Traveling and Cruising with a Toddler

We just got home from a week-long Alaskan cruise with Ethan.  I'll admit, it wasn't the most relaxing trip of our lives, but we came prepared and were able to enjoy the trip and the beautiful scenery.  That being said, I'll never do that again.

When my mother-in-law mentioned that she wanted us to go on a cruise with them and WITH ETHAN, I was a bit skeptical.  I knew that traveling with a 14 month old would be a bit tricky and I knew that cruise wasn't exactly the place for a toddler.  But the more I started talking to people, the more excited I became with the idea and since we love to travel, we figured we could survive.  There would be 4 adults and only one Ethan so we had pretty good odds in our favor.

Before the trip, I scoured the internet for the best traveling tips and toys that I could find.  Hopefully this post can help others too!  Here is what worked for us while traveling and cruising with a toddler:

 1.  Fisher Price Apptivity Case-  Ethan loves to push the off button on our phones and iPad when we try to  use apps so we bought this case hoping it would prevent that and it did.  I downloaded all of the Fisher Price free apps and he really liked them.  He also liked these: "I Here Ewe", "SoundTchLite", "Bubbles", "Shapes", "Match it Up" and "Doodle Buddy". 

2.  Sock Money Nesting Dolls- These were great for dinners on the boat.  We would put little snacks or pieces of bread in each one that he could find as he opened each doll.  He really loves opening and closing them so that gave us a nice 20 minutes of "relaxation" one night.  (We left the smallest 2 dolls at home because they are a chocking hazard.)

3. Travel Magna Doodle- We ended up throwing away the magnets because the kept falling off and were a chocking hazard.  Ethan isn't really old enough to draw yet but he liked erasing whatever was on the screen so that kept him busy for a bit.

4. Earth's Best Food Pouches- Luckily, Babies R Us has a 20 of $20 sale on these right before we left.  Ethan hasn't had "baby food" in a very long time but I knew these would be great for snacks on the boat or while we were docked.  I am SO glad I had these.  Ethan decided to be a picky eater some days on the trip and it was nice to know he was getting SOME kind of nutrition for the day.  There are tons of great flavors and they are organic too! 

5. B. Hellophone- Ethan LOVES cell phones and this was a birthday gift from my brother.  We saved it for the trip and it was his favorite!  You can record your voice and there are cute little songs.  We didn't use it on the plane because it's pretty loud but it was great for time in the room on the boat.

6. Annie's Organic Bunnies- I heard about these from another mommy and she was right...baby crack.  Ethan adores these...he smiles and laughs when he sees the box.  I brought a box of cheddar and a variety box of cookies.  These things saved our lives too many times.  I hate that I was shoving these things down his throat but they were really the only thing that would keep him occupied during dinners, flights, and any other meltdowns.  (These were the reason I needed to bring the baby food pouches.)  For some reason I started calling these things "bun buns" and when Ethan eats them he says "mama" in the sweetest voice you have ever heard.

7. First Years Jet Stroller- We needed an umbrella stroller and I heard about this from another mommy.  It was AWESOME.  I love this thing!  Great quality, easy to use, light, and perfect for travel.  AND...I got it on sale randomly on Amazon (I think it was $25 for some reason).  It comes in a bunch of cute colors too...of course, we just got black!

8.  Snackgrabber- This was another necessity for the "bun buns".  Ethan was able to feed himself and it occupied him to have to go in for his snack.  We also got creative and put other things in there during dinners (spoons, makeup mirrors, bread, pacifiers...anything that would fit).

9. Pack and Play Sheet- Man, I had no clue that a cruise wouldn't provide a pack and play sheet!  Seriously...they give you the nasty 1980's PnP WITHOUT a sheet.  Thankfully I read a bunch of blogs that told me to bring mine along.

Luckily, the flights went really well.  We had layovers on the way there and the way back.  We also had a 5 hour redeye flight back which was really stressful.  Ethan ended up sleeping that entire flight but we didn't.  Every time he fussed and tried to change positions, we scurried to get him comfortable. 

My sweet, little baby turned into a toddler on this trip.  We got our first taste of Ethan's "naughty" side and now it's time to learn how to actually parent.  Unfortunately, we reinforced Ethan's behavior the entire trip because we couldn't just let him scream all day.  He quickly learned that if he screams, then he gets what he wants REALLY fast.  Poor kid is in for a rude awakening that that isn't going to work at home.  Let the fun begin!

I'll definitely do a separate blog post about the trip after pictures are downloaded.  Here's one of my instagram pictures and one from Mike.  :)