Ramen Noodle Seasoning Packets Play Dough

Another cupboard blocker for us is the seasoning packets that come with Ramen noodles. We have bags of them. As they are free and hence cheaper than salt, I substitute them for the salt in a normal salt dough recipe. They make a saffron colored dough which smells super savory especially when cooked. See also my post on Baby Lotion play dough.

Recipe:

• 1/2 cup seasoning packets
• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 cup water
• any glitter or food coloring you like (none included in dough in photo below)

Bake at a low temperature - 120 C or 200 F- for an hour or two till hard.

Baby Lotion Homemade Play Dough

I love storage space and there always seems to be a bottle or bag of something that never gets used at the back of the cupboard. For us, it's Johnson's Baby Lotion. It smells great but we find it dries out the children's skin so I don't really use it except for stubborn diaper changes. I don't want to throw it out but at this rate we'll never get through the two bottles we own.

My main problem with homemade play dough is if it's the normal salt dough recipe it's awfully scritchy-scratchy to work with. That's where Johnson's baby lotion comes in!

See also my post about Seasoning Packet Play Dough.

Recipe for Baby Lotion Homemade Play Dough:

• 1/2 cup salt
• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 cup baby lotion (more if you want a wetter dough)
• any glitter or food coloring you would like

Bake at 250 F or 120 C for an hour or two till hard. It smells great in the oven too!

Our boys love the consistency of baby lotion homemade dough! 

Managing Babies through Under 5's on Transatlantic Trips

Being a parent on a 45 minute shopping trip can be stressful but a 21 hour + itinerary can turn into a nightmare. Each age is unique and we have taken our kids at pretty much every stage to see our family on the other side of the world. 

We are only 4,000 miles away from the majority of our family but we are cheap so we tend to fly through one or two 'hubs' which adds the extra time.

Understanding the different seating scenarios for traveling with multiple children and having a plan can make a huge difference. Also see my posts about traveling pregnant and breastfeeding, expressing and postpartum recovering and being delayed overnight. For packing see the Super Dad Pack and how to alter a jacket to make a travel jacket/vest.

0-6 months

• Most useful item: swaddling blanket which is good for 
• making baby feel warm and cuddled in travel cot or arms
• good substitute for a nursing shawl
• lightweight
• fold small so it's easy to pack a few
• can be used as a diaper changing mat if normal mat cannot be found
• great for mopping up 
• spit up
• diaper leaks
• and other spills like older brother's juice
• Another critical item at this stage: backup shirts or easy-to-scrub-clean clothes, like jeans, for the parents. Baby always manages to spit up on you when least expected.
• Pacifier if you can get baby used to it before the trip. I knew a mom who used to teach her babies associations with a pacifier or special toy so on the flight when she handed over the teddy or whatever, the babies would be clued to sleep. 
• On the upside baby doesn't move around too much
• Mostly wants to breastfeed
• A baby of this age might even want to sleep on the flight - if this happens take a nap. The advice Sleep when your baby sleeps has never been so relevant. You need to have your wits about you for the next leg or legs of travel, immigration officers, etc. Even if your husband is wrestling with a tantrumming toddler and you feel guilty you have the 'easy' one, just block it out and go to sleep. Trust me - it's not worth trying to swap because the baby will wake up when you try to change arms and then you'll all be in trouble.
• Flight crew and others give more attention the younger baby is
• More likely to get bulkhead seat which is useful for
• toddlers who want to sleep on a flat surface - aka the floor
• breastfeeding
• having somewhere to put baby so not holding in sweaty arms for whole trip
• more legroom
• less likely for baby to be crushed on lap when your tray is down and the person in front decides IN THE MIDDLE OF DINNER BEING SERVED to lean their seats back without warning. The time this happened to us, my 18 month old threw up in the aisle.
• This is a tiring age for the whole family. The new baby will probably wake everyone up at least once in the night before, during and after your trip.
• So try to shorten your trip as much as possible by taking family/friends up on pick up or drop off offers or getting a taxi if you can afford it to and from the airport. We have the option of taking a 1.5 hour bus or a 30 minute taxi ride to the airport but we feel it is more important to minimize travel time as much as possible.
• baby can ride in a front carrier - which is easier to get around an airport with escalators than a buggy would be, and saves waiting around for the buggy in Baggage Reclaim later. Just do not make my mistake of taking a 5 foot long wrap sling - it's difficult to tie on in the cramped confines of an airpline while everyone including you is frantic to make a connection. Get one of those clippy ones - but not Baby Bjorn as it can cause hip problems with baby.
• Your comfort and stress levels are probably going to affect your baby's so try to think of yourself when packing as well. You probably can't take Dramamine or your usual travel meds as you're breastfeeding, so explore other ways to handle motion sickness like motion sickness bracelets and eating icecream - my favorite coping mechanism.

