Reflections and Suggestions by Abby Lawson
One of the things that I hope to achieve with this blog is helping others travel. There are some things I just can’t help with as much as others so I have asked them to help me help you. This is some great advice about traveling with a baby from my friend Abby Lawson.
Growing up, I was fortunate enough to travel a lot with my family. My dad took us on business trips to exotic places, and my parents felt it was important to take vacations together. The trips I took as a child made my love of exploring the world flourish. In my 20s, I shared that love with friends, and embarked on many amazing adventures with them. As a result, I have some pretty impressive stamps in my passport, and wonderful stories to tell.
When I had my daughter, people would say things like, “See you in 18 years!”, or “Say good-bye to traveling!”. I wanted to show those people, and others like them, that having kids doesn’t have to stop you from doing what you love. In fact, it can drive you to do it more! In April of 2018, my husband and I took our 11 month old on a two week trip to Europe. We started with five days in Paris and moved on to Northern Italy (Trento, Riva Del Garda, and Verona). It was a beautiful trip, and most of it was absolutely amazing. I learned a TON about traveling with an infant, and although we had some hellish moments (like when the woman at the ticket counter in Paris seated our baby in a completely different row than ours), we also had some amazing ones (like when our sweet girl crawled around, giggling in front of the Louvre – French women were coming over to kiss her on the cheek because she was so adorable!) – I will cherish memories like that forever.
Although this post is inspired by my experiences traveling with an infant in Europe specifically, many of the tips can be applied to anyone traveling internationally with children of any age. I have traveled out of the country enough times to know that no matter how much planning you do, the unexpected can, and will happen. Put a kid into the mix, and you can almost guarantee some bumps in the road. Despite these challenges, traveling with children is 100% worth it! My hope is that this post will help make the unexpected easier, and allow your trip to be as relaxing and enjoyable as possible. Enjoy.
1.Get a passport for your baby (and double check that yours is still valid)
I have heard some horror stories about people who didn’t know they needed a passport for their infant, or that their passport was expired until they were at the airport! Just remember – no matter your age, if you are traveling internationally, you will need a passport. When getting US a passport for your child, you will need to follow the steps on the travel.state.gov site. You must also ensure that all legal guardians (and child) are present when you submit the forms. When traveling to Europe, you must have at least 6 months validity on your passport to enter the continent. If traveling outside of Europe, make sure you do your own research on passport/visa requirements. It can take up to 8 weeks to get any new passport, so make sure you plan ahead!
2. Buy your baby their own seat on the plane
If you have a child under the age of 2, most airlines will let them fly on your lap for free, or at a highly discounted price. Great – save some money, right? Yes, but maybe not your sanity! If your little one is as busy as mine is, having them on your lap really doesn’t give them (or you) many options while sitting on a nine hour flight. We learned this very quickly, and ended up buying seats for our daughter for all of our remaining flights once we landed in Paris. It truly was a sanity saver, and allowed our busy little bee to have her own space.
3. Only bring enough diapers, wipes and snacks for the flight
Most European countries have the same, or similar brands of wipes and diapers as the U.S. They also have similar baby foods and snacks. To save valuable packing space, just bring what you need for the flight there. You can buy more when you land, and bring only what you need on the way back. We only packed 12 diapers (one for each hour of travel), and still ended up with extras when we landed.
4. Bring formula, breast milk, and medication with you
According to the TSA website, “Formula, breast milk and juice in quantities greater than 3.4 ounces or 100 milliliters are allowed in carry-on baggage and do not need to fit within a quart-sized bag. Remove these items from your carry-on bag to be screened separately from the rest of your belongings.” You can also bring formula and medications in your carry-on. Just be prepared for a little extra security screening.
Pro Tip: Most European countries have formula brands like Enfamil and Similac, so save some space and buy it there. However, if your baby is on a special formula (like mine was), bring enough for your whole trip.
5. Don’t overdo it on the toys
Of course, bring things to entertain your child on the flight (make sure you bring some things they are familiar with, as well as new toys that will make the flight exciting). But make sure you don’t overdo it on the entertainment. I found our daughter was more entertained with empty bottles than the toys that I bought for her and felt it was the one area where I over-packed.
6. Check the necessary baby gear for free!
Most airlines will allow you to check your stroller, car seat, and (sometimes) travel crib for free. You can also gate check those items if you need them in the airport. Be sure you confirm which items your specific airline accepts.
Pro Tip: Gate check in Europe is not like the in U.S. You will likely not get your items back as you depart the plane – the items will be at baggage claim with everything else, so be prepared. Bring a baby carrier on the plane so that you can easily get from the plane to baggage claim without trying to juggle your luggage and a baby!
7. Allow Plenty of Time at the Airport
This is good advice for anyone traveling, but especially when you are bringing kids along. Before a flight, or during any layovers, make sure you give yourself more time than you think you need. Traveling with kids usually means more steps while flying. Get to the airport early to ensure you can check all your baggage and get through security with enough time. If you have a layover anywhere, make sure you give yourself at least a couple of hours. Upon entering any foreign country from the U.S. (and the same when you are coming back), you will have to go through customs, even if it isn’t your final destination. Oftentimes, you will have to pick up your baggage, re-check it, and go through security again. Give yourself enough time, and save yourself the anxiety!
8. Book accommodations through homeshare sites
We tend to book through AirBnB or VRBO no matter where we travel because it allows us access to a larger space, a kitchen, a washing machine, and most importantly, a separate bedroom for baby to sleep in. We made sure every place in Europe had at least one bedroom for our daughter so that we could have our own space while baby was sleeping. We also planned it so that at least every other place we stayed had a washer (dryers are nice, but not common in Europe), which allowed us to pack as minimalistic as possible.
