[RussiaBoundMom]

Does anyone have a good packing list for a trip 2 in Winter? Our region does not waive the 10 days, so we will be there for 3 weeks! If I brought all the things I want to, we'd have 5 large check ins, this just will not do! Please help!

[Katie63011]

Kellee:

We adopted from Saratov before and they didn't waive the 10 days. We brought 2 suitcases and actually had more than enough. Here's my advise:

Don't bring any food, bottles, daipers, wipes etc for your child. You can buy it all there and in my opinion, you are better off bringing them home on familiar food than switching their food now. Also, the store in Saratov sells our American brands.

Limit how many clothes you bring. You can hand wash undergarmets in the room and the floor maids will wash your clothing for a small fee. I think we each brought 3 pairs of pants and four or five tops for the 3 week trip.


Definitely bring a DVD or laptop so you can play moves and stock up on them. We looked forward to our "move time" every day. If you bring a laptop, you can get dial up internet access from the hotel. That will help you kill time and keep in touch at home. Also, if you are a reader, bring books, leave them there and you can use the extra space coming home for the food and traveling needs for your child that you bought in Saratov.

Pack lightly if possible, you won't want to be lugging multiple pieces of luggage through airports, customs etc when you have the baby with you. Last week in Moscow we went through 3 security check ins at the airport where they opened ALL our bags.

Katie

[skling69]

We packed too heavy for trip one, so we took less on trip two and ended up being in Russia longer than we thought. Plus we had lost luggage, so we did not have enough clothes on trip two. We washed clothes in the bath tub with hotel shampoo and dried them on the radiators. This worked fine, I suggest you take some woolite or tide and pack washable clothes, other than the crunchiness when you first put them on it is not a problem.

[RussiaBoundMom]

Kaite and Sarah,

This info is so helpful. We were extremely overpacked on our first trip, but with the knowledge that we are staying so long, I am heading towards the over packing end. I will try my best to pack minimally. Katie, good idea on not bringing baby's food and supplies, that will free up SO much space in my bags. I will bring a little of what I have in case of emergency.
Thanks girls!

[britfish]

one of the winter time necessities I brought was a microfiber hair towel. It pretty much dries your hair by just towel drying, I didn't bring a hair dryer and I didn't want to go out wet hair and this did just the trick.
Also bring lots of books. You will have so much more down time in the hotel room when the baby is napping or goes to sleep at night, also maybe a pair of lounging pants so you can relax in them while in the room.

[waxhawfamily]

Make sure to take an ear muff head band. I was much warmer with my ears warm. I bought a $2 one at Target.
Winter clothes can really bulk up your luggage, so I took lots of regular weight turtle necks in a variety of colors, and only two sweaters that matched most of the turtle necks. This way, I felt as if my wardrobe was varied, but the sweaters which take up lots of room, were minimized. I could still change my look, and have a clean top on.
As for toys, we took blow-up toys which pack well. A beach ball can be lots of fun with a toddler / preschooler - even in a hotel room. Balloons are also lots of fun, as are bubbles (which can be left behind when you come home). My DS loved a raggedy Andy doll we took. One of his first words was baby. He slept with it at night. I would skip the children's books though, our son had no interest since he couldn't understand a word I was saying.

Have a great trip.

[Javalita]

I am a light packer and Russia was one of my heavier packign trips! We limited to 2 checkin bags and 2 carryons - for our stuff and the baby. Here are a few notes/suggestions:

*Took only 3 pairs of pants that would go with all tops
*Took 5 sweaters - wool, lightweight/thin, mostly turtlenecks of various colors
*Took hikers/thermal underwear - super thin
*Took a few other layering tops to go under the sweaters
*Tights to go under thermal underware if it was super cold
*Boots, lightweight tennis shoes (like keds, for inside hotel) and another dressy type shoe
*Black suit and 2 tops for 2 days of court
*WARM COAT! I bought a cinch-top sleeping bag sack for storage of the coat during flights. I did not put the coat in my luggage and with the baby it is way to much to carry a coat around. I bunched it up into the sleeping bag sack and just attached it to my carryon luggage. Worked great! The sack was big enough for both my coat, my husbands and the baby's snow suit. I bought the straps to attach it to my carryon at some travel store.

Best of luck!

[Katie63011]

Jeannetta:


Great idea on the cinch bag for coats. I was talking to my DH about how to handle that as he will be traveling back alone and the baby's snow suit and his coat is really bulky and he won't need them outside the airport. Would be afraid to pack them in the luggage once at the airport in Moscow in case there were delays/routing changes and he had to go outside. I think you just solved our problem! Many thanks.
Katie

[Javalita]

Originally Posted by Katie63011

Jeannetta:


Great idea on the cinch bag for coats. I was talking to my DH about how to handle that as he will be traveling back alone and the baby's snow suit and his coat is really bulky and he won't need them outside the airport. Would be afraid to pack them in the luggage once at the airport in Moscow in case there were delays/routing changes and he had to go outside. I think you just solved our problem! Many thanks.
Katie

No problem! It was handy for us because we needed them in Frankfurt again for our connections. It worked really well and was super easy.