homemade swaddling blanket - I turned some charity shop sheets into a few extra for our trip!

7-9 months

• Most useful item: books - you only need about 3 picture books because they'll listen to the same ones over and over. If you have a kindle, try loading a ton of books for the kids on it.
• Finger foods
• Pacifier if baby if used to it - and backups
• We forgot nappy ointment and baby ended up with the worst rash of his life by the time we touched down - so don't skimp on packing the diaper rash cream!
• Down side of this age: baby sleeps less
• Feeds less
• Not old enough to take normal milk so you have to breastfeed or bring formula and sample some at security. If you are bringing formula, consider decanting formula powder into zip lock bags to save space. Another space saver is to order formula ahead to your destination or ask your family abroad to stock up on it for you.
• Taking less breastmilk (due to introduction of solids or part/total weaning) or baby is a more efficient feeder so more time to play rather than feed
• Baby wiggles more
• Baby has short attention span
• Harder to change nappies in a confined space as baby is bigger
• Immunizations: regular immunizations are scheduled without regard to your travel plans. I would always recommend rescheduling an immunization shot so it doesn't happen the day before or even the month before travel. My children often weren't themselves for a week or two after shots - more fussy and more likely to run a temperature. It seems cruel to make them travel when they're already struggling with their shots. 
• Baby can ride in a front carrier but is a lot heavier - we ditched the carrier for just juggling between parents at this age
• More likely to have cold or ear infection  - due to babies being masters of sharing toys they've drooled on and exploring the world with their mouths. Even having a slight cold when traveling can make baby irritable. If they have an ear infection and are taking antibiotics, they can become monsters - and the antibiotics may cause really terrible poos. 
• Most moms I know take their kids out of normal activities a week or two prior to their trip to avoid catching anything.

9 months-2 years

• Most useful item: medicine, not because it works too well but because it's the first thing people ask you if you have a screaming child. 
• A note about medicine: This is a hot topic and some people say they would never do this. One mom I know gives children's paracetamol and children's cough medicine with a sleepy side effect, and alternates paracetamol/Tylenol with ibuprofen every four hours. Another mom uses Phenergan but please note this was thought to have caused deaths in several small children a few years ago and is not recommended for children under the age of two! I have never tried it. It's not even produced in the UK - there is a drug with the same name but it is apparently not the same thing and a lot less dangerous. 
• I notice my kids will usually not sleep on daytime flights unless they were up all night the night before. On night flights, they tend to sleep an extra hour or two. I never manage to get the kids to sleep more than 4 hours on a 9 hour flight. They usually sleep on our second flight and always in the taxi home.
• Our favorite toy in this age range was reusable stickers. My son loved cars so I told him stories about the cars we stuck and moved around this book.
• Snacks are a great way to pass the time. One lady online suggested you make trail mix with things you know your kids don't like to keep them busy picking out and sorting out for example all the raisins. Another favorite was crackers and breadsticks, which were comfortingly familiar and didn't cause too much mess or excess waste.
  
