Nine Essential Tips For Traveling With A Baby
By: Paula Heron
When traveling with a baby there are certain items that you cannot leave home without. Making sure you have enough food and milk for the duration of the journey is essential. In fact it is a good idea to pack more than you need to allow for any delays or mishaps. For the older baby include some finger foods as these will help keep him or her amused! Some other tips are:
Expressed milk if you’re a breastfeeding mom will keep safely for up to a day in a cool bag filled with ice. If your baby is on formula you can either store pre-prepared bottles in the same way or add cooled boiled water to formula you have measured into the bottle for when it’s needed.
Also available are “ready to drink” cartons of formula. These are ideal for the journey itself but bear in mind that you may not be allowed to take these packages with you into certain countries. Sealed containers of formula are not normally a problem.
Simple and easy is better when it comes to solid food. Fruits such as banana and avocado pears are ideal as they are easy to peel, mash and can be served at room temperature. Providing an adult will be sat with the baby, having plenty of finger foods is also a good idea.
Having your own baby dishes, spoons and plates with you is a good idea. Not all restaurants and cafes have them available. Disposable bibs or wipe clean plastic bibs reduce the dirty laundry you will carry around. It is also worth considering taking a travel feeding chair with you so that you can feed baby easily and comfortably no matter where you are.
If you need food or milk warming up for you, be extremely careful to check the temperature when it arrives. Obviously waiters or cabin crew may be busy and overheat the food so you will need to wait for it to cool off. With this in mind, plan ahead and put in your request for any food or milk to be warmed well before you’re really going to be needing it!
Sterilizing baby bottles and dishes and pacifiers when traveling used to be a problem. Nowadays, most retail stores that sell baby equipment have a range of products to make life easier when traveling with a baby including disposable bottle liners and microwave sterilizer bags.
You will need enough diapers and diaper disposal bags for your journey – depending on your destination you will probably be able to buy more once you arrive. A small night-light is another good thing to pack as it helps if you need to get up to feed baby during the night. If your baby is over six months old, don’t forget the sunscreen (it should not be used on babies under this age) if you are visiting a sunny climate.
To help baby better cope with the journey and help him settle better at your destination don’t forget to take his favorite blanket and toy. The blanket will not only give him comfort but it is also useful to block out the light if he is napping in a sky cot on board the plane or to protect from the sun when in his stroller.
By putting baby in lots of light layers for the traveling as it will help deal with any fluctuating temperatures – not only that but is easier to remove the top layer in case of any mishaps with food. Babies usually manage to share the mess with their parents, so don’t forget to pack a change of clothes for yourself as well.
Having found these tips useful when traveling with my own children when they were babies I hope they make things easier for other parents and help them enjoy their trip. Happy traveling.
Author Resource:-> As a mother and former owner of a Day Care facility, Paula has lots of knowledge and experience with babies and preschoolers from baby clothing to toys and books. You can visit her website to learn about cool trendy baby clothes and more.
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