Traveling With Baby- My Must Haves
If you follow me on Instagram you know that our little family took our first trip together! Hussein surprised me with a trip, just three days before we left! I posted to Instagram and asked other moms what their travel must haves were and got SO many awesome tips! I also got some one-on-one advice from Sammy at The Cozy Home Chronicles Thank you ALL for taking time to share what you thought would be helpful for us. I’m sharing those tips here, in hopes other first time mamas can also benefit from our awesome little community.
Getting There
Hannah Bear is now 6 months old and I knew we would have to bring a lot of things along. One of which was her car seat/stroller combo. We have the Baby Jogger City Mini
and its a three piece set; car seat base, car seat and stroller. Many of you suggested getting a gate check bag. We ended up getting two: one for the car seat and base and a larger one for the stroller.
We used the carseat clipped into the stroller throughout the airport. We ended up not checking the base of the carseat with our bags, because I didn’t have another bag and I was afraid they would loose it. It wasn’t too hard to just hold the base to get to our gate, because we had free hands.
On our way to Fort Lauderdale, I had our baby bag which is a backpack and my purse. On the way back however, I put my purse in my checked luggage and just threw my wallet, contact solution, lipstick and a few other personal items in the baby bag! Seems like a no-brainer, but as it was our first time traveling with baby, it took one flight to learn this.
The following were in our Skip Hop Diaper Bag:
- Changing pad, diapers and wipes, I also use little doggy bags to wrap dirty diapers in if a garbage isn’t near by
- Toys and books, Hannah’s favorite toy, Sofie the Giraffe and new toys
- A banana, teething crackers and a bib
- An extra change of clothes including undershirt
- Hand sanitizer and wet wipes (I wiped down our seats and everything around us :D)
- An extra top for me, in case I got puked on 😛
While on the plane, we knew we would need to keep Hannah entertained. She loves crinkle books, so we bought a new one to introduce on the plane.
We also bought a new squeaky toy, new chew toy and a light up book! I know it seems like a lot, but we wanted to be sure to have new things to introduce to keep her occupied.
I was sure to feed baby bear on take off (and landing) to help ease the pressure in her ears.
We stayed in an AirBnB and like many hotels, and home rentals can provide a pack and play or crib. I packed a sheet for the pack and play and was sure it was freshly laundered so the scent would help get baby bear to sleep more comfortably.
While packing, I used Packing Cubes
for Hannahs clothes, to keep them organized in our shared luggage. The packing cubes were also great to bring back dirty laundry, as everything was just zipped away in the neat cube.
Fun in The Sun
Staying safe in the sun is important for all of us. I purchased this Sun Protection Swim Hat
in pink for Hannah. I like this hat because of the flap that covers the neck and that it is water resistant. I hung it out on the patio to dry at the end of each day.
For myself, I have a few ‘burkinis’ but my favorite swim pieces are from Coolibar. I have the swim shirts in tropical mint and poppy red. I also have the swim tights. I got them a size larger so they aren’t as tight.
We used the babyganics sunscreen for Hannah and I used the Sun Bum sunscreen for myself. Hussein likes the Coppertone sport sunscreen.
We also purchased a small pack of swim diapers 😀
What’s For Dinner?
While we have taken Hannah to restaurants for dinner with us here at home, we haven’t had to feed her there, as she is new to eating things other than milk. I have been making her purees for dinner and breakfasts. I purchased some pouches to take on the trip for Hannah’s dinner and she enjoyed them very much. They were really easy (did not require a bowl or spoon) and were easy to clean up (I know the plastic waste is really bad, but it was only a few days and while on vacation).
Sammy, from The Cozy Home Chronicles, recommended introducing some puffs or teething crackers during the trip. We were nervous about them, but Hannah did great and enjoyed chewing on those after she had her puree and milk and while we had dinner.
At the restaurants, we requests to be seated outside so if Hannah were to get loud, it would not disturb other guests. It was actually really nice to sit outside, in the sun, with flip-flops on 😀
What We Learned
- New toys are important! We should have kept two reserved for the trip home, because after playing with them on the way there and during the trip, they weren’t as effective on the way back!
- Stick to baby’s schedule. Hannah wanted to take her naps at her usual times. We followed her lead and took naps when needed.
- You really don’t need as many things as you may think. I tried to pack light, but came back home with so many unworn outfits for both Hannah and myself.
- Have fun! I usually stress or worry about things that really don’t need to be stressed about. In the end, all is good 😀 AlhamdiAllah <3
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Do you have plans to travel with baby? I’d love to hear about it! What are your travel tips?
Xoxo,
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