• They are still technically a lap baby but bigger, heavier, more curious
• You get less attention from flight crew
• Your child does not have enough attention span to focus on anything for longer than five minutes 
• Your child can technically go in a back carrier but is really heavy and doesn't really like being immobilized. A buggy can really slow you down - whether by forcing you to wait for lifts/elevators or in Baggage Reclaim. At this age, they are not old enough for a trunki - we tried and our 18 month old fell off the back and hit his head on the marble floor of Amsterdam Airport.
• Your child is probably walking and may want to spend the whole flight walking up and down the aisles.
• Basically the worst age to travel but you want to take advantage of not having to buy an extra ticket for as long as possible.

We end up chasing kids this age up and down aisles most of the trip

2-4 years 

• Most useful items: 
• Candy for bribery
• children's magazines
• sticker books
• small figurines - NEW toys are best - and wrapped as presents are even better
• children's headphones - the ones they give out have no audio control and could damage the kids' ears
• trunkies to ride on but most of all to have some visible area to park the kids during all the standing around in queues/lines
• an ipad/kindle/phone with kid games/apps on it
• Kids this age have a better attention span for watching movies or playing games
• Also better at bathroom routine. I don't even try to toilet train till my kids are 3 but some 2-year-olds can be convinced to stand for diaper changing which saves toting a changing mat
• Many kids this age can tell you what is hurting or what's wrong
• Most kids with one foreign parent have been on enough trips by this age to know what to expect - to the point of manipulating the situation sometimes ('I want a window seat like last time!')
• They are capable of sitting still longer
• Snacks are still a good idea - esp if one kid insists on eating only icecream for dinner, it's good to be able pull out something healthy and filling later
• For children who have technically toilet trained but still have accidents, we think it's okay to put them in pull-ups. Give yourself some peace of mind.
• A child of this age can walk more and be more patient in queues/lines
• Their passports haven't expired yet - kids get 5 years before needing renewals.
• This is the best age to travel
• But you have to pay for a seat for them.

Buying tickets before the baby is born

We have been in the interesting situation of buying tickets for the family before the new baby was born with the idea that we would pay for an extra lap baby ticket (which is usually just taxes - for us it was $120) on the day of departure. You cannot buy a ticket for a child without a name and birth date.

At our airport, in Edinburgh, they had a clueless person on the desk and overrode our first lap baby's ticket with the second so we almost missed our flights to and from the States because no one could find boarding passes for both our kids. 

On the return flight we had to buy baby a new ticket a second time! It was eventually refunded but it was stressful.

We have never flown with two kids under the age of two since so I do not know if this is common or not. Either way, arrive at least an extra hour earlier than you would have if you are buying a ticket even for a baby!

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It can be a meaningful experience to introduce your children to your extended family in a foreign country but often the transatlantic trip can pose a real challenge. A knowledge of children's ages and stages and possible hurdles with buying tickets can be key to planning a successful trip.

Breastfeeding, Expressing and Postpartum Recovery on Transatlantic Flights

Breastfeeding 

People swear on all that is holy that 'Breastfeeding is the best thing for traveling!' 

They say just breastfeed as the plane is going up and down and it's so good for baby's ears and tummy. It will make their little ears 'pop.'

I've made 6 transatlantic trips and one to Europe since Dec 2011, and I was lactating for all of them. This means I have breastfed on a total of 26 flights.  

Everyone assumes it's Edenic to breastfeed on flights but I think like everything there's more to the story.

The legs up against the wall/mom's face position

Pros

• you have milk on tap within reason
• your breast milk is always the right temperature
• helps prevent diarrhea in baby
• staves off dehydration in baby
• you don't have to carry around formula and sample it at Security
• keeps you from having to smell formula on the whole trip
• helps soothe baby
• the act of breastfeeding can clear baby's ears on takeoff and landing
• breast milk may calm baby's tummy
• produces poo that is not so smelly or terrible as non-breastfeeding options - and babies always have their worst diapers on planes.
• you can sometimes even feed baby to sleep
• some gifted, flexible individuals have learned how to breastfeed without troubling the people around them. I saw one Australian mum from London breastfeeding with baby in a sling.
• you can claim you 'need' a bulkhead seat because you're a breastfeeding mum (I heard a Glaswegian mum do this once - successfully)

The legs in the aisle position - works for everyone but flight attendants with trolleys

