I’ve been a gypsy my whole life and I definitely want to see every corner of the world before I die, so I had to learn QUICKLY how to handle two babies when traveling. When they were 3 months old I took them on a road trip from LA to San Francisco and had to pull over every few hours to plug in my travel pump and express milk on the side of the road. Insane. Since then, we’ve been to Costa Rica, The Caribbean, New York, Hawaii, London, Oregon, Palm Springs, Montana, and Mexico. We even went camping with them when they were about a year old, setting up their travel cribs in our tent! It’s been a true adventure!
Here are my tips on how to do it…
1. Take as little gear as possible. Our Ergobaby Carriers have been the single best purchase EVER. When they were infants, I would wear one baby, and my husband, mother in law or caregiver would wear another baby. That way we each also have free hands. The carriers are ideal for travel because at airport security it’s so easy to pop the baby out and back in again, its no big deal. It sure beats having to deal with a stroller/car seat situation. Other than that, I would bring our two Baby Bjorn folding cribs and that’s about it. They’re pricey (like $275 each) but the absolute best — very high quality, fold up super small into little covers that zip up so you can carry them like a briefcase. They set up in 30 seconds flat and break down just as quickly. Our babies loved them. Genius.
I always left the stroller at home because it was just TOO MUCH to deal with! Instead, I used the Sit N Stroll car seats that turn into strollers; they can be used as a seat on the plane, a car seat when you reach your destination, and a stroller if you need it.
Best. Thing. EVER.
2. Ideally, you would be able to travel with another person, whether that be your husband, partner, relative, older child who can actually help, or a caregiver.
However, if I were traveling alone, I would use a Sit N Stroll for one child and wear the other in the Ergo Carrier for navigating the airport. Then on the flight, collapse the wheels on the car seat and attach it to the airplane seat next to you and keep the other baby on your lap during the flight. You need patience and stamina, but it can be done. When you have twins, you find ways of doing things you never thought possible!
3. Stick to your regular routine, even though you are not at home! This is the absolute most important thing for me! My routine is my ticket to sanity so when we travel I try to stick to it as a means of giving the children a sense of safety, familiarity, and rhythm when their surroundings are drastically different, they have been carted through multiple airports, strapped to my body for hours on end, and totally overstimulated by all the new sights and sounds. I really believe that staying true to our rhythm is why I have never, ever had a problem getting them to sleep in a new place or adjusting them to time changes. We just power through it by immediately jumping on the time zone of wherever we’ve just arrived to. And because I’m not conflicted or worried about it, they usually take that cue from me and surrender to sleep pretty easily, even in the midst of all the chaos and upheaval of traveling across the world. Of course, all children are different, but this has really worked for us.
Even though traveling with twin infants was tough, it was the best thing for our family that we maintained our sense of adventure and continued to do the things we loved to do before we had children. It can be so overwhelming being a parent to twins; as mothers we can really lose ourselves just trying to survive. Travel was — and still is– a great connection to my “old self”, to all the things I loved to do before becoming a mother, to my passion for life outside the home. It has been a gift to our children to share that with them.
This post originally appeared here.
