Tips for Traveling with a Baby
Kev and I have always had an intense passion for travel, so it wasn’t ever a question about whether we’d stop travelling after having kids, it was just more how we would adjust our travelling to accommodate a child.
Henrik’s almost 2 and we’ve taken him on 4 trips so far. Each trip took a lot of adjusting and a lot of learning to fit our new family dynamic into our love (aka NEED) for travel. We’re by no means “experts” in travelling with a child, but we’ve found a few things that work for us, so maybe they’ll work for you too.
Upgrade your accommodations
You know the classic recipe blog? Like yes I’d love to learn how to make that delicious looking casserole, so you click the link and it takes you to a story about how “when I was growing up on a farm in South Carolina, my uncle Chad only had 3 fingers…” and then it takes 10 minutes of scrolling to get to the actual recipe. I won’t do that to ya, I’m coughing up our number one tip right off the get go: accommodations. We’ve learned that the best thing we can do to get the most out of our family trips is to upgrade our accommodations to include:
A separate sleeping space for our baby
A kitchen (or at the very least a sink, microwave, and fridge) - useful for storing milk, warming up milk, cleaning bottles etc.
A separate hangout space for mom and dad (we love a good balcony)
Picture this: You plan a trip for your little fam, you book a cosy little hotel room. You’re all stoked about seeing new sights and tasting new flavours and experiencing new cultures. You get settled in for your first night and tuck your little munchkin in for bedtime. They blissfully fall asleep - WOO! Now it’s time for you to wind down. But like, it’s pitch black because your baby’s sleeping in a pack-and-play in your one-bedroom suite. So you’re sitting in the corner, in the dark, listening to the sound machine blasted on high, twiddling your thumbs with nowhere to go. Can’t turn the tv on, it’ll wake the baby. Can’t turn the light on, it’ll wake the baby. Can’t do anything, it’ll wake the baby.
We like booking accommodations with the extra space to give Henrik a chance to sleep undisturbed. LOL JK we selfishly book these types of accommodations so mom & dad can go crush a couple bottles of wine in the living room or on the balcony and people watch until the wee hours of the night (while not being neglectful as parents, obviously).
Because we’ve learned that these types of accommodations work best for our family trips, we’ve booked all our stays through Airbnb. We love hotels, but just find that the best bang for buck for these kinds of properties are better spent at Airbnb.
When we travelled to Italy a few months ago, we visited 4 different cities and booked Airbnbs with this criteria at each of our stays. Here are short video clips of the properties:
Airbnb in Conca dei Marini, Italy
Baby monitor
This piggy backs off the last tip. Just because we like crushing wine and people watching from our balcony after Henrik goes down for bed, doesn’t mean we stop parenting, k? Don’t @ me. The baby monitor gives us peace of mind, so we can do our wine-crushing and still be able to keep an eye on him.
Bring a grandparent
K I know not everyone is as lucky as us to have such an easy going Yeye (Henrik calls my dad Yeye - it means Grandpa in Chinese), who’s not only in great shape and can chase after a toddler for endless hours, who travels well and is down to try any kind of new food or adventure, who has a BFF type relationship with our son, and who’s retired and has all the time in the world to travel at the drop of a hat. But if you DO, then having them tag along in your travels is a friggin huge bonus. My dad helped diffuse major temper tantrums during meals, he helped carry Henrik around the streets of Italy when he refused to sit in his stroller (because how dare we strap him to a comfortable chair and push him around Europe like a total king), and he sometimes hung out with Henrik after bedtime so Kevin and I could roam the streets and pretend like we were 20 years old again.
Keep baby wipes in every bag
Kids are nasty, man. They just have no concept of germs or gross-ness at all. Like before covid, I was already a germaphobe to a degree, but now after living through the pandemic, I’m on extra high alert. And with a child to chase after and keep clean? OOF, I’m in a constant state of lysol-wiping and baby-wiping. When we travel (and honestly, at home on the reg too), I carry a travel pack of lysol wipes and a full pack of baby wipes in EVERY bag. You know, for diaper changes sure, but also just because kids are nasty af. Like why are you crawling all over the disgusting airport floor? Oh right, you can’t walk yet. K, but why are you licking the windows? Why are you compelled to pick up someone’s lunch crumbs off the ground? Why do you insist on touching everything?
Use pull up diapers for quick changes
Keeping on track with the whole ‘gross’ theme - public bathrooms are a major ew. And doing diaper changes in a public bathroom with an impatient toddler who’s sole goal is to touch everything is just impossible. Honestly, I’ve stopped laying Henrik down for diaper changes because it beyond grosses me out, even with lysol wipes and a change pad. So I’ve resorted to having him stand while I change him. And it’s worked out really well for us, but on travel/flight days, those pull-on diapers without the velcro come in handy dandy for this exact purpose.
Umbrella stroller
We’ve learned the hard way to leave the big bulky fancy strollers at home after the airline broke ours on a flight. Instead, opt for an umbrella stroller - they’re cheap so you won’t rage if it gets damaged on the trip, they fold up nice and tiny, and they’re lightweight which is key when you’re dragging a million pieces of luggage around. I’d also get one with a storage compartment because you know all too well how much stuff a baby needs! This is the one we’ve used and will continue to use for all our travels.
Stroller fan
OH BOY are we glad we had the stroller fan with us in Italy. We were told September in Italy is supposed to be cooler temps and actually bearable? But that was a LIE. We sweat our balls off in Italy, and we did that all while trying to keep Henrik from getting heat stroke. Literally running from one shaded tree to another. If your destination is a hot one, maybe consider bringing a stroller fan. This is the one we have and love.
Take advantage of the “family lines” at the airport
Travelling with a child is a total nightmare - point blank. Like yes they’re cute and you love them and whatever, but going through the airport with a screaming child while juggling your luggage and the stroller and your passports and going through security and it’s just a total fkn mess. The airport staff knows it too. And honestly, they don’t wanna be around your screaming child either, so they’re quick to shuffle you to the front of the line so you can leave their checkpoint quicker. Every airport has a “family line” specifically for people travelling with children and it’ll really just make you feel like a total VIP, so take advantage.
Ask for an extra seat on the flight
Children under 2 fly for free if they sit in your lap. But then… they’re sitting in your lap. For the whole flight. And you’re 3+ people crammed into 2 tiny little seats. It’s sweaty and crowded and completely unpleasant. Sometimes the flight isn’t completely full and we’ve asked to be moved to an empty row so Henrik can have his own seat, which is SUCH A WIN when it happens, but it doesn’t always work out that way. Nor are they obligated to accommodate your requests! But If you don’t ask, you won’t know.
Bassinets on flights
Some airlines offer a bassinet on request and free of charge for babies under a certain weight, on a first come first served basis. You can ask your gate agent or flight attendant for more info.
Be kind!
For no other reason than just to be kind, BUT you’ll never know when your kindness and common courtesy (which is ironically so uncommon) will be returned to you. We overpacked for our trip to Italy and upon check-in at the airport, were told that we were 6 kg over the weight limit (whoops) and it would cost us an additional $175. But the agent generously waived the charge for us! Honestly, she said “Wow is that your son? He’s so cute! Don’t worry about the charge, I’ll let it pass”. Tbh I don’t know if it was being polite to her that did the trick, but I’m sure it helped.
(Pictured from left to right) Toronto, Florida, Italy, Mexico
If any of you ma’s and pa’s out there have any tips for us as new(ish) parents trying to travel the world, let me know in the comments!
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