Cons

• Your nipples get sore from excessive feeding and/or friction against baby while sharing a seat for hours, bouncing baby between connections and staggering through customs and immigration. Packing nipple cream/coconut oil/whatever you use for sore nipples is essential. Otherwise it can negatively impact breastfeeding for weeks.
• You get dehydrated
• If you try hard not to get dehydrated, you end up needing to go to the bathroom constantly. If you are traveling without your spouse, you need to get a stranger to hold baby so you can go to the bathroom. You also end up drinking disgusting lukewarm water. Certain airlines need to learn about coolers and ice cubes.
• You can never find the nursing shawl when you need it
• Baby always needs it now when just about to hand passports to flight attendants to get on bus to get on the plane, and no one offers you a seat on the bus.
• People stare. Think about breastfeeding in front of sleek businessmen. A whole cabin of sleek businessmen.
• The breastfeeding-at-takeoff-to-help-ears-pop trick only works if baby is willing to sit on your lap without breastfeeding for 1+ hour till takeoff. We were on one flight that boarded the young families first, then had delays, and we were sitting 2 hours later without having moved an inch. We had breastfed quite a few times before this point and he had fallen asleep. He woke up with a shriek as we finally took off and cried for hours - finally falling asleep as we were about to land 9 hours later. I then learned that you must exert an iron will to refuse to breastfeed until takeoff if your child is old enough to be distracted with something else - clearly you should never refuse a dehydrated baby or a tiny baby who needs regular feeds.
• Breast milk doesn't calm tummies to the point that baby never spits up. Baby spits up when least expected.
• It can be tricky or even impossible to get a large baby to breastfeed while eating dinner, or without invading the space of those around you or without the passing trolley clonking baby's head or feet.
• Breast milk is not limitless. No matter what experts tell you. Baby wants to feed the whole time but you can't. I have the best milk supply of anyone I have ever met - hence why I am still breastfeeding a 3-year-old - but there is a point about 6-9 hours into a trip when it just dries up. I am sorry but no one is conditioned to breastfeed for 9 hours straight, while stressed, while queasy, while drinking lukewarm water to stay hydrated, while hightailing around airports to catch connections. By the time we are landing on our last flight, I am usually waaaaay out of milk.

Expressing Breast milk

Pumping milk is another vexing issue when traveling. If your body is accustomed to pumping 10 oz a day at certain times, then you are going to want to pump 10 oz.

Toting a pump in the airport seems like a waste of your precious carry-on baggage. Sterilizing and packing pre-sterilized bottles can also be tricky. You probably feel the need for privacy while you pump - and it's hard to pump under a blanket (try it, really).

You can ask your airline ahead of time if there is somewhere clean and private for you to pump while traveling.

If you need to pump during a 6 hour Seatbelt Sign saga then you will be one uncomfy passenger. I know there are Seatbelt Sign eras which are fairly lax but we were on one trip that was extra turbulent and the flight crew shouted at anyone over the intercom who dared to stand. So it really depends.

If the extra 10 oz are not consumed by baby on a regular basis - say at an 11 pm night time bottle feed with dad - but instead you stick it in the freezer or pour it over your older child's cereal, I would recommend weaning yourself over the month or two prior to the trip from 10 oz a day down to no more than 2-4 oz. Your baby might need an extra few ounces or your body will probably absorb those extra ounces without too much trouble.

You could just assume baby will drink 10 extra oz than usual on the trip but baby might go off breastfeeding in response to getting a cold or wanting to wean or just general travel - you never know. It's better not to add the pain of engorgement and possible mastitis to your itinerary.

If you express milk before your trip to feed baby during travel, you are allowed to bring more than the normal 3 oz limit. Remember you may have to taste it going into security. I always felt this would be weird so I've never done it but I know mums who have.

If you have to leave baby behind

If you leave your breastfeeding baby behind on your trip and want to maintain a good milk supply, you may have to tote pumping equipment through the airport so you can pump regularly to maintain a good supply for a very young baby. If you save this milk you pump, you may not be able to bring it through security if it's not for a baby on the actual trip.

