Traveling with Children: Tips from the Field Part II

Hello all! I hope your weekend was less eventful than ours. Mac decided to inhale popcorn into his lungs instead of swallowing and digesting like the rest of us. We spent Saturday night in a German hospital, where Mac received a bronchoscopy to retrieve the wayward kernel shell. It was a fascinating insight into the differences between the American and German healthcare system. But more on that in another post!

I left off last post with tips on how to fly, drive, and ride the subway with a baby. Today, I’m going to tackle eating on the go and where to stay. In the next post, I'll talk about how I pack and will share a few insights into how Ben and I make the trip enjoyable for the two of us. (As before, I am not being compensated in any way to endorse any product I mention below.) Let's get to business!

Eating on the Go

As I mentioned in my last post, eating out with Mac is my least favorite part of any trip we take. My first recommendation is to ask your host for child-friendly restaurant recommendations. Be forewarned, however. We did this in France and our host's recommendation led us to a white-tableclothed restaurant. Child-friendly in the U.S. means something completely different than in Europe. Here, it seems, it merely means that the restaurant is okay with having a child in their establishment. No crayons or paper tablecloths here.

Mac was unimpressed with the French cuisine

I have found that almost all German restaurants have highchairs. France is a different story, however. I recommend bringing a simple, portable high chair like My Infant Seat.  It slips over the back of most chairs, and, with the help of a clip and several ties, transforms from a small bundle of cloth into a very effective high chair. We took one to Paris, stuffed it in M’s diaper bag, and used it often. Keep in mind that a stroller can work as a chair as well, but I prefer not to use this in a small or nicer restaurant. We have also used the backpack carrier as a highchair, although mostly in our lodging and not in restaurants. Just set it on the floor, and voila, your child is restrained. 

In addition to the cloth high chair, I always pack a plastic spoon and plastic bib in M’s diaper bag. They’re easy to clean. Enough said.

Ben and I always have a game plan in a restaurant. We try to order fairly quickly and abstain from feeding Mac very much until we have our food. We have discovered several foods that are very portable and take Mac a long time to chew, thereby helping him wait for the main course (I’ll touch on these foods below). Once Ben and I receive our meals, we both feed M off of our plates. This usually allows us a fairly leisurely meal (read usually, not always) in which we order wine, an appetizer, main course, and sometimes, dessert. The key is to feed M fairly slowly. At the end of the meal, as Mac begins to get fussy, Ben packs him up and walks him outside while I get the check. We also have an Emergency Backup Plan which we have, to date, only had to use once. If Mac completely loses it and we are not done with our meal, one of us will take him outside and walk him around while the other finishes their food. Then we switch. We still haven’t figured out if asking for to-go boxes is something that is done here. Obviously this is not a problem in the U.S.

We have found a few foods that we always bring with us on trips. I mentioned bringing formula packets in my last post. These are great for flying, but also for any other trip where you will be on the move during bottle time. Another option is shelf-stable milk. This is easy to come by in Germany, but I am less sure about its availability in the States.

These “squishes” are golden. We stash a few in the diaper bag just in case Mac has no interest in solid food or if we are on the go during meal time. They are high in protein and usually have some grains as well. I choose these over fruit/veggie based squishes because they leave Mac full for a longer period of time. These are also great for a child who has not yet progressed to eating off an adult’s plate.

I mentioned above that we have a few foods that we take to restaurants as “appetizers” for Mac. Dates are fantastic baby appetizers. They are easily portable, sweet, and take a long time to chew. Mac will take twenty minutes to chew through three to four dates and by that time we usually have our food. We also often feed M from the ubiquitous bread bowl.

Ella's Kitchen Organic Nibbly Fingers are my new favorite travel food and fit into the "great appetizer" category. They are dense, soft granola bars that are high in fiber, very filling, and, you guessed it, take a long time for M to chew. Throw a few of these individually wrapped bars into a diaper bag and you’re set. 

Last but not least, Babybel cheese and string cheese make a great on-the-go food (don't worry, I do not buy the cheese on Amazon). I don’t worry much about the cheese getting warm, since we usually don’t travel more than 12 hours without a chance at some refrigerator time and they are individually wrapped.

Backpacking Europe

Two other key things. One, most of the foods I mentioned above are finger foods. Mac loves to feed himself and letting him do so usually distracts and amuses him. And two, one of the most helpful things we have EVER done is to put M on scheduled meals. He eats meals around 8 AM, noon, and 7 PM and has a bottle or snack at 4 PM. M eats when we eat, more or less. Obviously there are exceptions (meltdowns on planes, for instance), but most of the time, he sticks to the schedule. This frees us from carrying around loads of food and from constant snack breaks. Mac doesn’t expect to eat between these times and is usually content.

Where to Stay

We realized early on that no one in our family sleeps well if we are all in the same room, at least not with M at this age. Our entire approach to lodging revolves around this principle.

I always try to use Airbnb to arrange our lodging. I usually book an entire apartment with at least two rooms. This way, we can put Mac down in one room (usually the living room) and Ben and I can relax in our room for the rest of the evening. Obviously, two bedrooms are ideal but price is often the limiting factor for us. Renting an apartment also means we have access to a kitchen, which is wonderful because we don’t always eat dinner out. We will often skip a restaurant, grab some groceries, and cook dinner for ourselves. This allows Mac some play time after a busy day on the go and preserves the sacred institution of Bedtime.

If we have to stay in a hotel or bed and breakfast, we try to book one that has a bathroom large enough for M's cot to fit. No lie. I know it sounds gross and weird, but it works very well. Ben and I get completely ready for bed before M’s bedtime, put him to bed, and then close the door. I will say, however, that the last bathroom break before bed can be seriously hilarious, as it requires very stealthy ninja skills.

Where's M? I bet you can figure it out.

I talked about our travel cot in the last post, but just in case you didn’t get the message, IT IS AMAZING.

Last but not least, we always always always bring our iPad and use a white noise app. We put it in the room (or bathroom) M is in and turn the volume up. This means B and I can whisper without waking The Beast.

And there you have it! I'd love to hear about your travel hacks, frustrations, or victories. Drop me a line below and let's talk travel.

I'm heading to Beijing tomorrow to visit my sister, but look for the next post on Friday. I'll write about how I pack and some tricks Ben and I pull to actually enjoy our trip.

'til next time.