Vacation with a Baby!
We just got back from our first family "vacation," if you can call it a vacation when you have a baby with you!
Our most recent trip was to Arizona for our friends' wedding, which was a classy and beautiful event that I made sure to dress Baby A. for (of course I'll include a photo). But we definitely planned a lot, so I thought I'd share parts of our process!
1. Stuff for Baby: Obviously, the "stuff" part is one you can control well ahead of time. We made sure to pack plenty of clothes, wipes, socks, diapers (pocket style cloth and gDiapers with inserts), soap, lotion, wash cloth, burp clothes, a plack n' play sheet, extra milk/food and bottles. We like to keep as much as we can on routine and familiar for Baby A., so we packed his foot pajamas for bed time, too. Toys and teethers were on the list to pack, especially since we had a longer flight to entertain him during. For this trip, we also made sure to also pack sunscreen, a hat, and a lighter weight jacket.
A light blanket is great in case it's cooler out, but also for some impromptu tummy time, a nursing cover, a quick swaddle, or to lay down inside seats of swings, shopping carts, or high chairs. If you have some antibacterial wipes, those are also great to give you a little peace of mind when baby is trying to mouth every foreign item and surface in sight (sigh).
2. Stuff for Mom & Baby: This list gets it's own section because there are a few things that overlap. For instance, I travel with my breast pump in addition to the extra milk I already have pre-pumped for the trip. In most cases, Baby A. just gets extra nursing sessions to ease the transition and help get him back to sleep when foreign sounds and locations wake him up, and I don't use my pump too often. I also try to travel with my Moby wrap AND my Baby Bjorn, because the Moby is good for calming him down, specifically in cramped spaces like the plane, while the Baby Bjorn carrier is better for walking around like we did here, in the Desert Botanical Garden:
Of course, we also needed his car seat, for which we bought a travel bag so we can check in with the rest of our luggage while he rides as a "lap infant." *Note: if you feel more secure flying with your infant in his/her car seat, that is totally fine! We find that saving the money on an extra seat works for us, as Baby A. doesn't even like riding in his car seat in the car!
One thing I find convenient is the ability to put any extra items (in our case, gDiaper insert packs) inside the car seat, as when it goes inside it's travel bag, there is always extra space inside the car seat. The one we bought (linked above) fits toddler car seats, too, so I plan for it to grow with us.
We also traveled with our stroller, for which we also purchased a travel bag. The makers of the stroller system we have are discontinuing the line, so the bag we got, which is padded and folds out, is no longer available, but if you travel with your own stroller, I would suggest a gate check bag to protect your stroller from damage (here is a simple one). A lot of moms I talk to say they skip traveling with their own stroller and just buy an inexpensive umbrella stroller that they donate or toss out after their trip has ended.
If you're able to have a separate sleeping space from your baby, then I would also consider bringing your monitor if you plan on letting baby sleep while you're in other rooms. We ended up laying a sheet over Baby A.'s pack n'play to block out light so we could still watch TV and move around our hotel room while he went to sleep around his normal bed time.
3. Stuff for Mommy & Daddy (& sanity!): Don't forget yourself in all your haste to pack for baby! To minimize the amount of luggage we have to carry, I made up one smaller suitcase for Baby A. and one larger one for hubs and I, and then I still put my pump (and supplies!) and some toiletries in Baby A.'s suitcase, too.
Of course, pack all your main necessities, but make a note of things you didn't travel with before, like nursing pads- which I have, sadly, forgotten many times and paid for it with wet shirt spots. In that same vein, take your lanolin, especially if you're like me and you end up nursing more often during travel. Take your headsets (and an extra set for hubs), so when you have a quiet/sleeping baby moment, you can listen to your podcasts or music or watch YouTube videos.
I like to take my own PJs- I don't rely on hotels having a robe, although this time ours did have them, and I wear slippers or flip flops in the hotel room (cuz you never know whats on those floors).
4. Things You Can Buy on the Road: I always allow for a Walgreens trip just in case I forget or under-pack certain items, like wipes, baby aspirin, extra bottle parts, Gerber puffs (we have a puffs addict on our hands already), water bottles, and extra snacks. If you're traveling internationally or to a remote location, you're probably better off over-packing in case you don't have a Walgreens-adjacent option, though!
This time, we also ended up seeking out a cool baby store called Zoolikins to pick up a couple of swim diapers that we brought home with us and plan to use for future swim opportunities, since Baby A. loved the pool!
5. A List of Baby Friendly Activities: We made a list that I saved on my phone/emailed to myself of things to do and places to visit that looked accessible to our particular travel group. We traveled to Arizona, which is great for hiking, zip lining, horseback riding, rugged jeep tours, and hot air balloons.... but those aren't all things you can do with a baby! So we looked up some cool things to check out nearby, like a railroad park and museum (hubs loved it! ha!), the local botanical gardens, and the resort's pool.
6. Plan Your Rentals Carefully: This is less of a packed item and more just planning and booking, but we made sure to rent a comfortable vehicle- this time we got a minivan through this awesome website called Turo, which is kind of like an Airbnb for cars.
And if you can get an Airbnb, that might be a good option, if you'd prefer to have a kitchen to prepare food, separate bedroom from baby, and the peace of mind that comes with not having other people possibly hear your baby screaming in the middle of the night. We just had one room and it was little tough when Adrian woke up a little, because though he would normally go back to sleep, he instead woke up further because he could see and hear us in the room with him. Another option would be a room that has a separated bedroom, or even a large bathroom where you could keep the pack n'play for naps/nighttime, allowing Mom and Dad to move around without waking baby. If that's not an issue for you because you have a kid that sleeps like a rock or if it's not monetarily possible, then the sheet over the crib works wonders!