Heathrow was shamed recently for not allowing a pumping mom to bring four gallons of frozen breastmilk through security and home to her kid in the States. Heathrow has now made changes to its policies to be more friendly but other airports may not be on board yet.

Postpartum Recovery

A lot of people find delivery of a child changes many things in their lives - not just the C section scars but the huge hormonal changes of having a baby to cause all sorts of issues. The tricky thing about planning a big trip in the postpartum stage is that you often plan the trip months or weeks before the baby is born, or soon thereafter, so you don't know the full effect of labor and delivery.

Here are some common postpartum recovery issues

• hair loss - this makes a difference if you can't do anything to cover it up on a long trip and people take lots of photos on your visit. Most people find they're back to normal after a year.
• difficulty regaining pre-preg shape - a lucky few lose all their weight by 6 months but it always took me 9 months to 18 months.
• excessive sweating - usually over by 3 months but may continue a bit longer
• incision pain if you have a C-section - final checkups usually at 3 months
• tearing during labor - which should be healed by your 6 or 12 week checks
• bleeding/lochia - could be over in 3 weeks but might last 3 months
• lack of return of normal periods so you don't know if you're pregnant or not
• hemorrhoids/piles
• backache - usually develops after a weakening of abdominal muscles and you need to recover and work on posture though in some cases as with me you'll need physio therapy to get back to normal
• joint ache - I found this was gone by 3 months but I knew someone for whom it didn't end till total weaning
• mastitis - this can develop any time but the three times I got it were in conjunction with trying to wean too swiftly whilst generally overdoing it
• other infections - bladder, etc
• stress incontinence - needing to go to the bathroom more and not being quite so in control anymore - usually over by 4 months if you're good about your exercises
• sleep deprivation - usually not so bad after your baby weighs more than 12 pounds and becomes capable of sleeping through the night
• postpartum thyroiditis - I never had this but supposedly it's similar to:
• postpartum depression - some people find it doesn't go away till they finish breastfeeding and that travel exacerbates it

Most of these problems you can technically travel with but will make things a tad more complicated. It is definitely something to keep in mind while planning a trip. 

I was always desperate to take my new baby back to the States to meet the family. I eagerly suggested travel a month or six weeks postpartum but my parents wisely counseled to wait till four months. Waiting till four months can smooth the bumps in your travel experience and go a long way toward recovery.

Pregnancy while Traveling

Many see pregnancy as the ideal time to travel - a last yahoo before baby comes and changes everything. It can be a real bonding time for you and your spouse as you plan your future together with baby.

Update:

The official Medical Advice (from my midwife in the UK, who works for the NHS and is a granny):

• the real danger in traveling pregnant is a DVT or deep veins thrombosis
• dehydration is not a good idea in pregnancy either though

The avoid a DVT or deep vein thrombosis

Move around. My midwife suggested being as mobile as possible to keep circulation going.
'Get up and go to the bathroom whenever you can,' she said. 'Or just get up and stretch.'
She also suggested leg exercises, anything to keep from sitting still the whole 10 hour flight.

To avoid dehydration

My midwife said I should buy a milkshake or smoothie or even a cup of tea in between connections, and to try to drink on the flight as much as possible.
'Try ginger ale or anything with lemon, ginger or mint.'
Drinking a lot also means going to the bathroom a lot so these two sort of fed each other. This is a lot easier to do when you don't have a clingy child or two on the flight.

Extras

My midwife also suggested wearing flight socks - the medical variety are best but even just knee high socks that are reasonably tight are better than nothing.
It is worth checking with individual airlines before you book a flight because some airlines refuse to let you travel after 24 weeks or not without a letter from your doctor.

What to wear

I have tried wearing
trousers
sweatpants
and decided for me the most comfortable is the trousers because I am always worried about underwear lines showing on my thin sweatpants, and also trousers are easier to scrub clean if some food or something gets on them. They also feel more formal and make me feel more grown up. I have a pair cut on the bias with a very stretchy waistband which is great for the early stages of pregnancy.
I also think comfortable shoes are essential, especially ones you don't have to do a lot of fiddling while bending over them.

