Help! travelling with a newborn

[KLou1105]

Would like to have some advise on travelling with what will be a 3 month old baby at time of travel.

We are hoping to visit some of DH family in Norway, when our LO is 3months old.

What should I do about taking the steriliser/bottles?

Also I need to take my graco evo pram with the carry cot, so that LO can sleep in this! But can I take it on plane? I've only ever seen ppl take stroller/pushchairs! I will also be taking car seat too.

Any advise would be great :-) x

Can anyone in Norway lend you some stuff? Especially steriliser and travel cot?

You can take the car sear and pram (if it folds down) onto the plane.

Check with the airline to be specific.

We bought a mcclaren stroller (from birth or 3 months I think) and hired a car seat - in hindsight I would have taken my own car seat though. I think a large pram might be problematic. Also took a sling as you have to put pushchair through security machines folded and you may 'lose' it for a bit if it has to go in the hold.

Used microwave steriliser for expressing equipment and bottles.

I don't know whether they'll let you have a 2 piece fold pram to the gate. Usually they're pretty understanding even if you have to pay a bit of excess baggage, unless it's easyjet or Ryanair or similar. Then you definitely need to check with the airline. If they require you to check your pram then get a good sling. It's worth it's weight in gold if you'll be flying relatively frequently or you might be able to hire one from a sling library.

Cold water sterlise using Milton tablets and a large Tupperware box or buy microwave sterilser bags. Remember that you can order formula cartons airside so there's no need to taste them going through security or try to get hot water on the plane.

Oh and for a cot once we hired one with the apartment and another time we used a pop up cot which folded down and fitted into suitcase. This was expensive new but we were lucky to borrow one.

You can get travel sterilisers - either one that you fill with water and add a Milton tablet or a small microwaveable/plug-in steam steriliser that maybe holds one or two bottles. As for the pram, could you ring the airline to check what you'd be allowed to take on the plane?

You will need to find out from the airline what the deal is with prams and car seats. I have only ever taken a one piece fold buggy on the plane. I expect with the graco evo system you may need to check itin to the hold. It would be easier probably to get a lie flat one piece fold buggy (second hand or borrowed) and a pop up Moses basket which is tiny and will fit in your case. I don't know what they do about car seats, last time I went on ho!iday DS was out of the baby seat so we hired one with the hire car.

As for the steriliser, if you are bottle feeding it will be easier to just pack sterilising tablets and use those in a big Tupperware of cold water. If your relatives have a microwave you can buy sterilising bags.

You can take pram and car seat but both will have to be checked in with luggage as pram in two pieces. So take a sling for baby at airport. Not a babybjorn one

Just get Milton tablets for sterilising. You add to cold water in any tub/ container

Just take enough bottles for flight/ travel and use these there. Take milk in cartons not powder as easier ( although can take powder in suitcase for when there).

My rule of thumb at that age is enough milk cartons for every 2 hours travel plus 6 spare. So assuming travel to airport/ wait/ flight/wait/ travel to relatives takes 6hrs total. I would take 9 cartons of milk in handluggage. 6 should be plenty but they may want you to open a few there to test so have bottle ready to pour one in and use after security, and 1-2 might need to be thrown

Oh but at 3 months I would prob not take pram at all. Decent sling and buy a pop up travel cot. The new Phil and teds fits in most suitcases

We are visiting DH's brother, his wife is Norwegian and breastfeeds, so no access to steriliser! (From what I understand most ppl breast feed over there)

My pram folds but the Carry cot part does not fold flat.
I might be able to borrow a travel cot from SIL family possibly? My SIL has never used a cot, Moses basket ect, they have always slept in bed with them!

We have not booked any flights yet but think we will b travelling with Norwegian air

If your relatives have a microwave then a microwave steriliser is a good option because although it looks large, it's just a big light empty plastic shell that you can pack a load of baby clothes inside before popping it in your suitcase so the actual space it takes up is minimal.

Milton sterilising tablets - this sounds a lot easier
We were thinking of getting a baby carrier/sling anyway so will defo invest in this now, didn't think of this for use at airport/during flight.

Also am I allowed to take formula in my suitcase? Norway is very expensive!

If you were borrowing a cot, would you be happy about a "secondhand" mattress? How long will you be staying?

Cheap umbrella buggy, cheap car seat if you can since it might get bashed about in the plane hold, check your baby is actually prepared to tolerate a cot before you bring one! Spare mattress on the floor might be best at that age. Get a second hand wrap sling on eBay and get baby used to it beforehand.

Ready made milk cartons fine if your baby can drink at room temperature. If they need it warm then the airline can give you boiling water.

It's a pretty easy age to travel... Enjoy!

If you'll have a sling as well then I agree that a cheap umbrella buggy could be a good idea - it's the sort of thing that you'll probably end up wanting anyway by the time your DC is two, so not a waste of money.

You can buy sterilising bags with a tablet in them. Fill with water, pop your bottles in and hang up over night. We used them a lot with ds1.

We went to Italy when DS was 4 months.

I filled the carrycot with clothes/nappies and wrapped it up in bubble wrap and placed inside a large holdall as a piece of luggage. Car seat and pram chassis went with us to the gate and taken at the door of the plane. We had a mei tai sling to get us around the airport without the pram/car seat - especially useful getting off the plane to waiting for luggage!

I took travel sterilising bags, which are essentially Milton in a bag of the right size for the amount of water, but that was for 1 bottle/day, so possibly not enough for you - a microwave steriliser would be better, and as a pp said you can pack things into it in your luggage too.

Can't help much re formula, although I understand you can order from boots to pick up airside at the airport?

We took a pop-up bassinette for DS, with an inflatable mattress - packs up into a handbag-sized bag. We had the Koo-di one, but I think Samsonite does them too. Have a look on eBay/second-hand groups.

You can sterilise by just boiling the bottle etc in a pan of boiling water on the hob. Really no need for fancy equipment.

I second using a sling through the airport. And if you're going to be travelling a fair bit it's worth getting a lightweight travel cot (LittleLife used to do them).