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Being a parent can be overwhelming. Traveling and figuring out what to pack for traveling, can also be overwhelming. Combine those two? Traveling as a parent can be a nightmare – especially if you’re not prepared.
We’ve gathered the following packing guide from our own experience of traveling with a baby to help you remember the essentials you need to include before you start jet-setting! Keep reading to find out the best items to pack for traveling as a family – we even include links so you can quickly add it to your cart!
Our Essential Packing Guide for Traveling with a Baby
Items below not mentioned in any particular order of importance. Happy browsing!
White Noise Machine
This is the first thing on my list when I start planning what to pack for a trip with my little one. From his first trip at 3 months, to his most recent trip at almost 2 years, I don’t go anywhere without his Hatch white noise machine. And before you fret, no – he is not tied forever to his sound machine. This is just a useful tool for recreating a familiar setting for easier sleep – it also helps block out surprise unwanted noise!
Our favorite white noise machine is the Hatch. We love the sound options and the changing lights – it helps us set a “ok to wake” time by letting us change the light to green in the morning. It’s not battery operated though, and that’s the one downside. If traveling through a lot of different transportation, I would consider a portable white noise machine, such as the Yogasleep Hushh.
4moms Pack n Play
This is the pack n play that we personally used with our little guy on our travels. It’s easy to fold up and down and it’s not too heavy to carry around. I’m a pretty small person and I was able to easily carry it in and out from the car. It’s very high quality and has lasted very well for us and our active baby. I usually brought a fitted crib sheet to place on the mattress that would hopefully smell like home but I would be mindful that this might not be the safest option. 4moms sells sheets on that are more appropriate for young babies to use, so I would check those out.
The other bonus with the 4moms pack n play is that the case has extra room for packing away other items. I usually stuff the sheets in, as well as maybe a pack of diapers or any books I want to bring.
Hiccapop Mattress
The Hiccapop mattress was something we added to our travel checklist as our son got older. I would be careful about adding third party mattresses into a pack n play but I felt comfortable adding this one once I knew my son was past the need for a firm mattress. It’s very comfortable and folds up very compact. As a plus, it’s very light and easy to carry around. It made the pack n play much more comfortable for my son which was something we were worried about when we went to Maine for a month.
It’s not a necessary to include if you’re traveling a great distance as it will just be another bag to carry, but if you’re going by car and have the space, it’s something I wouldn’t skip over packing.
Tin Foil and Painter’s Tape
These two items you can find at your nearest supermarket! I won’t travel anywhere with my son without tin foil and painter’s tape. If you have struggled with baby sleep, then you know why these items are included on my personal checklist. 😉
When it comes to creating the right sleep environment while traveling, it’s important to replicate the home sleep environment as much as possible. At home we use blackout curtains and make sure the room is very, very dark. We’ve tried a couple of different blackout alternatives for traveling, such as portable blackout curtains, but nothing has worked as well as tin foil. You’ll find a lot of curtains still have gaps around the edges that let light in, making the room way too bright still for keeping your little one on a schedule. And if you have a baby like mine who wakes easily, you can’t afford to have light coming in!
Another bonus of tin foil is that it is excellent at evening out the temperature in a room. Whether it’s too cold or too hot, tin foil can act as a barrier or insulation to manage the unfavorable temperatures in a room. We used tin foil in Maine to make the room cooler during the hot summer weeks.
Nanit Travel Baby Camera
You might be stumped about how to best keep an eye on your little one when you’re away from home. If we’re staying somewhere with wifi, our favorite solution is to use the Nanit Travel Camera. You just bring the camera attachment from home and attach it to the portable travel stand and – voila!
The Nanit is one of the best baby monitors in the market right now and for good reason. The camera quality can’t be beat and the setup is super easy. And the travel camera doesn’t take up any space, so it’s not a burden to bring along.
If you’re staying somewhere without wifi, you can’t go wrong with simple sound monitors like this one – VTech Audio Baby Monitor.
Travel High Chair
If your little one can sit upright and is eating solids, you may wonder what you should do about meal times. Carrying around a regular high chair is unrealistic – can you image the space that would take up? Our favorite traveling high chair is this VEEYOO Clip On High Chair that clips to the table.
You can bring it to a restaurant if you prefer not to use the high chairs provided, or you can use it for traveling to see family or friends. It doesn’t take up much space and is easily washable. Just make sure you attach it to sturdy tables to keep baby safe.
Kyte Baby Sleep Sack
The Kyte Baby Sleep Sack is our absolute favorite wearable blanket. I rightfully included it on my list of favorite baby items for 2022. These sleep sacks are so comfortable, making your little one feel cozy and safe while sleeping in a new environment. They also make it more difficult for your little one to try to escape their pack n play, which is something a lot of parents have had to deal with!
Travel Car Seat
If you’re traveling by plane to your destination and need to bring a car seat along, we recommend the Safety 1st Guide 65 Convertible Car Seat. It’s affordable enough to not have to worry about dragging it along with you country to country, getting banged up and a little dirty. We prefer to have a separate car seat for extended travel so that we can keep our home car seat “protected” from potential damage.
Car seat safety is so important to us and we recommend checking out @safeintheseat on Instagram for all the car seat knowledge. You can also visit Wanderlust Storytellers for a list of other car seats to consider for your trip.
Travel Changing Pad
When you’re going from place to place, you may not always find a flat, clean surface for changing baby’s diaper. We find bringing along a portable changing pad extremely useful for having a functional and safe environment for taking care of your little one. Especially during pandemic times, you might not want to go into a public restroom or use the fold-down baby changing stations, so this really comes in handy.
It folds very flat and has pockets for stashing small tubes of diaper cream. We bought an additional wipes container to make sure we had enough wipes for longer trips. This is something I couldn’t go without during that first year!
The Most Important Piece: Diapers
Lastly, and maybe most importantly, you can’t forget diapers! We typically pack a handful of overnight diapers (amount depending on the length of the trip) and one pack of daytime diapers. Instead of lugging around cases of diapers for a little one who can go through an inconsistent amount, we prefer to purchase diapers as needed from our destination. The best part is if we have diapers leftover, we can just bing them back home with us and continue to use at home.
These are just a few of our recommendations for packing with a baby. Obviously what you pack will be determined by the length and style of your travels. We hope to provide a free checklist soon for you to be able to print and re-use for each trip you take to help ease the stress of remembering every little thing each time!
If you like what you read, keep reading:
Don’t Skip These Top 10 Baby Items For 2022