Smells

Smells are harder to deal with when pregnant so I discovered my long sleeve undershirt was my best friend - I pulled it over my nose as soon as I entered the airplane toilet to filter the disgusting smells.
The worst smell other than the bathrooms is when you step onto the plane, and all the airport smog and airplane gas is being blasted by the turbines right up your nostrils. It makes me reel. I always try to hold my breath, but the crowds always crawl onto the airplane so sometimes you don't have much choice. I thought about pulling my shirt up as a filtering mask at this point but thought it might get some odd looks.

Lifting Heavy Objects

I would never recommend taking a lap baby when pregnant. It puts a lot of pressure on your abdomen, as I know from experience.
Don't be shy of asking people to lift heavy bags into the overhead compartment. You don't want that sort of pressure on your core, my midwife said.

Fainting

If you are prone to fainting in pregnancy, it may be to do with being dehydrated or not eating enough. In which case you should try to always have some ginger biscuits to nibble on. I have even asked if it was okay to nibble on biscuits while being dealt with at check in desk or in other funny airport situations.

If you cannot keep anything down, you may be doomed to getting a bit faint.

It might not be a bad idea to label your bag and have an emergency contact and your GP or midwife's number in your wallet.

Vomiting

When all else fails - make sure you always have your 'barf bag' ready. One of my sisters always managed to get off the plane before she threw up but in pregnancy, I find I never even make it to the bathroom.
I think it's part of traveler's universal courtesy to tell your seatmate, 'Don't worry it's not a stomach bug - I'm pregnant' so they don't have to wonder.
On my last trip I managed not to throw up while we were circling over the Firth of Forth or while everyone was filing off the plane but as soon as those airplane fuel smells oozed into the cabin, I was throwing up everything I had and didn't have in my stomach. After three flights in 24 hours, it wasn't a lot.
This is another reason to travel light because my little backpack didn't fit in the overhead compartments because everyone else brought a roller case and a handbag so when I boarded the plane I had to take it to the back and put it with the flight attendant's baggage. This meant I had to wait for everyone to get off the plane before I could retrieve my luggage.
I carried off my 'barf bag' and got on the bus that drove to the airport building, and hauled my barf bag and passport through customs and immigration before I found a trash can/rubbish bin to drop the barf bag.

Being absentminded

I think it's important to tell immigration officers that you're pregnant from the get go in case you accidentally slip into talking about 'we' and 'us' when referring to just yourself, traveling solo (but pregnant), and they get suspicious.
It's worth taking some extra dollars or other currency in case you realize you have forgotten something essential for the trip.

Stress is theorized to impact pregnancies negatively. So try to keep stress levels down when traveling.

There are some great things about traveling pregnant as well as hairier points.

Pros:

• You can tell your seat partners that you are pregnant and get their sympathy
• You can ask your husband to do more with the born child/children
• It's easier to fall asleep because you're exhausted 
• You can shop for maternity clothes in exotic climes

Cons:

• Your born child/children may be extra clingy and suddenly your space is cramped by a baby inside and a baby outside hanging like a limpet
• You may be more emotional and little more foggy than usual so prone to make poor split-second decisions.
• Your hair seems a more prominent feature 
  
• Your morning sickness may coincide with travel sickness - and you can't take travel meds
• You are terrified of hurting the baby by being dehydrated, hungry, overly-tired, bending over too much, overly-stressed...so you force yourself to eat while feeling sick, to try to sleep, to sacrifice pride and ask people to do things for you
• You may need to use the bathroom constantly which can be tricky based on the Seatbelt Sign being on or seating arrangements. Being pregnant, you are less nimble when it comes to leaping over anyone blocking you to the aisle. I always ask for an aisle seat!
• Some believe it is not safe to travel whilst pregnant, that it could cause an early birth or even miscarriage. If you are worried, you should speak to your doctor.

Traveling pregnant is hard. There are many challenges but it can still be special to share with friends and family.

Next see traveling while breastfeeding, expressing and recovering!

