Labor Day vacation help!

[arial]

We are planning to go visit my in-laws, who live in California, during labor day weekend.  We are probably flying on a Saturday morning and flying back on Monday morning.  Now, they are three hours behind us. 

I am really worried about how I am going to transition him to such a time lag.  Not to mention, we have never travel and I am not sure what I have to prepare, what I have to take with me and what I can rent.  We are planning to rent a car and I have been told that we can rent a convertible car seat with the rental car company. 

I am really worry that he is not going to be able to sleep at night.  I am not sure where is he going to be sleeping.  He still sleep in the crib, and there is certainly no crib where we are going.  We are not staying in a hotel, we are staying a small cottage rented by my in-laws.  I do not know if I should sleep with him when we are there or what other possible sleep arrangements should I make. (My son is horrible to sleep with - I did when he got sick last week, and let me tell you that I did not sleep all night- I got kicked and pushed all night)

Any suggestions from anyone will be greatly appreciated.

[Layla]

bump!

Sorry I haven't traveled with my los before but I am sure someone who has will give you advise on whats worked

Layla

[Samuel's mum]

I know it can be overwhelming when you think about travelling with your LO but try and focus on the positives too. He will have great fun  and probably be very tired from all the new experiences and stimulation.
Sam has travelled a lot - from the UK to the US and back, to Japan and back, to the Caribbean and back (all with 6 hrs or more time difference). And several other European journeys without significant time difference.
It's always been fun and it's always been worth it. When there has been major time difference he has taken a few days to adjust. Either wanting to sleep later or wake up earlier but we've always coped easily. On a couple of occasions (like 6hrs + time difference) he's been awake in the middle of the night but only for an hour or so. So if they are ahead of you he may go to bed earlier or wake up earlier. But my experience is that when you travel they often are quite happy to go to bed a little later as there's lots of interest and there often nap a bit more when you are actually travelling. Holidays with only an hour difference weren't noticeable.

I'm assuming you'll probably all be in one room but I would take a travel cot/crib. I think you call them 'pack and play'. If you don't want to buy one as you are not big travellers I'm sure you can borrow one. Just get it a couple of weeks in advance so he can see it and you can practise putting it up. He could get familiar with it and even try and sleep in it. You can just check it on the plane though obviously it will count as luggage and some are quite heavy. If that's too much to fly with then there are some little inflatable ready beds that you can just blow up or there may be a mattress you can put on the floor. But if your in-laws aren't flying you can ask them to buy a pack-and-play for you to bring. Just bear in mind that there might not be much child-proofing in the cottage so you may also want to consider a travel stairgate in case there's something you need to close off.

For the flight - bring small toys - new and old. Snacks and drinks. Little books to read. Small surprises. They often nap easily because of the white noise on the plane.

Bring more diapers than you'd expect to need. Some food. More change of clothes than you'd expect. Some familiar things - his usual pillow case if he has one or sheet/blanket (but don't wash them so they smell familiar). Try and find out as much as you can about the cottage now and find out about the local area. If you are a worrier find out about local hospitals etc. But I'm sure he will surprise you with his adaptability.

[headinoz]

I agree with everything Samuel's mum said - we have travelled a lot with our DD as well (as far away as Australia - from Canada) and she has always been extremely adaptable.  It takes everyone a few days to adapt to the local time, so we just do it gently and make sure we keep the room dark during sleep time and light when it's not.  That seems to help.  We also travel with a big knapsack of toys, movies, games, books and snacks.  That makes a huge difference - whether the trip is by plane or by car.

You mentioned needing a car seat, travel cot etc.  Many places have rental agencies where you can hire those items (and even toys!).  You may want to look on line and see if you can find an agency in your area.  If you're not able to find anything, you can likely rent a car seat from the car rental company.  Most are very accommodating of car seat requirements.

The best thing we've found is that vacation is a time for everyone to relax... so sometimes relaxing the routine works well too.  I know our DD takes a few days to get back on track when we get home - but as long as we are consistent and go right back to our usual routine at home, she settles back in quickly.

Hope you enjoy your trip!