Your first vacation with your baby can be exciting and it also takes some advanced planning to ensure its success.
We have provided 10 tips to consider when you are planning your vacation.
1. Food and water. If you are going to a popular, well-developed location like Cancun, or a major European city easy access to water and food for your baby will not likely be a problem. If your vacation entails travel to remote areas, or even on a cruise make sure that you know how and where you will get water and food for your baby during the trip.
2. Be self-sufficient when it comes to medications. Bring the medications that your baby may need for fevers, upset stomach, rashes, ear infections and diarrhea.
3. In the past when it was just you and your spouse traveling on your own - you may have been on the go for the most part and you didn’t spend much time in your room. Things will be different now. Every day your baby will be napping and on many of those days it will be in your hotel room - or in your cabin on a cruise ship. Give yourself a place to spend the time that your child is napping - consider upgrading your room so that it has a balcony that you can relax on while your child sleeps.
4. Reduce your expectations. Anticipate that your vacation will not be as jammed packed as it used to be. Plan your day’s events around some time to stop and play and exercise with the baby. Identify the vacation places that each of you really want to see or visit on the trip - and then agree upfront that each of you will have times to see what they want to see while the other parents looks after your baby.
5. Our babies love to sleep in the stroller. That is great when we are at home - but not always so great on a vacation. If your baby is in their stroller too much during the day they may end up having too much daytime sleep making it difficult for them to sleep at night. During the day plan for regular breaks to get the baby out of their stroller and play with them at a park, or place a blanket on the ground and spend some time playing with them outside of their stroller.
6. Takes direct flights when flying. When possible avoid connecting air flights. Flying for babies is not always easy. The change in air pressure during take-offs and landings can be hard for babies.
7. Travel bed. Bringing your own compact travel bed with you ensures that your baby will be sleeping in a comfortable and safe environment. There is no guarantee about the quality of the crib that the hotel will provide to you when you arrive.
8. If possible bring your own car seat. The ones provided by car rental companies are sometimes questionable.
9. A month or so before you travel contact your baby’s doctor to advise that you will be travelling with your baby. Ask the doctor if there are any required vaccinations for the places that you plan on visiting during the trip.
10. Check list. Write a list of the items that you will carry with you as you travel and a list of the items that you will pack for your baby to be used during the trip. Check the list a week before the trip and then check it again the day before the trip to make sure that you have everything.