Friends of mine asked me what we packed for our 8-day road trip to South Carolina, specifically for Bug. It was a LOT of stuff, but I thought it would be useful for everyone to see in case they were planning on being crazy and doing the same thing. 🙂 I think our focus was for Bug to have the basics he would need to stay close to his regular routine so he didn’t go nuts.
CLOTHING:
- The place we stayed at had a small washer/dryer combo so we chose to pack light on the clothing for all three of us, just 2/3 days worth. We brought one suitcase for all 3 of us.
- Two sets of pj’s for Bug since he’s been known to leak through his night time diaper.
- Our rental included access to a community pool so we included 2 suit/UV shirts combos for Bug in case we went to the pool twice in one day.
- Baby hat and sunglasses (hardly used since Bug doesn’t like wearing for long anymore)
LINENS:
- We brought a sweatshirt blanket for me to use in the car that also served as a cushion in Bug’s pack n play at night.
- Baby blanket for Bug in the car.
- Nap-type sleeping bag for Bug to cover up with at night.
- My pillow so I could nap with Bug in the car.
- Baby towel for baths.
- Baby washcloths for baths.
- All the other towels and bedsheets were provided with the rental.
TOYS:
- We packed a duffel bag full of a sampling of Bug’s favorite toys, books, and puzzle pieces (not the boards) that stayed near his car seat while we drove. It also served as a toy chest when we arrived. I think we brought too much for the car rides but he ended up playing with all the toys once we made it to the rental.
- Floating baby cabana for the pool and accompanying water toys (VERY useful).
- iPad with Bug’s favorite apps, games, and YouTube movies (VERY useful). We used this in the car and pretty much everywhere we went. On the nights we had wifi we could show Bug his usual bedtime YouTube videos, keeping him on his normal routine.
- Portable DVD player (not as useful). We only used it once or twice and it ended up being more of a tantrum-inducer (Bug didn’t like that him hitting the buttons meant it turned off the movies.) Also he doesn’t have the attention span to really watch full length movies yet.
- DVDs (VERY useful). Our rental had a nice tv/dvd player and Bug got to watch his two favorites. It kept us on part of his normal routine, two half hour DVDs while he plays in the late afternoon/early evening.
- Laptop (not as useful). It was redundant since we brought the iPad but we thought if we had wifi, Daddy Bug could use it for work related things.
BABY EQUIPMENT:
- Pack n play for naps and sleeping. Wish Bug liked it more because he usually ended up waking earlier than normal, or multiple times at night, which meant he slept with us part of almost every night. But he’s a picky sleeper to begin with.
- Bottles and sippy cups – enough for about a day’s worth of use.
- Pacifiers – 2 or 3 for naps and night time (still haven’t broken him of that habit!)
- Umbrella stroller (not the big one that came with his infant car seat to save space) – VERY useful. We went on walks every morning to keep Bug on his routine and used it to get to the pool and back since it was down the road from our rental.
- Sound machine for bed time (VERY useful for him and his friend Brayton who visited us overnight)
- Mama Bug and Daddy Bug’s diaper bags – because they go everywhere with us
TOILETRIES:
- baby sunblock
- half a case of diapers
- swimmy diapers (we actually forgot these and bought some at the local grocery store – the only item we forgot!)
- big package of wipes
- one bottle of baby soap/shampoo (no need to bring separate bottles of shampoo and baby wash)
- bottle of baby lotion
- Desitin tube (just used the one already in my diaper bag)
- baby Tylenol
- baby inhaler (just in case, we never needed it but didn’t want to find ourselves in the position of being unprepared)
- baby toothbrush/toothpaste
FOOD:
A few weeks before we left we bought all kinds of food that Bug could eat in the car or didn’t need refrigeration. We then had him try  all the different things and bought more of what he liked. We also brought or bought his regular favorites.
- Parmalat whole milk (not as useful). He didn’t like this to begin with so it was no surprise he wouldn’t drink much of it. We put regular whole milk in a small cooler pack and he had to suffer through drinking the cold stuff, which he liked only a little more than the Parmalat. (We’re still trying to get him to drink cold milk – he’s down to room temperature milk so we’ve made some progress!)
- Mott’s for Tots diluted apple juice cartons.
- Revolution Foods Mashups Organic squeezable fruit.
- Cheddar Bunnies
- All different kinds of his usual Stage 2 baby foods (we’re trying to get him to eat more adult food, really!)
- Tortillas, one of his favorites.
- Gerber Yogurt Blends. They’re ultra pasteurized and don’t need refrigeration unless they’ve been opened.
- Our rental had a full kitchen so we were able to buy the perishables Bug likes after we arrived.
Sooo that’s all I can remember at this point, hehe! Any questions, please post and I’ll do my utmost to answer them. 😀
(You can see pictures and read all about the trip here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3)
A Year of Mommy 