Hawaii with a 10 Month Old

Our family recently spent two weeks exploring beautiful Hawaii. It was our first vacation outside of Canada since early 2020 and Rhodes’ first trip outside of Canada, ever! It was an absolute blast! The laid back feel, beautiful weather, picturesque beaches and tasty fresh food will definitely have us traveling back there again in the near future. 

TRAVEL DAYS WITH A 10 MONTH OLD

This was our second time flying with Rhodes and he truly did so good. He is a busy 10 month old (at the time) so I was a little nervous on how things would go with him during travel. Here are some things that worked for us on our travel days:

·snacks, snacks and more snacks (you really can’t have too many)

·premixed formula (Just know that going through security in Hawaii, they either had to open the bottles or do a full pat down on one of the parents/caregivers. We always chose the pat down because obviously we didn’t want to open the formula unless we had to.)

·a couple new toys (I’m not saying you have to go out and buy a bunch of new things, you could even take out a toy that your babe hasn’t seen in awhile. However, Rhodes did find this toy super entertaining.)

·a change of clothes (with a long day of travel, this is one thing you don’t want to miss)

·iPad with preloaded shows (we didn’t end up using this but we have in the past for road trips)

·a carrier (I walked the isles and rocked Rhodes a bit to get him to sleep)

·stroller (You may remember our stroller was broken thanks to the airline who decided to check our stroller between a flight and not give it to us at the gate as they usually do with skycheck. My only suggestion is if you do have the UppaBaby stroller, invest in their specific travel bag. They do cover damages of their strollers if it was in this bag)

·disinfectant wipes (honestly even without a 10 month old, I recommend these to wipe down everything)

WHERE WE STAYED

We spent most of our time on the Big Island and a bit of time on Oahu at the end. While on the Big Island we first stayed at The Westin Hapuna Beach Resort. It was absolutely dreamy with the most amazing beach I’ve ever seen, right out front. There were multiple pools with a restaurant right near by (a smaller adults only and a larger family pool). We really loved the large balcony we had to enjoy time outside while Rhodes was napping. This was the most expensive place we stayed but absolutely worth it. Our next stop on the Big Island was an airbnb. It was nice to have laundry and multiple rooms. Next stop we were on to Honolulu. We stayed at Outrigger Reef Waikiki Beach. It was a beautiful hotel with fairly large rooms. Everything seemed recently renovated. It was a great location, only steps from the beach, shops, and restaurants. The hotel also had a smaller pool. 

WHAT TO PACK FOR BABY

I did a reel on some of my favourite things we brought from Rhodes here. Here’s a list of things I would definitely bring again:

·swimwear 

·sunscreen

·hats 

·clothing and sleepers (packed in a packing cube, it’s so much easier to find their tiny items)

·stoller (you can also rent strollers in Hawaii, however I did find it super useful to have on travel days)

·carseat/doc (You can check this for free when you bring a baby. We pack it in a bag and add other misc. baby items to the bag.)

·carrier

·floaty for the pool (Rhodes used this everyday and absolutely loved it)

·portable high chair (this was so great for any time we had a meal or snacks in our room)

·slumberpod (These are pricey but worth it if your baby is used to blackout. No need to worry about covering windows. Also, check with your hotel/airbnb if they have a crib/pack and play. If not, they are also easy to rent.)

·sound machine

·monitor

·sleepsack 

·snacks

·bottles

·formula

·medications (just in case)

·diapers/wipes

·toys

ADJUSTING TO THE TIME CHANGE WITH A 10 MONTH OLD

We were fortunate that on the way there, Rhodes adjusted to the time change well. When we arrived, it was nighttime and the perfect time to get to sleep and be on a somewhat regular schedule. He did get up early everyday but it worked out that we just had some extra beach time in the morning. On the way home, our sleep schedule was a little off. It took about a week for Rhodes to adjust. What worked best for us dealing with the time change was to try to keep naps and bedtimes at the same time locally as you would normally.

TRAVELING DURING A PANDEMIC

At the time of our travels, Hawaii had a mask mandate meaning all indoor places required masks. Both of the hotels we stayed at asked for proof of vaccination as well as most restaurants. 

We were required to do a rapid test under 24 hours before our flight to the USA and on the way home we were required to have a PCR test done under 72 hours before entering Canada. I do believe some of these requirements have changed so always look into the latest travel requirements. Before entering Hawaii we also had to do a Safe Travels document to make the process quicker when we landed. 

During our flights and in the airports (both Canada and the USA) masks were required.