A selection of some of our best hints and tips for travelling with babies and young children
Essentials and Advice for Travel with Babies and Very Young Children
Having travelled extensively with babies and toddlers, on both road trips and short and long haul flights, there are definitely some items that I would consider essential. I also have a few tips to share that I hope will help make your travelling less stressful.
For specific advice for what to take away with you when living full-time as a family on the road, see also my ultimate essential packing list for van living.
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Background
Most people before we had Savannah, our first child, questioned “how are you going to cope? You wont be able to go on holiday as much as you do now.” To which I would respond “why?”. In fact, we discovered that travelling with a baby can be easier than you’d imagine (and as we now know, often preferable to travelling with toddlers or small children!). For under 2s, flight costs are so much cheaper so, I say take full advantage of these discounted rates and any parental leave allowance you may have and get yourself out there.
People tend to worry and make excuses for not travelling with babies and young children because of a whole range of factors, but there is usually no need. Hopefully some of these issues will be addressed here and I can go some way to overcoming some of the usual anxieties that exist around travel with babies.
Travel Essentials for Babies
Milk
Obvious I know, but hear me out. Although I mainly breast fed, I also bottle fed at times (both expressed and formula), so I have some experience of travel with bottle feeding. I chose to dual feed in this way to enable me the flexibility to go out without the children sometimes and leave them with grandparents etc. Admittedly, I bottle fed Savannah, my first, more than the other subsequent children as, to be honest, I couldn’t be bothered with the additional hassle of bottles and sterilising etc.
The main thing is to check that the milk you use is available at your destination. When we flew to the USA they did not have Aptamil, the brand we were using at the time. Savannah did not like what, by the look of the packaging, appeared to be the US equivalent. It was a totally different colour (and I imagine taste). If unsure, make sure you pack enough for your trip, as it is very stressful when babies refuse their milk. Fortunately, I was able to just breast feed and express for my Mum (who was away with us) to feed when we went out. This situation could be much more serious for anyone who is not breast feeding though, so definitely something to be aware of. If short of luggage space, it may be possible to sneak some into a bag with a car seat (explained more below).
Medela Steam Bag Sterilisers
In my experience, most people tend to use microwave steam sterilisers nowadays for sterilising baby bottles. Rather than carry all that bulk on holiday with you, these steam bag sterilisers are great for travel. They are small and compact, can be reused several times, and are easy to use in a microwave.
Milton Sterilising Tablets
Alternatively, if you know you won’t have a microwave (or are unsure), it’s a good idea to have some of these tablets, as a tried and trusted alternative method for sterilising.
Small Nappy Bag
These bags are great for when babies get a bit older and you want to downsize your nappy bag from one of the large trendy ones that you can carry your whole life in, to something that’ll fit inside a normal sized regular handbag (also allowing you to feel like you’re getting some of your life back!). Big enough to fit a few nappies, some wipes, a mini cream and a couple of other small essentials.
Calpol
Liquid paracetamol for children (or liquid gold). Never go away without some, as you never know. Need I say more?
Anbesol
Liquid Lidocaine, available from behind the counter at pharmacies and great for teething. You only need to use very sparingly to numb the mouth and provide relief from teething pain. Great for getting restless teething babies back to sleep in the night.
Dummies
Again, like with baby milk as mentioned above, if your baby relies on a dummy, you may find its preferred brand is not available at your destination. So, if you think you will require one, it’s best to ensure you have some extras (as, if you are anything like us, you will be sure to lose a few along the way!).
Travel Cot Mattress
Most travel cots do not have additional mattresses and unfortunately the standard thin ones that wrap around the unit when folded down are pretty poor. Check with your accommodation to see what is provided. We use a standard size extra mattress. Alternatively, these Sleepyhead mattresses also come highly recommended for use as a portable mattress.
Like with formula milk, an extra mattress is something we have in the past sneaked into a bag with a car seat in. Needless to say, ensuring that your baby or toddler gets good quality sleep should be high on your list if you hope to enjoy your holiday!
High Chair When Weening
Of course this depends on your accommodation when away, as you may know that high chairs will be provided, in which case you obviously won’t need to take your own. When we travelled to Barbados it coincided with Savannah, our first, starting with weening. As we knew a high chair was not provided we took this clip-on chair, which was great for portability, if slightly heavy. We have also used these folding chairs a lot, including when away in the motorhome and out in restaurants.
