Traveling with a Baby

Have Baby, Still Travel! As a wanderlust couple, Tom & I knew that we still wanted to travel a ton even when we had kids. I knew this wasn't going to be easy, but would be sooooo worth it. We want to show Emma the world - exploring different cultures, locations, cuisine, history, etc! We don't have it all figured out, but hope to share some of our tips & tricks that we've learned along the way. Follow along for more information as we grow together as family. This post includes information for traveling with babies aged 0 - 12 months.

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Plan Ahead

Do your research

• Investigate the "must do's, must see's" for a typical trip to your destination, but also look for specific kid-friendly recommendations. You may find yourself going to the Children's Museum instead of the Natural Science Museum. Also, consider what is age-appropriate for your child and what their interests are. We opted to do the zoo in Philadelphia instead of the kid-friendly Franklin Institute because we knew Emma would enjoy looking at the animals and wouldn't be able to fully interact with the kid exhibits as she wasn't walking yet. Check out my other blog posts for ideas!

• Before buying any event tickets, double-check the ages allowed for the event and what age requires tickets. For example, in Las Vegas, most shows are ages 5 and up. However, most museums and concerts don't require babies under the age of 2 to have tickets.

• Consider transportation options. Is public transportation available, is it safe, and is it wheelchair/stroller friendly? Or do you need to rent a car? Does the rental agency offer car seat rentals or will you bring your own? What are the local car seat laws? Uber/Lyft is still an option as well! Just message your driver and let them know you have your own car seat to install. We did this in Las Vegas and the drivers were all very patient with us. Learn how to safely install a car seat without a base here.

• I also recommend the following books to help get an idea of good daily habits to make traveling with your baby easier. Some of my favorite recommendations include baby-led weaning and the idea of not allowing your baby to completely change your life. We bring Emma out to eat with us often and try to keep her incorporated in our busy everyday lives.

  • Bringing Up Bebe by Pamela Druckerman

  • Cribsheet by Emily Oster

Put together an itinerary

• Put your plan together keeping in mind your baby's schedule for feeding & naps. We even went as far as picking a flight around Emma's nap schedule so we could feed her a bottle at take off and have her sleep the first hour of the flight. More on this in the Airplane Tips & Tricks section.

• Reminder, everything takes longer with a baby! Give yourself extra time and flexibility when planning your days and coordinating time slots.

• Check out my other blog post on how to plan your next adventure!

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Baby Gear

On the Move

• Stroller

  • Evenflo Pivot Xpand: We love our travel system! There are so many configurations, great for one or two kiddos. It comes with the stroller frame, infant car seat, car seat base, and toddler seat. It's also super easy to get additional attachments including, a second toddler seat, rider board, and market basket. We knew we wanted a travel system so that we could move a sleeping infant from the car to the stroller without getting them out of the car seat. The toddler seat also easily lies flat and becomes a bassinet; this has come in handy for naps on the go while traveling!

  • Baby Jogger City Tour Lux: This is our travel stroller! When we need to be lightweight, this is definitely the direction we go. It is only 19 pounds, folds easily and fits into a compact carrying case with backpack straps! The seat lays nearly flat and has an extendable shade. It also still has a basket underneath for storage!

• Guava Lotus Travel Crib: This travel crib is super lightweight (only 13lbs!), easy to fold and fits back in the storage bag effortlessly, has a side zipper to encourage engagement with baby during playtime, and the storage bag comes with backpack straps and fits as an airplane carry-on.

• Baby Carrier

  • Solly Baby Wrap: This baby wrap took a little practice and watching youtube videos to figure out how to use it, but once I used it a few times, I fell in love! This is my favorite newborn carrier!! The fabric is super soft and they have a ton of beautiful patterns. You can carry a very small baby, close to your chest, and it feels very secure. This carrier only does the inward facing position, great for newborns. We used this with Emma until she was about 4-5 months (18 lbs) and wanted to face out to look around.

  • Colugo Baby Carrier: This baby carrier works for inward facing (although it was a bit too big for our newborn initially), outward facing, and back carry. It is super easy to throw on and put baby into with quick adjusting straps that allow both mom & dad to wear it interchangably. There is also a few pockets on the bottom to stuff pacifiers, phones, cards, snacks, etc as well as a rain shield that unfolds from a pocket!

