What do you do when you travel with your twins?

My DH mentioned yesterday that he wants to go visit my parents (5 hours away) to get the boys use to traveling. I'm super nervous about the trip -- they have never been away from home (overnight), and since 11 weeks, never slept anywhere but their own cribs. DH is worried if we don't do it soon they'll never be able to sleep anywhere else.

How old were your twins when you took them on their first trip?? Did they sleep OK? What did you do to make it more like "home" ??

TIA!!!!

 

OMG - so glad you posted ... we are going out of town Wed-Sun and I am so nervous that they won't sleep!

What I PLAN to do ... I got some quilted PNP sheets and I am going to put some fluffy towels under them so that the PNP matress is a little more comfortable. I am going to take their loveys and a few of their crib toys (I'm not sure about their soothers ... we use them a lot but I'm not sure how you would attach it to a PNP). I will take their sound machine. And, that is about as far as I have gotten =(

Good luck and I will be stalking your post in hopes that you get some good tips!

 

We have been a lot of places since the boys have been born. When they were a month old we went to my mom's and we have been there every month since. We have been to my grandparents and we went to see DH's family just last weekend. The boys always sleep in a pack n play whenever we travel and it is always fine. In the early days before we had a routine, it really wasn't a big deal. Now that we have a routine, I just always try to follow it when we go out of town. I know it isn't a lot of fun to put two babies to bed at 7:00 p.m. when you are on a trip, but I always try to follow the routine because it is easier on them. I figure I am putting them through enough making them travel and being away from home, so I try to get them to bed when they are used to it, and it always works out fine. Good luck and I hope you have a nice trip.

 

WE traveled a lot with the twins when they were infants. We went to see my mom in NM when they were only three or four months (via airplane) and then again at about 6 or 7 months. We drove from NM to MN when they were 10 months. We used pack and plays borrowed from friends or people from church. It was hard to keep them on a pattern, but that was about it.

 

Definitely have them sleep in the PNPs a few times before you go - both overnight and with naps.
Kids are generally pretty easy going as long as the time of naps and bedtimes are maintained.
Good luck

 

I second trying the pnp at home. Also have their blankets/loveys so they will smell the same. Keep the same routine if possible. I have traveled out of state 5 times since they were born and they have always done great. Try to pack anything you might need, that helps. Good luck, it isn't as bad as you think

 

5 1/2 months was our first trip with the girls. We flew halfway across the country to see DH's family and go camping. So we didn't do anything to make it more like home and they actually did very well. They slept with us on airmatresses, they slept with us in a camper, they slept with us in regular beds with lots of pillows all around them. I was surprised at how well they did- and they were getting over being sick too! BTW, we did have a pnp for them (they still fit into 1), but it wouldn't fit in the camper so they napped in it outside (with a sun shade over it) during the day.

The second trip we took at 8 months we used pnp's (1 for each of them). Again they did amazingly well. They don't nap in pnp's at home so I was worried that they wouldn't sleep in them, but they were fine. I think every night they were so exhausted from entertaining all the adults all day they were ready to pass out (even if it was in SIL's kitchen because we were playing cards and I wanted to be able to hear them so we moved the pnp's into the room we were in!).

Of course not every kid is so adaptable to the environment and I've known mom's who take the cribs toys from home (like a musical toy or a mobile) so that the little ones have something familiar when they are away. Also while it wasn't always possible, we did try to keep their schedule the same. So they napped and went to bed at approximately the same time as home and we did things in the same order so they could anticipate when naptime/meal times were.

GL with your trip!!!!!!!

 

We just returned from a vacation with our 5 mos olds. DS did fine in a borrowed pnp at night. For naps, she did okay, but not as well as home. DS was another story. He has never slept well anywhere but his crib. He hated the pnp. Finally we put him in the middle of our queen-size bed for naps and I checked on him every 10 minutes because he is starting to move around. The last couple nights we put him on a couple folded blankets right on the floor. He was more comfortable falling asleep on that, though he did scoot around a lot, so I had to look for him when I got up in the middle of the night.

Because we were flying I couldn't bring a lot of stuff, but familiar blankets probably would help. Try to keep your bedtime routine the same and make sure they don't get overstimulated. I think that was our biggest problem. My guys are used to me and our two dogs for their daily entertainment. When you throw in Dad, Grandpa, Grandpa, airports, car rides, stores and restaurants everyday it can be pretty overwhelming.

Hope everything goes well. Get as much rest yourself as you can. Even with extra hands around, it will be really tiring for you.

 

We have traveled or had family watch the girls quite a bit since they were born. They are now two. We always have two pak n plays and have no problems with nap time and bed time. We keep to their same schedule. We have one of the pak n plays (the one Lucy always uses) set up in the living room now for a friend's baby to use and Lucy will walk by it and say "that is my bed". When we fly out to California once a year, the timeshare we stay at has pak n plays so they have them set up for us when we get there. We keep the girls up the first night to get on their time zone and then stick to their schedule on that time zone. We always take a blanket from their crib but that is all.

 

My parents live about 3 hours a way, and we have been up 3 times since the babies were born, the first at 6 weeks, then at 3 months, and then just a few weeks ago at 6 months. The first two times the babies didn't notice the change in environment, but this last time they did and were having none of it at first. They slept in pnp's, we brought DD's lovey and DS's sleep positioner. The first night they went down no problem but woke up an hour later and then were up and down the rest of the night. The second night they fussed going down but then slept like normal, I think if we would have stayed one more night they would have been fine, but we returned home.

My advice, take something that reminds them of home, a lovey, etc., we took our sound machine b/c they are used to that, and don't plan on getting alot of sleep at first!!

 

This past week we took everyone (and our dogs) down to dh's family on Long Island (about 5 hours door to door, including an hour and a half on a ferry). It was craziness. We had a funeral to attend so we were all over the place and I was not able to maintain any kind of routine, other than feedings. Also, because of the nature of the trip, we didn't have a whole lot of time to plan, so things were forgotten, so take time in planning and bring whatever you can that you think might help- like a bouncy seat or swing. When we make this trip again, I will definitely make sticking to their routine top priority. Good luck- I'm sure it will all go well for you!