Why do I feel like I'm taking the house everytime we leave for an overnight

I would like suggestions too! My DD is 3, but it still seems like we pack the whole house to take her somewhere!

I do have one idea for you, most hotels (call ahead) offer pack-n-plays or cribs for children. If you worry about using the hotel's pack-n-play just take some disinfecting wipes and wipe it down and take your own sheet to use.  And - my opinion only - since it was only one night I would have left the activity table at home. I understand that he likes to pull himself up, but he could probably use something in the hotel room or one of you to help for only one night.

Good luck!

I can't say I'm the most efficient packer but I did do a few things when mine were little and we were travelling. 

1. No bottle warmers. Get your baby used a room-temperature bottle before leaving. There is no health-advantage to a warmed bottle and this is a real pain to do when travelling. 

2. Bottles with disposable liners. Put the formula powder in ahead of time and roll them up. Then you only have to add water (without warming it). You can fit about 20 in one ziplock bag. It's great! 

3. I found that disposable bibs took up space. I did better with an "apron" style bib which could be rinced and dried quickly. Perhaps a few disposable as back-ups.

4. For a baby around 6 months, very much depending on circumstances but I put off solids twice until we got home. Yes, my two girls didn't start solids until 7 1/2 months old. Both are great eaters and never had weight issues. Talk to your doctor but if it's a big trip, consider puttng it off. Solid food isn't necessary until they're around a year old anyway. 

5. Only bring a few jars of food (assuming you can't manage the above lol!) Usually you can supplement with whatever they have where you are going. Mine were on anti-allergen diets and I still could work it out. Babies also don't notice they're eating the same thing every evening. Variety is great but you might need to adjust things when you travel. 

6. Pack things like diapers in plastic bags and wrap rubber bands around them. This saves space in your bag. 

7. Bring laundry soap and stain remover and plan to do at least some sink-washing (or at least bring the minimum number of outfits your baby needs and then resort to sink washing if there's an unexpected spill, etc.) 

8. Evaluate what you can get where you're going. If it's an AI or cruise, bring everything. It just seems you can never find exactly what you need and it's overpriced and/or not in the quantity you need. You'll use the space in your luggage for souvienirs. I once had to buy a mega-pack of diapers just for three days we had left of our trip. I took them home but what a pain! Plus, it was trekking around finding the right brand, dealing with language issues, etc.

If you're visiting someone, order on line and have it sent to their house. If they're close friends or family, give them a shopping list if you're comfortable with doing this. 

Consider buying stuff on your first visit if it's somewhere you will return. I had a high chair, bibs, toiletries, crib and car seat at my mom's for years. I also arranged a stroller. You'd be surprised how much you can borrow. How many parents are not sure if they've had their last or grandparents who keep things for their visiting grandkids. Have your friends or family ask around. 

Contact the hotel and find out what equipment they have. Be aware that especially outside your home country, it might not be up to snuff. I was once given a very dangerous crib (really wide slates) in Switzerland. Never rent car seats from car rental companies. 

On that subject, there are equipment rental companies in some places. It might be worth the price to not have to haul junk around. While having your own car seat is ideal (and be sure NOT to check it as luggage, use it on board or gate-check it), renting a car seat from a baby equipment rental company might be more sure and safer than renting from a car rental company. I'm not sure what you can do though if you need it right away at the airport. Ask!  

I recommend also considering, if possible, to stay in a "baby friendly" hotel, ship or AI. We made this mistake once and it wasn't just the fact they didn't have highchairs, etc. but we also had a very dangerous balcony. Less likely to happen if you book with somewhere that is used to younger guests. Not as romantic but trust me, there will be time for romance later on when going on vacation with older kids (or when they've flown the nest!). It's not worth the headache of chasing a toddler away from a dangerous water feature or cold stares in the stiff dining room to stay somewhere more shi-shi.

I actually didn't haul a lot of toys. Often just the fact we were in a new environment was entertaining enough. Sure, I brought a few things but anything big or battery operated stayed home!  

It's a bit easier they older they get because you'll need less "equipment", but it still takes hours for me to pack.  And if we are talking camping, then more like a day!  I really wish I could pack a bag for myself and go like the old days....LOL

A day?!? 

