Lots of people have asked us how we can travel with a baby. It’s all bout practice really. Here are our top tips for traveling with a baby we learned when she was less than 6 months old.

Traveling with a newborn baby is one of the most rewarding things you can experience as a family. For some people it sounds impossible, or at least so incredibly stressful that you wouldn’t even know where to start. That is why, we have written this guide for you. By the time our little one was 3 months old she has been on the road a third of her life.

We have survived bomb scares and riots and feel ready to take in the world as a family.

Before she was 6 Months old, we had completed 7 trips around Europe without a car.

With a ten week trip around south east Asia well under way and plenty of posts over on our instagram, people have been asking us how do we manage to travel with a baby. We thought it was time to share our tips with the world while we find some new ones for our big voyage.

Our travel style

Melow and I can’t drive which means we only travel via public transport, planes and cabs (when needed).

Taking our daughter with us on planes and trains has been fun and has turned us into a well oiled traveling machine. These trips from the age of 3 weeks to 6 months have all been in Europe. Good thing we got the practice in when she was a few weeks old. We are currently on a ten week trip around Southeast Asia and feel like we have this traveling with a baby down to a fine art!

That’s why we thought it would be fun to share this with any other brave parents like us who want to start traveling with their babies.

1 – Be Brave, Young Parents

It’s going to be stressful, you are going to need some courage and some nerve! You need to be brave.

We are in our mid 30s so as you can expect have many new parents in our circle of friends and family. We believe the biggest mistake is staying home with the baby.

The earlier you start the easier it becomes.

Getting out and about has been a liberating and empowering experience for all of us!

I’m not going to tell you it’s not stressful. It definitely is. Getting stuck at the Eurostar during a bomb alert was definitely one of the most stressful moments ever.

However, traveling with our newborn has helped us come together as a family. We have grown closer as we survived the challenges and stresses that come with traveling as a baby. We would recommend it to anyone to get out there with their little one.

It’s much easier before they can walk 😉 So you’d better get them used to travelling before it happens (and it can happen earlier than you imagine)

2 – Take it slow

Everything takes longer with a baby.

As experienced travelers we used to get to the airport and hour before our flight took off, now we allow a lot more time! It may be boring getting there three hours in advance but allowing yourself the time for poonadoes, vomit fountains and minor melt downs saves a lot of stress in the long run!

Lower your expectations, everything is going to take longer. Lower your expectations and go with the flow.

3 – Get a panic bag

This is the one thing we don’t leave the house without.

Every single time, we take a panic bag and whether its ten weeks or ten minutes, its the same bag. We found ours on wish, it is slim, has a built in changing mat and holds everything you need in it (because you will need all that, you just don’t know when) from a spare change of clothes to a days supply of nappies and wipes.

Here is the one we use and have bought to all our friends.

4 – Pack one big bag for three

This is the tip we wished someone told us at the beginning. You need to get used to sharing stuff and sharing a big bag makes everything easier when it comes to traveling with a baby.

One carries the bag and the other one the baby.

To make it easier we pack lots of little bags into the big bag so we all have our own space and can find things easier. This probably needs a blog of its own !

Here is the one we are using for our big trip.

5 – A little home away from home

In our eyes, travel cots are heavy and bulky. Tris’s big sister had us test them before we even got a baby and told us her favorite thing from her travels with two little ones was a baby tent!

The baby tent acts as a little home away from home, somewhere that smells like home and they are used to sleeping in. It’s easy to carry everywhere, lighter that a travel cot and very comfortable and safe.

Getting them used to it from an early age is key. You don’t want to add new things to the stress of your first night away so test it at home and when you go round a friend’s for dinner.

This is the one we bought by Deryan. We spent hours comparing online the different brands and this had the best characteristics : size, weight, UV protection, extra windscreen available… You can even choose the color !

Having your baby sleep wherever you go gives you the confidence you need to travel further.

6 – Set a Max Travel / On the road time

Some of the worst moments we have had traveling is when we have been out for too long and our little one just lost the plot and screamed at us for an hour.

Now we set a max out of the house time for when we are traveling and when we go out exploring.

You will find what this is and it will change as you all grow but we recommend keeping it below three hours to begin with and then working up to longer trips. We are now confident to be out the house for more than 8, but that took practice!

Have baby, can travel!

Sleepless nights, grumpy babies and tiredness for the whole family is unavoidable. May as well be in beautiful surroundings rather than locked up at home.

The best thing about traveling with a baby is you are priority everywhere, people are more friendly than ever and you will get plenty of free stuff. We believe it’s an unmissable experience. We love traveling with our baby.

We love traveling with our baby.

We hope these tips inspire you and are looking forward to hearing your travel plans!

Follow our adventures over on Instagram and subscribe for more random travel blogs.