Traveling with a Baby

It's hard to believe but the holidays are fast approaching, and that means that lots of people and families will be traveling! We are heading to Hilton Head Island, SC for a little family vacay in a few weeks. Keith will be flying down a few days ahead of us, so our flight down will be just me and Gracie.

 

I am both excited and terrified to be traveling alone with a 6 month old :)

I've been doing lots of research and talking to other moms to come up with the best things to pack, and the best tips for traveling with a little one. This is a round up of the things I think will be the most helpful!

 

1. Wear your baby -- since we are flying alone, I will need both hands! Wearing her is the perfect solution. I have several carriers, but my favorite was a gift from her godmother, the Beco Gemini. It is super easy to put on and very comfortable for us both!

 

2. Pack lightly -- we opted to rent a condo that has a washer and dryer in the unit, so my plan is to pack as little clothes as possible and just do laundry there. Same goes for her blankets, towels, bibs, ect. My goal is one checked bag for all of our things, and then one carry-on that will mostly have her things, my wallet, phone, ect.

 

3. Check your stroller and seat at the gate -- I've read many, many things that said a) never rent a carseat from a car rental company and b) never check the stroller and carseat with the rest of your luggage. Some moms might disagree with this, but I decided I didn't want to take any chances. So we purchased a lightweight stroller that her infant seat clicks into, and I will check both at the gate. I know it might seem silly since I just said to wear her as much as possible, but it will be nice to have a place to put her down when I need to use the bathroom :) And then when I get off the plane, I'll have her own seat to install right into our rental car.

 

4. Find the nearest Target -- my first stop after we land will be to find a Target and buy any baby items that I didn't want to pack. This includes diapers, wipes and formula to last us the week. Again, less items to pack! I will also pick up a case of water, granola bars, cereal, a frozen pizza - just little stuff to snack on, since we have a full kitchen.

 

5. Keep a routine -- Gracie does not do well when her daily routine is thrown off, so my goal is to stick as close to her schedule as possible. Feeding her on the go won't be an issue, but she goes to sleep by 6:30pm every night, so unless we have an extremely early dinner out - I forsee lots of take-out and drinking wine on our back patio :)

6. Don't stress -- I am sure that traveling with a baby is going to be a TON of work. But it's super important to both ith and I, that Gracie travels the world! So because it's so important to us, I know we will have to expect things to go awry, her to have some meltdowns, but all in all - to create amazing memories with our little family.

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Any other mama's out there have any good traveling tips I might have missed??