Traveling with a Baby: 11 Helpful Tips for Their First Time Leaving Home

As a fellow first-time parent, I understand the nervousness and stress that comes with traveling with a baby. I questioned whether we’d even be able to keep traveling once our baby arrived.

After taking several trips with her now, I realize I was being a bit dramatic with my concerns. While it is more challenging traveling with a baby than without, it can definitely be done. In fact, it’s much easier than I ever expected.

That’s why I created this post. I want to share with you some of the mistakes we made and things we’ve found helpful. With this list in hand, you’ll be having a great time traveling with your baby in no time!

Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase through one of these links, I will earn a small commission. This occurs at no added cost to you.

Traveling with a Baby Tip #1: Use a Carrier

You may think you can save some space by leaving your carrier behind when traveling, but if your baby is anything like ours, that would be a huge mistake.

We use our Ergobaby carrier almost exclusively while navigating airports. Keeping Ava in our carrier is a great way to keep her calm amid all the chaos of airports. A secondary benefit of keeping her in the carrier is that it frees up our stroller to be used to stow our luggage around.

Using our carrier is a great way to settle Ava down while in the air, too. I don’t know what it is, but if she gets fussy, she usually calms down fairly quickly and falls asleep when we put her in the carrier. Besides that, putting your baby in a carrier gives your arms a break while flying.

Having a carrier with you while traveling with a baby can also be helpful depending on the type of travel you’re doing. When we visited Costa Rica, we did a couple tours that required us to navigate forest terrain and some steep climbs. A stroller wouldn’t have been functional, but keeping her in the carrier worked like a charm.

Traveling with a Baby Tip #2: Invest in a Travel Stroller

Don’t fool yourself into thinking your regular stroller will be easy enough for travel. I get it: You already have this nice, expensive stroller. Why spend more money on another stroller that is basically the same except worse?

After traveling with both our regular stroller and a travel stroller from Joolz, I can say that a travel stroller is absolutely worth it.

Because travel strollers are smaller than regular ones, they easily fit in overhead bins when flying. This means you can use the stroller all the way through the airport and then not have to wait to retrieve it upon landing. That alone is a huge bonus of using these strollers when traveling with a baby.

Similarly, the smaller size of travel strollers allows them to be packed away without taking up much space. This feature is great when packing a car or when you’re out and about at your destination.

Traveling with a Baby Tip #3: Seatbelt Locking Clips are a Necessity for International Trips

I didn’t know seatbelt locking clips were even a thing when Michelle told me we needed them for Ava’s first international trip. I’ve since learned that international cars have seatbelts that operate differently from cars sold in America, requiring the use of locking clips to keep your baby’s car seat secure.

Fortunately, locking clips are pretty cheap and are fairly easy to install. This leads me to the second part of this tip: Practice installing your car seat with a seatbelt before arriving at your destination.

It’s not that the installation is the most difficult thing in the world, but it can be tedious and annoying. These two things are especially true when you’re already exhausted from a day of travel. You don’t want to be sitting at the car rental office fussing with your car seat when everyone’s tired and ready to be at the hotel.

Traveling with a Baby Tip #4: Pack Early and Make a List

I’ve always been a last-second packer, but my wife is a different story. While she’s relaxing in bed the night before a trip, I’m usually still shuffling around, figuring out what else I need to pack.

Now, with a baby, I’m trying to change my ways, at least a bit. Even though Michelle does most of Ava’s packing, I’m still in charge of a couple things, and waiting till the last second has become a stressful affair. Even though I don’t have much to do, it’s hard to keep track of everything I need and the things Ava needs. I constantly have that nagging feeling that I forgot something.

Meanwhile, Michelle makes a list of everything they both need and starts packing at least a day in advance. It’s all very orderly and efficient – and, most importantly, not as stressful my process.

The moral of this story is to be like Michelle, not me. I’m trying to be more like her, but I’m a work in progress.

Traveling with a Baby Tip #5: Formula Containers are a Wonder

If you use formula, you know it can be a pain doling out the little spoons of powder to create bottles. This is especially true when you’re on the go and baby needs a bottle right away. You also know those formula containers can be way too big to carry around.

These Dr. Brown’s formula containers are a game changer. Simply fill your bottles with water ahead of time and preload these containers with formula. When you’re ready to make a bottle, pop the lid, dump all the powder out into the bottle, and shake it all up.

That all sounds so simplistic. Yet, I’m sure there are people out there traveling with a baby who are using baggies or, worse, carrying the whole formula can around while they travel who need to know about these containers.

Do yourself a favor, and pick up a couple of these containers before your next trip.

Traveling with a Baby Tip #6: Don’t Go Overboard with Toys

One of the biggest mistakes I made on our first big trip with Ava was packing way too many toys. In my mind, I needed to have lots of toys ready to keep her distracted and happy on the planes.

While that may be true for toddlers, it is definitely not true for infants. When we took our first big flight with Ava, I had my backpack filled with five toys and a book, plus all my things. We ended up only needing the book (Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can you? by Dr. Seuss is a banger when you need to keep your baby entertained while traveling) and one or two toys. She ended up being more interested in my watch than anything else.

Even once we were at our destination, we still only needed a couple toys. We were out of the room so much that toys were an afterthought.

