Planning International Travel With a Toddler (#prayforme)

When we started planning our trip to Ireland, our daughter was an adorable 18-month-old. She listened when we told her no. She was easy to please and effortless to manage.

Well, we leave next month and she is nearing ever-closer to two.

I’ll be honest: I’m getting a bit nervous. The plane ride. The jet-lag. The long car rides through the Irish countryside. The overnights in new places for nine days straight.

Part of me is like, What were we thinking? The other part of me is like, We can do this!

That said, I thought it would be fun(ny) to write a pre-travel blog of all of the research and planning in place; then, write a Realities of Traveling with a Toddler post when we return.

We’ve been trying to prepare by doing the following:

Ordering our kiddo’s passport early. We ordered it in the beginning of December for a March trip, and I’m glad we did. There was a problem with the photo we sent, so we had to get new ones taken. All in all, even with the issues, it took about 8 weeks to get it in our hands. And I have to say… it’s the cutest passport ever.
Buying a travel stroller. Believe me, you don’t want to deal with your deluxe mamba-jamba stroller.. We bought a Kolcraft stroller, which is super light (about 10 lbs) and easy to manage. Not to mention, it has an umbrella, cup holder, and small attachable table. Not bad for about $40. We will be using this baby right up to our terminal, where a steward will then tuck it off for us. For free.
Booking a direct flight that offers a bassinet seat. Yes, we’re taking advantage the “free under two” lap-seat opportunity and not buying our daughter her own seat. (Side note- you still pay taxes on lap-seat children. She was about $80 round trip). Aer Lingus offers the option of a bassinet. When you request one of these, you are automatically seated in a section with extended legroom (another plus). The bassinet itself is essentially a box that sits on a pull-down table, which holds up to 40lbs. Our daughter is skinny (26lbs) but tall, and I know she will not fit laying down. However, my hope is that she will enjoy sitting in it and, perhaps, give our laps a break.
Booking Airbnbs instead of hotels. We’re actually traveling with another family, making our group a total of four adults and three kids. When we started looking at hotels in Dublin, it was mind-boggling. Of course, Dublin is a big city so we should have expected the big price tag. We decided to check out Airbnb and found that it is much more doable and possibly even more family-friendly. We are only staying in one hotel (actually, a castle) our whole trip. Otherwise, we will be staying in condos, homes, and farmhouses. A huge plus is that Kaelyn will have her own space and we won’t have to go to bed when she does. We will be sure to bring her monitor with us (add it to “The List”!)
Booking a car seat and travel crib to be picked up right in Dublin airport. Within the airport is an ingenious little rental place called The Stork Exchange. Here, you can get all the big essentials for your kiddo. Prices are more than fair, in my opinion, but we will see what kind of shape everything is in when we physically deal with this company. The car seat came out to about $40 and the Baby Bjorn travel crib was about $60.
Booking an automatic car. If you don’t ask for one, you will end up with a manual car. Seriously. Request one and don’t complain about paying an extra $100. It’ll be worth it when you’re driving on the left side of those incredibly narrow roads. Safety first my friends; especially with your little one in the back.
Researching ways to keep our little sweetie happy. Our flight to Dublin is 6.5 hours overnight, so I’m hoping our daughter sleeps most, if not the whole, time. The flight back to Chicago is a daytime flight. It’s also an additional hour due to the jet stream. I’m nervous, but Pinterest is seriously amazing. Moms are amazing. Don’t reinvent the wheel. Check out what other traveling families are doing to keep their little angels happy. One thing I’m going to do is introduce her to a tablet, something I’ve never let her play with. I believe in limiting screen time as much as the next mama, but these two travel days will be run by new rules. Have at it kid. Happy child, happy parents (when stuck in a large metal bullet hundreds of miles in the sky). I’m going to download a ton of educational apps, videos, and ebooks. I just ordered these adorable fox CozyPhones (which come highly recommended). Other than the screen, in our backpack we will have: a whole lotta snacks, magnetic blocks, pipe cleaners (to make jewelry, animals, whatnot…), Easter eggs with prizes inside (she’ll earn one every hour for behaving), and Melissa and Doug Magic Water activity books.
Throwing my hands up about the time difference. It’s a 6 hour time difference between Ireland and the midwest, and we’re traveling right in the middle of daylight savings time. Whatever. We will have to try to adjust as best as we can the day we get there (9:30am Ireland time, 3:30am our time) and let our daughter sleep anywhere she damn well pleases. Stroller. Car. Lap. Just shut your eyes, kid, and get that sleep you so desperately need. We’ll survive (I hope).
Researching the weather in March and packing accordingly. I just ordered nifty knee-length rain boots for myself (green, of course), as well as rain boots, rain coat, and scarf for our daughter. Guess what the weather is like in March? Actually, it rains most days in Ireland all year round. However, it’s sporadic and doesn’t usually stick around all day. Here’s hoping. What I’ve found in my research is to dress in layers. I have a rain jacket, scarf, and an array of cardigans and blouses going in my bag.
Setting it in my mind that there will be bumps in the road. Whatever happens, rain or shine, we will be living the dream: Exploring our roots, doing the Irish jig, sleeping in a castle, staying on a farm, falconing, driving beneath tree tunnels, kissing the Blarney stone, and so much more. There will be bumps, but there will also be magic.