Tips to make travelling with your baby easy!

Remember That Babies Can And Do Adjust

The first thing I learned was that babies can adjust. Though the first few trips, I took with the baby, were family ones as we had to attend two important weddings in the family and so, the little one took three flights within a span of two months, to be able to attend the weddings of aunts and uncles. But that was not really a vacation for us. But what these trips had given me was a confidence of being able to travel with a baby and the experience as I had stayed in hotels and relatives house during these weddings.

But then again, these were family functions, and there were hosts of people around to support me and therefore I was slightly sceptical about whether I can manage a trip on my own with the little one is tow. So, the first real vacation was again with parents and my brother so that I had more than a couple of hands to help me through. This actually helped me to realise that this little one can adjust to a great extent to wherever and however we take him. He can sleep in the car. Eat almost anything from our plates (as far as it is not too spicy). And so after three weddings and one family trip, I was the pro now in handling my little one on these trips.

We had done many car trips — both long and short with him. The baggage kept getting smaller with time. But I still need to carry tonnes of stuff to keep him engaged en route.

Checklist While Travelling With The Baby

While preparing for the travel with the baby, don’t forget to pack these things a little extra then you normally would use

1. Diapers: Pack in at least two per day or if your toddler is toilet trained then carry for changing it in the night
2. Plastic or disposable cutlery: Assuming that your toddler has started solid feed it is better to pack in some plastic or disposable cutlery so that you can feed your toddler easily
3. Favourite toys: Toys will keep your toddler occupied during the long travel and let you also enjoy the journey
4. Hand sanitisers and gels: These come in handy when you can’t find proper hand washing facility while travelling
5. First-aid kit: This is quite important as with babies you can never know when any untoward thing can happen. So it is better to be prepared

Travelling With The Baby At The Destination

Now the place, relaxing trips are over, I guess. But here are some pointers that will make a trip easier for you

1. Travel with couples who have children of similar ages so that all of them stay busy
2. Generally, children love the beach more than the mountains
3. Children need breaks to sit down and relax if you plan to tour the whole day
4. Shopping with children on a vacation? A complete no-no I guess. But we woman can never divert from our shopping spree even if it is a small town. We will find something to buy for sure. The husbands or male companions usually come to our rescue
5. Travel with loads of story books
6. Carry colouring books, pencils and colour pencils. Sometimes they work wonders. But again make sure there is one for every child
7. A rough book and a pen also work wonders. Engage them in writing about their trip if you are travelling by flight or train

If you want to relax and enjoy your trip, take a lot of things which your child enjoys. It can be anything from a book or a rough book or a favourite game which he can play. As long as he is engaged, you are free to take rest or do things which you like.

These are some of my ideas. I would love to hear from other fellow mums, who love travelling with their babies in tow. Please share your ideas, views, feedback and comments in the comments section below.