..saw from a post that you are back. How did everything go on this trip with your munchkin? After all your trip planning questions, hope all went well.

Hey there, thanks for asking. Got back middle of last week.

Yes the trip was fabulous. I have sat down to the computer a few times to draft a trip report, but keep getting interrupted. The last couple days in Paris we all caught a terrible cold from my in-laws... they brought their sick kid to our place without telling us she was sick! Ugh.

Some brief highlights... I could have easily stayed 6 weeks in London and found myself saying... "if only I could cancel our apt in Paris"... that is, until I GOT to Paris and was reminded how enchanting that city is and why it's still one of my favorite places in the world. Now I am wondering how we could finagle a 6 week sabbatical for my husband and go to Paris for 6 weeks! Hah! Except we'd have to work in Italy... oh. I guess we'll just have to win the lottery.

Anyway, our toddler was a trooper on the trip. She really enjoyed buses, so London was fun watching her squeal in delight every time she saw a bus. Or a pigeon... seems like her favorite new pasttime is chasing the birds.

Of course, Murphy's Law is that if you have a relatively expensive European trip planned, your child that has cut only 4 teeth in 16 months will suddenly, on the night of your departure, begin teething and cut 3 teeth in 9 days and have swollen gums where 3 of her molars are now about to come through. This, coupled with her jet lag upon arrival and being in a new place, freaked her out a bit and made her not want to eat solids for the first 5 days of the trip. So... since I'm still nursing her, it was a bit like having a newborn again because she was nursing every couple hours to stay hydrated and fed. So one of my initial questions here was whether it was easy to breastfeed in London and Paris and the quick answer is YES, if you have to. I have a long list of all the places I nursed in public, simply out of necessity with a very frazzled, tired, teething baby. I also brought and used about 8 bottles of infant advil on the trip!

Bottom line is it was hard work but very rewarding because we love to travel and we got to see our family... but I'll tell you my trip report will be a list of what we didn't see rather than what we did see. Had it been our first trip to Paris or even to Europe, I would have been miserable... just glossing over things, being satisfied with only an hour at the D'Orsay or British Museum, etc.

At several points on the trip we found ourselves feeling (unintentionally) like the Griswolds. Even one funny incident where we took the tube over to the Princess Diana memorial one morning, then had a delay on the tube, then walked the wrong direction into the park, then finally found it, only to find it closed until 10 AM. It was 9ish at the time and our munchkin was ready for a nap. So it was a bit like walleyworld for us! LOL We had a good chuckle and walked home with our girl asleep in the stroller, something she unfortunately for us only did once or twice on the trip.

And the apartment we stayed at in Paris was exquisite. It was large, had a gourmet kichen, and seating for 8, so we basically ate in every night. Sadly I didn't make it to any Parisian restaurants including all my favorites, but we ate like kings shopping in the local markets, the Bon Marche, wine shops, and cheese shops. With cheese courses each night and pastries in the morning, my pants are SUPER tight right now.

One thing I wanted to mention in case I omit it on my trip report, is that I don't know WHAT people are talking about poop everywhere in Paris streets. I was there in 96, 99, 2000, and 2001 and each of those times lumps of poop were abundant every step I took. This time, there was NONE and I even saw a few signs along the way that looked like "pick up after your doggie" infographics.

Another comment relative to my previous trips is the undesirable issue of pickpockets. I did not spend much time on the metro in Paris with the baby, so I can't comment on the presence of pickpockets there. But I was quite surprised to see open begging and hassling of tourists (targeting English speaking tourists in particular) all over Paris in places I had never seen them before. The Tuileries Gardens, and the Cloisters garden behind Notre Dame for example. Even the streets of the Saint Germain des Pres. They were roving bands of dirty girls dressed head to toe in skirts and headscarves asking people "Speak English?"... and one time when I answered "Non" in my best french accent the girl got in my face and hissed at me and said, "Yes, you speaky English". Other than that, we just were watchful. But I was a bit surprised by that. Nothing at all like the bands of "gypsies" I'd encountered a decade ago in Rome... but a little unsettling even so.

I'll try to get time to post a real trip report this weekend or next week...

~kat

Hi Skatterfly,

My husband, my mother and I are about to go to Spain for 2 weeks with our one year old. I was wondering if you had any tips or tricks for traveling with a toddler to Europe? What did you pack you did not need? What would you have liked to bring with that you did not? How did the stroller work on the cobblestones? Did you use a carseat on the plane? Any info would be helpful.