Constantly having to hold wriggly babies when eating meals can get to be a real pain. Having a dedicated chair for them to eat in is a real bonus, allowing everyone a better chance to enjoy mealtimes.
Tips for Flying with Babies
Time Zones
People tend to worry about changing time zones and the effect this could have on a baby’s routine. In actual fact though, we have found that babies often sleep and wake during both the day and night anyway, so are less affected by this change of times than you might think. Also, during long haul flights we have found they often sleep during a lot of it (in part due to the background white noise).
Bassinet on Long Haul Flights
To get the cheapest flights it goes without saying that it’s often great to book in advance. We booked Florida and Barbados flights well before Savannah was born (also see our post on cheap travel tips). You can then add babies to your booking after they are born, usually on average for around £20 each way. It is at this point that you can request a bassinet on most long haul flights. These are great – they are like a cot attached to the wall. They are only at the bulkhead of the cabin, which means the adjacent seats for you to sit in have the additional bonus of extra legroom. Cabin crew usually provide blankets for the bassinet but I would suggest bringing your own as babies are very sensitive to smell and a familiar smell and feel will make them feel more relaxed.
Feed on Take off and Landing
Babies often suffer with changing air pressures and this can cause them to become very distressed as their ears struggle to equalise. To reduce this it’s best to feed them during take off/landing. This does require a bit of planning in terms of feeds but I found that it was relatively easy to achieve. I did breast feeding and this made it even more convenient but there are lots of easy ways to ensure bottle fed babies can feed too. Either use a pre-prepared bottle kept warm, or a premix.
You must ensure that you are feeding just before and during the take off and landing as it’s the sucking action during the change in altitude which helps the ears to equalise, much like sucking sweets.
Baby Carrier
Whilst I imagine you will want to take a buggy on holiday with you, a carrier is a great way for you to carry a baby on and off a plane. It ensures that the baby is safe and usually more calm, and that you have your hands free for carrying bags and holding hands of any other children that you might have travelling with you.
We have always used a Baby Bjorn carrier. Cheaper ones are available but, given the amount of time in total you are likely use it, this is one thing we are definitely glad we invested in. You should definitely ensure you have a carrier with full back and hip support straps, not just shoulder straps, as some of the cheaper ones have. Remember, as babies start to get older, they get heavy! You want to ensure you remain comfortable while carrying them around for extended periods.
If travelling to colder climates, these extra warm blanket covers are also great. They are designed to be compatible with the Baby Bjorn carrier. These have been perfect for keeping babies nice and cosy when we’ve taken them up mountains during snowboard holidays.
These Ergobaby baby carriers also come recommend by my mummy friends. They are another good quality brand of carriers, although I personally find the straps a little too wide for my shoulders.
Comfy Clothes
Make sure you have a few changes of comfy clothes (baby-grows are perfect). I know it’s great to dress babies in amazing clothes when out in public (you should see the bags of clothes I have from my 3 – I just love a cute outfit), but you need babies to be comfortable and cosy on the plane to keep them happy during the flight.
Car Seats
I usually take our own car seats with us when we fly, rather than use ones from a car rental. The main reason is cost (sometimes rental seats cost almost as much as the car!), but also the rental ones are often old and unclean. Most airlines allow you to take car seats for free.
A top tip is to place them in a big bag before putting them in the hold. This is for a number of reasons: It’s easier to carry the bag through the airport (rather than an odd shaped car seat), multiple car seats can sometimes fit in 1 bag and, best of all, you can often seek a few other bits in too. This could be things like toys, formula milk, a mattress for cot beds, or nappies (obviously you can buy these when you get there but if I have space I tend to take half a pack of nappies to get me started – and because I prefer to use eco-friendly ones when I can, which are not available everywhere). This trick of sneaking a few extra bits in the bag is particularly useful when only taking hand luggage as it gains you some extra luggage space for free. However, I should say that this could be technically against some airlines policies, so you’ll have to use your own judgment on this one.
For babies we have always used a Maxi-Cosi Pebble. They are easy to fit with or without Isofix, are compatible with a lot of different buggy systems and, most importantly, our kids have always seemed comfortable travelling and sleeping in them on journeys.
