Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Car travel with a baby

Packing for a weekend trip was a daunting, and stressful, thought.  We went to Orange Beach when Pierce was just 2 months old and I waaaay over packed for that trip!  We barely had enough room for everything.

So, on our trip to Mississippi to see my grandmother a few weeks ago, I decided to try packing all of Pierce's stuff in one tote.\  Because I knew it would fit in our trunk, with our suitcase and toiletries bag, and leave room to put his Boppy pillow and bouncy chair (if it will fit, it goes! Why hold him the whole weekend when he would rather be able to be put in his chair from time to time!).  Let's face it, we drive a Kia Forte and that sucka doesn't have a small trunk, but it certainly isn't a Crown Vic's trunk lol.
My idea worked!  And worked well!  I was impressed with myself, and how easy it ended up being.  Since my grandmother has a 2 story house, and we would only be upstairs with Pierce to sleep, we just left the whole tote downstairs because it had diapers, clothes, toys, etc in it.
It worked so well, that when we went to Kentucky to see my parents this past weekend, I was able to quickly pack it back up like a pro.
I thought I would share, because I know I have a lot of friends who have babies or young children and wow, this made life easy!

Of course, as a pumping mother, one of my biggest concerns was getting those supplies packed up
so, I chose a shoe box sized tote

In went pump bottles, spare parts, and spare Passes (yeah, we call pacifiers Pass)
I tossed this box in on top of his bottles, which were put in a reusable shopping bag
along with the dish soap I use for his bottles, and the bottle brush 


Next, I had to pick out all of his clothes.  
Since I knew we were going to be in Kentucky 2 days/2 nights, but didn't know what the weather would do, I knew I needed to pack several options, 
along with several options for any mishaps we all know happen with babies
Luckily, he only wore one outfit each day...yay, less laundry when we got home!

Then, I put his favorite toys and books in a box
this box happens to be one of those cloth cube drawers lol, it's a perfect size!


Because we buy Pierce's diapers in the large Jumbo boxes of 120+ count, they come in neat stacks in the shrink wrap inside of the box.  
So, I just took one row out of the shrink wrap, knowing that would be MORE than enough diapers
but, with a little one, you never know so ALWAYS over prepare! lol
They sack neatly in one corner, toy/book box on the other side, 


leaving room for bibs and socks to go between the box and side, 
and clothes and bath towel/wash cloths to go in the empty corner


I put his floor blankets on top and closed the lid!

And, like my grandmother's house, we slept on one floor but "lived" on another; so we left his box upstairs out of the way.  No going down in the basement to get anything!

I wish I had taken a picture of the trunk all packed.  It goes in like an easy puzzle.  It's really awesome

Happy travels!

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