Want a Happy Holiday? Bring These Baby Items to Grandma’s House

Unless you don’t mind going to Walgreens at 2am in a strange city.

6 min read

This post was sponsored by iHerb who provided me and my team the products below as testers for the research portion of this article, and paid for my time to write it out. Give them a try, 🙂

If you’ve been a parent for more than 30 minutes, you know that when it comes to your baby, oftentimes things are hit-and-miss. Sometimes happy…sometimes sad…sometimes furious…It’s hard to predict what version you’re going to have.

This is fine and dandy when you’re at home, but when you’re traveling, all the sudden Dr. Jekyll is a lot more stressful. Honestly, though, you can really help yourself out ahead of time by thinking through the possible pitfalls and packing enough vine-rope to climb out early-on.

The trouble is, as a new parent, you may not know where the pitfalls are. Fortunately, you have me. 🙂 Since NONE of our grandparents live close by, Cameron and I have had to learn (the extremely hard way) how to masterfully dance around the danger zones in Grandparentland.

First though, let me be clear who I’m talking to. If your little jaunt to Grandparentland can be done in a few hours (or minutes), this article isn’t for you.

This article is dedicated to those parents who will be spending the night there because it’s too far to travel back home. If that is you, PAY ATTENTION What I’m about to share is super-duper-pooper important. (The “pooper” adds a whole new level of emphasis. Now you know I’m serious.)

6 Just-In-Case
Holiday Baby Items

One of the fastest ways to send your Jolly Holiday down to Crapville is to not be prepared for the unpredictable colds, coughs, and teething that can come out of now where and slug you in the face like a sack full of coal.

The very first thing you need to pack for your overnight visit is your Just-in-Case Bag. These are the items you hope you don’t need, but will be SO FREAKIN’ GLAD you have if you do.

Trust me, nothing is worse than having to trudge to a Walgreens at 2am in a strange area, while trying to keep a fussy baby from waking up the entire house and then having to deal with those family dynamics… #BeenThere #LivedThatNightmare.

Pack These Baby Items (Or Suffer the Horrible Consequences)

NatraBio Cold & Flu—All natural homeopathic remedy to help ease cold and flu symptoms. Recommend for babies 4 months and up.
Camilia Teething Drops—Another homeopathic remedy (no Benzocaine) to ease sore gums with chamomile and other natural soothers.
BabyGanics Foaming Sanitizer—Best way to keep your baby healthy is to use it frequently on your baby’s hands. Remember where those hands will be 99% of the time? Yep. In his mouth. Alcohol-free and also has a moisturizer to prevent dry skin rashes and eczema.
Shea Moisture Baby Wash & Shampoo—Grandma’s house probably doesn’t have a really good all-natural baby shampoo sitting in the bathroom for you to use. This particular baby wash has frankincense and myrrh, which can be a help in soothing him to sleep in a new place!
Earth Mama Diaper Balm—Just because your baby didn’t have a diaper rash when you left, doesn’t mean he’ll be rash-free during the visit! This version has no petroleum or parabens, is used in Hospital NICUs and is dermatologist tested.
Nanobebe Pacifiers—Always pack more pacifiers than you think you’re going to need. You know where all those missing pairs of socks go when you’re doing laundry? Yep. The same place all those pacifiers went. Always have a fresh emergency pack on hand! These come in pink and aqua.

1. Natra Bio Cold & Flu | 2. Teething Drops
3. BabyGanics Sanitizer | 4. Baby Wash & Shampoo
5. Organic Diaper Balm | 6. Nanobebe Pacis

6 Car Seat Sanity-Savers

Those hours to Grandma’s can quickly turn into centuries. It’s like you’re doomed to be Dr. Strange, trying to bargain with an infant who has a lot more yelling power than you do.

And did I mention you can’t jump out and run for the hills?

YOU ARE ALL STUCK.

TOGETHER.

FOR HOURS.

IN A TINY CAPSULE.

Make sure you’ve got these sanity-savers on hand before you start the voyage!

Baby Items That Make a Long Car Trip Feel Shorter

Travel Pals—Seat belts can irritate your neck after long periods of time of rubbing back and forth. These travel pals not only prevent soreness, but are conveniently cushy for surprise naps! #fingerscrossed
Slumber Buddies—This is a great way to bring the bedtime routine to Grandma’s! Let your child push the button right before bed, and then soothe down to sleep with lights on the ceiling. It’s a huge help for nighttime car travel.
Piddle Pad—Remember that horrible “chocolate sundae” experience which stunk up the car forever, as I had to try to dissemble the entire car seat after a diaper explosion? That could have been avoided. Easily. With a little piece of miracle called the Piddle Pad.
Oball Teething Keys—Distraction is super important in the car seat, and these teething keys are very distractable. It’s easy to grip, chew on, and makes a noise when shaken that your child will find fascinating. Keep one in your diaper bag and one in the purse. (Also great for restaurants!)
Cornstarch Rattle—This rattle is made of cornstarch resin and is BPA and Petroleum free.
Easy to Grab Bottle—No matter how you’re traveling, you’re going to want a bottle/cup that your child can easily grip and use by himself. This chemical-free bottle is exactly that.

