TRAVELING WITH AN INFANT

As many of you know, I am the proud mama to Cole, an adorable almost 9-month-old boy.

This April I was contacted and asked to join Facebook at a mental health summit highlighting the work that I have done with mental health and how I have used the Instagram and Facebook platforms to spread awareness. I was thrilled to be given this incredible opportunity, but with its excitement brought nerves about traveling with our sweet bundle of joy.

Cole is high energy (much like myself), he loves to play and is VERY active. I was worried about what a 5-6-hour plane ride would look like for our family. So I have compiled a list of tips and strategies that I have learned to make traveling with a little one a bit simpler.

Here are THREE tips for traveling with an infant

Purchases/Rentals at your Destination

Not everything needs to be lugged along with you, we found it easiest to purchase things like diapers and sunscreen when we arrived. It saved us a ton of room in our suitcase by just bringing the amount that we would need for the airport and a couple extras in case. You can even

Some things that you can wait to purchase on arrival:

• Diapers
• Toiletries
• Snacks
• Water(s)

Some things you can rent and have ready for you upon arrival:

• Strollers
• Car seats
• Beach/pool toys
• Pack n plays/cribs

Travel in Comfy Layers:

No need to dress up for the flight, you have a baby with you and everyone will just be impressed that you make it onto the plane on time. It is important to have layers so that you can keep yourself warm, keep baby warm, but also be able to strip down if you get too hot, get spit up on, spilled on, etc. I wore light weight layers so that they were easy to store in my carry on. Another reason to wear comfy clothes is for your little one, unless you have the luxury of an extra seat, your sweet one will be laying on you, and if you are wearing something itchy, scratchy, and stiff, they aren’t going to be comfortable and we just want them to sleep right?! And Lastly, don’t forget to have things that are nursing friendly. A zip up sweatshirt, open cardigan, with a nursing tank is a fabulous combo for a long flight.

Ideas for mom in flight clothing:

• Nursing tank/top
• Button up top
• Open cardigan
• Leggings
• Yoga pants
• Zip up sweater
• Birkenstocks or flip flops (easy to take on and off during flight and for security)

Schedule Downtime:

I am sure this is a no brainer, but we tend to enjoy going out each day and had to spend a lot more time inside for our little guy to nap regularly.

Prime Downtime Choices:

• Early family boarding is great, but send your partner to board the plane and wipe things down and get your carry ons put away while you stay out with your little one and allow them to stretch their legs for as long as possible.
• When you arrive. You likely won’t be able to relax too much on the flight, so make your first day as relaxing as possible.
• Pick a time each day that can be spent somewhere quieter for nap time. We went to a museum to allow cole to sleep in the carrier and it was a calmer setting, or head back to the room for an hour or two for a solid nap for your LO. You and your partner can switch off getting to go out and explore on your own while baby naps.

Other Tips and Tricks:

Traveling with a baby means hauling lots of extra items! Here is what we packed and how we limited what we brought along.

• ONE SUITCASE, yup just one. We put our Marie Kondo skills to the ultimate test and packed all three of our belonging into one suitcase to be checked.
• A stroller, we thought about bringing an umbrella stroller, but decided to bring our City Mini GT because we are able to attach Cole’s infant car seat to it which meant we didn’t have to carry his car seat separately through the airport or getting around town.

There is a whole lot more that I could explain, what else do you want to know?!

We are heading to Hawaii with our little guy who will be 10 months when we go, so I can add this or do a part 2!

Thanks for reading!

XOXO,

Erin