For older toddlers and young children we use the lightweight Graco high back booster seat. They are cheap, can be collapsed to reduce carriage space, they are slim and fit in a normal car seat space (hence we have found you can get 2 of them plus a baby seat in the back seat of a standard car), and they have a great age range as they can even be used without the back as a booster seat for older children.
Meet and Greet
If you are driving to the airport, which with children is usually my preferred, least complicated method of transport to get there (we used to use public transport when we could or lifts from others, but with three small children it can mean hassle that you really don’t need, and standard cars usually aren’t big enough for someone else to transport us all), we always try to use a Meet and Greet service. Use a price comparison site to compare different parking costs and get the best deals. Usually the Meet and Greet services provided by off-airport companies are the cheapest way of doing this, often costing not much more than on-airport parking, but much more convenient. You arrive at a designated stop point close to the departure terminal, then drop your keys with a driver who takes your car away and parks it. That’s it! Within minutes you’re at the departures desks dropping off your luggage. Also, the same is true in reverse when you land. You contact the driver when collecting your luggage, who then meets you at the same point you dropped your car off at and, away you go! Simple as that. Much easier than queues and airport parking buses – always things to be avoided with tired children.
Hotel with Parking
With an early morning flight it can work out better to have a hotel and parking package. You can stay at a hotel near the airport for the night before your flight and leave your car parked at the hotel for the duration of your trip, often for not much more than the parking cost alone at airport parking. The hotel will arrange for your airport transfers too, usually by taxi door to door and, usually included in the cost of the package. It’s a great alternative to getting up at stupid o’clock with small children and driving for hours before even getting to the airport. Again, price comparison sites will help find the best deals available.
Pushchair
We have always taken a buggy with us. Airlines will nearly always let you take one for free. We usually use our Maclaren because it’s easy to operate and folds up into one piece. It’s also pretty robust and not so expensive (compared to larger buggy systems), so you don’t have to worry too much about it travelling in the hold. I have linked to the latest model above, which has some useful new features, but a more basic model would also work well.
As an alternative, some compact buggies, such as this Lightly one, can be taken directly onto the plane as hand luggage. Another compact stroller that comes highly recommended is the Babyzen Yoyo – check out this Babyzen Yoyo review for more details. Having them with you on the plane means that when you arrive at your destination, you will immediately have a buggy. This could have saved us aggravation in the past when faced with long queues at passport control carrying a baby or with tired children, then waiting to collect the buggy with the rest of the luggage from the carousels. These could have provided a great solution to this problem.
Foreign Coins
Although a bit trivial, this caught us out recently when we travelled to Geneva airport last Xmas with our 2 month old baby and recently turned 2&4 year old children. We were going skiing so we had quite a bit of luggage, mainly due to us having 3 car seats in large bags (as mentioned previously). I was pushing a double buggy and carrying Easton, our baby, in a carrier, while John had two cases and the car seats. This was barely manageable and obviously would have been made much easier by getting a trolley BUT we did not have a €1 coin to get one! Someone kindly gave us 2 x 50 cents but we specifically needed a €1 coin which seemingly no one had, despite asking lots of people, and no desks in the luggage collection area would change for us. I was already feeling quite stressed having stupidly just left Savannah’s ski jacket on the plane and this was only adding to my annoyance. Fortunately, after leaving arrivals and struggling to the street outside the airport, we found someone who could change the money for a €1 coin.
All this stress could easily have been avoided with something as simple as a €1 coin, so it’s a good idea to always have some small coins with you for the country you are visiting. It’s a mistake we won’t make again!
Tips for Driving with Babies
Safety Considerations
It is universally recommended that babies spend no more than 2 hours at a time in a car seat, or anywhere else that prevents them from being in a position lying flat. This advice is of particular relevance for people who have to make regular journeys with babies, however the guidance should still be followed for single holiday trips. Car seats should always be used for transporting babies and children. They need to be the correct size for the size and weight of child, as well as correctly installed for them to operate effectively.
We drove to Switzerland when Savannah, our first child, was only 8 weeks old. We ensured that we spread the journey over several days, taking regular breaks along the way. Also, at home prior to this journey, she was rarely in a car seat for more than 10-15 min journeys a couple of times a week, as I would walk with her to most places in a pram. This reduced the potential for any issues accumulating over time. Therefore, I personally wasn’t too concerned about her being in the car seat for this extended time on this one occasion.
