You probably travel with your baby on the road quite a lot. In that case, you know what to do. But, what do you do when you wish to travel with your baby by air? How old should the baby be before traveling with you? What should you carry? Does the baby need any protection? This article contains tons of tips for traveling with a baby.
1. Traveling with a Baby–When is it Safe for a Baby to Travel?
Is your baby a newborn, an infant, or a toddler? Your answer to this question determines how safe it is for the two of you to travel together. Generally, doctors believe that it would be best to wait until the baby has a more developed and robust immune system.
Typically, the baby should be in an excellent position to embark on a long trip at 2-3 months. That’s because it takes 2-3 months for an infant’s immune system to mature. If you can wait until the baby is 7-8 years old, you will be able to travel with a child whose immune system is fully developed. If that seems too long, 3-6 months should be sufficient.
Premature babies need more attention, though. Additionally, babies with lung or heart problems are quite delicate too. The difficulty in breathing could worsen in planes, renowned for low air pressure in the cabins. In such instances, it would be better to speak with your pediatrician before embarking on the journey.
Nevertheless, you must check with your preferred airline first. That’s because:
- Delta Airlines would not allow a baby who is not 1-week old to travel
- JetBlue would allow a 3-day old baby to travel
- United Airlines states that babies must be seven days old to travel.
2. Traveling with a Baby–Three Tips for Carrying Items
Carry your baby’s familiar toys and items
First, you should carry toys that your baby is familiar with from home. It isn’t the time for introducing new toys to your baby. A bit of familiarity can help the young one to be at peace instead of being restless. Alternatively, you can also invest in a few cheap toys, significantly if your baby has grown tired of the old ones at home.
（Young mother taking baby travel）
Carry Tablet with Games for Keeping the Baby Busy
Do you have a tablet at home? Download a few age-appropriate games for your baby. Fill it with music and videos that could help to distract your baby before restlessness sets in fully. A tablet with nursery rhyme stories will do wonders. Load the tablet with white noise too. White noise can help keep the baby sleeping, especially at night.
White noise includes the following soothing sounds:
- rainforest
- waves
- rain
- beach
（Mom with children sharing fun）
Diaper and Change of Clothes
Lastly, you need to keep your baby clean at all times. Dirtiness can make even the most easy-going baby quite restless. Therefore, remember to travel with enough diapers and a change of clothes. As you do this, limit the number of diapers and clothes to carry to reduce the amount of luggage that you travel with from one destination to the next.
（Baby diaper）
3. Traveling with a Baby–Six Tips for Bringing Your Baby on Aircraft
Buy a separate airplane seat for your baby.
The baby’s comfort is everything. Consequently, you might have to dig deeper into your pocket to buy a separate airplane ticket or seat for the baby. First, you should check your preferred airline’s policies on this. That decision could save you from the discomfort of carrying the wiggling baby on your laps or arms for hours.
Prepare in advance
The best tip for traveling with a baby is to prepare adequately in advance. In your preparations, make sure that you have the passports and all other traveling documents ready. Next, confirm the vaccinations you and the baby need from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Protect your baby’s ear
Traveling can be traumatic to your baby’s ears. Fortunately, you can prevent this by allowing the baby to drink plenty of fluids. The pain or discomfort in the Eustachian tubes decreases when swallowing. Ibuprofen could also be helpful, especially if you administer it to the baby 30 minutes before the flight.
Get travel health insurance.
It’s not good to worry about the bad things that could happen when traveling with your baby. However, it’s better to prepare for any eventuality, and one way of doing that is by getting travel health insurance. Travel health insurance is a lifesaver, especially if you plan to travel internationally with your little one.
Be ready to entertain your baby.
You also need to keep the little one thoroughly entertained, especially when on long flights. Here, you need additional help in the form of tablets filled with appropriate music, games, and videos. Coloring books, puzzles, and snacks are pretty helpful too. Don’t forget to pack those safe playing toys too.
Travel with a baby carrier
Remember to carry a baby carrier too! These items are highly effective with kids aged six months or less. For such kids, sleep would never come unless they’re resting on the mom’s chest or dad’s. The close connection with at least one of the parents helps make the baby restful and comfortable for significant periods while keeping your hands free.
