Travelling with a Baby
“We have nothing to lose and a world to see”
- Rainie Navarro
When we decided to do a big family vacation with our three-month-old some people thought it was a great idea and other people thought we were lunatics… I think it was a little of both! Do I regret it? Not one bit! I am so happy we have traveled with Linden and hope to continue to do so through his whole life. By the time Linden was 6 months old we had traveled to Kelowna, Venice, and Saskatoon (soon we will be going to Victoria). We loved traveling with our little man and can’t wait to do more of it. That being said, traveling with a little one does have some challenges, but here are my quick tips that make traveling a little easier.
Flying with a baby: This is a category all on its own and cannot be limited to one single blog post about traveling. So if you are planning on flying with your little, please read my 4 months, 6 flights blog post.
Baby’s Age & Timing: Keeping in mind you’re baby’s age and their personality is very important when making travel plans. We traveled with Linden to Venice when he was 3 months old and it was the perfect time for us. We were finally starting to feel much more comfortable as new parents and Linden was still in the newborn phase meaning he was pretty easy in the sense of keeping him happy. He would easily hang out in the baby carrier all day as we toured and visited museums, and as long as I nursed him every 2.5 hours and changed him, he was (most times) a very happy camper. At this point, Linden hadn’t been sleeping (only 2 hours at a time) and wasn’t on asleep or nap schedule yet so it was the perfect time to do a big trip with him. He didn’t really need to be entertained beyond being with us and people watching. He was also smaller so it was easy to carry him around. With him now being 6 months I don’t think we would do the same trip at this time since he does need his naps in his crib and he does need to be kept entertained. So, at an older age somewhere like Hawaii or Mexico where you can just relax on the beach and go back and forth to your room easy would probably be a better option.
Food/Nursing: Travelling with a baby who is exclusively breastfed was so easy. Don’t need to worry about sanitizing bottles, prepping baby food, etc. The only challenge I found in Italy was finding places to nurse. This is something to keep in mind when you travel with a baby and if you breastfeed. Unlike in Vancouver where there are lots of public parks with benches where you can comfortably nurse your child… there isn’t really any comfortable areas to nurse in Venice. Everything has loads of tourists and there isn’t anywhere to really sit down. Therefore, I became very comfortable (after a few days) of finding an alleyway and nursing Linden in his BabyBjorn, ha!
Pack Everything You Need, But Pack Light: I know, what a contradictory statement. What I mean is pack what you absolutely need, but don’t pack what you can get when you arrive. For example, we packed lots of clothes but contacted our hotel to find out where the closest location was to get diapers and wipes. Packing enough diapers and wipes for two weeks would take up a suitcase on its own, so instead, we packed what we needed for our flights and the first day and then purchased the diapers for the rest of our trip upon arrival. We also packed from home our Hatch Sound Machine (that also doubles as a nightlight). Packing tonnes of toys would have taken up a ton of room so instead, we packed a few essential toys and rented the rest.
Baby Rental Companies: If there is one piece of advice I would say that was a major space saver and also made us and our baby very happy was using a baby rental company. If we had to travel with everything (bassinet, toys, blankets, change table, bottle sterilizer, baby bath, bouncer chair, etc.), I don’t think we would have been able to do it without renting a moving truck, ha! So I thought okay, we are going to travel without these non-necessity items, but guess what?! That’s not the case. Lots of places you can travel to have baby rental companies. Even in Venice, we were able to rent everything we needed and more. A bonus of renting is that they bring everything right to your hotel room, set it all up (in immaculate and clean condition) and pick it up upon leaving. We used MamaRent in Venice and the service we received was incredible. Not only was the delivery and pick up on time and friendly, but she even dropped off lots of extra receiving blankets (clean never opened laundry bags), so it saved me a ton of time with laundry instead of washing blankets every couple of days. Also, the bassinet we rented was stunning. It was hand made in Italy and was so comfortable for Linden, he loved it!
