We learned A LOT about traveling with a baby on our latest trip, and although we are not experts in this field, sometimes it's nice to hear from someone who did this for the first time, because our mind is fresh to compare what things are like with and without kids. So here are a few things we learned on our latest trip!
Some hotels count any age child a person for rates, be aware of that when booking! I was not accustomed to changing the "children" drop down on the hotel bookings.
Call ahead and confirm the hotel has a crib (it's like a very basic pack-n-play where we stayed) and if it has a sheet. I've heard to bring your own sheet to sooth baby with a smell of home. We didn't and the first night she slept a record breaking 9.5 hrs straight. Yes, you could bring your own, but we did not need the extra stuff in our luggage.
When you book a hotel, mention you have a baby and should be placed somewhere not to bother other guests as much. It may help you have a quieter space too.
Even better than a hotel, consider staying at an Airbnb (use that link for $40 off your first Airbnb stay) The nice thing about an Airbnb is if you do a home rental, you're not waking up neighbor's with the baby's crying (and they aren't waking your baby up with partying). Having the space and amenities of a home was a nice change, for example having a washer/dryer and kitchen. It also lets you put the baby in one room to sleep, and go off in another and be a bit louder without waking her.
If your baby likes white noise....bring the machine. Or at least download an app. We love our machine like crazy (thanks Uncle Jonny for that one!) and it was worth giving up the space in our luggage.
Bring laundry detergent if your baby has sensitive skin. You know packing 1 outfit a day may work for you...but let's be real. You never know with babies.
We had extra space in our bags so went ahead and packed diapers. I've read a good way to save space though is to simply back enough diapers to get you through a long day, and stop and get some at the store when you arrive to save on packing space. Since we were changing locations a lot on this trip, it didn't help us to buy diapers there, because we were going to have to pack them up every other night to change hotels.
If you can help it...keep baby on the same sleep schedule as home and don't try to acclimate for time changes. On our trip she still went to bed at 7:30/8 Omaha time which was 8:30/9 new time. The last thing you want when you get home is to readjust if you don't have to. She had one rough night when she got home, since we got in about 11:00 p.m but quickly got back to her nighttime schedule.
Speaking of getting in late, we personally did NOT like flying past her bedtimes. She was ready for uninterrupted sleep, and unlike driving overnight there is a lot of movement from boarding the plane, noises at takeoff, getting off the plane, then into a car and into the house and then to bed...it's a lot of moving around for her and she didn't sleep well during those 4 or so hours that we were traveling past her bedtime. It wasn't awful, but we are making sure our next flights are not when she would normally go down for the night.
Speaking of getting in late, we personally did NOT like flying past her bedtimes. She was ready for uninterrupted sleep, and unlike driving overnight there is a lot of movement from boarding the plane, noises at takeoff, getting off the plane, then into a car and into the house and then to bed...it's a lot of moving around for her and she didn't sleep well during those 4 or so hours that we were traveling past her bedtime. It wasn't awful, but we are making sure our next flights are not when she would normally go down for the night.
If you're a frequent traveler and accustomed to a busy travel day...remember things change. For example, baby probably sleeps 12 hours a night...so waking up ready to go at 8:00 a.m may not be reality. Be at the hotel by bedtime, if not earlier. Remember you'll need to stop for feeds, diaper changes and play time. It's okay to move slower, it will be your new norm for many years I expect.Pop by a grocery store for snacks. You'll spend at least 12 hours in that hotel room. Since I'm nursing I also booked hotels that had at least a fridge in case I was pumping extra or needed it. That was helpful for groceries.
Uber was an AWESOME choice for a lot of our traveling needs. Although we often use metros and other public transport, traveling with a stroller along with the shorter time span that we were able to see tourist sights (because of how much she sleeps at night) our time was precious. Use this link to get your free first Uber ride! Some cities have Uber Car Seat, but very few and even then they are not backward facing. If you're at the age where baby is in a stroller without a carseat...but still backward facing consider renting a car or using only subways etc. We rented a car but used uber too since her carseat went in the stroller anyway. In a different city we would use public transport, within the city, but we loved it for getting into D.C from our hotel rather than taking an hour to get the metro into the city.
Learn to put your carseat in without a base before you go, if you've never done that before. It's one less thing to be stressed about when you are traveling.
Plan your most important sites during her best time of day. That's likely morning, then anything after that is bonus.
We loved having both the carrier and the stroller. Think about an average day at home, you're likely holding/cuddling baby a lot during the day. They change positions a lot and are able to stretch out. Traveling is the same, the baby needs to be able to move positions. At meals we let her stretch out in the booth and always had a place to sit (rather than eating at a food truck) to give her time to relax. Sometimes that means an impromptu Starbucks visit too, in order to just give her 20 minutes to lay out.
Honestly, she was pretty rough before turning 3 months old
and I can't imagine what traveling would have been like before that. She cried a ton, had tummy issues, and we were still learning about being parents. I'm sure lots of parents travel with babies even younger, but waiting until she was 3 months was a big help. She sleeps more, has a better schedule, and we know a little better how to make her happy!
We love photos, but we also love when Lorelai is well rested. There were a couple sights she was asleep at that we simply let her sleep. She didn't need to be woken up for photos. That being said, we did run off the ferry at the Statue of Liberty because she was almost asleep and we really wanted a family photo...it was worth it to get her out while she was dozing off to get a photo (even if it was the backside of the statue). She got to sleep the rest of the visit, I promise :)
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