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Sarah here! I have been traveling around the world teaching for roughly 8 years. The last three were with my baby boy. I had a request from a fellow traveling dance teacher to post about my experience traveling\/working with a baby. Here are some of the questions you might have if you find yourself a new parent who has to travel for work \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n
Nice! <\/span>Hopefully, by now you understand your job description may include (but is never limited to) anything and everything from teaching a class, hosting a social dance, changing diapers, answering emails, experimenting with creative ways to get a toddler to eat spinach, rehearsing a showcase routine, delegating tasks to staff, or picking up tiny plastic dinosaurs off the dance floor. It’s <\/span>never<\/span><\/i> boring, I can tell you that. And they say if it feels easy, you’re probably not doing it right.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n That depends! Can I ask you some questions?<\/span> We took our first travel job when our son Huxley was 4 months old. I\u2019d already heard so much about the importance of peace and bonding the months immediately after childbirth. I also knew how fragile a newborn\u2019s immune system is. On top of everything, this was my first baby and I needed to get the hang of just being a mom before I thought about working and traveling. Give yourself time for what you need, and consider leaving room for additional time in case of an unexpected situation, like a C-section, that might require a longer healing period. I\u2019m pretty happy with the 4-month start date and will probably do the same with our next child.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Then, consider the details. That first travel job of ours as a family was an easy 2 hour flight with no time difference. We also brought our parents with us for added comfort and support. I really recommend this, if you can swing it. It made things as stress-free as possible and gave us confidence to keep going.<\/span><\/p>\n Let me start by saying that your contract will be an evolving document; it will grow and change as your baby grows and changes. As it evolves, it might appear excessive to others. This is completely normal. In fact, our own contract seems a little ridiculous at times (We distinctly require \u201chot running water\u201d in ours) but trust me, it was built from <\/span>actual<\/b> experiences<\/b>. It\u2019s incredibly important that you make expectations clear. I guarantee if things are not clear and in detail, you will have spontaneous moments of surprise stress (like the time a babysitter assigned to us was a chainsmoker, or the time the carseat issued to us didn\u2019t have adjustable straps).<\/span><\/p>\n Make a list of your absolutes and your \u201cwould be awesome\u201d list. The absolutes are mandatory and list all the things that must be fulfilled, or wouldn\u2019t make the job worth it. After the contract is accepted, you can open more discussions about your wishes. For example I might start a dialogue about accommodation options right after the job is accepted if this is an important topic for me. If it is not, I might wait till they email ME the info before I ask questions. And if I am bringing my own sitter, I wouldn\u2019t send the organizer info on my babysitter requirements. Organizers have a million things they are trying to take care and as a parent, you have a lot more things you need to talk about than someone without kids so being sensitive to that can avoid them getting overwhelmed.<\/span><\/p>\n Everything else should be very flexible on your part. Ask if they either provide a sitter, or if they would support or reimburse the cost of a sitter you bring with you (keeping in mind some organizers won\u2019t offer any support on child care). Usually, we found that buying flights for our caretaker was more convenient, because we could use our miles, and event organizers often get discounted lodging and food through the event so that was best for them.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n We usually do not travel with our child but in the case we do, here is what will help us. Huxley is 2.5. Loves to dance and is obsessed with cars and trains. Babies are always changing so our terms and conditions about him will always be changing as well. We really appreciate you supporting our family and I think you will find that the students really fall in love with him. While babies have a lot of needs, you’ll find Huxley is pretty easygoing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n *Babysitters must have experience with children, physically capable of carrying a child, and must not smoke while taking care of him. Moms are great. In the case the babysitter and Huxley will be away from us (like during night dances) babysitter must be familiar with choking and CPR and must be highly recommended and trusted by event owner.<\/span><\/p>\n **If travelling with Huxley we request Sarah teaches a max of 4 hours a day. This seems the safest amount of time to be away from Hux while he adapts to new caretakers, jet lag, etc. You can schedule Dax as many hours as you\u2019d like. \ud83d\ude42 <\/span>Baby free Sarah can teach 5 hours per day and 6 for Dax.<\/span><\/p>\n ————————-<\/b><\/p>\n Does your kid get car sick? Ours did, so we needed to know a lot of details about how (and how long) we were getting around while there.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n This allowed us to specify where we needed the babysitter and when.