Big Washroom: Whether you’re renting a hotel room, air b&b, or staying at a friend’s house… if you can, try and get a large bathroom for multiple reasons. Firstly, you are going to want a bathtub. Yes, you can try and bathe your baby in the sink, but honestly, a bathtub is just so much easier! Secondly, your baby is going to make some dirty clothes (their own and yours). From diaper blowouts to spit up, you and your little are inevitably going to get dirty and you are not going to pack enough clothes. At first, we thought, we will have our clothes laundered at the hotel… at over 10 euros a shirt, that wasn’t going to happen. Then we thought, we will visit a laundromat, but did we really want to spend half of a day in a laundromat cleaning clothes (I spend enough time in the laundry room at home). So, the best option was that I brought Linden’s baby detergent in a small bottle and laundered his and our clothes in the sink and hung to dry ALL OVER the bathroom. Honestly, it was like a laundromat in that bathroom. We cleaned our clothes, his clothes, towels, bibs, washcloths, and even the baby carrier a few times (he had some massive blowouts on this trip). So, for all the reasons above, a big washroom definitely comes in handy!
Plastic Bags: I know, it isn’t fantastic for the environment, but I highly doubt that you are going to want to bring your diaper genie on vacation with you. What we did was set up a mini change station near the washroom. We had diapers, wipes, the changing pad and everything we needed to change Linden on the ground. Next, to the changing pad, we had a bunch of plastic bags where we would fill with diapers, tie in a knot and then put in the garbage each morning when leaving our room.
Room Service/Delivery: Find a location that either has room service, restaurant delivery nearby, Uber Eats, or Skip The Dishes. After traveling all day and exploring with your baby its nice to give your baby and yourself some quiet time in your vacation abode. And honestly with a baby sometimes it is just more convenient to eat in private and not worry about your little one getting fussy or loud. Having the convenience of food delivered right to your door can come in real handy when you are on vacation.
Road Trip: The first getaway we took Linden on was a road trip to Kelowna and it went surprisingly well. We went for a hockey tournament for Kevin and the games started on Saturday and we left on Friday so that we wouldn’t have any timeline or rushing to get there. The first tip for the road trip is to plan to have as much time as you need so that you can stop as much and for as long as you like. The drive to Kelowna was just over four hours so we planned as such. We left after Linden had been awake for about an hour and a half so he would be as tired as possible (without being overtired) when we left. I gave him a big nursing session and then dressed him in his sleeper for the drive. He pretty much fell asleep as soon as we drove. About halfway into the trip, he woke up so we pulled over and nursed him, changed him and we had lunch. We also played with him an occupied him for while and then off we went again. It was a fantastic and fairly easy trip. Also very convenient was that we have an Uppababy Stroller which has a bassinet so Linden slept in the bassinet in the hotel room and we used it to stroll him around town. Love double-use items!
Talk To The Concierge in Advance (if staying in a hotel): If you are staying at a hotel (or an air B&B with a host), reach out in advance and let them know you are bringing a baby. We found this to be very helpful in all of our hotel stays. This made our check-in much easier, we were able to reserve cribs (although we never ended up using them it was a great back up plan), and most importantly they will try their best to put your room in a convenient location for yourself and them. We found on both of our hotels stays they put our rooms in corner units where a crying baby would cause the least noise to others. In Kelowna, we were on an end unit that was close to the elevator and in Venice, our room was put above the restaurant so after 11pm there was no one below us, it was great. You can also reach out to the concierge to find out all the information you need about the local area. This was very helpful for us to find out things like the closest place to buy diapers, nearest pharmacist, which restaurants nearby would be comfortable with babies, which local washrooms have change tables, etc. It is always great to reach out to them in advance to find out these answers and they might even provide you with some extra perks. Our hotel in Venice was AMAZINGLY accommodating and two days into our two-week trip even dropped off a baby bath and change pad in our room, how wonderful is that!
Walking Distance: On both of our trips (where we weren’t staying with family), being walking distance to everything was a huge benefit. Bringing a car seat and hailing cabs or Uber can be a challenge when you’ve got a little one especially if they are overtired or hungry. Therefore having a hot spot location is ideal so that you can walk to everything you need quickly and you don’t need to pack your bulky car seat around with you everywhere you go.
Car Seat: We HATE carrying around our car seat, but even more we hate installing it in cars we aren’t used to especially without the base. There is also something we were unaware of in Europe and that is that the car seats use different adapters so the seat belts do not connect comfortably to your car seat. I wish I had known this before traveling and would have either purchased an adapter or rented a car seat when we arrived. If you are planning to travel outside the country please research if your brand of car seat can fit your destination country comfortable. This is another reason we chose Venice. All travel is done with boats and therefore a car seat was not necessary. There were life jackets under all seats and the boats drive at a nice slow pace where we didn't have to be concerned about Linden’s safety.