Admittedly, Ava is a pretty easy baby. If you’re not sure what you’ll need, take your baby out for a day trip near where you live with a couple toys to see how they’ll handle it.

Traveling with a Baby Tip #7: Don’t Hesitate when Your Baby Needs Something

Remember how frustrating it would be to hear a baby crying nonstop when you were trying to sleep while flying? Well, now you’re the one with the crying baby, and believe me, you can feel those eyes from your fellow passengers staring your way, even if it’s only a brief cry.

In the privacy of your own home, you may let your baby cry a bit if you know they’re safe and it’s not an emergency. On a plane, it’s not worth letting a slightly annoyed cry escalate into a full-blown meltdown.

Have diapers, bottles and toys all at the ready so that once they start crying, you can do whatever you can to calm them down. Everyone will be much happier for your attentive efforts.

Traveling with a Baby Tip #8: Book the Aisle and Window Seats

Here’s a sneaky little trick Michelle does each time we fly that you can use until you have to start booking your child its own seat. Instead of picking your seat assignments right next to each other, pick the aisle and window seats.

At first glance, that may sound a bit odd. Why would you potentially want to have a stranger sitting between the two of you? Because that’s almost certainly not going to happen.

At worst, you have an aisle mate who you’ll ask if it’s okay if you sit together since you have a baby. Odds are they’ll take one look at your baby and agree to sit in either the aisle or window seat (preferably the window seat so you can easily get in and out of the aisle with your baby). Who in their right mind would want to sit between two parents with a baby being passed back and forth!

But at best, your flight won’t have any single riders who wanted to sit between two people, giving you a full aisle to yourselves to spread out. Traveling with a baby is so much more comfortable when you have that extra seat on a flight.

Traveling with a Baby Tip #9: Don’t Plan too Much in One Day

You may have been used to packing as much into one day of travel as possible before your baby arrived. That was then, and this is now.

Don’t you even think about trying to do more than baby can handle! Once they get bored or tired, they will let you and everyone else nearby know about it. I’ve found that doing one big thing in the morning, when Ava is at her most rested, followed by something a little more low-key in the afternoon seems to work well.

Planning your travel days appropriately won’t just benefit your baby. It’s also important to consider your own energy levels and stress when traveling with a baby. Everything with a baby requires just a bit more of your attention and energy. A packed schedule before your baby arrived may not have affected you much, but now that you’re traveling with a baby, you’ll be looking forward to your next chance to sit and rest for a bit.

Traveling with a Baby Tip #9: Be Adaptable with Where You Stay

Are you someone who only likes staying at hotels and shuns Airbnb? You better get over your misgivings because things are different now that you have a baby traveling with you.

It’s better to choose a convenient place to stay that can accommodate babies. The most important thing to look for is a place with a pack and play (or a crib). Without that, you can pretty quickly move on to the next option.

You should also try to find an accommodation with plenty of space, unless your baby is still pretty tiny. Having ample space doesn’t just mean you can spread out a bit. It also means you don’t have to sleep right next to your baby. I couldn’t believe how much noise Ava made throughout the night after a few nights next to her in Costa Rica.

Another thing that can be helpful is a place with a fridge. A fridge is nice because you can make bottles beforehand and store them away till they’re needed. It’s a nice option to have but not a necessity.

You should also try to find a place close to the things you’ll be doing throughout the day. That way, if your baby decides they’ve had enough, you won’t have too far to go to get him or her in bed for a nap.

You may want to confirm the pack and play will be set up in your room a couple days before checking in, too. It’s not a guarantee they’ll have that ready for you. You don’t want to get to your room expecting to be able to lay your baby down after a long day of travel only to have nowhere to put him or her.

Traveling with a Baby Tip #10: Extra Leg Room is Nice if Possible

This traveling-with-a-baby tip isn’t essential, but it can make your flight much more comfortable. It’s surprising how much space they take up.

Sure, your baby may only be 15 pounds and less than 2 feet tall, but they’re going to take up all that space and then some in a small, cramped plane seat. You also need to take into account any carry-on bags you have plus your diaper bag. All of that combined leaves little room for your legs, especially if you’re on the taller side.

It may be worth paying a bit extra for the additional leg room, particularly on budget airlines that are pretty cramped to begin with.

Recommendations on Places to Go for Their First Trip

Now that you know some good strategies for traveling with a baby, you may be wondering where to go. This step is just as important as any of these other tips.

Destinations that offer a mix of things to do and leisure activities are ideal. Our first couple trips with Ava were Costa Rica and Sedona. Both locations had touristy things to do, but they were both nice because it was easy to just sit and relax while still being able to enjoy the local scene.

Importantly, both Costa Rica and Sedona had things to do but not too many things to do. We were able to be tourists without feeling like we were missing out on things. A major capital city might not be a good idea because you’ll either try doing too much at the expense of your and your baby’s sanity or you’ll have to skip lots of things, making you feel like you missed out.

You may also want to be careful with any destinations that require long flights. This one depends a lot on your baby’s temperament. If your baby is generally on the fussy side, you may be asking for trouble with longer flights.

Thank you for reading this post. Paul Passing Through is a labor of love to which I’ve dedicated a lot of free time. If you’d like to show your support for my blog, you can Buy Me a Coffee to help fund the future of Paul Passing Through. I appreciate any contributions!

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