Choosing Seats and Battle Mapping for Transatlantic Travel with Multiple Small Children

Where's the battle strategy? Clearly it's all in the positioning.

For under 5's, we recommend the parents divide and conquer on transatlantic flights.

Here is a normal plane - it has bulk head seats at the front of sections, first class at the front of the plane, toilets and the golden area in the back where food and drink are available.

Look at the red seats. This looks like  an ideal situation - bulkhead seats for mom with lap baby, dad and older child. But you cannot get in and out without disturbing neighbors, esp if there are any bags or tables and drinks set out. You do have more leg room, easy access to the toilet and more attention from the flight crew.

This scenario has happened to us more than once. One lap baby and four people in a row of three. It is a little harder to get the flight attendants' attention. The toilets are still nearby. You have easy access to the aisle. You have to check before you lean your seat back and you have to be aware of the people in front as well - they might lean their chair back unexpectedly while your baby is on your lap. The best thing about this scenario is that one of the kids can sit by the window!

This is the safest part of the plane - near the furthest back exits. It is also blessedly near the toilets. Flight attendants and therefore unlimited bottled water are within easy reach. You still have to keep tabs on whether the kids are kicking the seats in front. Ideally the kids are not sitting next to each other as they will probably keep each other awake. You have easy access to one aisle and best of all you can lean your seat back without worrying about cramping the person behind you!

This is the most difficult scenario - two inner row seats with two lap babies. You won't be able to get out to use the toilet without making at least one person stand up or cringe back as you hop over them. You are cramped with people in every direction. This was about to happen to us once and we felt blessed to be moved to a bulkhead in the first half hour of the flight.

This 3-1 scenario can be tricky with one parent in the row behind the rest of the family. We thought it would work well for us to take turns being the parent on duty but as it turned out after 10 minutes of managing two kids you suffer extreme fatigue. It is hard to concentrate on two and make sure that neither is kicking the seat in front and that their basic needs are met.

This is the other 3-1 scenario. Dad and Child 1 behind and Mom and lap baby in front. Each parent looks after one kid to keep a consistent management. This scenario is usually a result of too many moms with babies being on the flight so they only give the bulkhead to the mums and the dads get stuck in elsewhere. Another benefit is that Child 1 can sit behind mom and not inadvertently kick the chair of a stranger who might be reticent to complain. It actually works well as long as dad has everything he needs. 

It's better if you can gauge one kid the whole time if possible. It depends on seating and the mood of the passengers around you of course. And there's nothing wrong with asking your spouse to watch your charge while you go to the bathroom.

If you do one kid the whole time, you can have consistent strategy (one gift or sweet an hour) and keep tabs on how many diaper changes/bathroom trips he's taken and how much he's eaten and how much he's slept so when he's bad you can target the area he's most deprived. For example 'Your brother has had a nap on this trip but you haven't tried that yet, I think you'll be much happier if you do.'

For Under 3's

Try to get both kids in the same nappy/diaper size - it works if your kids are close in age and just two sizes apart. We traveled once when Z was size 5 and Y was size 3, so we packed loads and loads of size 4 nappy/diapers. That helped us faffing about looking for the correct size in frantic changing situations.
Clearly this won't work if you have a newborn and a 3-year-old but sometimes if your children are 18 months apart or less, at certain stages, this works a treat.

How to transform a jacket into a travel vest

On an aircraft you are probably going to be separated from your luggage.

Whether checked in the hold, last minute 'gate checked ' or you put it in the overhead compartment before you swapped seats with the kid three rows back, your luggage will not be accessible. There are some items that you just need on your person at all times. Riffling through a million bags for that one thing can be frustrating, if not fruitless.

The best thing is to have all essentials on your person. In pockets.

Me in travel jacket in France

If you have the sewing skills or knows someone who does, you can design a travel vest or jacket. You can get really creative but remember you have to wear this through an airport with hordes of sleek business men and women. If you look nice, you will feel more confident push forward to catch a tight connection and to stand up for yourself against obstructionist airport staff. Peter Pan says first impressions are the most important and if you are meeting a group of students you will travel with for weeks, you might also want to ensure you are not wearing a sack.