Wind
Ensure that your baby has been adequately winded before setting off. Especially after stopping for a feed. It is a good idea to wait a while after feeding before setting off again. There have been a number of times when I would try to do a quick feed and go, only to then have to stop again shortly after to wind again.
Plan your Stops
I would say to only drive for a maximum of the recommended 2 hours at a time, then stop for a decent break to give everybody a chance to rest. Driving in this way will obviously extend the overall journey time. However, another way of looking at it is that this kind of extended schedule during trips provides an extra part to the holiday, allowing a chance to see some additional places along the way that you might have otherwise not thought of visiting.
Too Much Sleep
Is there such a thing I hear you cry? This may sound perverse to you, as I accept that peace in the car is only ever really achieved when little ones are asleep. However, during our second driving trip to Switzerland when Savannah was 1, we found she actually slept too much during the journey. Why? At the time we were quite pleased with the peaceful journey but the increased sleep during daytime hours over several days had unwittingly jet lagged her and begun to turn her nocturnal! Her changed body clock caused her to spend much of the next week being awake lots more than usual during the night – not something anyone wants on their holiday! Taking more regular stops and trying to drive during usual nap times are ways I’d suggest to try and avoid this unexpected phenomena.
Tips for Travel with Toddlers
Most of what has already been discussed above regarding travel with babies could also be relevant to travel with toddlers. I do have a few extra tips, however, that are specific to toddlers.
Long Haul Night Flights
These can be either a curse or blessing, depending on how you feel about them. A huge positive of them is that, in my experience, small children will sleep through the majority of the flight. This will leave you needing to keep them entertained for much less time than you would have to otherwise. You might even get to watch a movie! However, if you are somebody who finds it tricky to sleep yourself on a night flight, this could leave you feeling super tired in the morning – not great when you have excitable toddlers to attend to!
Pyjamas/Onesies
Obviously good for night flights, as the comfort and familiarity that they bring will help your child to sleep on the plane. Also good to pack for flights arriving in the evening. Changing into pyjamas before any onward journey from the airport will prevent the need to change clothes again on arrival, meaning that if the children are asleep, they will (hopefully) transfer into bed easily.
Sweets
Use cautiously. Toddlers with a sugar rush can be trouble on a plane! However, sucking something on take off and landing can help to alleviate any stress or pain caused by the changes in air pressure.
Entertainment
Toddlers always need entertaining. You can never have too much variety for them. It is a good idea to try and condense what you can into an entertainment bag for them for the journey.
To match our lifestyle we like to go for things with a travel theme when we can, like some of these top activities for inspiring wanderlust in children. Other than those, things that we have found have worked well are:
Water Magic – mess-free, water-based colouring books
Colour Wonder – another mess-free colouring book idea
Magic Pictures – revealed by rubbing with a coin
Amazon Kids Fire tablet – durable, child-friendly tablet that can be pre-loaded with a huge variety of apps for long journeys. These can be educational – see our top 5 apps for homeschooling.
Headphones – so everyone doesn’t have to listen to the tablet! Volume limited to protect little ears.
Sticker books – kids of all ages love stickers and there are so many to choose from, just go with whatever theme best interests your kids at the time. These are good as they are reusable.
Mr Men and Little Miss books – timeless classic story books in a small, portable size.
For more great ideas for things to take to keep your little ones happy, take a look at these 15 best toys for toddlers on a plane.
Allowing them to carry some of these things in a small backpack can work well for helping them to feel involved and useful with the packing and travel process. However, in my experience, I personally wouldn’t recommend pull-along cases, such as the Trunki. That may prove to be a controversial viewpoint to many, as they seem popular and like a really nice idea at first. However, I regularly see parents struggling to carry these cases, along with their own, once the children have inevitably got bored of scooting along on them. This makes me question their worth. However, I’m sure I’ll get people who think otherwise!
In Summary
Wherever you decide to go and, whatever you decide to take, just make sure you get yourselves out there! Remember, having babies or young children should never be a barrier to travelling. You just need to adjust accordingly to ensure that everyone can still have a great time. We love it so much we now choose to be a full-time travel family. If you like the sound of that and fancy the idea of doing something similar, be sure to check out our top tips for planning to become a full-time travel family. Now, go and enjoy some new adventures with your own young family. You’ll be making memories to last forever…
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