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We spent the 3-day weekend at a science fiction convention in Baltimore. The trip to and from (by car) was not great, but it was worth it for a weekend that was fun for all of us!
We figured that if we stopped to nurse for 15 minutes every hour, that would add 25% to the travel time, so a trip that normally takes about 4 hours would take 5 or 6.
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It took 7! We forgot about the extra time involved in getting off the highway, finding a place to stop, and getting back on...and the extra time for diaper changes...and the longer mealtimes for parents who are juggling a baby while eating! EnviroBaby repeatedly went from sound asleep to "I'm hungry! You're not holding me! YOU'RE TRYING TO KILL ME!!!" in 60 seconds or less
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, and although it never took us >10 minutes to get off the road, those were some looonnggg minutes! He got particularly irritable toward the end of the trip home, and we thought it was because he wanted to roll around, but when we got home he showed us that what he wanted was to be held and cuddled.
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We were thinking that the next time we have to make a longish car trip (about a month from now) it might help to bring the manual breastpump; I probably could pump in a moving car (but not while driving!!!) and maybe he could drink from a bottle in a moving car. Seems silly to give a bottle when I'm right there, but if it spares us all from the shrieks of starvation.... Anybody tried this?
Anyway, the actual travel was the only difficult part. He didn't mind the hotel room at all and had a great time socializing at the con and seeing the art show. I even got to attend most of the events I wanted to attend, or at least parts of them!
I want to share one thing that worked really well for us: We packed his cloth diapers and washcloths into a mesh laundry hamper that has handles on top, packed his clothes in a pillowcase and put that in on top of the diapers, and tucked in a spare pillowcase and a nylon wetbag. We set the hamper in a "utility tub" (basically a big solid laundry basket) on the passenger seat of the car while traveling. When we arrived, we put a towel on the floor to make a changing area, set the hamper at one end, took the pillowcases out, and put the wetbag in the tub at the other end. The empty pillowcase was for dirty clothes, and the wetbag was for used diapers and wipes. We had an easy time finding everything even in the heat of the diaper change!
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We figured that if we stopped to nurse for 15 minutes every hour, that would add 25% to the travel time, so a trip that normally takes about 4 hours would take 5 or 6.
We were thinking that the next time we have to make a longish car trip (about a month from now) it might help to bring the manual breastpump; I probably could pump in a moving car (but not while driving!!!) and maybe he could drink from a bottle in a moving car. Seems silly to give a bottle when I'm right there, but if it spares us all from the shrieks of starvation.... Anybody tried this?
Anyway, the actual travel was the only difficult part. He didn't mind the hotel room at all and had a great time socializing at the con and seeing the art show. I even got to attend most of the events I wanted to attend, or at least parts of them!
I want to share one thing that worked really well for us: We packed his cloth diapers and washcloths into a mesh laundry hamper that has handles on top, packed his clothes in a pillowcase and put that in on top of the diapers, and tucked in a spare pillowcase and a nylon wetbag. We set the hamper in a "utility tub" (basically a big solid laundry basket) on the passenger seat of the car while traveling. When we arrived, we put a towel on the floor to make a changing area, set the hamper at one end, took the pillowcases out, and put the wetbag in the tub at the other end. The empty pillowcase was for dirty clothes, and the wetbag was for used diapers and wipes. We had an easy time finding everything even in the heat of the diaper change!
