Traveling with a little one under 6 months

Dear Jim,

Before our little one hits the six month mark we will have traveled together by car, train, tram, and plane (plus a short ferry ride). For me, living far away from my family, having this flexibility to move around has meant a lot because it means we can connect more easily with loved ones. Even within Finland, being willing to test out traveling options has been really beneficial for our ability to have tiny adventures around people and events that are important to us.

Traveling with such a small person can feel daunting, especially if the day-to-day tasks are already feeling like a lot. At the same time, traveling with a little one is a great adventure and, without any experience of traveling with older children, this does seem like a good age to travel. In this post we want to share with you some of the things we kept in mind while planning our trips and some suggestions on how you can get started as well.

 

Decide your travel option

Deciding on where you want to go will help you decide how you want to travel. This might sound deceptively obvious but, like we listed above, there are many ways you can travel. Locally, traveling by car, bus, or tram might be your best option. Or maybe you have great trains available to you like we do around many regions of Finland. Or you might find that taking a plane or a boat is the best way to get quickly to where you are going—a plane is the best option for us to get to Spain but traveling by boat would be the best option to get to Tallinn for example.

One thing we would say is don’t discount the small trips either. A day trip by bus to a neighboring city or an overnight trip by train are great ways to get some travel practice in because the more you practice, the more comfortable you will be when a bigger trip comes around. In our case, we did many such “small” trips before getting ready to do a “big” two week trip to Spain which required plane travel.

 

Decide your accommodation

These days there are so many ways to travel and so many different places you can stay. In order to know what is best for your trip, we recommend trying to reflect on what your day-to-day needs are for your little family. For us, even though hotels can be convenient, staying in an apartment felt more like home and allowed us to have access to things that can make every day life feel a bit smoother.

Which is not to say we haven’t stayed in hotels, we just appreciate the ease of being able to cook breakfast “at home” or spread out a bit more. This meant that we often looked for Airbnbs or similar locations to stay in. It is also nice to be able to invite guests around and spend time in a shared place. In addition, if you are traveling with family and friends, a shared place can be a convenient way to spend time together while your little one is tired or sleeping. Reflect on what you need and then you will be better equipped to decide where you stay!

For example, things that are important to you may be:

• Enough space to put down a play mat so your little one has their own area. We highly recommend ensuring you have this space so that your little one can feel comfortable and at home while also exploring a new place.
• A sink and counter space outside the bathroom for washing bottles, pumps, baby plates/bibs, etc. Especially if you are pumping, having this more sanitary cleaning space can be very important, or then reflect on how you can make a hotel bathroom fit your needs.
• A microwave for sanitizing.
• A kitchen for cooking meals at home. This is especially helpful when preparing your own baby food and when the baby goes to sleep before parents have had dinner.
• At least one room with a door that can be closed so that parents can be awake, with lights on, and have a conversation even when the baby is sleeping. We bring a monitor with us so that we can do this without concern.

 

Think about what you need to get there

Before hopping on a plane or crossing borders in other ways, it will be important to think about what identification your little one needs. In some cases, a local identity card will be enough, in other cases you will need to ensure they have a passport. Check out what this means for you in your country of residence and make sure to start the process with plenty of time to be ready for the day of your travels.

For example, in Finland to get a passport, we had to first register our child in the national database system, get a photo and photo code from a local photoshop, upload all the information to the police website, and pay for the passport. Then both parents had to virtually approve the passport (using our separate identification logins) and, once that was done, go to the police station so they could make sure everything was right and that the photo was, indeed, of our child. The whole process wasn’t long or expensive per se but it did take time and organization to ensure it happened in a timely manner.

 

Pack your bags

One thing we can really recommend is to reflect on what you want to pack in your bags and then do a test run overnight or for a weekend away so that you are sure you are confident you have what you need. Of course, you can always buy something while away but you probably don’t want to have to worry about running around looking for different things while you are on the trip. If you know your destination and their baby products really well, you can also adapt your packing accordingly. For example, if you know a local diaper brand or formula, you don’t have to worry about bringing enough for the whole trip.

Reflect not only on clothes and the things you put in diaper bags but also things you might include in your daily routines. For example, we do a morning routine that includes washing (so we need to have our towel and tiny cloth for that), putting on some oil, and getting dressed. Our night time routine includes washing or a bath, reading a book, and fairy lights. Our baby usually sleeps in pajamas and a sleeping bag and we also have a nursing towel with us overnight, so these are all things we need to bring along.

As for toys and other play things, we would recommend only bringing those things which are your child’s favorites. We took with us a couple of books and a couple of stuffed animals, but not much, and we were glad we didn’t bring more. The trip itself was an adventure for our little one and we really didn’t need much extra entertainment. Plus the time for self play was limited because of all the interactions we had with others around us and exploring our new environment. In addition, bringing fewer toys this leaves you more space to pick up a new book or toy as a memento of the trip (more for you than your baby at this age).

In addition, one recommendation that we got that we would like to pass on is to make sure you pack any medications you might possibly want with you while away. In our case, we packed a thermometer, baby panadol (what they recommend here for fevers), and a Baby Frida nose sucker. We didn’t need any of them on our last trip but it is better to have them in an easy to access place. If you are flying, make sure to keep them in your carryon bag as well for access during the flight and just in case your luggage gets lost!

Also important to keep in your carryon while flying are extra diapers, wipes, and a spare set of clothes because, while traveling, the changes in cabin pressure can create an environment for explosions. If you are holding your baby on your lap, you might want to pack extras for yourself as well.