Thanks in advance.

Hi LB,
First off, I packed WAY WAY WAY too much stuff. And I have always credited myself with packing so light.

I would recommend bringing any and all items you need for the bedtime/bathtime routine. We brought an inflatable tub and her favorite bath toys, her shampoo (and kept it in its bottle instead of making a travel size), her bath towel, etc. Bath time was critical for getting her adjusted to the new location.

Other than her bathtoys, I brought too many of her other toys.

If you're still nursing, you'll have an easier time of it because you can pretty much count on that to make things a bit easier including on the flight. I did bring a couple sippy cups that she used when she was thirsty, but if you're nursing don't be surprised if that starts to increase on the trip. Babies get really frazzled when traveling.

I flew Virgin, and they don't even allow you to bring a carseat on the flight with you. We opted for 2 Premium Economy seats instead of 3 in coach, and it was worth every penny. My parents flew with us in the same flight in coach. My daughter sat on my lap, which was fine. Again, I preferred it because I knew it would be easier to nurse during takeoff and landing, though there are many on this board who say you should always buy a seat for the baby. I debated the decision, and will say it was the best for us. And I can tell you on our flight there were LOTS of babies and not a single one of them were in carseats... they all rode on laps. If you do go for this option, though, I'd suggest getting the "Baby B'Air" vest for using during the flight in case of turbulence. The little lap belt they give you felt very inadequate to me.

In terms of being on the ground in Spain, I don't know because I've never been there. But in Paris and in London, I either used the stroller or a sling (wearing her on my hip.) My biggest regret was schlepping along a big stupid kelty kids baby backpack that my daughter rode in all of 1 time for an hour at the British Museum. Now granted, she's already walking (running) and didn't want to be in it, but I also just didn't see many of these in use. Then again, I didn't see many slings in use either and it was truly the godsend of the trip. Can't believe I almost left it at home thinking my daughter had outgrown it. Can't tell you how many times I just threw her in the sling to navigate the metro (collapsing the stroller) or if I wanted to make a quick run to the park or something else where the stroller would be hard. Also, in both cities, I saw lots of strollers, especially Paris. I used a Maclaren Techno with no problems.

If your baby has favorite baby food, I'd recommend bringing a few jars of it for the flight and for the first day or two being there so you dont' have to worry about finding food when you land. But the food there will be very good. I did bring a box of her favorite rice cereal, and a box of teddy puffs (which she loved before the trip but decided she hated on the trip).

I also may have mentioned, I brought like 8 bottles of infant advil with us. I used every bottle I think on the trip. She has been cutting teeth nonstop since the few days before we left and advil is the only thing that stops the pain. So if you have a product that works well for you, don't count on being able to find it in Spain. Another thing I brought for teething that works wonders for her is a homeopathic liquid drop from Boiron called Camilia... used up the whole box and ran out in London and couldn't find it again until we got to Paris.

My doc also suggested bringing just a basic infant cough syrup (with decongestant and cough suppressant) though we didn't need to use it, and benadryl (also didn't use). Benadryl is not sold in Paris, for example. Other than that, I didn't bring any meds with us because even at home there's nothing else I would have given her. I also brought with me (and was glad I did) her little nasal aspirator for stuffy noses. She caught that horrible cold in Paris and I did lots of steamy showers and sucked out her icky nose. My sister in law had her baby and the only aspirator she had was this really complicated contraption that looked like a torture device... you put a plastic tube inside the baby's nose, then suck through a tube to remove the snot. I thought our little aspirator was way easier to use!

I didn't bring the pack n play because both of our apartments provided them. I did bring our own sheet and a little pillow for her from home for familiarity's sake. I also brought one rubberized sheet pack n play size which I ended up using as the changing pad area on the mattress. I didn't want to have any leaks.

Now, to the stuff we didn't need... mostly, I packed way too many clothes for myself. I got caught in the usual "checking luggage" conundrum... I figured, hey, I'm checking luggages so I can just bring this extra little... [fill in blank]. And of course, in spite of all the cool little outfits I brought, I essentially wore the same 3 or 4 teeshirts, 1 pair of jeans, one pair of black pants, and a skirt.

I also brought too many of her books, thinking we'd have lots of story time. Mostly, I only needed probably 1 or 2 books, and a couple stacking cups.