1. Travel Pals | 2. Slumber Buddies
3. Piddle Pad | 4. Teething Keys
5. Cornstarch Rattle | 6. Easy-to-Grab Bottle

6 Tired Tummy Travel Snacks

The last group of items I’d strongly encourage you to have on hand are some yummy travel snacks. Again, it’s possible Grandma will have a few puffs laying around the house (leftover ones from your July 4th visit?), but once you finally arrive you’ll be tired to have to go back out and hit a grocery store for snacks.

Not to mention the traveling itself. What do the veteran parents always say…? Ah yes. “When all is lost, keep tossing snacks into the back seat.”

Wise counsel.

Baby Snacks for Your Emergency Stash

Strawberry Yogurt Snacks—These organic bites melt in your baby’s mouth and are made with yogurt cultures, which are good for his tummy!
Blueberry & Purple Carrot Teethers—Little organic wafers that will dissolve after a few happy munching moments, avoiding any chance of choking. (Plus, they’re delicious enough for adults…)
Teensy Peach Fruit Snacks—For the more advanced snacker (over 1 year), these organic treats give those back molars a good workout! Chewy enough to be interesting, tasty enough to ask for seconds, healthy enough to avoid any parent guilt.
Mango & Kiwi Rice Biscuits—Another option for advanced snackers (over 2 years) these organic crackers are gluten-free, egg-free, peanut-free, dairy-free and still delicious enough to get 5-star ratings by dozens of parents.
Organic Prune Pouches—Changes in routine can be difficult for some babies, and it’s very common for them to get constipated while out-and-about. Get a head of a scream-worthy bowel movement by offering your baby a steady round of prunes. Bonus: Prunes are a first-food, and can be given to babies as young as 5-6 months!
Organic Apple, Kale, and Blueberry Pouches—Let’s be honest here. There’s a high chance of your baby discovering some new “favorite” junk foods at Grandma’s house. Cookies…cakes…candy canes…Mountain Dew… (brace yourself for Uncle Henry’s sneaky “joke”). Do yourself a favor by packing a few pouches of superfoods you can fall back on.

1. Strawberry Yogurt Snacks | 2. Blueberry Teething Wafers
3. Teensy Peach Fruits | 4. Mango & Kiwi Biscuits
5. Prune Pouch | 6. Apple, Kale Blueberry Pouches

The Easiest Way to
Get Stocked Up (Guaranteed)

All these items can be found at iHerb, the global leader in providing all natural products at wallet-happy prices. iHerb is large enough to provide the best prices on organic, homeopathic, and all-natural products. They also offer a Triple Guarantee to make sure their customers are 100% satisfied. (I love knowing I’m about to be pampered, don’t you?)

Value Guarantee: They guarantee you’ll receive the best overall value in the world for over 30,000 brand name natural products.
Quality Guarantee: iHerb guarantees that all their products are authentic brands sold in the U.S. market, and all their products ship directly from climate controlled warehouses, which is important when you’re dealing with preservative-free products!
Delivery Guarantee: They emphatically guarantee that what you order will actually show up on your doorstep and can offer free or discounted shipping to over 150 countries worldwide. (If you’re not in the US, learn more about their International Shipping here.)

New to iHerb? Here’s $5.00

iHerb is serious about winning you over. In fact, they are currently offering all new customers a $5.00 discount on any order over $40. Just click here and start stocking up for your big holiday trip to Grandma and Grandpa’s!

To Grandmother’s
House We Go!

If you’ve never experienced the JOY (#sarcasm) of smelling something funky in the car, realizing it wasn’t, as you first thought, your husband’s digestional response to lunch at Chipotle, but instead discovering a diarrhea-load of “fun” soaked into the baby’s car seat like a chocolate sundae gone horribly, terribly, wrong, I’m not sure you can really say you’ve road tripped.

Learn from my nightmare.

It’s amazing how much “happier” the holidays can feel when you know you’ve got medicine in case of sickness, a piddle pad to ward off diaper disasters, and snacks to keep tossing at her.

Pick out the items above you think fit your family best, then go here and place your order. Then take that extra $5 you just saved and buy yourself a traveling latte for the long LONG (LONG) road to Grandparentland.

You’ll be so thankful for the thoughtfulness you showed in preparing for this event ahead of time.

Well done! We make a pretty darn good team…

6 Just-In-Case Holiday Baby Items