Top 5 Must Try Tips for Travel with a Baby

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Are you thinking about traveling with your baby? Or maybe you did take a trip, but it didn’t go as smooth as you hoped? Below are 5 of my must read tips based on experience traveling with my son, who is now 3 years old. We did lots of research, tested products and did trial runs. Let me share my experience, so your holiday can go as you planned. Be sure to check out my Top 10 Tips for Flying with an Infant as well. These top 5 tips for travel with a baby will help your vacation go as you planned.

1. Co Sleeping

If you start packing travel cribs, play pens, cots and tents, your luggage is going to be very full, very quickly. If you learn to be comfortable co sleeping, you will save not only on bag space, but you will have a much easier time booking hotels and accommodations without the need for added space, or rooms.

Our at home sleep arrangements are much different than our travel sleep arrangements.  At home my son, Fox has always has his own bed, whether it was a bassinet, crib or toddler bed, and aside from the first 4 months or so, he has always slept in his own room.  Not on vacation though.

When Fox was just a few months old, we tried a travel bassinet while just doing a short weekend trip away to test the waters and see what gear we needed, and what we could leave at home.  Fox had slept in the bassinet at home, so he was used to it.  I found the bassinet to be more trouble than it was worth.  Having to actually travel with it, I couldn’t imagine taking it on a flight and carrying it around from city to city on airplanes, trains and buses, or even rental cars.  For a longer trip the sheet would get dirty, especially in a humid country.  We also tried the KidCo PeaPod pop up tent, which we thought would be a great idea.  Our son was not fond of it.  It made a noise every time he moved, and if it was warm, his skin stuck to it.  He also didn’t like being on the floor.

I would get up in the night to breastfeed him, and would end up bringing him into our bed anyway.  I eventually just found that I much preferred him there, and he seemed to sleep better.  When on vacation, a well rested baby is a must!  I was getting a better sleep as well.  I wasn’t constantly worried about the temperature in the hotel room, and if the baby was warm enough, or too warm.  Was there a draft, should I move him?  I got no sleep.  If you’re traveling around you may get only one night at each hotel before you move onto the next one.  You have no time to get a feel for the air conditioning or heater, or where the best place for a baby is.

As we traveled more, it just became easier to keep him in our bed.  Where we could, we always booked a king sized bed, but we managed when all we could get was a smaller bed.  We were all happier for it, and I didn’t need to pack anything extra for travel with a baby.

(This portion is not to start a debate about the safest sleep method, but to inform what I have found useful while traveling.  Each parent knows best for their baby/child, but it’s nice to hear what other parents do.)

2. Consider a Travel High Chair

Depending on where you are traveling, there may not be highchairs available at restaurants and hotels.  When we were planning our holiday to Thailand with our son who was 7 months old at the time, we started researching travel highchairs after reading that they don’t often offer them.  After much research we decided on the Summer Infant Chair (Summer Infant).  I can’t rave about this chair enough.  I usually don’t recommend travel items for babies, like play pens, bouncers and travel cribs as I find items like this are a waste of packing space and are cumbersome to pack and carry around.  This little chair though is so convenient to pack around.  It comes in a great to go bag with a shoulder strap, and it’s pretty light.  We used this thing at most meals while traveling,and not just in Thailand.  This highchair came with us to Thailand, Cambodia, Hong Kong, Poland, Hungary, Czech, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.  Not to mention all the times locally we used it.  

This chair folds up and slides into its carrying bag with ease.  It also has a dishwasher safe tray that you can lock into place.  The chair can be used with or without the tray.  Oftentimes he would eat at the table with us, and I would just leave the tray at home or in the hotel.  There are safety straps to go around babies waist and legs, as well as two straps to safely tie the chair down to the chair it’s placed on.  It was so easy to use, and quick to bring out and put away.

3. Bring a Good Carrier

A baby carrier is a magical tool when traveling with a baby or toddler.  A stroller can be handy as well, and sometimes easier, but there are lots of places that strollers can not go.  In February of 2020 we took our almost 2 year old to Machu Picchu.  A stroller would not have been useful in any way.  In the jungles of Thailand and Peru, no stroller access.  When we travel, we take into careful consideration where we are going, and what would be best.  If we don’t need a stroller, we leave it.  

I use two types of carriers for my son Fox.  I have my BabyBjorn One Mesh (BABYBJORN) which is our main travel carrier.  I also have a Kelty Back Country Hiker Carrier.  The model we have is an older model now.  Kelty’s newest model is the Journey (Kelty Journey Hiker).  

The Babybjorn is wonderful.  So easy to learn and use.  It fit myself and my husband with very little readjusting each time we changed.  We both got very good at putting him in and out of it by ourselves.  The mesh material was perfect for hot and humid conditions.  It is also machine washable, just throw it in, and hang to dry.  I’ve used this carrier for Fox since he was born, and I can still use it for him today, at 3 years old.  The weight limit is 33lbs. 

The hiker Kelty carrier is great for hiking trips.  We mostly used this one locally or for weekend trips, so as to not have to fly with it long distances.  I hate overpacking.  When choosing what type you want to use, take into account what type of trip, where you’re going and how old your baby or toddler is.  The hiker carriers aren’t for small babies.  

I tried the wrap variety carriers, like the Moby, but they weren’t for me.  It was too much work each time I wanted to put Fox in and take him out.  It was much too hot on a warm day to have all that extra fabric wrapped around me and him.  Invest in a good carrier, that you are confident using prior to taking it on vacation.

4. Bring a Diaper Bag Backpack

When traveling with a baby, or even leaving the house, we always need to bring a few things along like diapers wipes and a change of clothes, etc.  A good diaper bag will go a long way when traveling.  You want something big enough to fit all your staples plus a few things, but you don’t want to have to bring along something that’s too heavy to carry easily.  The best kind of travel diaper bag is a backpack style.  Don’t just use any kind of backpack though.  Get one that’s made to be a diaper bag.  They have a larger opening in the top, and not a zipper that wraps down the side.  More space to dig in, and less likely to lose items when you do open it on the go.  Many have a few side compartments inside of the bag, as well as some zippered pockets around the outside.  I really liked this style. (Diaper Bag Backpack)  I especially loved the bottom rear zipper for accessing the main bag.  It allowed me to keep my diapers and wipes on the bottom, but still have easy access to them without digging through the entire bag.  Extra clothes, a blanket and maybe some toys would fit inside on top.  Some bottles or food have an insulated pouch on the very front with it’s own zipper.  Plus some side pockets and even a stroller hook system and cell phone pocket.

5. Don’t Sit Around the Hotel Room

One of the biggest mistakes new travel parents make is to think that they need to schedule their days around nap times, and bed times.  Babies will sleep anywhere.  Don’t be afraid of taking your little one out of the hotel room before their normal nap times.  Often parents let nap times dictate the timeline of their holiday and it ends up not being fun.  Fox would often fall asleep in his carrier while out for the day.  We would continue on into nap time and he would put himself to sleep.  There have been times I have sat down and had an entire meal with him either on my chest in the carrier, or I’ve laid him down on the restaurant bench beside me.  There are many days while on vacation that we don’t go back to the hotel room until quite late in the day.  If you can get some good down time in the hotel room at some point, to wash and get out of the sun, that would be great for all, but don’t plan your holiday around it.  You will end up not seeing anything except the local news from the hotel room.

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