International travel with a baby

Travel. What a fun thing to do with your baby! But sometimes it can be a little tricky.

We just got back from a vacation to Italy. Wow, what a wonderful experience! Not sure I’ve ever seen so much beauty and history (and so many people from all over the world) in one place!

 Traveling – it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller. 

                                                                                                  – Ibn Battuda

After 11 full days of sightseeing, we boarded a plane for the long flight from Rome to Houston, happily tired and ready to be home. About 3 rows behind us was a family of four – 2 parents, 1 toddler and 1 baby.  First off, I admired their tenacity for traveling with two littles on such a long flight. Secondly, there was a lot of crying involved.

I felt for them. The bottom line is, no one likes a crying baby on a plane—not the baby, not the parents, not the passengers!  The parents did a wonderful job attending to their kiddos, helping them find (very limited!) play space and move through the aisles when their bodies needed more movement. By the end of the flight, those parents deserved some serious credit for all the energy they put into that flight!

Megan and her husband love traveling, too.

When they got married, they agreed they’d take an international trip before their first baby turned one. They wanted to prove to themselves they could travel with kiddos and figured if they did it right from the get go, it would be less of an excuse not to travel later on. So that’s what they did. They took a trip to Austria and the Czech Republic when Cadence was 9 months old.

Here are her most valuable travel tips… 

3. Think twice about the stroller. Strollers can be super convenient, but they can also be super inconvenient. Depending on where you are going, that convenient stroller can really just make things more complicated. Many destinations were built long before universal accessibility was a priority and include lots of steps and narrow doorways. Also, if you’ll be doing much public transport (think trains, buses, etc.), it is SO nice to not lug your stroller.

We LOVE Ergobaby (a bonus about this carrier is that it’s been mainstream for a while so they are easy to find cheaply on craigslist and children’s consignment shops). If you can’t live without a stroller, consider bringing a lightweight umbrella strollerinstead of your ultra-deluxe mega stroller.

4. Pack light on the baby supplies. Unless you’re traveling to a very remote part of the world, most cities will have today’s modern day baby conveniences available to purchase. Pack enough diapers and baby food to make it through the flight and maybe a day or two extra. Other than that, save yourself the suitcase space and restock once you’re there. Plus, it’ll be fun to see the difference among baby products.

5. Channel your inner boy scout and BE PREPARED. And by be prepared, I mean be prepared for sickness. So skimp on packing daily baby supplies like diapers and food, but bring a small sickness arsenal in case your baby winds up sick in a foreign country. Unfortunately Cadence ended up coming down with a cold and her first fever while on our trip. Thankfully I had packed enough that everything we needed was there. Yes, you can go out and buy most stuff there, but do you really want to have to buy your baby medicine in a foreign language or buy a Celsius-reading thermometer when you may or may not already be in a mild state of panic? (Hi. Me. Thank you Fahrenheit for the comfort you brought me) We packed Tylenol, a thermometer, nasal aspirator, and travel tissues.

8. White noise it up. If your baby doesn’t already sleep with white noise, consider starting this practice during your vacation. We all know how precious every minute of baby sleep is and you don’t want it interrupted by uncontrollable noises (I’m looking at you  5am Viennese construction crew.) We brought an iPod with a white noise download that plays on a continuous loop and these portable speakers. Worked like a charm.

9. Carry an extra outfit. We all know the tip to carry your baby an extra outfit, but don’t forget an extra outfit for yourself (especially on the plane!) Twice Cadence puked on us during the trip, and it was handy to pull out a spare shirt for ourselves from the diaper bag.

10. Relax! Flexibility is the name of the game when traveling with a baby. Be ready to change the plan the morning after a sleepless night, even if you’ve purchased tickets or made reservations for something fun. You may or may not be able to do everything you’ve got on the agenda, but hey, who cares? You are on vacation!!

Enjoy traveling with your baby this summer! Whether you take a local day trip or venture across the world, your both learning new things, growing together and creating stories that will be told and re-told in the years to come.

And remember, YOU are equipped with all you need to give your baby everything they need. You guys were made for each other.

You’ve got this parenting thing. 

Until next time,