Traveling With A Baby/Toddler

One of the main questions I get every single time we travel is if I have any advice or trips for traveling with a baby or toddler? I wish I had some really simple solution that would make everyones trips with their kids easy and enjoyable but unfortunately I don’t. I can share the little things I do that I think help our little guy when we are traveling.

Also, a couple weeks ago a did blog on ‘My Favorite Travel Items’ and some of the items I discussed in that blog are items I love for travel with Grey. It’s definitely worth taking a look!

-Routine

Ever since Grey was born we have been very consistent with his nighttime routine. Its, of course, had some changes as he has gotten older but in general it’s still the same basics. Bath time is always before bed followed by his lavender lotion, jammies and a bedtime book. I SWEAR the lotion makes the difference. Not that it makes him fall asleep but he knows ‘oh it’s bedtime’ when we do this routine.

-Calculate the Time Change

When we take longer trips to Europe I really push his the first day to help him adjust to the time difference. I’ll let him take little naps whenever he needs but I don’t put him to bed at 4pm because its 10pm back home. As long as he eats and gets a few little naps throughout the day he is usually fine with pushing through. He usually sleeps for a long time the first night and then BAM wakes up, at a regular time, ready to start to the day!

(I’ve had a lot of questions about if we use Benadryl. We have but do NOT give it just to give it. We’ve done it when he’s struggling with sleep. I’m a nurse married to a doctor- we believe in medicine 😆).

-Gear

There is a lot of gear that goes into traveling with a baby and I have learned, the hard way, to not bring the entire house with us. There is no where, presumably, that we are traveling that we can’t get diapers there. Instead of packing ten days worth of diapers I usually bring enough for a couple days and then buy a pack when we get there.

Our travel stroller is aaaamazing! If you purchase the travel bag it fits in the overhead compartment of the airplane so theres no need to deal with gate checking or lost luggage. Its great for getting in and out of cabs or any other type of transportation while traveling. I highly recommend. Along with it I’m linking some other items that are great for him such as the travel fan, the stroller organizer, and the stroller clips.

-Try Not To Stress

This is definitely easier said than done but I really try to keep it together because I swear Grey feeds off my energy. If I get all fired up and in a tizzy guess whose right there with me? The first couple of days, anywhere that has a time difference, is tricky. I just follow his cues and always have little snacks if needed. If I’m having a hard time adjusting I can only imagine how he feels. I try to be patient and not stick to the ‘stricter (ish)’ schedule we follow at home. When he’s tired… he’ll nap. When he’s hungry… he’ll be hangry. I just follow his cues and enjoy the trip! As I said though.. I know this is much easier said than done.

-Organize

I try to organize ahead of time as much as I can. I pre pick all of Grey’s outfits and use packing cubes to keep his things organized. I do use a separate suitcase for him. I know this adds on a whole other bag we have to lug around but its just easier to keep stuff for him in one spot and my stuff in another. When I pack his snacks in my carry on I use the clear packing cubes so when we go through security I don’t have to take everything out of my bag. Just the cube.