One BIG winner was a travel magnadoodle, which we bought for the trip.

And I brought stickers, which we an instant pacifier! I don't know if you've introduced them to your 1 year old yet or not. If not, then find 1 thing your daughter goes gaga over, stickers, postits, hair clips, velcro, whatever... and make sure you have LOTS of it for the flight, during the trip, and the return flight.

We also brought this little inflatable booster chair to use as a high chair. It was great, though it stayed in the apartment. Most of the places we went to with baby (which were actually only a handful) all of them had high chairs or I had her in my lap.

Travelling with a little one is REALLY hard work. With a 1 year old, it might be easier if she's not already walking. If she is, or is practicing walking, be ready for lots of time in the public parks, or spending 10-20 minutes outside your hotel or apartment just walking five steps and watching her bend down to pick up rocks, etc. They need this down time.

One day in London we just spent an hour outside the natural history museum with her walking around the outdoor sculpture, picking up rocks and leaves, etc.

Also know that for our daughter, we could push her a bit one day (and stretch her naptimes), then had to stay in the next day for a good long nap in the apartment. That meant there were days we didn't leave the apartment until 1 oclock. We also travelled with my mom, and there were days when I put the baby down for her morning nap, then my husband and I took off to explore while my mom babysat.

Especially with this arrangement, we were very happy we brought our cell phones. Between 4 adults (2 couples) we had 2 cell phones. If my husband and I split up from them (or if my mom was babysitting) she took one of the phones and we were never very far away in case she woke up needing mama.

That's off the top of my head for now. There are also tons of posts here at fodors with ideas for how to travel with a baby. It's certainly worth it if you're not expecting to get to every museum and every exhibit but do want to explore parks, enjoy good food from the local markets, and just take in life in that country.

~kat

..So glad things went relatively well..when I read your pretrip posts, it just made me think of those times a number of years ago..I think that stage from about 1 1/2 to about 31/2 is just about the most difficult time for child travel..I learned that you can prepare but not really plan too much and that a home base is needed whether an apt, a home, or at a minimum a hotel room with a kitchenette. Don't you think they should send every flight attendent on a transatlantic with a 2 year old? I alway thought this would help them to help me (yet they almost were too helful in the 1-4 month age group which is really easy..or at least that was my experience).

when my daughter was 3 months old, i was fretting over her (first of many) treks from phila. to los angeles. i'll never forget my doctor saying at the time "it will only get harder."

i can also relate to the taking too much part. on subsequent trips, when i had bags of activities, her faves were the airplane safety card and playing with the water in the lavatory sink!

Skatterfly that was a very helpful report for anyone traveling with an infant!! Glad you had such a good time, teething and all.
One thing...you CAN get benadryl in Paris, it goes under the name Benelyn (sp?) and is available in various formulations. However, some of these are not formulated exactly like the Benadryl you use at home; for adults, no big deal but for a child, it would be best to bring along your own.

skatterfly, welcome back, I'm looking forward to your report.

BTilke, it's good to see you posting and that you made it safely to Florida. Hope your family is doing well.

Maureen

Skatterfly,
Thank you very much for your great suggestions. It is funny because I had just returned from the store getting children's benadryl and then read your post. Hopefully my easy-going son will remain easy going on this trip. I am glad to hear that you had a great time even with a toddler along. Thanks again.

Thanks for the feedback folks. I am still hoping to get a real report out this week.

BTilke, just wanted to be sure you realized I was talking about benadryl for children/infants in France. My in laws took my unopened bottle of infant benadryl to a Pharmacie in Paris in hopes of getting the correct dosage for their little one, and were told, "Oh, we don't have that in France. It's not approved for babies." My understanding is that they don't sell it or anything else like it in a children's dosage.

Likewise, many people here have said that you can actually find a similar product to infant advil in London, called Nurofen. However when I did get over there and read the packaging, the base/syrup ingredients are different than advil and it comes with a warning that it can cause a laxative effect... so I was awfully glad I had schlepped those stupid little bottles over from the US with me... my daughter has a sensitive tummy as it is and there's nothing like having a teething baby who THEN gets the trots from the only painkiller that works for her.

Just reinforces my personal preference to travel WITH my tried and true meds rather than count on something being overseas. For myself, I'm willing to try anything... but with a baby, not worth the risk.