He was awake all the way to the front entrance! And then....he fell asleep as soon as we hit the first animal exhibit. Boo. Oh well, not like he knew what was going on anyway. And mommy got to see baby elephant, Lily!
I used to have a lot of anxiety going out with AJ. You know, cause when he cries, bad things happen. And by bad things I mean my facets leak like a garden hose. and by bad things, I mean, you know baby meltdown. haha. So I'm extra proud today to say that we survived this outing mess and cry-free!
Here's what it usually looks like when I plan a trip out with AJ:
***Start by feeding him as close to our outing as possible (and getting him to be as full as possible to ensure a nice nap)...since it takes ~10 minutes to eat, ~5 minutes to burp, ~10 minutes to change (adjusting for accidents, etc), another ~ 5 minutes for seconds (if he's up for it), and another ~5 minutes to burp, and finally ~5 minutes to get him in a car seat, with ~5 minutes leftover for me to do whatever, we usually start this process about 45 minutes to one hour before we intend to leave the house.
***additional stuff I've started carrying in the diaper bag: gripe water (for bad bad bad gas), wide brim sun hat, 2 binkies (in case one falls to the ground, as it did 3 days ago), 2 outfits (he tends to explosively poop when we're out), our Beco carrier (on days when he's VERY fussy), and extra boob pads for me.
***offer him his binky before I put in him the car.
***give him his binky if he gets fussy while we're out.
***either limit our trips to 2 hour excursions or have a plan to feed him within 2 hours of leaving (may include escaping to the car, if we're not comfortable)
***knowing that after his first "cry" I have about 15 minutes before it turns into a full on wail if I don't feed him.
***carrying lots of diapering supplies. I don't trust changing stations (especially after all that talk about norovirus) and therefore always have our portable changing pad in my diaper bag. Also, it's quite nice that the back of my car, a CRV, serves as an excellent changing station
***location location location: it's a lot less stressful to bring him out to "baby friendly" places. Where are these? Public places. Parks, the zoo, the mall, outdoors anywhere, and of course, places with drive thrus. On a side note, I never noticed how many mother-baby pairs there are cruising at the mall on weekdays!
***on another note about shopping. If there's been a "favorite" place to shop since I've had Austin, it's gotta be hands down, Nordstroms. The staff are so friendly (no dirty looks for having a crying child), they have accommodating fitting rooms, and a women's lounge that has couches and a flat surface where I can comfortably change and feed him. I will definitely be going back for some more Nordy's shopping!
There. That's how we go out. How about you?
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