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aviva_dawn

Train Attendant
Joined
Jan 31, 2005
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A friend of ours has given my husband, daughter and I a decent amount of money with the express instruction of taking a short trip with it this weekend.

We're planning to travel on Friday, returning on Monday from Reno to Sacramento.

Our daughter is five months old. I am a nursing Mom. We are preparing to purchase tickets on the CZ, and figure that since we need a place to lie DD down to nap in her soft sided travel bed and I'd prefer a private area in which to nurse her we're attempting to snag one of the Family Bedrooms. Last I checked, a Roomette was $78 extra, and the Family Bedroom was $110 extra with the Bedroom around $140 extra.

I know that the roomettes are claustrophobically tiny, so that's not an option.

Would the family bedroom be a good option for us keeping in mind our circumstances?
 
Family bedroom should work fine for you. Plenty of space for everyone. Windows on both sides of the car so you can see all the passing scenery.

Might be a bit more track noise since you are on the lower level, but less foot traffic in the corridor outside the room since you are at the end of the car.

No window in the door to the room, so you don't have to worry about pulling the curtain shut when you are nursing. However, since you are on the lower level you may want to pull the window curtain on the side of the car in which you are sitting, especially if the train is near a station or town.

Enjoy the trip!
 
The family bedroom is lovely, plenty of room, not claustrophobic at all. But if you can't get it for some reason, I wouldn't hesitate for a moment getting a roomette for the three of you. I'm not a hugely private nurser, but neither am I a cares-to-the-wind nurser; I'd find a roomette totally comfortable for nursing even with the door open, given the relative lack of foot traffic. With the door closed and the window curtains open, it doesn't feel closed-in much at all, either, especially in daylight.
 
aviva_dawn said:
A friend of ours has given my husband, daughter and I a decent amount of money with the express instruction of taking a short trip with it this weekend.We're planning to travel on Friday, returning on Monday from Reno to Sacramento.

Our daughter is five months old. I am a nursing Mom. We are preparing to purchase tickets on the CZ, and figure that since we need a place to lie DD down to nap in her soft sided travel bed and I'd prefer a private area in which to nurse her we're attempting to snag one of the Family Bedrooms. Last I checked, a Roomette was $78 extra, and the Family Bedroom was $110 extra with the Bedroom around $140 extra.

I know that the roomettes are claustrophobically tiny, so that's not an option.

Would the family bedroom be a good option for us keeping in mind our circumstances?
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Personally, I would do the family room hands down. It encompasses the width of the car and gives you two windows on either side of the sleeper. The room space factor for $30 extra is almost the same as getting two roomettes plus in area. Yes, you are downstairs and have to walk up to get to the diner or lounge. There is no bathroom in the family room but you are only steps away from the shower room and multiple bathrooms.
 
If you want privacy for that, you could always use the bathroom, and save yourself all the accommodations charge. Not all that pleasant, I know, but its a nice-sized savings. If not, a Roomette should be fine. The only big problem with the roomette that I see is the claustrophobia of a full-sized person sleeping in the upper coff- er, I mean berth. But since your child is a baby, that shouldn't be too much of an issue.
 
We chose to get the Family Bedroom. That way DH and DD can nap if and when they need to and we have room to spread out.

We can't wait!
 
He normally works Graveyard. Hence, he sleeps on and off during the day. He'll be coming off a 12 hour shift when we go to catch the train.
 
aviva_dawn said:
He normally works Graveyard. Hence, he sleeps on and off during the day. He'll be coming off a 12 hour shift when we go to catch the train.
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Maybe you can wake him up for a late lunch and he can take in some of the scenery from the diner which will be on the upper level. Get with your car attendant, or better yet, the LSA in the diner and ask when the latest is that you can have lunch. After lunch, daddy can go back to bed and you and the baby can go to the lounge car if you so desire.
 
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Green Maned Lion said:
If you want privacy for that, you could always use the bathroom
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Just, for the record, for your own future reference, suggesting to nursing mothers that they should or could use a bathroom to nurse is unlikely to win you friends among the nursing mother population. [would YOU eat in an Amtrak long distance train coach bathroom? I would personally prefer not to imagine anyone, including a 5 month old, doing so. There are very very few bathrooms I would nurse in, and an Amtrak bathroom is nowhere close to being among those few].
 
had8ley said:
aviva_dawn said:
He normally works Graveyard. Hence, he sleeps on and off during the day. He'll be coming off a 12 hour shift when we go to catch the train.
Click to expand...
Maybe you can wake him up for a late lunch and he can take in some of the scenery from the diner which will be on the upper level. Get with your car attendant, or better yet, the LSA in the diner and ask when the latest is that you can have lunch. After lunch, daddy can go back to bed and you and the baby can go to the lounge car if you so desire.
Click to expand...
Assuming that the LSA is following procedures, lunch should be by reservation only. Therefore it should be pretty easy to pick the latest possible time.
 
Eris said:
Green Maned Lion said:
If you want privacy for that, you could always use the bathroom
Click to expand...
Just, for the record, for your own future reference, suggesting to nursing mothers that they should or could use a bathroom to nurse is unlikely to win you friends among the nursing mother population. [would YOU eat in an Amtrak long distance train coach bathroom? I would personally prefer not to imagine anyone, including a 5 month old, doing so. There are very very few bathrooms I would nurse in, and an Amtrak bathroom is nowhere close to being among those few].
Click to expand...
I've never read "Making Friends And Influencing People" It probably shows.
 
I would suggest a roomette - we found the family room very depressing as the windows are so small
 
Since you have already chosen the family room I guess the discussion is really over. However, with a little skill and practice many women have become good at nursing and exposing nothing while riding in coach on a train, or even in an airplane, or sitting in a restaurant or other public location. One of the cutest ones we saw back when dealing with the nursing babies ourselves was someone that had a blouse with what looked like pockets. They weren't. They were flaps that gave access to the nursing bra and from there to baby food source. She explained to my wife, not to me. In fact, we met this person riding a train, a Southern steam special, it was, though, not Amtrak. This method eliminated the need for contortions while covered with a small blanket that were necessary otherwise, but somehow many women manage to do.
 
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