4. Traveling with a Baby–Six Tips for Bringing Your Baby to a Hotel
Book hotels with separate sleeping areas (safe, quiet)
Where possible, avoid sleeping on the same bed with your babies. Your baby needs a particular sleeping area or room. Some parents choose hotels with large enough bathrooms, where they place the bassinet or travel crib. Additionally, you ought to book safe and quiet hotels. A corner room would be as just as quiet too!
Reserve Large Hotel Rooms
Secondly, it’s essential to reserve larger rooms. A small room makes the baby feel all crumpled up, which then increases the level of restlessness. Large rooms offer more space for you, the baby, and the luggage that you carried. Moreover, you can prepare a mat on the floor for your baby to play on too.
Maintain Home Routines
Your baby gets accustomed to a few routines at home. When traveling, you should not discard these routines. Yes, time zone could be a challenge, but you can work your way around that too. The point is to give babies as much normalcy as they are familiar with from home.
Check for Bathtubs
Not all hotels have a combination of showers and bathtubs. Therefore, check with your preferred place of accommodation first. It’s a good idea to settle on a room with a bathtub. You can use the bathtub for bathing your child, as it’s more comfortable and child-friendly than showers.
Traveling with a Baby–Call Ahead for Baby Supplies
It pays to call ahead to confirm if the hotel has baby supplies. That way, you can reduce your expenses and save money. Additionally, this allows you to travel light as well. Sound machines for white noise, diaper pails, bottle warmers, and high chairs are a few items that many hotels have.
Traveling with a Baby–Clean the Room
Many hotels do an excellent job of cleaning their rooms. However, there is no harm in cleaning it further in case you feel a bit apprehensive. For this, you would need disinfecting wipes that you can use for cleaning the TV, remote control, telephones, alarm clocks, and other objects that your kid might want to touch.
（Baby rides a plane）
5. Traveling with a Baby–Three Tips for Dealing with a Potentially Sick Baby
Carry portable drug list
First, you should carry a portable drug list if you must travel with a sick child. Even if the child isn’t in a delicate state, you shouldn’t leave this list at home. Again, consult your pediatrician for more information.
Traveling with a Baby–Learn about nearby pharmacies
Secondly, you should do a bit of research to discover the nearby pharmacies. This information could be helpful and save the life of your child in emergencies. Write down the names of the nearby pharmacies, hospitals, and medical facilities.
Traveling with a Baby–Buy Travel Health Insurance
Most importantly, you should not travel without travel health insurance. Make sure that your baby receives all the jabs before getting insurance.
Other measures you can take include:
- asking your pediatrician for a number that you can use to get in touch 24/7 from anywhere in the world
- carrying a first aid kit that includes pain reliever, diarrhea medication, fever reducer, and antihistamines
（A Sick baby)
6. Traveling with a Baby—Four Safety Tips for Traveling with Your Baby
Don’t let your baby leave your line of sight
Make sure that your baby is never out of your sight for a single moment. It only takes seconds for babies to hurt themselves. You should be just as vigilant as you would when back at home.
Traveling with a Baby–Don’t leave your baby with strangers.
Where possible, you should always travel with your partner and the baby. If this isn’t possible, then your baby should be by your side at all times. Don’t trust strangers with your baby.
Traveling with a Baby–Keep your baby in place with a safety belt.
When traveling, the baby should remain in the seat with a safety belt. Check if the safety belt works first. Remember, even in planes, and turbulence can throw your baby out of the heart, thus causing grievous bodily harm.
Traveling with a Baby–Remove dangerous objects from the hotel room.
Lastly, check the hotel room thoroughly for dangerous objects. Remove all these objects. Sharp objects and protruding pieces of hard plastic or metal can hurt your baby. The windows and doors should also be secure, and all lights must work properly too.
（Mother is protecting baby safety）
Conclusion
Are you now ready to travel with your child? Internalize the above tips for traveling with a baby. More importantly, remember that the goal isn’t to make your travel tedious. Instead, it is to make the whole experience safe and pleasant for you and your baby! These tips should also help you to save money and avoid unnecessary risks or dangers.