Baby Carrier: Our BabyBjorn was a lifesaver on both our trips. Yes having a stroller is great, but in a busy tourist destination, it is a really big item to try and maneuver around. We saw families struggling with their strollers amongst the crowds and cobblestone walkways. Constantly carrying the stroller upstairs and bridges looked like such a struggle and we could simply walk across with our carrier. definitely, a must bring on any travel with a baby.
Getting a Suite: If you are doing a trip of more than a couple nights, definitely see if you can rent a suite, it makes things a lot easier. Having a separate bedroom from the living room area was a lifesaver when we wanted to put Linden to nap but didn’t want to yet be quiet. Even having a patio would be fantastic. It was great to put Linden in the room and we could watch a movie, play cards or enjoy a glass of wine without whispering and sitting in the dark.
Making As Similar To Home As Possible: We found this so useful every time we have traveled with Linden. Whether it is a big trip to Venice or a family weekend getaway to the cabin. We make his sleep area as similar to home as possible. How do we do that? We bring our Hatch Sound Machine, Linden’s sheets from home (so it smells and feels familiar), and now that he is sleep trained and sleeps in the darkroom we bring our blackout curtains (or tape up black garbage bags). It may seem a little excessive but anything you can do to make your baby comfortable will make your trip that much more enjoyable.
Changing Your Baby: Again something we are spoiled within Vancouver. Almost all public washrooms and restaurants have a changing table for your baby. Venice… this was not the case. You would be hard-pressed to find a changing table and a lot of the washrooms were quite small and wouldn’t have enough room to change the baby on my travel change pad on the ground. Therefore, we planned. We would find a place that had a place to change table and travel outwards from there and then planning to pass a place with a changing table on the return trip.
Travel Documents: When travelling with a baby you’ll have so much on your mind about making sure you pack enough wipes, diapers, soothers, etc., that you might forget some of YOUR travel essentials. Make sure that you get your travel documents ready. If you are traveling out of country with your baby you will need a passport for them and I suggest getting travel insurance for the whole family. We purchase year-long travel insurance for the whole family from London Drugs. It is a little more expensive up front, but then the insurance covers all of us for trips to the US, day trips and longer trips like trips to Europe. e got Linden’s passport photo done when he was around 6 or 7 weeks old and we got it done at Photo Expressions in PoCo and they did an amazing job! They wrapped linden in a swaddle and got his photo done quickly. They made it super easy and when I took the photo to the passport office, the clerk said: “This is the BEST infant passport photo I’ve seen” and asked where we got it done so she could recommend it to people when they ask where to get infant photos were taken (apparently they get denied a lot).
Plan, and Plan not to Plan: Booking tours and things to do is great… but you have to remember you are on the baby’s schedule. So sure, you might really want to visit that museum or restaurant today, but maybe that isn’t in your baby’s plan, and that’s fine, that’s what being a parent is all about. If your little one isn’t in a great mood, maybe it’s not a good day to do that tour you wanted to do. Plan to have no plans and take it easy that day and do what the baby wants, and try again the next day.
Prepare to be embarrassed: Blowouts, crying, screams, spit ups… these happen all the time with baby’s and vacations are no exception be prepared to run out of museums with a crying baby, sit on public transport with a screaming child and walk around town with poop, spit-up, and pee on you. Oh, the pleasures of having a baby.
Expect the Unexpected: Prepare for ALL occasions. In your daily diaper bag bring double the amount of diapers you think you may need, pack extra clothing for you and your baby and pack light blankets, heavy blankets, lots of wipes, etc.
Enjoy Every Minute: Yes, you will have to flexible, you will be tired and you can’t sleep in or party all night the way you used to travel before kids. But, enjoy every minute. We loved travelling with Linden and taking him to these amazing places. It’s been three months since we returned from Venice and I look back at the pictures we have with our little man and I don’t regret a thing. Time goes by so fast and two weeks went by in the blink of an eye. I can’t wait for our next adventure as a family of three.
“The greatest legacy we can leave our children is happy memories.”