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Every venue is different. It\u2019s important to know where you can \u201cescape\u201d with your kid if needed during parties. Personally, I needed to know if there was smoking and where, in addition to the general noise level.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n This could affect your baby gear, like that time we had to choose to either walk in the rainstorm for 20 minutes to the venue or take a taxi without a car seat (it\u2019s legal in some places) because our location closed off streets to most cars at certain times. It also affects what shoes to bring if you babywear. Pro-tip: I personally don\u2019t recommend wearing flip-flops while babywearing. Many babywearing experts say it\u2019s safe but I have fallen a couple times while babywearing specifically and only because of flip flops.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Consider co-sleeping so you can carry less gear, have less planning to deal with and an increased sense of security with your child during all the mayhem. That being said, we needed to understand the setup. We usually asked for either 1. King size bed 2. Two smaller beds we could put together 3. A full bed for me and Hux and a single for Dax or 4. Bed for me and Dax and a crib (though a crib was the last resort for us because that meant more waking up and getting out of bed to handle a crying baby, which sucks when you are jet-lagged). Also, finding out if we could move the bed against the wall was great if it was just me and Hux so I didn\u2019t have to use pillows on the other side of him.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n I remember getting lucky by being walking distance from a drug store when Huxley had a random infection while teaching at Lindy Focus, and again when Huxley had a random seizure in Osaka, Japan right next to a clinic, but this is usually not the case.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n It makes a big difference battling jet lag\/sleep when you can\u2019t control the lighting in your bedroom. Surprisingly a lot of places didn\u2019t have significant window coverings. In these situations we often asked for a crib for nap time because we could black it out. You could also have some duct tape on hand and tape bed sheets over the windows if needed.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Do you get to choose? If not, where are you being hosted? This could mean the difference of whether you get a separate living space and kitchen and a place to do laundry or not.<\/span><\/p>\n If you\u2019re like me, you\u2019ll catch on quickly that it will often be worth paying a little out-of-pocket for a much better experience. Event organizers have a budget and do their best, but everyone\u2019s needs are different. For example, I\u2019m sensitive to second-hand smoke and we were in a hotel that didn\u2019t have clear separation. After one night, I offered to pay the difference and upgrade to a nicer hotel next door. Just be really clear that you understand the budget and appreciate everything they are doing so things aren\u2019t awkward.<\/span><\/p>\n This really varies, and there are a lot of good blog articles out there on what to pack. We kept things VERY minimal with baby gear because I just couldn\u2019t carry the extra weight.<\/span><\/p>\n I honestly don\u2019t know how people survive without one. It\u2019s absolutely necessary for travel in my opinion. I can only think of two times our kid had a freak out on a plane. The amount of times we could calm him or put him to sleep incredibly fast by wearing him and walking up and down the halls was great. A carrier is one of the only places a kid can escape from all the stimulation. My heart always breaks a little when I see a mom having to struggle calming their kid when the TV light is right in their kid\u2019s face and they are exhausted. I really believe the amount of babies\/toddlers crying on planes would be cut in half if airplanes had baby carriers on hand. They also make rushing through airports way easier and faster (who has time to wait for your stroller to be unloaded or to take the one elevator in the airport?). It\u2019s also great for dodging dancers\u2019 dirty hands.<\/span><\/p>\n Find a blanket that is big enough to cover your child from light but small enough that it doesn\u2019t become a hassle to carry. It should be thick enough to roll up as a breastfeeding pillow, or pillow for your head that can double as a comfy place to change a diaper or even serve as a bed on the floor if you don\u2019t have your stroller (we often didn\u2019t).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n I usually don\u2019t like the EMF situation of Bluetooth but it’s amazing when you don’t have to deal with the tangle and stress of headphone cords.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Airplane food is nasty and usually not enough to last long flights. Short flights don\u2019t usually provide food. Pack a small amount of fresh and packaged healthy snacks to get through the flight. Just keep in mind some countries are strict about what food you bring, so you might have to throw uneaten stuff away upon arrival. If possible, try to grocery shop for your departure flight before you leave.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n A MUST. If your kid rips them off you could try putting them to sleep first and then putting on the headphones.<\/span><\/p>\n Different countries have different drug regulations and labels are usually not in english.