Finally, if you are flying, consider a couple of important things:

• If you are pumping or formula feeding, you can usually carry on more liquids than 100ml x 10 in a one liter bag. Check your local restrictions but in almost all cases you have the right to carry at least enough food for your little one for the duration of the flight.
• Keep in mind that during take-off and landing, allowing your little one to nurse, eat from a bottle, or suck on a pacifier may help them clear their ears when experiencing pressure discomfort—which happens to adults so you better believe it will happen to the little one too.
• And one last thing we could recommend trying out (depending on your baby) are the baby ear protection. We have these ones and while we wouldn’t say our little one is easily bothered by noise, they definitely helped reduce the stimulation which we think helped him self regulate and sleep better on the plane. They also say it might help clear the discomfort caused during take-off and landing. We didn’t use them for the duration of the trip but we did try to use them when air pressure was changing and during naps.

 

Reflect on a schedule

If you are used to travel meaning running around seeing many things, late nights out, and being extremely flexible, consider how having a little one might change that. In our case, we considered travel days to be only travel days—that is not planning anything extra for those travel days (even from city to city within the same country)—just in case we needed the extra time to ensure the travel was done calmly or then time to rest when we had arrived.

In addition, we tried to plan every second day as a quieter “rest day” without big events, travel, or meeting a lot of people. This was good for us because our baby is not a super social baby and likes to have time to assimilate to new places and rest when tired. We also tried to limit the number of people we would meet at one time or on a given day because this can be a lot of stimulation and your baby may not want to be so social (as is our case with a young Finnish countryside baby in larger Spanish cities). Take your own baby’s needs into account but our guess would be that you should be planning to do fewer things than you might have done pre-baby.

Finally, we would recommend you evaluate how your baby naps and reflect if this can be adapted to traveling. For example, we normally have bed naps (where the baby sleeps in their own bed) but we also make sure that we have some wrap or carrier naps so that we can practice napping on the move. Previous to this trip, we also were quite successful with stroller naps in a bassinet, however, just before we were about to fly, our baby decided they didn’t like the stroller any more. So, in our case, the wrap and carrier naps saved us when we were out and about, allowing the baby to rest without having to rush back to our accommodation.

 

Pack or rent extra tools to facilitate your days

Building on the above point, reflect on what you need to make your days as easy as possible and decide if you want to bring it along with you or rent (or buy) while abroad. Some of the things we had with us are:

• Carrier: We brought two different carriers with us during the trip, a Boba wrap carrier and a Tula explore carrier. Given our baby’s size during the trip, both were useful for different times and the Tula carrier was especially useful for exploring together as it allows the baby to be front facing in an ergonomic way.
• Stroller: We bought a stroller second hand at our destination as we found it was cheaper than renting something but we have family in Spain so they were able to pick it up and bring it to us without any issues. They were also able to get rid of it once we were done as we decided we don’t need such a hefty stroller there for future use. In addition, we looked at other stroller options such as renting a stroller from the airport in Finland or from Spain, buying a carry-on stroller (we have been recommended the Yoyo BabyZen). You also usually check a stroller for free—depending on who you are flying with—either at the luggage check or as a gate check item. Check with your airline for more details!
• Car seat: This is something that is very important to have if you are traveling by car or bus without a stroller. We bought a carseat in Spain because we have family there and we are planning to visit relatively frequently but you can also bring your own (again, it may need to be checked) or rent. More and more rental options are available, both from your departure location and destination, so this might be something worth looking into.
• Bed: If you are not co-sleeping it is very important to ensure that your little one will have the bed they need. Most hotels will provide baby cots at no extra charge but we found that many Airbnbs would charge extra for this (up to 25 euros per day). In the end, we ended up borrowing a travel cot from some friends of the family and brought them some gifts from Finland as a thank you.
• Bathtub: We regularly take showers with our baby and just hold them in our arms. However, bath time is also a favorite and we were very grateful to have access to a borrowed bath as well. If you are not comfortable holding your baby in a shower for washing, consider if you want to bring a bath along or find one at your location. We borrowed this one, which is foldable and quite convenient for travel.
• Playmat, bouncer, etc.: Allowing your child to have the flexibility that they are used to is nice when it comes to play time and joining in with the family. We took a blanket with us to act as a playmat and did not take a bouncer (even though our little one does like to sit in a bouncer). Depending on your needs, consider how you can make your baby feel more comfortable while still fitting your luggage restrictions.

 

Safety and travel security

In our 20s, we barely had insurance while traveling. In our 30s, we started to be more aware about covering these needs. Now, with a young child, we are way more particular about ensuring that we have insurance, bring everything we need in our carryon luggage, and are able to be found if we lose anything important.

For our insurance, we have general coverage for each member of the family through an popular insurance provider. We pay for yearly travel insurance that covers all the basics and checked ahead of time that we would have access to hospitals at our destination if needed. We believe it is very important to be covered to a level where you are comfortable traveling because if anything were to happen, getting the support you need is very important.

In addition, before traveling, we were gifted a set of SeQR Contact tags that we could put on our luggage and other travel essentials. This is handy because we could easily input our information to their online platform and anyone can scan the QR code to contact us there without seeing our personal details. In addition, you can customize each individual sticker to have its own message or write a generic message that anyone receives when scanning the code. You can get stick-ons for normal surfaces or iron-ons for fabric items. When traveling with a little one, we highly recommend taking steps to ease your mind so that you don’t have to worry so much about worst case scenarios.

 

In our experience, with proper preparation for travels, everything can go smoothly and you can feel comfortable during the journey (or as comfortable as possible given the impossibility of control in the situation). We also feel like, the more prepared you are with these details, the more you can focus on your little one and make the experience as positive as possible for them.

What else is on your travel essentials for children under 6 months? Let us know!

Sincerely,
Spain