Traveling with a 9 Month Old

Hi R.,
You have already received some great advice from other moms! One of my biggest suggestions would be to try to plan the flight for your daughters naptime if she has predictable naps. My daughter ended up sleeping almost the whole way there and back! I also made sure to give her a bottle or sippy during take off and landing to subdue ear popping.
I have been to Vegas two times with my daughter to visit family. Once when she was 8 months old and last month when she was 19 months old. I'm not sure if you will be staying for longer than 3-4 days or if you will be renting a car. But if so...there is a fantastic store on Sahara about 20 minutes from the strip called Kid to Kid. It is a fantastic, very nice and clean, resale shop that carries everything you can imagine. You can purchase toys, strollers (although you should probably bring your own for the airport), clothes etc. Before you leave you can return them and they pay you on the spot. It came in very handy for us although we typically were there for 7+ days. My other advice would be to not overpack eventhough I am so guilty of it! You will be out and about most the time so just bring a few toys that your daughter enjoys. I also bought my daughter some things as we walked around. New stuff was exciting and held her attention! Bring enough food and snacks, diapers, wipes, formula (if needed) for two days and pack 1/2 of that in your carry on just in case. Remember you can always buy more there.
**Ask the hotel for an extra blanket so that you can put it on the floor for your daughter to play on in the room**
Most importantly, don't stress and have fun! Enjoy the weather and the wedding. You will be happy you made the decision to bring your daughter with and you'll get such pleasure out of watching her eyes light up at all the Vegas excitement!

Hello,

I have traveled a lot in this situation. I would call the hotel and have them get a crib in the room for you, then you don't have to bring a pack & Play. (most hotels have cribs). I would bring a portable DVD player for the plane, in case they need entertainment. If you are renting a car, sometimes you can get a car seat rental as well, and then you don't have to bring that. HOpe that helps..

when my oldest was 8-9 months we took her to Las Vegas too for my brothers wedding. My suggestion: we brought an inflatable bath tub...we were glad we did this because our hotel room was a stand up shower and not a bath tub. Bring a stroller...there's a lot of walking and you don't want to carry your baby the whole time. Also, there is a lot of stimulation in the hotels with all the lights... just be aware it might make them more anxious around nap time. Luckily my parents had a room just across the hall so if we wanted to go to the casino or shop during nap time they would take her since they didn't really like to do that sort of thing. Also, I brough a bunch of the gerber plastic baby food containers so that I didn't worry about them breaking in my suitcase. Have fun! Oh and maybe get a brimmed hat for when you are outside because of all the sun!

Here are a couple of ideas that worked for us when we travel with our son...

Take enough diapers and wipes for the day.
Buy the rest at your destination. Too much to carry.
Same thing with the formula and any food your daughter eats.

As for the crib, we took our back and play and checked it. I felt better having my own, but you could also get one at the hotel and bring blankets and sheets with you.

We took his stroller and checked it at the gate.

Being with a small child the airline will let you board the plane first. We did this on the going flight and it was awful.
My advice is to wait until everyone else is on, then get on and take your time getting you and your family situated and you don't hold up anyone who needs to get past you, plus the least amount of time on the plane the better.

Good luck and have fun!

We drove with 7 month old twins to canada last year, so I can't speak about flying yet. But, for the hotel, take outlet covers. Also, the carpets are generally filthy in hotels! So we took along one of those water-resistance fold-up picnic blankets from Bed, Bath & Beyond. It was like $20, and folds very light & compact. Even if you won't be in the hotel room very much every day, you'll need a place for her to be while you're getting ready, etc, and the carpets are just too gross.

Hi R.!
It's great that you want to bring your baby because your family will LOVE to see her! My husband and I travel all over the place with our daughter, and she is a good little traveller. We even went to Jamaica in Dec when she was 11 months old, it was great!

Things to pack:
For plane:
-Bottles to feed for take off and landing, or if you nurse, that's even easier, less to carry!
-Snacks? Is she eating any snackie foods yet? If so, bring some!
-Maybe 2 or 3 new toys and books to pull out if things get hairy.
-Pacifiers if she uses them
-A favorite blankie or lovey that has not been washed so it smells like home, :)

For Hotel
-Try to request a crib, but bring your own crib sheet and blankies, I would not wash them, so they smell like home
-Formula, bottles, dishwashing soap (or again if you are nursing, not nec.)
-Anything you may use in your bedtime routine to make it seem more like home (Maddie has these green rubber frogs that stick to the wall of the bathtub, I bring those places when we travel so when I bathe her at night she has something from home to look at and play with)
-Diapers, wipes

I think that's pretty much it.
Wow, I'm jealous, a nice warm weather vaca! Don't forget her little swim suit and swim diapers. And if you need anything else don't hesitate to contact me! Have a great time, you'll be happy you brought her...we ALWAYS are!

A.