Deanna Niles McConnell gives five experience-tested tips for hitting the road after giving birth.
Photo: gregor_y
A lot of people believe parenthood is the end of the party. The needs of a tiny person can be overwhelming, and it often feels easier to just never leave the house. There’s all that stuff that babies need (or we’re told that babies need), and you hate the idea of traveling with more than just a backpack and a smile.
But there’s no need to let your new addition keep you home. Quite the contrary: babies are portable and often don’t need as much stuff as you’d think. We traveled with our 10-week old daughter Maggie, had a delightful time, and only took one additional piece of luggage–her car seat.
Here are five tips to get you ready for traveling again:
1. Leave the stroller and portable crib at home.
Photo: dougbelshaw
Strollers can be bulky, hard to navigate through crowds, they certainly don’t work on hikes, and some smaller attractions might have you check them at the door. And those pack-and-play cribs are a heavy, cumbersome joke.
Instead, wrap baby-wearing carriers–long cloth pieces that can be tied and configured however you need–let you pop your baby in and out whenever you happen upon a place you want to see. If you’re skilled at transitions, you can move them into the carrier without waking them from naps. And if you wear the baby in the correct position in a wrap or sling, you can discreetly sneak in a feeding.
As for sleeping, call ahead to see if your hotel/hostel/B&B might have a pop up crib you can borrow. We used an infant travel bed, which folded up and fit right into our main backpack. Co-sleeping is also a great way to save space, provided you can do so safely.
2. Plan to do a little laundry.
We use cloth diapers, which sound like a traveler’s nightmare until you realize how handy a clean cloth diaper can be. They take care of spit up, make great padding for fragile objects, and do double-duty in a first aid kit if you need to apply pressure.
That said, babies do leak an extraordinary amount of goo, and you should scope out the local laundry options. This is also a great way to meet and get to know locals–babies attract attention, and if you can use your baby’s friendly smiles to start a conversation, you can ask the local opinion on things that aren’t covered in the guide book.
3. Go slow and do your homework.
Photo: Kyle L.
We planned light daily itineraries with ample opportunities for hanging out in parks and feedings. We were pleasantly surprised when our daughter proved to be fairly hardy and we were able to pack more into the day. Respect your baby’s needs: if you have a rough baby day, you aren’t disappointed that you weren’t able to do all you wanted, and if you have a good baby day, you get to do more than you thought.
Check to see what your urgent care options are. And for nursing moms: read up on local delicacies and start to incorporate new foods into your diet before you leave. Vacation is a bad time to discover that a new dish bothers baby’s belly.
4. Use what you already have.
Got lightweight camping towels? Don’t bring extra spit up rags or blankets. A camp towel takes up little space and quickly washes up if it gets stained. And if your baby is overstimulated by the new locale and needs to be swaddled to calm down, they make an excellent large swaddling blanket–that camp towel brought us from five-alarm baby meltdown to seven blissful hours of sleep within five minutes.
Do you take a water bladder system in your backpack? Use it to store fresh water for bottles if you bottle-feed. You already take a day pack with you–repack it to serve as a diaper bag. Don’t buy into the idea that everything you use for baby has to be new, pastel, and sold by Babies ‘R Us–you’ll pack less and enjoy more.
5. Keep a journal.
Sharing the world beyond your hometown with your child is a major moment for new parents. Don’t let sleep deprivation keep you from remembering every moment.
Community Connection:
While the advice here is geared toward practical tips for traveling with an infant, Janice Stringer offers 10 considerations for traveling with toddlers and older kids. If you’re wondering why you should travel with your kids, Kate Sedgwick offers seven reasons.
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THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS. This is one of my biggest worries for after we have kids… making sure we don’t stop living because we have a tiny person on board.
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Congratulations! You’ve learned the most important lesson that having a child can teach–that there are different ways of doing things and looking at the world and things to appreciate and have fun with. Best example: hiking with a toddler, you don’t look for panoramic vistas as much as you used to, but if you’re open to the experience, you learn how much neat stuff there is to see–bugs, rocks, etc.–close at hand along the trail. Take the kids and learn from them and you’ll all benefit!
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“Big ups” to your comments, David. My baby took a 30+ hour train ride at two months old and got her first passport stamp (Honduras) before her first birthday (this July); hopefully she’ll get her second before we have to start paying for her plane ticket.
Traveling with a child is definitely “different” from traveling just two adults, much the same way that growing/eating your own vegetables is “different” than eating a salad.
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What a great piece. I don’t have kids, but I like to think that if/when I do I will take them out into the wide world. I have seen so many families making it work while traveling, what an amazing way to grow up!
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When you bring your little one, you are no longer the average tourist in the eyes of your hosts. Across Europe, and then Micronesia, we were accepted and trusted as normal people, and being a young family broke many cultural and social barriers. We were actually able to go much deeper this way, see more and be invited in. To top it off, our son loved every minute, clearly happy and amused.
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Living in Utah, I am AMAZED how far and wide people will adventure with infants and small children. My friends take their 1-year-old backcountry skiing, backpacking, hiking in slot canyons, you name it. My other friends’ 2-year-old is already learning to ski. It makes children sound like way more fun. I can’t wait to have kids just so that I can take them into the mountains.
Water exploration is tough, though. I was kayaking and came across a dad who was putting his 5-year-old in an eddy so he could go back and peel his wife off a bridge support, where she had wrapped her canoe. I stayed with the child because I knew there was no way her ducky would stay in that eddy, and a 5-year-old probably wouldn’t stay still alone on a river anyway. She’d get too worried after 20 minutes and head into the (ice-cold) river or out to the mountain in search of her parents.
I only noticed them because I was going upstream to retrieve a friend. I honestly don’t know what the dad would have done without that coincidence. He couldn’t just leave his wife squashed on a bridge, but the kid could have gotten into so much trouble alone. And all this happened on the laziest, most family-friendly stretch of mountain river in Utah.
My boss wants to get his 3-year-old into river sports. After watching this mini disaster unfold, I suggested he hook up with the local water adventure groups to find out what’s doable and safe. Local experts can help keep parents from getting in over their heads.
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Thanks for this story! With any luck we’ll be joining the ‘parent club’ soon and it’s comforting to read that traveling doesn’t have to end when babies are born! Everyone keeps saying, ‘oh, I’m so glad you’re traveling now before you settle down.’ I hope we never settle down!
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Thank you so much for this! i am having a baby next year and I thought my dreams of traveling were over, but im glad to find out it doesnt have to be that way!
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It is reassuring to see that this is possible. I will be marrying soon and my fiancee and I are both very active, love traveling and the sort. Thanks for sharing this.
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