  • Tush Baby: Currently our favorite travel accessory! This baby hip seat carrier is a game changer! It wears like a fanny pack but has a seat to help bear the weight of a heavy kiddo. Also has 5 pockets to help carry your phone, cards, pacifiers, bottles, etc. You can carry baby on your hip, in front of you (both forward and inward facing), or use it as feeding support! We specifically love this carrier because it is stylish and allows me to carry Emma close but have the flexibility to move her around as her curious brain desires. It takes the weight off of me carrying her around and makes it manageable to hold her all day if needed. This is super helpful when waking around a museum or downtown. It would also be great for a toddler who wants to get up and down and back up again!

Meal Time

• Inglesina Clip-on High Chair: We don't travel without this! The highchair clips onto most tables/bar counter tops. We use this at our airbnbs/hotels as well as at restaurants. It is suprisingly secure! Always double check the table is sturdy enough to handle it - not made of glass, won't tip over with the weight, etc. It clips on easily, has a buckle to keep baby in their seat, has a convenient storage bag attached, and the cloth material comes off for easy cleaning in the washing machine.

• EzPz Plates: These are silicone, easy to clean, stick to the table, and come with a reusable pouch. The pouch is great for travel: we usually travel with x2 pouches and I prep each for a full mealtime which includes a plate, x2 spoons, and a silicone bib. Super easy for transportation and makes sure you don't forget anything for mealtime.

• Bottles: Emma has used and loved Comotomo bottles since day one. We like these because they are made of high-quality silicone that's easy to grab for little baby hands, wide mouth is easy to clean, different flow nipple options, and handle attachments are available. Due to the domed bottle top being so similar to an actual breast, we had no difficulty alternating between breastfeeding and bottle feeding.

  • OXO travel bottle brush & drying rack

  • Baby's Brew: This is the gold-standard for warming milk/bottles on-the-go! This rechargable device has a steel plate that warms the contents of the attached bottle. Most standard bottles fit the base however, there are adaptors for most other popular bottle styles (we use the Comotomo bottles which require an adaptor). The Baby's Brew has 4 tempeature settings - 80, 98.6, 103, 110 degrees F - and takes about 5-10 minutes to heat, with no hot spots. This is a must for traveling, but also great for everyday use for your on-the-go family.

• Sippy Cups

  • Munchkin weighted straw cups

  • Tommee Tippee sippy cups

  • RePlay sippy cups

  • We chose these cups based on lots of daddy blogs. They use different sucking techniques to work on your baby's oral skills/development. And they are legit spillproof!

• Disposable stick on placemats: Peel the adhesive off the back and tape down to the table! These allow you to have a clean surface for baby to eat off of and make clean up a breeze.

Check out more of our favorite gear on our Products & Links Page

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Road Trip Tips & Tricks

Safety & Stops

• Safety first - make sure your baby has a car seat and it's installed correctly. Be sure to review recommendations based on your baby's weight/age. I've attached the CDC recommendations here, but also recommend checking out your state guidelines.

• Feeding your baby with a bottle (either formula or pumped breastmilk) will save you from having to take your baby out of the car seat.

• Plan for frequent stops for diaper changes. Scope out local gas stations that would have clean & safe restrooms for you to change your baby's diaper. We also made a few stops in fast-food parking lots and I would change Emma in my lap. I still recommend using a changing pad even when changing on your lap to protect you from messes.

Are We There Yet? - How to keep baby occupied on the drive

• If possible, have one parent sit in the back of the car next to the car seat. This will prevent extra stops to reposition the pacifier, feed a bottle, etc. The extra hands in the back seat really do help. When doing this, you can load the front passenger seat with extra bags.

• It may seem common sense, but make sure to bring some of your baby's favorite toys. For babies under the age of 1, entertaining toys typically include the following features: light up, make noise/music, rattle, easy to grab, high contrast/bright colors, silicone/chewable. I included some of our favorites in this list below!

Our Favorite Travel Toys

Manhattan Toy

Baby Einstein Take Along Tunes

Pop It Butterfly

Light Up Maraca

VTech Busy Learners Activity Cube

Captain Calamari

Mombella Mushroom

• On the topic of toys, I also recommend having tethers to tie toys to the car seat so they don't go flying or get lost in the car cracks. We use these chain links and these tethers. These can also be used on bottles/sippy cups!

• I am also not ashamed to say that we sometimes resort to using a phone/tablet on the drive as well. Emma likes watching Disney Plus, PBS Kids, and CoComelon. We use this headrest mount to hold the phone/tablet when she's watching.

• If you have started your baby on solids, another trick to keep them happy & busy is to give them snacks. Using snacks that take a while to eat buy you even more time. We like these star puffs, rice husks, granola bars, rice cakes, and food pouches.

