Traveling With Baby

We have been to Whistler with  Dock and Nana twice before with babies.  Once with just Owen, and once with just Jack.  This time the baby was Tyler.  I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect during this trip.  Things would definitely be different -Tyler is only three months and our boys were eight or nine months when they went.  Our boys were on a fairly stable schedule, but Tyler is too little for that.  And there are lots of other differences…  But honestly, I didn’t  put too much thought into the trip apart from being really excited about it.  Traveling with babies is what it is.  You have to roll with how baby is doing and enjoy what you can.  I was up for lots of  easy walking with Tyler in the stroller – stopping for feedings or changings.  But I would have also been fine with lots of hotel room  rocking/ singing/calming a baby that wasn’t happy about a change of venue.  Either way, Nana and I would get to spend lots of time chatting   What I was not prepared for was how I actually felt when we were there…

I was not prepared for how utterly easy it is to NOT be the mother of the baby on the trip.  I did not have to pack for two, worry about clean bottles, sleeping issues,or crying bothering anyone.  Nothing!  I actually felt a little guilty for having it so easy!  I did help out as much as I could – setting up the pack and play, holding, dressing, feeding, changing diapers – even blow outs.  But the mental release of worry about the big picture for the baby was astonishingly freeing. There was simply no “mental extras” for me – I didn’t worry if we would run out of diapers/outfits-  I just helped out in the small ways I could.

In the evening we would be sitting around talking, and when we decided to call it an evening, Nana would pop up readying the items needed for the nighttime nursing/pumping/bottle feeding/diaper changing that would be done that night.  I would notice her bustling about and notice the quiet in my own mind.  I just had no mental check-list for this baby. I even tried to conjure up the thoughts I had with my boys, but they simply would not come.  My brain knew  I was not going to have to anticipate Tyler’s nighttime needs and it didn’t see the point of kicking on.

When I curled up in bed each night my brain was soothingly empty; I knew I was going to get a full night of sleep. That knowledge was awesome and the vacation ended up being much more relaxing than I ever anticipated. 

The added bonus is that I think it was also relaxing for Nana.