u/safarisunrise4758

We're traveling back to the East Coast with our 12-month old twins from Montana for Thanksgiving, and considering having my in-laws pick them up at the airport and my Husband and I continuing on somewhere for a (much needed) 3 night trip.

We like smaller hotels with a strong sense of place and relatively good value, like the Coppola properties in Belize.

Is there anything similar in the Caribbean, that would be a quick ish direct flight from ATL? Under $1,500 a night ideally.

I know this doesn't quite describe most of the typical Chubby properties but thought this group might have a bit more budget of an idea I haven't thought of.

Couple specifics:

What's the read on Jamaica these days? The Caves, GoldenEye seem like a decent fit.

Anyone have any intel on the Rabat Hotel in St. Lucia? Or new rooms at Ladera? Gravitating more toward the landscape of Lesser Antilles vs. Turks.

...Or...Is Tulum a complete no go between the sargassum, safety, and influencers?

...Or...Am I missing something else stateside?

Thanks!

Has anyone used this? It seems like a dream scenario for travel at $300 but I'm hesitant without more reviews.

We recently returned to Northwest Montana from North Carolina with two parents, two trucks packed full of stuff, and our very mobile, wiggly, and opinionated 8 month old twins.

Here are my top tips after 11 days across the country. 

#1. Bring a pop-up tent, California Beach Co. or a knockoff, 2nd hand perfect

I bought one halfway through and the difference was night and day. 

Everything becomes a shaded, contained, germ/rock/dog poop free place to play: rest stop, park, food truck yard, patch of grass at a gas station, we even put it up inside a visitors center. I could pop up it and break it down one handed. 

Stopping every ~2 hours is necessary but what do you do with crawling, pulling, grabbing babies in a new environment without further losing your mind? This. 45 minutes really reset them and also gave us a moment to eat hands free, check our phones, and prep bottles in relative peace. 

Any more mobile and I don’t think they’d be as content, but works for crawling age and under.

#2. Managing inevitable meltdowns 

My kids don’t nap extra in the car. So for most of the day, they were awake. 

**Toy toss: I kept a storage basket full of toys in the front seat and handed them one by one, behind my back through the car seat, to each baby. I’d collect them at each stop and repeat. A few were new at the start of the trip but everything else they’ve played with their whole life.

Sounds so simple but 9/10 times this would work, at least for a few minutes, to keep a bored baby happy or manage some fussing. If crying started, it would at least keep it from escalating. 

**Rescue playlist: A few go-to kids songs that calm them, on loop. Then brown noise and windows cracked if really needed.

**Changing scenery and speed: I noticed after a few days that full blown screaming would usually ease as we pulled off the interstate, so sometimes we’d take an access road, slower back road, or even a business route through town to break up the monotony. It’s counterintuitive but worked.

**Timing: We learned to avoid 5:30-7:00 at all costs. If we had to, we pulled off for a longer stop to get them properly sleepy, did a quick bedtime routine with fuller bottles, and finished the drive while they slept.

#3. The ideal hotel room setup 

We stayed at a huge variety and this is what I’d look for again if optimizing:

• newly renovated 
• no carpet 
• kitchenette with full sink 
• one story motel style with car parked out front
• tub 
• restaurant attached or close walking distance

 

Our home setup is pack n plays with slumber pod tents, so that was our set up for this too. 

Slumber pods are expensive and annoying but we have found that not having to worry about the blackout curtain setup or splurging for a suite just to exist after their bedtime is 10,000% worth it. 

#4. Acceptance of pacing and timing that works for them, not you

We kept them more or less on their existing schedule and immediately adjusted for time zone. We had a 6 hour max drive time per day, which took us 8-10 hours to accomplish. It roughly looked like:

7am: Wake / bottle / pack up / top off bottle 

9:30am: Drive / Nap 1 / awake car time 

12pm: Stop / play / bottle 

1pm: Drive / awake car time / Nap 2

3:30: Stop / play / bottle 

4:30: drive / awake car time 

5:30: arrive, unpack, bath, bottle

7pm: down 

(We also skipped solids entirely.)

It was hard to map out our route perfectly because sometimes we’d need a stop sooner, so we had a few options marked. We stopped for longer than a night twice - on day 2-3 and day 6-8 to get a more complete break from the car. 

#5. Bonus miscellaneous 

- Sun shade for the back windows 

- Small dish soap / travel brush for bottles

- Overnight bag with clothes for everyone in addition to individual suitcases. This got re-packed every 2-3 days so we didn’t have to unload the car every time 

- A dedicated cooler jug of water for bottles that is refilled every morning 

Overall**,** we traveled through 9 states, visited 3 National Parks, toured numerous museums, saw diverse landscapes and met so many friendly Americans along the way. 

It was hell in moments of course, but I loved it and know it will be something we look back on when we're 80 as the time of our life.

Hope this helps someone now or in the future!

We've been through the wringer the past ~10 days with one of our twins. He's always been our easy eater, taking 35-40oz of Bobbie consistently but we suddenly started struggling to get him past 25oz with fussing, refusal, and all around misery around feeds day and night no matter what. All while trying to keep our cool to avoid creating a bottle aversion. We do pureés once a day but not a large amount, more to introduce allergens and flavors.

I excused it at first - teething though no signs, maybe an illness, developmental leap - but the past few days in addition to trying all the feeding tricks (positions, atmosphere, timing) I've tried to adjust bottles/nipple types and introduced a sippy cup, to no real change.

Tonight I accidentally grabbed sister's bottle of Neosure and he guzzled it, so I made another which he guzzled and fell asleep immediately after.

Am I crazy to think it could be a sudden flavor dislike?

Anyone out there experience something similar?

Ours opens up in a few weeks and I’m getting desperate for new activities. All three of us are bored. Any experience attempting this solo with non-walkers? I have an aquaroo (carrier designed for the water) and the 4-seater veer wagon. Was thinking life jackets for the swimmer and switching out who I hold and who I wear, and the wagon for towels, changes, a safe container, and shade. Am I insane for even considering this? I’m a former lifeguard / swim instructor and open water swimmer, so I’m confident in my own ability but would love to hear from other twin parents how they navigate the pool.