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Airplane Tips & Tricks

To book a seat, or not to book a seat

• Most airlines do not require you to book a seat for your baby under the age of 2.

• Some people may prefer to have a seat reserved for the extra space in your row. If you get baby a seat, keep in mind, they need to be in a FAA aircraft approved car seat!

• We have not yet booked a seat for Emma (currently 10 months old); we have carried her and added her on as a lap infant. every time we have flown.

• Airlines do require you to specify an infant will be traveling with you and will be marked on one of your paid adult tickets. Infants cannot be in exit rows.

• You may also consider booking a bulk head seat for the extra room on the floor in front of you for baby to play on the ground. We are doing this on our way to London - I will let you guys know how that goes!

Car Seat, Stroller, Travel Systems, Oh My!

• It is true! Most airlines allow you to check 2 items (free of charge) at the gate right before you walk onto the plane. You are allowed to check a car seat and a stroller.

• We have a travel system: the Evenflo Pivot Expand. This includes a stroller frame, infant car seat attachment, and bassinet/toddler chair attachment. When we check these items, we use an airplane car seat bag to hold the car seat and bassinet attachments and then fold up the stroller frame.

• Pro Tip: Using a car seat bag provides protection to the fabric upholstery of the car seat, but it also gives you a free bag (with no weight limit) to stuff a few extra items into! We used our car seat bag to hold our car seat, bassinet attachment, clip-on highchair, and extra diapers & wipes.

Navigating the Airport

• We used our Tush Baby and Evenflo Travel System to carry most of the weight - literally. We loaded our carry-on items (backpacks, diaper bag, etc) onto the stroller and had the carseat bag pre-loaded with the toddler chair attachment & clip on high chair - this went in the bottom stroller basket. I then carried Emma through the airport with the Tush Baby on. Most airlines consider a diaper bag as a medical bag (be sure to verify with your airline). The Tush Baby also doesn't count as a carry on as you are wearing it as a baby carrier! Utilize those pockets to keep pertinent items handy like bottle, pacifier, boarding pass, phone, passport, etc.

• Security:

  • Be patient and give yourself grace. It will take time to load up the converyor belt and get everything unpacked and repacked!

  • Breastmilk: You are allowed to carry a "reasonable" amount of liquid breast milk per TSA; this does not fall under the 3-1-1 liquid rule. We usually bring Emma's insulated lunchbox with icepacks and 3-5 bags of breastmilk. I have also seen people use a cooler thermos for breastmilk like this one. I then continue to pump/breast feed while we travel so we do not need to bring large volumes of milk. Please review the breastmilk guidelines on TSA website prior to traveling. I encourage you to print off the webpage and keep it with you - knowledge is power! If you get a snarky TSA agent, just kindly educate them on their policy as they are not all familiar with the details. There is no reason for you to end up crying over lost milk!

  • Follow your aiports security policies surrounding strollers. Most will require you to place all baggage on the converyor belt, including the carseat. Then, the TSA agent typically takes the stroller through a side gate & uses a wand to inspect it. You then walk through the old-school metal detector with baby and meet all of your baby gear on the other side.

  • Again, be patient with yourself. Take deep breaths, take your time, double check you have eveything before leaving the security area.

Surviving the Flight

• For babies, everyone worries about their ears during take-off & landing. While a perforated eardrum is possible, it is very unlikely; more common with rapid changes in pressure versus the gradual changes during a flight.

• The sucking motion babies make help pop their ears and adjust to the pressure changes. We recommend nursing, feeding with a bottle, or using a pacifier during take-off & landing. This is typically when kids get the fussiest.

• Pro Tip: We typically book flights that time well with Emma's naps that way we can keep her awake in the airport then give her a bottle right at take-off and send her off for a nap for the first 30 - 60 minutes of the flight.

• We travel with a bag of fun, small, light toys. These toys only come out while on-the-go so Emma always gets excited to see them! We like to have a variety for her to choose from: teethers, rattles, light up toys, musical toys, etc.

• For babies 6 months+, another great distraction tool is the use of snacks! We like star puffs, gold fish, or rice cakes because they take a while to work through and occupy more time. A cup of ice from the airline sterwardess is also a fun sensory distraction for babies!

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Follow along on Instagram - @thewanderingolivers - as we continue to explore the world with our little one!

Keep in touch for tips & tricks on traveling with a toddler in the future!

XOXO, Tom, Katie & Emma

"The Wandering Olivers"