10 Useful Tips for Traveling with a Baby

If you’re reading this, you probably have a baby at home. So congratulations on your new arrival! But it’s no secret that having a baby with you can make certain activities more difficult. Traveling is certainly one of those activities. You shouldn’t let that stop you from going on family trips, though! Read on for ten tips for traveling with a baby.

First things first: Make sure you're all packed.

The most important tip for traveling with a baby is to pack everything you’ll need. Even if you’re a light packer, that’s usually not possible when you have a baby. A few things you’ll probably need: baby bottles, along with a bottle brush and dish soap. Snacks. Baby food and cereal, as well as baby spoons and bowls. Bibs. Burp cloths.

As far as toiletries, don’t forget baby soap and shampoo. You also might want to bring an inflatable baby tub and baby bath towel.

You’ll obviously want to make sure you pack everything you’ll need for diapering, including disposable changing pads, wipes, diaper cream, swim diapers, hand sanitizer, and sealable plastic bags (as well as plenty of diapers, of course).

If you have an older kid, you’ll obviously want to pack some coloring books, games, and/or DVD’s to keep them entertained (especially if you’re going somewhere with a lot of travel time involved).

Plan ahead by checking out your hotel and rental car company.

If you want to travel a little bit lighter, a good tip for traveling with a baby is to see if the hotel you’re staying in has cribs available. And if you’re renting a car, you might also be able to rent a car seat. But not every hotel or car rental company has these things available, so make sure you check first. If you do bring these with you, you can generally have them gate checked.

If you need to fly with a baby, make sure you’ve got enough supplies in a carry-on.

Before you had kids, you were probably afraid of getting seated next to a baby on a plane. And if you were, you might have promptly asked the flight attendants for earplugs. But flying with a baby doesn’t have to be a terrible experience. Do make sure you pack a carry-on with everything you’ll need, including diapers, wipes, a change of clothes, pacifiers, and some books, toys, and videos to keep your baby (or older kid) occupied.

You might also want to consider bringing baby ibuprofen with you. Your child’s ears might hurt during takeoff and landing.

If you’re traveling with babies and afraid they will cry on the plane, try to keep them awake before boarding. That will maximize your chances of the baby sleeping during the flight!

Once you get to your destination, unpack as soon as possible.

When you’re traveling, you want to replicate home as much as possible to help your baby adapt. So as soon as you check into your hotel, put your baby in their crib and unpack all your clothes, supplies, and food. You can give an older kid an activity to keep them occupied while you do this. That's absolutely a must-follow tip for traveling with kids of any age, really.

Create designated spaces in your hotel room.

While we’re on the subject of replicating home: when you’re traveling with a baby, it’ll help to have a designated spot for changing diapers, for food, and for toys, just like you do in your home.

Lay out a disposable changing pad on top of a hotel towel, and put a box of wipes and a stack of diapers next to it. That way, you’re not unpacking the diaper bag for the first time when your baby needs to be changed.

If you don’t have a kitchen in your hotel room, you can still set up all of your bottles, dishes, baby food, and formula and the same spot. (And if the only sink in the hotel room is in the bathroom, it might be best to keep everything in there.)

You should also create a play space, where you can keep all your toys, books, and coloring supplies. This has the added benefit of keeping your room more organized.

Get creative when it comes to naps.

You can get plenty of sight-seeing done when traveling with an infant—and you might be able to get them to take naps in the meantime. Simply put your baby in a stroller or a front carrier (you might want to try that one out before traveling if you’ve never used it before) and go for a walk around the area. Or you can put your baby in a car seat and go for a drive; traveling with an infant isn't always super complicated.

If your baby doesn’t nap well in transit, schedule naps back in your hotel room. If you’re with your partner, you can even take turns staying with the baby.

Get your baby adjusted to bedtime.

It might take a bit for your baby to adjust to bedtime when traveling, but try to keep the bedtime ritual as close to home as possible—whether that’s reading a book, feeding them a bottle, or something different.

And if you’re in a different time zone, it might help to just get up a few hours earlier or stay up later than you would at home. But whatever you do, be patient—your baby will eventually adjust!

Make meals as easy as possible.

You don’t have to sacrifice going out to eat just because you’re traveling with a baby. Bring formula or baby food with you to the restaurant, and keep them preoccupied with a video on your phone or tablet.

Time your meals around your baby’s schedule—if you want to make meals as short as possible, go out early, when restaurants are less likely to be crowded. If you think your baby will sleep in a high chair, go later, so you can bottle feed them and get them to sleep for the rest of the meal.

If you need to nurse, nurse.

If you're in a park, on the beach, at lunch, wherever—the law says you can nurse anywhere you’re legally allowed to be. So when you're traveling with a baby, nurse wherever you need to. If you do want to cover up in public, just throw a nursing sleeve in your bag. Traveling with a newborn is hard enough—don't make it any harder on yourself.

Now hit the road!

Have fun, and make lots of memories! You might have to pack more and adjust your schedule more than you would before, but these travel tips will help you enjoy your trip as much as possible. One more tip—keep your phone charged (or carry a portable charger) so you can take plenty of pictures and videos of your baby girl or boy!