Traveling with newborn on Pesach

Chickensoupprof

Thu, Mar 30 2023, 6:57 am

The baby will be next Tuesday 5 weeks old (aw he is getting so big 🥲!). My friend told me I should spend YT in Amsterdam... yet I don't know how to get there... We don't have a car so we need to go by train do I need to nurse him on the train if he is hungry? Like I see this as a big operation... I might can drive wtih someone who also goes to Amsterdam from here... I'm really overthinking this... I'm still tired, I dread long seders. But being at home means no one for 3 days. Only the three of us.

Chickensoupprof

Thu, Mar 30 2023, 8:12 am

Stars wrote:

How long is the train ride? You can and should feed your baby anywhere but is it a comfortable ride?

1 hours and 40 min

amother

Phlox

Thu, Mar 30 2023, 8:19 am

Yes ttly do it and feed him if he is hungry. I've traveled by plane (6 hours) with my baby when she was 2 weeks old and it was fine.
Almost two hours is very very doable.

Stars

Thu, Mar 30 2023, 8:23 am

Chickensoupprof wrote:

1 hours and 40 min

That’s not long at all, I would go. Pack a handy backpack with all the stuff you might need for baby, like diapers and changes of clothes. Definitely feed him on the train if he gets hungry. Go and have a great yom tov!

Rutabaga

Thu, Mar 30 2023, 8:57 am

Do you have a nursing cover? That would make nursing on the train much easier. You can use a lightweight blanket if that's all you have but a nursing cover is more secure and offers more coverage.

amother

Firebrick

Thu, Mar 30 2023, 8:59 am

Traveling with a baby is very intimidating as a first time mom - even going to target with a baby was terrifying for the first 2-3 months of my baby’s life. It gets a lot better though!

taketwo

Thu, Mar 30 2023, 9:12 am

If you're not comfortable nursing on the train, the journey is short enough that you can nurse right before and right after. You can find a quiet area at the station and have your suitcases and husband shielding you to give you some privacy.

Also, I agree with above, invest in a light, breathable nursing cover. It's so worth it.

amf

Thu, Mar 30 2023, 9:33 am

It's hard but doable especially if you can try to time the feedings to right before and right after.
Also, I don't know if the European trains are similar to the American ones, but whenever I traveled by train it was set up with rows if 4 seats, 2 on each side of the aisle. So if you sit in the window seat and your DH sits in the aisle seat to block the view, you could have a totally private little space to nurse. Also, the rocking of the train might be really soothing for a baby, and he might sleep through the whole thing.

I'd personally choose to travel instead of stay home. If you're asking now you probably haven't started cooking, and that alone is enough of a reason to travel! Wink

you're a new mom, take it easy (whatever that looks like for you)

amother

Foxglove

Thu, Mar 30 2023, 9:34 am

Chickensoupprof wrote:

Of course your still tired! You just had a baby!

I will say, when I have small babies, I am not there for a long seder. I go to sleep earlier. This is what I observed growing up with all my married siblings, too. You have a baby, your not expected to stay up.

tichellady

Thu, Mar 30 2023, 10:17 am

it's up to you. what feels better for you. I don't like traveling with a newborn because I feel so exhausted and want to be in my own house if I'm awake at all hours with a crying baby but I know everyone's different and depends on where you are going, if you will have help and support. we can help you figure out the details if you decide you do want to go

amother

Bluebell

Thu, Mar 30 2023, 10:52 am

Practice using a nursing cover so you can feed easily on the train if you need to (although baby will probably like the rumble over the tracks and sleep nicely).

I had my first right before Pesach, like literally made an erev pesach bris. We had moved into my parents for the whole chag. They had their usual crazy loud crowded seder for 40 people. It was fine. Yes, I wore a robe and snood, nobody cared. I had the baby in a bassinet in the living room (he slept through most of the hubbub, only woke up to nurse) and I laid down on the couch next to him when I felt the need. I nursed on the couch with the cover as needed. I appreciated getting to see all the relatives, I definitely would NOT have liked being home with just dh and the baby. You can do this, and enjoy it!