Well, the sheer length of this post should explain how intensely I feel about planning and packing, but it's been a while since I've posted, anyway! What do you all find necessary to pack when traveling with baby? (If you say a full-time nanny, I'm soooo jealous, haha!)
I'll leave you with a photo of Baby A.'s wedding outfit- so adorbs.
-Big A.
Okay- really, we very much enjoyed our time and I'm glad we went; but traveling with a baby definitely includes some work and planning. You have to make sure you pack enough, that you plan for all the little items and extra time a baby requires, and you need to prepare your stores of patience, because a baby doesn't know or care about anything you care about! Baby wants to eat, to sleep, to be changed, or to play, and if it doesn't fit into your carefully laid plans, too bad!! And, please, life does not work like this Kleenex commercial, which is laughably ridiculous:
Luckily for us, we'd done a bit of a trial run for flights when we visiting hub's parents in Atlanta just before Christmas. Baby A. was only 5 months, and the flight was just under 2 hours, nonstop. Because of the hub-to-hub flight we purchased, we were also able to upgrade to first class, which gave us a little more space and time (because we could skip some line-waiting in security and at the gate).
This time, we had a 5 hour flight, a time zone change, no first class space or extra time, and Baby A. was 8 months old. I'm very glad we did the travel to Georgia before, because we at least had our gear together!
Our most recent trip was to Arizona for our friends' wedding, which was a classy and beautiful event that I made sure to dress Baby A. for (of course I'll include a photo). But we definitely planned a lot, so I thought I'd share parts of our process!
1. Stuff for Baby: Obviously, the "stuff" part is one you can control well ahead of time. We made sure to pack plenty of clothes, wipes, socks, diapers (pocket style cloth and gDiapers with inserts), soap, lotion, wash cloth, burp clothes, a plack n' play sheet, extra milk/food and bottles. We like to keep as much as we can on routine and familiar for Baby A., so we packed his foot pajamas for bed time, too. Toys and teethers were on the list to pack, especially since we had a longer flight to entertain him during. For this trip, we also made sure to also pack sunscreen, a hat, and a lighter weight jacket.
A light blanket is great in case it's cooler out, but also for some impromptu tummy time, a nursing cover, a quick swaddle, or to lay down inside seats of swings, shopping carts, or high chairs. If you have some antibacterial wipes, those are also great to give you a little peace of mind when baby is trying to mouth every foreign item and surface in sight (sigh).
One thing I find convenient is the ability to put any extra items (in our case, gDiaper insert packs) inside the car seat, as when it goes inside it's travel bag, there is always extra space inside the car seat. The one we bought (linked above) fits toddler car seats, too, so I plan for it to grow with us.
We also traveled with our stroller, for which we also purchased a travel bag. The makers of the stroller system we have are discontinuing the line, so the bag we got, which is padded and folds out, is no longer available, but if you travel with your own stroller, I would suggest a gate check bag to protect your stroller from damage (here is a simple one). A lot of moms I talk to say they skip traveling with their own stroller and just buy an inexpensive umbrella stroller that they donate or toss out after their trip has ended. If you're able to have a separate sleeping space from your baby, then I would also consider bringing your monitor if you plan on letting baby sleep while you're in other rooms. We ended up laying a sheet over Baby A.'s pack n'play to block out light so we could still watch TV and move around our hotel room while he went to sleep around his normal bed time.
Of course, pack all your main necessities, but make a note of things you didn't travel with before, like nursing pads- which I have, sadly, forgotten many times and paid for it with wet shirt spots. In that same vein, take your lanolin, especially if you're like me and you end up nursing more often during travel. Take your headsets (and an extra set for hubs), so when you have a quiet/sleeping baby moment, you can listen to your podcasts or music or watch YouTube videos.
I like to take my own PJs- I don't rely on hotels having a robe, although this time ours did have them, and I wear slippers or flip flops in the hotel room (cuz you never know whats on those floors).
4. Things You Can Buy on the Road: I always allow for a Walgreens trip just in case I forget or under-pack certain items, like wipes, baby aspirin, extra bottle parts, Gerber puffs (we have a puffs addict on our hands already), water bottles, and extra snacks. If you're traveling internationally or to a remote location, you're probably better off over-packing in case you don't have a Walgreens-adjacent option, though!
This time, we also ended up seeking out a cool baby store called Zoolikins to pick up a couple of swim diapers that we brought home with us and plan to use for future swim opportunities, since Baby A. loved the pool!
And if you can get an Airbnb, that might be a good option, if you'd prefer to have a kitchen to prepare food, separate bedroom from baby, and the peace of mind that comes with not having other people possibly hear your baby screaming in the middle of the night. We just had one room and it was little tough when Adrian woke up a little, because though he would normally go back to sleep, he instead woke up further because he could see and hear us in the room with him. Another option would be a room that has a separated bedroom, or even a large bathroom where you could keep the pack n'play for naps/nighttime, allowing Mom and Dad to move around without waking baby. If that's not an issue for you because you have a kid that sleeps like a rock or if it's not monetarily possible, then the sheet over the crib works wonders!
Well, the sheer length of this post should explain how intensely I feel about planning and packing, but it's been a while since I've posted, anyway! What do you all find necessary to pack when traveling with baby? (If you say a full-time nanny, I'm soooo jealous, haha!)
I'll leave you with a photo of Baby A.'s wedding outfit- so adorbs.
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