Next, size 14 - a size or two bigger than I usually wear

Here are the steps:

Write a list of everything you need. It may be short like this:

• Kindle
• Phone
• Pen for immigration docs, visa waivers 
• Tissue
• Chapstick
• Mints
• Earbuds

Or long like this if you have kids:

• Nappies/diapers
• Wipes
• Nappy bags
• Travel sickness bracelets for everyone 
• Extra onesie
• Baby medicine 
• Plus everything on other list:
• Kindle
• Phone
• Pen for immigration docs, visa waivers 
• Tissue
• Chapstick
• Mints
• Earbuds

Collect these items to figure out how big your vest needs to be. The more items you take, the longer and more bulky your vest must be to accommodate.

Now decide how big to make the pockets. 

My kindle-sized pocket for my kindle

Keep in mind pocket placement. There may be parts of your body you don't want to look bulkier than they already are (bust, hips, tummy....). 

Some people including myself have an arch in their back so putting a pocket to the small of back can be a good option. I can fit 4 diapers in the back pockets and it is actually really comfortable and supportive when sitting!

I knew some people who put clothing for two days in sewn-in back pockets. They said they looked like they were wearing their coats over a backpack - i.e. it looked funny. So know how far into 'funny' you want to go.

Top tip: always do one item or type of item per pocket if you can. I once took a jacket, cut an incision to the lining, added an invisible zipper and used all the dead space between the jacket outer fabric and lining as one giant pocket. The result was lumpy and disorganised and I had trouble finding items quickly.

The best thing for finding items quickly, staying organized on a long trip and keeping your Kindle from getting scratched is to have separate pockets.

Never place a pocket behind another pocket. One or both will bag out or the stitching will interfere. The one exception is something really thin like a kindle might go behind another pocket. Just make sure the seam line doesn't interfere.

Pocket empty and open - note waterproof lining

Pocket full

Pocket closed

1. Find a coat or vest you like. Charity or thrift shops are great for this. Find a washable one as you will want to wash after every international trip to remove the airplane smell, spills and stains.
1. Try to find a vest or coat with a lining. If your vest or coat is not waterproof, consider lining the pockets with waterproof fabric.
2. If you plan to breastfeed, try to find one without a zip as the zip can catch breastfeeding babies in the face
3. You can alternately design and construct a vest or coat if you so desire. 
2. Choose pocket fabric. You need at least half a yard. It should match your jacket lining as closely as possible.
3. Lay out your items. Cut an inch more than you need in two layers of fabric.
4. On the phone pocket, cut an extra three inches for a compartment for your pen which is the most useful item you will pack. Also consider velcro or snaps for this pocket to allow Earbuds to attach while in the pocket. We love listening to Rick Steves podcasts when we travel.
   
   
5. If using zippers, apply zipper according to manufacturer's directions. If using velcro or snaps, apply now.
6. Consider how warm you want to be. If you are taking a heavier coat, remove sleeves to make a vest.
7. If keeping sleeves, consider adding a cuff pocket. When you pull a small item out of the cuff, it feels like magic!
8. With right sides together, sew pocket front and back. Press. 
9. Sew to garment. I recommend hand stitching to avoid pocket shape seams which alerts pickpockets. If a side of the pocket lines up with the seam then go for the sewing machine on that side if you like.
10. Fill the pockets!

Small of the back pocket, empty

Small of back pocket, with diapers

Maintenance: check seams every time after a long flight or a wash. Hang to dry. Press.

Travel vests or jackets are a great way to stay hands-free and even luggage-free a lot of the time. You can avoid being in a pinch without that essential item by sewing a special pocket for it. A breastfeeding mom can use this extra layer as a breastfeeding shawl. It can be tied around one's waist in hot weather. Usually European off-peak travel season, when it is cheapest to travel, is bound to be chilly or freezing so you will never be sorry you brought your travel jacket. The best way to be on top of any situation when traveling is to be prepared with your travel vest/jacket.

And when it's really cold in the Loire Valley, you can use it as a cozy toes!