the distance you'll be driving without a stop, and then refill from your
other bag, so that you're not overwhelmed, it's not hard to find things in your primary
bag. Sometimes when we go on a road trip, we pack and sometimes we over pack, so make
sure that if you have anything on the side of your car seat, that nothing can fall and
unbuckle the car seat. It's great if one of you can be in the back seat. If you interact
with them, try to stay between 12 inches and 18 inches away from them. That's an ideal
visual distance. Your baby interacts with you while breastfeeding, so that can help
you remember that that's the distance - from your eyes to your ***. This also is a good
distance for toys that you play with in front of them and for books. Make sure that you're
not ovestimulating your baby. Sometimes we think that the baby has to be happy, but really,
the baby just has to be content, especially for a long road trip. You can't keep him or
her at that high level of happiness, and it's not necessary. As long as they're calm, as
long as they're not upset, that's success. You don't need technology. We don't allow
him to have any screen time. We're going to wait until he's two years old. There's research
out there that shows that that's good for his development. Talk with him. Sing with
him. Those are the things that are going to keep him calm. If you need to use technology,
use it as much as you want, but don't feel like that's a necessity. Have a way to block
the sun, even if your baby isn't that sensitive. Our baby is not that sensitive to sun, but
we stilll used a blanket when he was bothered by it. Make sure you bring at least one meal
for the first day and then snacks for the rest of your trip. My husband made tacos the
first day, and we had those for the first two meals, and we also had dry cereal along
with us in case we needed a snack. We didn't use it, but if he had been sleeping or really
content and we didn't want to make a stop, we could have eaten that. Books are a great
thing to have on road trips - something that doesn't spill. You want to have a good mix
of books that he's familiar with, with familiar characters or familiar people and new books
that he's never seen. Make sure the books are colorful. They should have high contrast,
interesting patterns. And black, white, and primary colors are great for your baby. Cloth
books are wonderful, because they can feel them, and it's just adorable. If they are
3D or have some sort of texture or interaction, that's great. If they're not able to do it
themselves yet, but they can still see you interacting, that's almost just as good. Toys
that make noise, like rattles, things like that, the part that is making the noise should
be visible. If they can see the part that's making noise, it's making connections in their
brain about cause and effect, and they're making the connection, and it's more interesting
for them. If they're stuck in a car, they can see what's making the noise, that's much
more interesting than just noise. Colorful toys are great for babies. This toy I made
from a bottle, and they're actually beads from a bracelet I had since I was a kid, and
I just put that in there. He had never seen it before, and he liked it. You will not want
to rush your stops. Take full advantage. When you stop, do everything you can. Walk them
around. Do full feedings. Do full burpings. Check their diaper, of course. Find a position
for changing that works for you. Maybe open up the trunk. Lay something down. Our baby
is pretty content however we do it, so I just did it on my lap. That was easier, and then
I could feed him right after. Whoever's driving can have more time with Baby. Baby gets a
fresh face, and whoever's in the back gets a break. Don't feel rushed, and how we calculated
our time: we did half as much more. The first day was nine hours of driving, and we just
calculated five more, so it was 14 hours total, is what we planned for. Our baby doesn't really
cry that much, and when he does it's very mild, so I knew that a stronger cry meant
something, so we checked his car seat, and, sure enough, one of the straps had gotten
messed up and it was bothering him, so we changed that and he was content. He fell asleep.
So, never think, "Oh, he's just fussy" or "Oh, he just doesn't like the road trip."
Figure out what you can do. You can always do something to improve it. Don't stress too
much about germs. I know that some of you will wipe down everything with antibacterial
everything, and that's fine, if that works for you. For me, I tried to keep things clean,
but I didn't stress. If I stopped somewhere, I had to change his diaper, I did it in the
bathroom and it was kind of questionable, I put down my changing pad and just changed
him and didn't freak out about how many germs he was getting. He's a healthy kid, so there's
no reason for him not to get some germs, get some tolerance built up, and get that immune
system going. Don't stress more than you need to, make it an adventure, and have fun. Subscribe
if you would like, and get ready for the next video on the 1st. Thanks!