Tips For Your Away From Home With A Baby

Sleeping, eating, sunbathing, jet lag, foreign germs...

Traveling far away from home with your baby may seem like a crazy thing to do when you are already sleep-depraved and exhausted. But with some planning and routines in place, your vacation can really be what it is supposed to be - a time to recharge your batteries and spend time with your family and friends.

Babies are vulnerable to changed routines. They are vulnerable to jet lag, bacteria and the sun's rays. But they love spending time with their family. Many babies really enjoy bathing or even seeing new environments, unless they are deep in the phase of stranger anxiety.

Here we'll provide you with some tips and ideas on how to help baby adjust to the new environment as quickly as possible and how to make the whole stay as easy and pleasant for all of you. It takes a little bit of planning and maybe a few new things to buy, but I can guarantee that it is worth it!

Have a wonderful trip!

Tips For Your Stay Away from Home With A Baby

• Stick to the routines
• A place to sleep
• Bring your baby's pillow
• Feeding your baby
• Dealing with jet lag
• Bring a water boiler
• Going for a swim?
• Sunbathing for babies?
• Foreign germs
• Where to go - best baby vacation spots

Stick to the routines

Well, if you don't want a very cranky baby, try to maintain his usual routines at least to some degree.

How hard this is depends on your baby. If you breastfeed and are comfortable with doing it in public and your baby sleeps well in his stroller, you might only have to keep an eye on your watch and you'll be fine. Other babies are much pickier about where they sleep and eat.

By the way, if your baby is too young to really have any routines yet, then you can skip this tip. Just respond to your baby's needs as usual.

A place to sleep

Depending on how old your baby is (or if you plan for siblings), you could consider buying one that includes a bassinet.

Other choices you need to make are if you want the crib to have an opening so that your baby (or rather your toddler) can climb out and if you want a mosquito net.

Personally, I would definitely go for the mosquito net! It is very nice to know that no wasps, mosquitoes, spiders or even flies can bug your baby while asleep.

Bring your baby's pillow

To help your baby sleep better away from home, bring as much as you can of his usual sleeping gear. If he uses a pillow, bring it, and don't wash it before you go. His usual stuffed animal, blanket or sleep bag may also help. And of course 10 of his pacifiers.

Feeding your baby

Feeding is of course very easy if you only breastfeed. If not, and you have room for it in your luggage, it can be wise to bring just a few cans of your baby’s favorite foods. Regardless of if you travel abroad or not, it is nice to have something to offer your baby without having to run to the store immediately upon arrival.

But remember, at practically all destinations away from home you will be able to buy baby food if you want. You can of course also easily make you own, if you have a kitchen available.

Consider bringing a portable high chair. Most of these do however not work well for baby younger than say 8-9 months or so, depending on how strong your baby's back is. For younger babies an infant car seat works fine for feeding your baby if you are traveling by car, at least if your baby can cope with not sitting by the table with the rest of you.

Dealing with jet lag

Both you and your baby will get jet lag. The difference is that your baby can't really do anything to either change it or cope with it.

Personally, I would not travel across more than a few time zones with a baby unless I was able to stay at the destination for more than a week. But of course, it is not always possible to make that choice.

To help your baby, try the following:

• Start adapting to the new time zone already at home. Change the bedtime some 15 to 20 minutes every night before you leave. Do this for as long as it is practical - and of course depending on how much your routines have to be changed to adapt to the new time zone.


• Once at your destination away from home, start living according to the new time zone immediately. Eat according to this time zone and try to adapt the bedtime as soon as possible.


• Also make sure that you stay outside in the daylight as much as possible.


• If your baby adapts slowly, make sure you adapt more or less in the same pace. It's not fun to stay up until midnight only to have to wake up at 3 am to take care of a wide awake baby convinced that it is morning!

Bring a water boiler

If you plan to heat water at all, bring a travel water boiler. It is very convenient to be able to heat baby food or make formula just about anywhere.

If you are traveling abroad, make sure you bring appropriate plug adapters.

Also check it you might also need a voltage converter to be able to use the water boiler (and all other electronic devices, of course).

Going for a swim?

Babies get cold really quickly and really shouldn't bathe unless the water temperature is at least some 90 F (32 C).

Also remember that the chlorine used in pools can make your baby's skin very dry, so it is a good idea to put baby oil on your baby's skin before the bath.

But remember, oily babies are slippery, so be careful!

Don't forget to put on a swim diaper before letting your baby dive into the pool! Swim diapers are available both as disposable swim diapers and reusable swim diapers to choose between. Personally I prefer the reusable ones, both from an environmental perspective and to save space and money.

Sunbathing for babies?

I love sunbathing! Baby skin hates it!

Make sure to protect your baby completely from the sun until your infant is 1 year old. If you want your baby to have the pleasure of a swim in the middle of the day, try to find some shadow and use sun protective clothing for babies.

A tip - most such clothing for babies come in one piece. If you have the option to buy a two piece suit, like this one at Amazon go for it! Then you can use the top even if the bottom is wet from water or some little accident...

Another thing, while direct, strong sunlight cannot be recommended for babies for more than a few of minutes, spending a lot of time in the shade is a great way to get enough sunlight for a person's body to produce enough of the extremely important D-vitamin. More and more research is indicating that many of our major diseases are related to D-vitamin deficiency, and that the past 20 years' recommendations to avoid the sun more or less completely through clothes and sun screen have been wrong.

Your baby should never get burnt, and not be exposed to the midday sun, but playing in the shade naked, is both nice and healthy.

If you want to learn more about D-vitamin efficiency, www.Patient.co.uk has detailed information here. (Opens in new window.)

Foreign germs

Make sure you talk to a doctor about immunizations before you leave!

If you only breastfeed, your baby is not very likely to get ill from what he eats, but any baby old enough to grasp things and suck his hands are at risk to some extent.

It can be wise to bring some antiseptic wipes or alcohol hand rub gel to clean off both your own hands and for example high chairs that you borrow at different restaurants.

Where to go - best baby vacation spots

Find baby friendly vacation spots here!

More Travel Articles

• Traveling with a baby
• Walt Disney World With Preschoolers - A Guide
• Baby friendly vacation spots shared among parents
• Air travel with a baby
• Caring for a baby in hot climate
• Traveling by car with a baby
• For a succesful stay away from home
• How to breastfeed in public
• How to avoid ear pain when flying

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