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n It really depends. For a one-stop job I typically request a car seat with optional stroller. If it\u2019s a tour, it might be better for you to bring your own than coordinate 5 different car seats. That being said, when you bring your own gear, not only is it a pain (like with no elevator in a lot of international residencies) but it can get damaged. Our stroller got broken and our car seat got banged up a bit, which is a bummer and also not safe. Also consider the fact that a lot of European cities have cobblestone streets (or a place like Venice that doesn\u2019t even have streets without stairs at some point!). Good luck pushing that stroller around! It was great if we could take a train from the airplane to the hotel, and if the hotel was walking distance to the venue? Yahoo! Co-sleeping in the beginning is way easier than trying to bring a crib, or trying to find one on location. Plus, with the craziness of travel, babywearing and co-sleeping can help balance things emotionally for your child.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n ———————–<\/span><\/p>\n Acquiring an additional seat will make a world of difference on long flights. You might discover that an empty seat between you and your partner is better than the bassinet during daytime flights (red-eyes are great with the bassinet because they sleep most of the time). But get ready to pull some ninja moves (in other words aggressive mom moves) to pull this off.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n DO: <\/b>Rely on babysitters. In the beginning, we taught classes while wearing him, and we\u2019d sometimes put a blanket on the ground and gave him tummy time if we had to do a more difficult demo. Once he got walking and grew too heavy to wear, we relied more on babysitters.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n DON\u2019T:<\/b> Don\u2019t go without a backup option when your child decides to reject the new babysitter. This even happened when we brought my mom! Be prepared for your child to just want you. Dax was really good at keeping the class going when I got distracted with Huxley.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n DO: <\/b>If you\u2019re breastfeeding, try to time it during songs or breaks. I would offer milk even if Huxley wasn\u2019t begging for it, and oftentimes he accepted the offer which allowed me to optimize class time.<\/span><\/p>\n DON\u2019T:<\/b> Don\u2019t let it compromise your work. Students are really supportive of babies. In my experience, no one ever complained, and a lot of people actually thought what we were doing was really cool. But do your best to maintain the quality of your lesson. Demo clearly and don\u2019t draw excessive attention to your baby. If students feel like they are learning and having a great class, they don\u2019t care if a baby is around. Dax was great at taking the lead with the class and I took the lead on baby duty. He also pulled more weight like volunteering more than usual to judge, or was more active at parties, etc.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n DON\u2019T: <\/b>Do not underestimate jet lag. Jet lag became a big deal by toddler years. This was the most difficult aspect, and a large part of why we stopped travelling with Huxley. No matter what we tried (and we tried everything) Huxley would be awake all night and sleep all day. This made doing our job miserable and it started to negatively affect our work (like barely making it out to night dances).\u00a0 And did I mention that their plane tickets aren\u2019t free at this age?! So now I can only accept a job if my parents can take time off work and we leave him a week at home with them or we just commit to a long tour. I do feel it would be worth trying to travel with him again once he is older.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n DO: <\/b>Edit your contract and be honest with yourself when it comes to what terms allow you to do your best work. As Huxley got older, a few things changed. I just really felt the benefits of family coming with us instead of the constant new babysitters. As a baby, your kid will think EVERYONE who isn\u2019t you is a stranger but a toddler will develop actual relationships with family and it makes things way more comfortable. So we eventually just simplified our contract to say someone is coming with us and defined our terms.<\/span><\/p>\n I still joke that if you want to cure your stress and gripes with international traveling, travel with a baby for a while. You\u2019ll wonder why you ever complained! But jokes aside, my experience might be totally different than someone else’s. I tend towards anxiety and I know plenty of moms\u00a0 (especially second-time moms) who have had pretty minimal stress traveling with a baby. And remember, students will be cool with it and event organizers are incredibly helpful. If you have fears or concerns about being a burden or not being good at your job, know that I had the same issues. There is no need to stress. It\u2019s an exciting privilege to watch your child grow up surrounded by culture, exposed to live jazz and dancing all over the world. It has been such an incredible and unique experience, it\u2019s worth it all. So give it a shot, and remember, pack the noise-canceling headphones. \ud83d\ude09<\/span><\/p>\n *Thanks so much to Alexis Justman for the editing \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n *DM me for any photo