I can take two weeks to pack! Of course it depends on the kind of trip we're taking.

Seriously, I throw a suitcase down in the basement (works if you have an extra room or somewhere you can chuck a big suitcase and leave it without bothering anyone).  Then I just go about my business and if I think of something, I either throw the item in the bag or put it on a list that I keep with it. 

This works great because it avoids the last-minute rush and I'm less likely to forget anything.

I have three kids and I put little piles of each of their clothes and then go through my checklist; underwear for my son, my older dd, my younger dd, tops..., pants... toothpaste... and so on. The evening/morning of our departure, I double check it all before putting it in the suitcase. 

For morning departure, everything must be packed the night before. Do not fudge on this!! (experience speaking!) 

I suggest putting toiletries in the bag ahead of time, i.e. put a tube of toothpaste and then when you leave, don't take the one next to the sink. I also "control" supplies this way. If I'm only going for 4 days, for example, I put a half-empty bottle of shampoo in my bag. I find this easier than fiddling with "travel sized" products. I estimate how much I need, use it while we're gone and throw it away before returning home. 

It's a pain when you forget something. I forgot tops for my older dd last year when we went to Paris. So then I had to drag all three kids down to a store and buy tops (that she would accept) for her, while the little one fell in love with a stuffed animal in the same store so OF COURSE I had to get it for her since the poor thing had to spend half the evening top-shopping for her older sister....

Once I made my older dd wear her brother's socks. Oh we were not happy!!!

You get the idea. Forget one item and you, the mom, will suffer!!

P.S. I really, really recommend that before leaving, if you can manage it, "stocking" your house ahead of time. Try to have some food that will last in the house. UHT milk or whatever has a long-enough shelf life. Try to have your laundry done (probably you'll be doing it anyway before you leave) and things like paper towels, toilet paper and gas in your car (if you're not taking it). 

We returned from the U.S. with Swine Flu last summer. I couldn't leave the house! Boy was I glad that I had this stuff on hand! I had a non-stop fever for 10 days but at least I didn't have to worry when I went to the restroom...

 I took my grandchildren to Disney this year, a 18 month and 7 yrs.  The packing for the 7 yr old was a breeze, but he packing for the 18 month old was never ending.  You have to bring so many items.  It took us a couple of days just to sort though everything and decide what we REALLY needed on this trip.  And still when we got to Disney, we ended up at Walmart to buy something that we forgot to bring for her.  While I was at the resort, I was talking to another mother and we got on the discussion of packing and traveling with kids.  She told me that she only brings just want she needs for the trip there and have the rest shpped to the resort.  Why didn't I think of that.  She told me about a store that she orders from and have the baby items shipped.  Here is the information that she was so kind enough to share with me.  It's called "Babies Travel Lite" http://www.babiestravellite.com/index.html

Now the next time we go on vacation, that's were I will be ordering the babies items from.

Has anyone used this service before?  Is there another service like this that you can recommend?

We love to go out of town and last minute weekend getaways are a really fun thing to be able to do.  Its 4:30 right now, assuming all the laundry we need is clean (which it is not lol) I could have all 6 kids in the car and ready to go by 7.. 7 30 if you take into account that dinner time is in there somewhere.  Normally Im a big fan of reusable stuff, dont buy paper plates or forks etc but when packing for a trip, espically with kids, one gallon plastic zip top bags are life savers. 

One outfit per bag... socks, underwear, pants, shirt etc... the entire outfit in the bag. Ive got two girls that are fairly close in size, but cant actually wear all of the same clothes so I put a mark on their bags to tell whos is whos, but everyone else is pretty obvious.  Fill the outfit, sit on it and smash all the air out and seal it up. Do this for the adults clothes too!  Itll make your suitcase look like a file cabinet lol.  

My 19 month old is obviously small enough that a gallon bag would be silly. I pack her outfits in quart size bags.  and I pack a onesie with every outfit, even if thats not an outfit she would wear a onesie under at home.  It will keep her warm if its cold in the hotel etc, and you can either strip off the nice shirt for meal times or strip down to the onise if the clothes get dirty.  Between the outfits and the onsie there are plenty of clothes to go around. 

