We are back “home”, laundry is folded, suitcases are away and Ayo seems to have recovered from jet lag as of last night. Last night he slept right through and just when my 7am alarm clock was about to ring, I heard him cracking up in his room: cooing and laughing at something in there. Tall mountain and I love to wake up to those shrieks of delight. We both ripped ourselves out of bed and ran into his room to share in the joy of the morning. A full night of rest makes all the difference for me. We even went on a family run before 8am to beat the blistering heat. My body feels so much stronger running on a full night of rest. Perhaps it also feels easier to run because I am pushing Ayo in a stroller without the carseat? Regardless, I finally feel rested enough to be there when our niece number two or nephew number one arrives.

So, now that we have put away the last bits and bobs from our trip, here are the things that we used and didn’t use from my Summer packing list to Europe for a 3.5 month old. This is more for my own records and to help me pack better next time. Please don’t feel like you need to read this if you have better things to do today!

Inside baby’s carry-on size suitcase (checked luggage)

• disposable diapers – if anything we brought too many..but better safe than sorrry!
• 11 short-sleeved onesies / bodysuits – surprisingly, between blowouts, rain and sweaty baby days, we used all but one
• 2 trousers – great
• 2 one piece tee-shirt-shorts – used them
• 3 long sleeve onesies – Europe was much cooler than we had thought, so could have done with a couple more
• 1 pair shorts
• 4 pyjamas – we ended up taking just two in the suitcase. With the 2 in the diaper bag, we had plenty
• 2 pair socks – used them (including on Ayo’s hands one night in Heidelberg when it got very cold)
• 1 sweater – would have been great to have two even
• 1 sunhat – needed
• 1 swim diaper – didn’t get a chance to use it

• 4 baby bath & body samples (easier than taking whole bottles!) – perfect. I came back with one or two but that was because mamie spoiled us and bought some nice quality Mustela products for us to take home
• 1 quarter [or two euro coin] size travel case for cloth diaper rash cream – super. With all the travel and Ayo being held more or strapped to the carseat more, we did use the cream.
• 1 quarter [or two euro coin] size travel case of baby lotion – perfect
• 2 samples of normal diaper rash cream – used them
• 1 baby friendly sunscreen – great (though I almost lost it at security..silly me!)
• 1 nail file – needed
• 1 thermometer – thankfully didn’t need this
• 1 pack of wipes – plowed through these
• 2 tiny little newborn washcloths for bath time – used both
• 1 burp cloth – needed

Non-essentials that we decided to bring and why

• 2 overalls / dungarees to dress to impress mamie and papi – not needed but super cute and wore both
• 11 cloth diapers and 24 inserts – we could have done our trip without them but it was nice to show mamie and papi what they look like. We used all of them once and mamie washed them before we went to Germany
• 8 tiny little cloth wipes to use with cloth diapers – for some reason cloth is easier with cloth. – a hassle when on the go. Won’t bring these again when we travel
• 15 cloth diaper liners – to save mum’s washing machine the rinse cycle – great, used them
• 1 small jar with cloth diaper detergent – used it
• 1 stroller rain cover – cause rain is likely in Northern Europe – DEFINITELY needed this in Germany as it rained every single day!
• 1 travel crib sheet – so Ayo can have sleep on something familiar – awesome to have this clean sheet to put on top of anything he was lying on
• 1 waterproof sheet – to protect our friend’s travel crib – great to lay on top of airplane or airport floor
• 1 toy – at this stage, he doesn’t need many and squeaky Sophie would annoy people on the flight, so might as well pack it in the case – used all toys we brought
• 1 5oz bottle – in case we want to leave baby with mamie and papi – we didn’t end up needing this
• 7 milk storage bags – to store milk for bottle – if I had rented the pump, it would have been great but I didn’t end up needing them
• 1 framed pic of Ayo for mamie and papi – yes, very appreciated – haha

Inside the diaper bag (hand luggage for 16 hours of air travel)

• 6 disposable diapers (with another few back-ups in papa’s carry-on – because you never know where you or your bags might get stranded) – we had 3-4 hours of delays on one of our flights. Definitely a good idea to bring about 10-15 for that long of a trip
• 1 diaper rash sample cream – used it
• 1 burp cloth – used it
• 1 pack of 80 wipes – used it
• 1 pack anti-bacterial wipe (because Ayo touches everything and chews on his whole hand regularly) – not needed so much at this point as Ayo isn’t so mobile
• 5 mini waste bags – used a few for poopy diapers when we didn’t want to get out of airplane seats
• 2 muslin blankets (for nursing privacy / sleeping comfort since we were told we won’t have a bassinet) – great to have
• 4 outfits (including 2 x pyjamas 3 x onesies) – used three
• 1 small wet-bag for dirty laundry – needed this
• 1 pair baby sunglasses (so they won’t break in suitcase) – used them
• 2 disposable changing pads – I didn’t feel I needed this with my own changing pad.
• 1 pair baby socks – used them..it gets cold in airplane!
• 1 toy – we ended up bringing two in the diaper bag. Used both!
• 2 pacifiers – Ayo decided he didn’t like them anymore from the time we left the USA. Boo-hoo!
• 2 tiny wash cloths for potential blowouts – would pack again but thankfully blowouts happened at convenient times.
• 1 tiny baby soap/bath sample – ditto
• 1 travel-size hand sanitizer for mama – used this
• 1 mama’s phone (for time reference) – used this
• 1 mama’s wallet – ok
• 1 mama’s pen – good to have
• 1 mama’s contact lens solution & case – used it
• 1 mama’s glasses & case – used it
• 1 mama’s empty water bottle – to fill up after security – great to avoid having to stay awake until the flight attendants come by with a tiny cup
• 1 extra tee-shirt for mama, just in case – would do this again, though didn’t need it
• several snacks for a breastfeeding mama (can share with papa if needed) – so thankful to have them. As we know, they are too stingy on American domestic flights to give you any food.

We also threw in the Moby wrap and the carseat and stroller for the sake of convenience. The Moby was amazing. We used it as a bed (on top of the waterproof sheet and below the crib sheet), we used it when we had to disembark the plane in New York, we used it all over Germany. We almost thought we could get by with just the wrap and the carseat on this trip. It was definitely a toss up as we knew it would be annoying to hike up a small mountain as well as 200 stairs with the stroller and carseat. Having said that, the carseat and stroller allowed us to be a little more present and flexible with people as we didn’t have to leave the group for his four daily naps. The carseat/stroller combo gave him much better rest than when sleeping on us. Finally towards the end of the week in Germany, we thought of using the Moby to hike up the hill and to leave the stroller/carseat in the car that was parked in the city. As with all of this, you learn easier ways of doing things from experience. We’re learning so much!