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Published: October 13th 2020
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You thought living with a baby was difficult? Try traveling with one! It can be quite testing. Hopefully, the following tips and tricks should ensure that it is a slightly better experience for you.
Before You Travel
Before you travel, make sure that you have all the essentials. The last thing you want when you arrive at your vacation destination is to need to head out and buy something that you could easily have brought along with you. Make sure you have the following with you:
- Diapers and any changing supplies.
- Baby blankets or
Hawaiian baby quilts, if you prefer to travel with fashion.
- A potty if you are training your child.
- If you are heading to a warmer destination, then sunscreen.
- Clothes that are right for the weather (for your child, of course).
- If you are traveling overseas, they need a passport. We are sure you knew that one already, but just double-checking!
- A selection of toys to keep your baby entertained.
Don’t forget to inform the hotel in advance if you have a baby in tow. They will need to set up a crib for you!
When You Arrive
It is important that you unpack as soon as you arrive. Trust us, your child is going to get increasingly stressed out. If you do not unpack immediately, then you may never have time to unpack.
When you are unpacking, we suggest that you try and set the room up to look like your home. Doesn’t have to be too close, but it will make your life a little bit easier. Make sure you remember where you put the all baby stuff. The last thing you want is to be rooting around for baby supplies when your child is screaming their head off!
Baby Changing Station
One thing we like to do is designate a specific area where your baby can be changed. You probably are not going to have an actual baby changing station in the hotel room, so you will need to make your own. You can do this by laying a towel on a flat surface. Once the baby station is set up, leave it that way. It will make your life easier knowing that there is always going to be a space cleared where you are able to change your child.
Play Area
It is likely that your child is going to want to play from time to time. We suggest that you set up a dedicated play area. Put all their toys here. In some cases, you may be able to borrow a baby pen from the hotel, but it is not much of an issue if you can’t. You are likely always going to be keeping your eye on your child anyway when you are on vacation, so there is no chance of them ‘escaping’ from your clutches.
Naps
You are on vacation. You are going to be busy quite a lot, even if that ‘being busy’ just involves you relaxing a little bit. That is still being busy, I swear! Of course, children do not like to be active all the time. They tend to need to nap quite often, so you need to ensure that they have some time when they are able to nap.
The problem when you go away is that many children are not going to be that thrilled at sleeping in a place which is not familiar to them. You may be able to get them to sleep in a strange crib at night when they are exceedingly tired, but when it comes to a nap it is going to be a massive no.
Your best hope to ensure that your child naps regularly is to
bring a stroller along with you. Your child will be able to fall asleep in one of those quickly. Obviously, you are going to want to ensure that the stroller is something that is familiar to them. You can’t just rent a stroller and pray that they fall asleep.
If your child is not going to sleep in the stroller, then we recommend that you get hold of a front carrier that you can carry your child around in. Most of them are going to be fine falling asleep in one of these. I do not suggest that you use a baby carrier for the first time on vacation, though. If you do this, you are opening yourself up to a whole load of stress. You will want to give it a ‘dry run’ a few weeks before you head away. This way you will either be able to give your child time to get comfortable in it or, worst case scenario, you realize that your child is never going to be comfortable in it no matter what you do.
Booking the Hotel
If you have a baby, do not book a single room in your hotel. Do not expect to fall asleep with a baby in the same room as you. At the very minimum, you should be booking a suite, or maybe even connecting rooms. This way not only will you have more space, but you can be sure that your child is not going to be sleeping everybody awake, which is not going to be a good thing! At least one person will be able to get their beauty sleep.
Eating
I’m pretty sure you are going to sample the local cuisines. However, this does not mean that your child is going to be too thrilled with it. Thankfully, most restaurants will allow you to bring your own formula which you can feed your child at the table. You can legally breastfeed in most locations, but most people are probably not going to be comfortable with you doing that in the middle of a restaurant. It is legal, but people do not like it. If your child is slightly older, they may be able to try a couple of nibbles of the dishes you are tasting.
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