Travelling with Babies and Toddlers

While I am by NO MEANS an expert on traveling or motherhood, I certainly have been enough places with kids in tow to know a few tips and tricks. My daughter isn’t even one and a half an she has already been on 4 big holidays… soon to be 5. My son, well he is the bees knees, and has been on many fun adventures. Here are a few things I swear by when traveling with the babes:

BE COOL. Nothing will every go according to plan or be completely smooth sailing. Flights are delayed, kids are fussy, you forget things, or some other random annoying thing will happen. As long as you don’t lost your kid in the airport, you are already winning. When traveling with babies, pack snacks, carry a thermos or swell bottle with warm milk, lots of diapers and soothers, and some of their favorite little toys. A variety will keep them busy.

AIRPLANES. My biggest tip for flying with babies is a baby carrier. I absolutely swear by my Beco baby carrier. You are hands free and kids love to sleep in them… well most kids… if your babe doesn’t like a baby carrier you are basically screwed. I have my babes facing out for boarding and unloading so they can see what’s going on and then mid flight when its close to nap or they are fussy, put them facing in with a muslin over top and get bouncing. An isle seat and a couple glasses of wine go a loooonnnggggg way!!!!

STROLLER. I ALWAYS travel with a stroller. I have heard that a lot of places will rent a stroller for hotel guests… but I would never go this route. My kids have always been creatures of habit and like what they like. Both my kids nap poolside or at a restaurant in their strollers. Nothing is worse than having to go to you room for 3 hours for a nap or leaving dinner at 7pm for dinner. I just throw a muslin over for shade it works like a charm. My daughter slept in her stroller while we toured the streets of San Francisco and Vegas, and slept pool side in Mexico. Both my kids are used to their strollers and had no problem falling asleep in them!! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

SLEEPING. I always bring something familiar for both babes. Depending on the climate, I will bring a crib sheet and muslin blanket for my daughter (a sleepsack if it’s not too hot), her lovies with soothers attached and her favorite little stuffed rabbit. For my son, he’s super flexible and laid back, but I always pack his two favorite babies and a little blanket of some sort that he is used to.

For a tropical vacay, I will bring afternoon shade activites for my son (these things are also great for the airplane) - cards, coloring, ipad. It’s good for our over stimulated humans to have a little downtime in the afternoons. OH, I also have little printed cute towels I picked up from MFB baby store in Kamloops. I love the softness of the material for the kids, but also, I leave them spread out on our chairs so my son can easily identify which chairs are ours and it saves them so someone doesn’t swipe our seats. I totally send my husb out at the crack of dawn to scope out our good seats for the day.

I always bring squeeze packs and snacks for the kids to have something familiar for on the fly,  I also never leave home without pacifier wipes, which also work for sterilizing crib rails, highchair trays, airplane trays… well, you get the idea. I also always bring a stainless steel water bottle for my kids to keep their water ice cold for travel days and poolside and I ALWAYS buy my sunscreen before I go… because I know what their skin can handle.

 I will save my favorite travel clothing and swimwear for another post…. because that’s a whoooooole-nother story!!! 

Hope this helps!!

xo, 

Court