credits<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Sarah here! I have been traveling around the world teaching for roughly 8 years. The last three were with my baby boy. I had a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":14231,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"video","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1857],"tags":[],"series":[],"class_list":["post-14228","post","type-post","status-publish","format-video","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","post_format-post-format-video","pmpro-has-access"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/v1.rhythmjuice.com\/json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14228","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/v1.rhythmjuice.com\/json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/v1.rhythmjuice.com\/json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/v1.rhythmjuice.com\/json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/v1.rhythmjuice.com\/json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14228"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/v1.rhythmjuice.com\/json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14228\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/v1.rhythmjuice.com\/json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14231"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/v1.rhythmjuice.com\/json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14228"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/v1.rhythmjuice.com\/json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14228"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/v1.rhythmjuice.com\/json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14228"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/v1.rhythmjuice.com\/json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=14228"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/v1.rhythmjuice.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Screen-Shot-2020-06-16-at-1.08.59-PM-771x1024.png\"){kind=spacer}
There is obviously not one \u201cright\u201d way to be a mother, dancer, business owner, instructor, wife or partner. But neither am I here to sugarcoat it \u2013\u00a0It’s tough. Take any piece of responsibility or role out of the equation and it’s still tough, but it <\/span>can<\/span><\/i> be done. If you practice good preparation, patience, planning, and clear communication with the people counting on you, it is possible to achieve a low-stress experience without compromising the quality of your work. Especially if your work involves globetrotting while toting a toddler.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nHow long is the right amount of time to wait after birth before traveling for work?<\/b><\/h2>\n
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What negotiations did you consider regarding your contract, now that you two were parents and bringing your baby?<\/b><\/h2>\n
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<\/p>\nHow do I get started drafting a contract when I don\u2019t yet know what I need or don\u2019t need?\u00a0<\/b><\/h2>\n
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This is what part of our contract used to look like:<\/span>
\n<\/span>————————-<\/b>
\n<\/span>Huxley (our child)<\/b><\/h3>\nMandatory:<\/b><\/h3>\n
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Optional:<\/b><\/h3>\n
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Other snippets from our contract:<\/b><\/h3>\n
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In addition to the initial contract, these things are important to be discussed via email.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nWhat are the transportation options?<\/b><\/h3>\n
Where is your residence and where is the venue? <\/b><\/h3>\n
What\u2019s the party atmosphere? <\/b><\/h3>\n
What\u2019s the weather like during that time of year? <\/b><\/h3>\n
What are the bed options? <\/b><\/h3>\n
Are you near a local drugstore and medical center? <\/b><\/h3>\n
Can the bedroom be blacked out? <\/b><\/h3>\n
Hotel vs. Apartment? <\/b><\/h3>\n
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<\/span>How do I know what to bring without under or overpacking?<\/b><\/h3>\nBaby carrier: <\/b><\/h3>\n
The Perfect blanket: <\/b><\/h3>\n
Bluetooth Headphones for parents: <\/b><\/h3>\n
Food: <\/b><\/h3>\n
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Kid Noise cancellation headphones: <\/b><\/h3>\nEmergency baby medicine:<\/b><\/h3>\n
Other baby gear?<\/b><\/h3>\n
We\u2019re packed at the airport. Any tips for airplane seating strategies?<\/b><\/h2>\n
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<\/p>\nBe on top of online check-ins<\/b>. P.s. this is great to do even if you don\u2019t have a baby!<\/span><\/h3>\n
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Other plane tips:<\/b><\/h3>\n\n
We\u2019ve arrived. Now what?<\/b><\/h3>\n
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DO: <\/b>Be weary of long flights during the crawling years. This was the toughest because Huxley wanted to be mobile but flight attendants won\u2019t let you put the baby on the ground to crawl (feet are okay touching the floor but not knees apparently). It became much easier when they could walk because walking was allowed.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/v1.rhythmjuice.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Screen-Shot-2020-06-16-at-1.09.23-PM-1024x679.png\")
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