9. Pack Light
My husband and I always packed light before we had a baby. It allowed us to go through airports with ease, and helped us skip any “lost baggage” issues. When we decided to travel overseas with our daughter, we really had to plan our packing list to ensure we still were able to pack light, but still had all the things baby girl needed. We made sure to only pack the essentials, versatile clothes that could be layered, and comfortable shoes. As I mentioned in point 8, booking a place with a washing machine really helped us to pack light. A full list of everything we packed is at the end of the blog.
10. Board last
You may hear a lot of people recommend the opposite. Airlines graciously let anyone traveling with small children board first onto the plane. Some find this helpful, but we felt it worked better for us and our daughter to board last. It allowed us more time to mentally prepare for a long flight, and let our daughter burn off some energy before she was on an airplane for nine hours.
11. Try to let them sleep on the go
Ok, I know this won’t work for every child, but it was great for my daughter during our European adventure. My initial thought when traveling was to let her sleep in the apartment during her nap times. I quickly realized, with 2 naps a day, at 1-2 hours each, I would never actually get to enjoy the places we were visiting. So, instead of being cooped up in our apartment all day, we had her sleep in her stroller while were were exploring. We often would have her sleep in her travel crib for one nap a day, but planned our long walks through the cities during her second one.
12. Download the Mobile Passport App
For anyone who has traveled internationally, you know that customs can sometimes be the worst part of travel. I’m not sure why, but many airports just haven’t figured it out yet. Oftentimes, the process can add an hour or more to your overall travel time. This can make certain layovers tricky and also extends your overall travel time. Downloading the Mobile Passport app enables U.S. citizens and Canadian visitors to save time during the entry or reentry process in 26 U.S. cities. Make sure you have entered all your information before you enter into the United States.
Pro tip: Oftentimes, security agents with escort families with small children to the front of the line. This can be the case in both customs and security lines. It is not the case in all airports, in all instances, but just ask! We did, and it shaved off some very valuable travel time.
13. Be positive and patient
Sure – easier said than done. But kids feed off your energy and often mimic it. Even during the tough times, remember – you are on a trip to a place most people only dream about! So be happy, be positive, be patient. And most of all, HAVE FUN!
Bonus! Things I love to travel with
- Suitcase – This little guy complies with nearly every major airline carry-on restrictions (even Ryanair and FlyBe). It is small, but mighty, and can fit a whole lot of stuff!
- Solly Wrap – Although it is a little pricey, I think it is totally worth it. It is unbelievably soft, compact, and comfortable.
- Lillebaby – The Solly Wrap is great for smaller babies, and when you have little room to pack it in. The Lillebaby is better for walking around the city, and fits babies from newborns to 45lbs.
- All Birds – Made from sustainable wool, tree park, or sugarcane, these shoes are super comfortable, and are also washable!
- Rothy’s – Another washable shoe! Rothy’s are made of recycled plastic bottles, are very comfortable (no blisters!), and can be dressed up or down.
- Chicco Viaro Stroller – Although the stroller is a tad big on some of the smaller European streets, it is awesome overall. It is sturdy, has a ton of storage, and is easy to fold up. With a reclining seat, our daughter was able to sleep on-the-go during our trip.
- Travel Crib – We have used this crib everywhere – long trips overseas and across the country, or just weekend trips to Grandma’s house. It folds up into a small size, and the case has shoulder straps so you can wear it as a backpack while traveling. It is comfortable and safe for my daughter and she sleeps really well in it.
- Pocket Highchair – Not all the restaurants we went to in Europe had highchairs available. The pocket highchair was an awesome solutions during those times. It also allowed us to have a “highchair” at all of our AirBnBs.
What we packed
- Travel crib (checked at the ticket counter)
- Stroller (brought with us through the airport and gate checked it)
- Car Seat (checked at the ticket counter)
- Baby Carrier (brought on the flight)
- My Carry-On
- Travel pillow, 3 dresses, 2 shawls, 3 shirts (2 for day, 1 for sleep), 1 pair of jeans, 1 pair of shorts, 2 tanks, 3 pairs of socks, power converter, toiletries, flip flops, kindle, phone and kindle Charger, baby monitor, brush, curling iron, makeup bag, a few diapers, formula (we used the Kirkland formula), sippy cup, spit up blanket, warmer blanket, 2 pairs of baby pajamas, 1 bib, 2 baby sweaters, 4 long sleeve onesies, travel high chair (some places in Italy didn’t have highchairs at restaurants, so I bought this), 4 short sleeve onesies, 4 pairs of socks, a pair of baby shoes (she wasn’t walking yet, so these weren’t totally necessary), Travel noise machine, Baby sun hat, sunglasses, sunscreen.
- I wore on the plane: leggings, allbirds, shirt, and jacket
- Diaper Bag
- Several diapers, wipes, pacifiers and clips, a few toys, snacks for the flight, 2 bottles, baby tylenol for our teething daughter, 1 long sleeve onesie, 1 short sleeve onesie, 1 pair of baby pants, 1 pair of baby PJs
- My Husband’s Carry-On
- Baby monitor camera, formula (so we had a total of 2 Kirkland containers for the whole trip), toiletry bag, liquids bag, belt, 5 T-shirts, 1 long sleeve, 1 collared shirt, 1 pair of shorts, 1 pair of pants, shoes, 5 pairs of socks, iPad
- Wore on the plane: jeans, sneakers, t-shirt and jacket.