How to Travel With a Baby - Kiersten Linnea

My family and I were fortunate enough to go on a cruise with my husband’s whole side of the family this past week. We had 5 children and 6 adults. It was a BLAST! We did a 5 night 6 day cruise through Royal Caribbean on their Mariner of the Seas. It was my family’s first cruise, and we enjoyed it so much. With this being said, leading up to the trip I was anxious about a lot of things, and if that’s you right now, my hope is that this post on how to travel with a baby helps put some of that stress to ease.

First, how would the flights go with a baby? Second, how would being “stuck” on a ship go with a baby? Third, what on earth do I pack & what if I forget something? The list goes on and on. BUT, let me tell you, the flight went awesome, I packed what we needed, and the trip was so fun I didn’t want to come home. If you are embarking on a trip with a baby (our daughter is 9 months old) , below is a list of what was helpful for me. I’ll share some insights and tips on what helped to make our trip both fun and relaxing for all. I’ll even link some of the items that really helped to make things easier.

The Airport & Flight

Airport Tips

My biggest tip is to baby wear your baby. You have to take your baby out of the carseat once you get to the security check, so for me it is easier to just wear my baby. My second tip would be to bring your infant car seat + a small stroller it can click into. Some airports have you put the car seat through the security belt, others will have you keep it attached to your stroller and push it through the walk-through security check.

Something I have learned by error is to take out the baby wipes from your diaper bag and/or carry-on suitcase and put them on top as they go through the security belt. Believe me, if you don’t the wipes will get flagged. Same goes for premixed formula & breastmilk. Just make sure it’s visible and not enclosed inside a bag. That will save you the stress and time from them taking it over to the extra security check.

Formula & Breast milk

You are allowed to bring bottles filled with water in them for bottles or breast milk bags through security. Some airports will stop and test them, but you can bring as MUCH as you want! The same goes with baby food jars/pouches. We bring pouches with, I personally think it’s easier for travel, and I just put a couple in a clear zip lock bag and they allowed me to take them even though they were over the 3.0 oz. limit. Check your airline for specific information as well, as they all differ a little bit.

My last tip for airports is to bring disinfectant wipes for baby changing stations and the seats on the plane.

Flying Tips

My first tip is to buy a flight that goes around your baby’s nap time or early morning. This will help a lot if you can secure a flight around their typical nap time, or early morning. This way they will most likely sleep through the majority of the flight.

Things to Bring

blanket
bottle/yourself if breastfeeding
baby carrier
favorite teething toys
portable sound machine
pacifier
car seat if buying your baby a seat

My baby carrier is a life saver. With all of our kids, we choose not to buy a seat if they are 2 years and under to take advantage of not purchasing a ticket. If you do buy a seat for your baby, make sure your car seat is airplane approved.

Once you are about to take off & also as you are landing, give your baby a bottle/breastfeed, and I mean literally couple minutes before. If you give them a bottle too soon they will finish it too early & defeat the purpose, which could result in a crying baby. You can even feed them little teether crackers or puffs (if old enough) so they are swallowing if they don’t take a bottle at the time of take off/landing. Anything to get them to swallow. Lastly, you’ll want to make sure they are upright when take off and landing (unless they are sleeping) to avoid too much pressure on their ears.

Cruising With a Baby

Tips for Cruise Ships

Unless your baby is potty trained they are not allowed in the pools on MOST cruise ships. This is somewhat of a bummer, but it didn’t make our trip any less fun. There are plenty of other things to do. My advice though, use the child care on the ship they provide. It was nice to have dinner with just my husband and the adults. It also allowed Brooke to play and crawl around freely 🙂 I am usually skeptical of “child care” places in resorts/on ships for sanitary purposes (I can be a freak), but it was VERY clean and Brooke loved it!

Keep your babies on their napping schedule

Keeping your little ones on a schedule (at least somewhat) will make for a happy baby, which makes for a happier trip for all. We kept Brooke on her schedule (give or take a half hour) and it sure made it enjoyable for everyone because of it!

Another tip for cruise ships, allow your babe to take their naps in their stroller or sneak away to your room for an hour break from the sun. We had a running track on the top of the cruise that I would walk Brooke to sleep in her stroller and then plop her right next to a beach chair after and we had a hour + time of just relaxing which was really nice.

What to Bring

Diapers, Little Swimmers, & wipes. Our cruise ship didn’t allow Brooke in the pools so I would have packed less Little Swimmers, but we still used a couple for the ocean and port days in those pools
Light muslin cloth blankets. THESE WERE A LIFESAVER! I would use these over Brooke’s stroller to block the sun when she took her naps in the stroller and we still wanted to be out in the sun. She never got over heated 🙂 I brought several of these and wish I would have brought more
A stroller you can fold up easily
Baby bottles with a small dish soap & bottle brush. When packing I almost totally spaced out that I would need to bring something to wash her bottles. We brought enough bottles to get through a whole day before washing them. I had a bottle washing station set up in our room & washed them every morning and night. I made sure to prep all bottles with water so I could just pour our formula right in. If you’re breastfeeding, you don’t need to worry about that. We also were fortunate that the formula we used sold travel packets so I just bought a bunch of those. Best decision ever!
SUNSCREEN. We LOVED Baby Bums face stick & baby lotion sunscreen. It was easy to use, not oily, and the stick was so nice for her face, neck, and shoulders. Link: Sun Bum Baby Bum Mineral Sunscreen (Spf 50 Mineral Lotion & Spf 50 Mineral Face Stick)
Clothes for all weather. It can get cool at night, so make sure you have a good variety of short & long sleeve clothing. I packed a lot of romper onesies, lightweight jackets, swimsuits, and sun hat.
Disinfectant wipes. This was a must! I used the little travel Huggies packs they sell at Target in the travel section. I bought 4 packs of them. I used these to wipe Brooke’s hands constantly (cause she crawls everywhere) and for wiping down the seats and anything that was in arms length of her touching on the plane. Especially the changing areas in the bathrooms of the airplane/airport. My advice, you can never over disinfect or have enough so go stock up on these, you won’t regret it!

Much love,

Kiersten