Take a comfort item... blanky, bear, bunny etc... but dont take the whole linen closet! We usually just co sleep when we travel with DD 19 months now... no way in hell im flying with a pack n play and the loaners at the hotel are nasty!   If you notice that your child is having a hard time getting settled on the unfamiliar sheets spread out your t shirt or jacket and let him sleep on that.  It will smell familiar and wont take up any extra room since you were going to need to pack that anyway.  If your worried about your older babies and kids not sleeping well on the hotel sheets pack just their pillow case from home and put it on a hotel pillow when you get there.  Make sure to stack any personal pillows or pillows with your personal cases on them in a chair or on a table when you leave for the day so room service doesnt accidentally take your pillow.

Consider skipping pajamas.  I do this with all the kids and myself.  Rather than pack a pair or 5 of cute PJs pack some soft pants or shorts and a shirt for sleeping in, or a jumper for the baby.  They will function just fine as night clothes, but will do double duty if you run out of day time clothes. 

If your trip is going to be longer than a week plan to utilize a laundry mat! 

Set a limit on how much your going to bring in the way of toys and gear.  Make 3 lists.

MUST HAVE

NEED, but wont ruin the trip if we dont have it

DONT NEED, but would be nice to have if there is space to pack it. 

My must have list includes my car seat and cloth baby wrap.  Serious, thats it. Depending on where were going and what were doing when we get there sometimes the stroller is on that list. 

Ive never had just one child (my first were twins!) so it may not be as practical in a small family, but for us when we pack we dont have one bag per person, I pack as many outfit bags as i cant into one bag. Usually our big roller bag will hold a weeks worth of clothes for all 8 of us. If were going somewhere really cold Coats and boots can go in a second bag.  The third bag holds everyones spare shoes if we need to bring them and toiletries for the crew. The kids all have their backpacks for their personal stuff.  It seems like a lot but for 8 people its pretty light packing! 

Unless were going 'off the grid' lol I pack enough diapers and wipes to get us through our travel day and one more day.  Once we get were we are going i hit a big box store and buy diapers and wipes to get me through the rest of the tirp.  One the way home I pack what i need from those diapers and wipes and leave the rest.  If i planned well there wont be a lot left over, but the money lost is worth it not to lug the whole baby isle through the airport.  

Dont bring walkers, activity tables, changing tables, entire boxes of toys or the stick on wall paper decorations from home.  If your going to do all that you might as well stay home.  The point of travel, in most cases, is to experience somewhere new...if you start early your kids will grow up understanding that its okay to go somewhere and not take ever treasured possession with them, it will all be there when they get home. 

Hi Heather and other mom's: Let us help you out, JetSetBabies ships everything from diapers to food and formula and many other baby and toddler consumables to your travel destination. Relax - we'll have it waiting for you when you get there. 

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Safe travels.

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BabyShowersByMail.com & JetSetBabies.com
309 N. 40th Ave. West
Duluth, MN 55807
866.990.1810 (toll free)

Because you are...lol!  I always overpack for my little one. I just know that she needs so much more because you have to account for "accidents" or whatever.  Going on vacation with a little one is a lot more work that with my two older kids.  I told my husband it is like a job.  I mean I have to pack things for her to eat (in case we eat somewhere she cant eat anything), she needs snack, juice, sippy cups, diapers, etc.  You understand how it is!  It is a lot of work.

Here's a packing list to help you out.

http://www.bigbluetrunk.com/ourcorner/341

I would suggest leaving the bottle warmer at home and some of the toys. Hotels water heats up pretty fast and I have started to pour milk in a Ziploc baggie and run it under hot water the milk is usually warm in less than a minute. Also I have noticed my daughter likes to explore her new environment , and she doesn't really care that much about her toys. I also have a boppy and they are so mice, but hotels have pillows and that would work. It is a sacrifice on the convenient, but the upside is you don't have to haul that stuff around. Plus I have found the more stuff the easier something gets left behind. -Tasha