Baby's Month Long Travel

Getting out the house for one day can be a hassle when you have a baby. Adding in a overnight trip can cause panic. What do you think a month away from home was?

For us, Pure Joy!

The best travel advice I can give is "Don't sweat the small stuff!" I was scared that he was going to scream the whole flight or not be his usual playful self the whole trip, but he was fine.

We traveled to 3 states, and experienced 3 different environments all within the month. Baby E was a trooper in the city, country and at the beach. His schedule was a little off because of the time changes, but he was his usual self in a couple days. Here is how we did it.

1. Pack into 1 Suitcase
We each had 2 packing cubes that we rolled about 10 interchangeable outfits into the cubes. The key to making this work is keeping the colors interchangeable. Don't pack that one shirt that can only match that one pair of bottoms. Pack PJs on top. This helped us to get baby dressed for bed quickly even though our flight arrived at 10am.

2. Taxi/Uber/Lyft/Friend
Paying for parking at an airport for a month would be so expensive and a waste of money. We snapped Baby E's convertible car seat into the Lyft, and placed our suitcase and stroller into the trunk. We held the diaper bag and cooler in our laps. Getting dropped off at the airport was nicer because we didn't have to lug all our stuff through a parking garage.

3. Double Use Carry-ons
The diaper bag held my small cross-body purse, a change of clothes, diapers, baby/our food, toys, our books and bibs. We just needed enough to get through 6 hours. Hubby carried the cooler filled with milk and water inside bottles. Keeping it all together allowed us to get through security much easier. The cooler also held items we needed out on the beach.

4. Buy It There
Don't pack (too much of) what can be bought! Every place that has people, has a store. We didn't pre-count diapers and wipes nor over pack toiletries. We packed what can fit and bought the rest there. We needed soap and toothpaste by the middle of the trip, so we bought it there.

5. Be Careful of Too Much Entertainment
This advice is more for babies than older children. New environments invite babies to look around and search their surroundings. Packing too many toys can be more useless weight than useful items. My son spent 2 days trying to pull up on everything in the hotel room and the ottoman was so entertaining. He didn't need his familiar toys until the evening. Once babies are bored with the tried and true, find a souvenir that would be great to play with and bring home. We got a sandcastle bucket, shovel and rake.

6. Naps and Bedtime Remain
Don't let this category worry you. We were more focused on keeping the same routine on vacay as we do at home. Check your watch if you change time zones and recognize his/her cues for tiredness. This will help you to transition him little by little into the new time zone.

At home, Baby E gets a bath, a story, a bottle and a rocking. Keeping the same routine allowed for him to know that his day is over. He slept in a different bed on vacay, but he didn't seem to mind much. His naps were shorter though. We think its because he was too busy trying to play. One thing that changed was that he didn't go to bed at the same time everyday. Some days were busier than others, so we went with the flow and so did Baby E.

7. Explore and Go
Just because you have a tiny human doesn't mean that you can't get out and explore. You made it this far, right? Babies are portable. They will enjoy the new sites and sounds just as much as you. Prepaying for excursions can be a negative and a positive. If you paid for a trip that leaves one hour after your baby's nap began, you have a choice to make. I think it's a great idea to have planned excursions and free time built into your trip. You want to make sure you are enjoying your vacay too!

Hubby and I certainly enjoyed our long trip. There were certainly things that I would have done differently. If you want to know what those are, feel free to drop me a note. I will be glad to post that. I hope these tips eases your mind about your up and coming long travel with your little one. When in doubt, dont sweat the small stuff.

Happy Travels!