To a lot of people, the thought of traveling with littles is terrifying, anxiety inducing and something people just don’t want to do. When I was pregnant with Eloise everyone said we’d put a stop to all of our traveling, but we knew better ;) From flying, to road trips, to napping on the go… I’m sharing all of my favorite tips and tricks! Keep in mind that Eloise is only 18 months old, so our travel experience with her ranges from 4 months to now!

Must have baby gear

We have the Ergo 360 and it is easily one of our most used baby items! Before she was mobile it helped us get around almost as well as we did pre-baby since you still have the use of both your hands! Now that we are in the mobile stage it’s still great for getting through areas like public transportation & crowds, or when she’s tired of walking…but it is the BEST for naps on the go. Check out the carrier we have {here}

Our stroller is the BEST. And I’m not biased because we ordered/tried several & did a ton of research before choosing this one! ;) It folds up small enough to fit in the overhead bin on the plane so no need to gate check, comes with a backpack carrying case so you have your hands free when you’re not using it, is super light (roughly 12 pounds), lays back so kiddos can nap in it and still has a little bit of storage underneath. I can open/close the whole thing with one hand and light enough to hold in one hand if you have to fold it up quickly and carry for public transport, stairs, etc. The only downside is the lack of cup holders, but we got something similar to {this} to solve the issue. It’s lightweight and the stroller still folds up great with it attached! Check out our stroller {here}

Sleeping on the go

When we travel, the first thing I have to let go of is a sleep schedule. Eloise has never been a great sleeper, but we pretty much stick to nap at 12:30/1 and bed at 7:30/8 when we’re home. With travel you can’t live and die by sleep schedules, or if you absolutely cannot let go of it then you need to either extend your trip or accept that you won’t see everything you want to see.

We do naps on the go, in the carrier or in the stroller. Sometimes she’ll do two smaller naps during the day since they tend to be shorter and most of the time we end up with a pretty late bedtime. There have been times where one of us ends up wearing a sleeping baby through dinner because for some reason when we travel dinners are always late (8-9ish) and little girl just can’t hang.

Packing Tips

Make a list. This is a given for me in almost any aspect of my life, but especially with traveling. I make a list specifically for Eloise about 2 weeks before and add things to it as I think of them leading up to the trip. A few days before it’s nice to just cross things off as they are packed and not have to worry that I’m forgetting something!
Pack one outfit per day plus two extra outfits. This is our rule of thumb NOW, but Eloise used to be known as the “blowout queen” until she was about a year old…averaging one blowout per day (yes, we tried every brand - every size - every hack, girlfriend just had explosive poo!). When we traveled then we packed two outfits per day.
Diapers. Eloise goes through about five diapers a day on average now, so we pack five per day plus one extra days worth. The last thing you want is for a flight to be delayed/cancelled or have car problems and you’re stuck rationing diapers or have to do an emergency Uber run!
Pack less pajamas! At home we do a fresh pair of jams each night, but to save space I normally plan on her wearing one pair for two nights, plus her “travel clothes” for the plane or car ride are normally PJ’s so we always have extras to grab from if something gets dirty!
Travel with the second or third favorite blankie/lovie. Eloise’s blankie is HUGE (and it was expensive, so I’m not buying another one unless something dire happens) so we normally take a much smaller blanket that she loves, and doesn’t seem to mind that it’s not her main squeeze. Our last trip we did take her main blanket, but honestly she’s not SUPER attached to it like some kiddos are so it’s not a big deal for us one way or another.
Toiletries. The beauty of kids toiletries, they don’t need a ton! We have one travel sized hair/body wash we toss in the bag plus a thing of kids tylenol. Always keep the tylenol in your diaper bag/carry on…you never know when teething will strike and you don’t want to have to dig it out of the trunk or be without on the plane!
Bring a jacket/sweatshirt, even in the summer. There have been a couple times when the weather threw us a curveball (60 degrees here does not always feel the same as 60 degrees there!) and you don’t want to be stuck inside or have to shell out money for a jacket when you have 10 perfectly good ones sitting at home.
Be prepared for everything. I know it’s a given, but be as prepared.as.possible. when you’re out and about. We have had our fair share of blowouts, boo-boo’s, and other situations when traveling. Keep a change of clothes for kiddo in your diaper bag, plenty of diapers and I especially love (these) bags for poopy diapers and clothes.
Busy bag. Lifesavers when traveling, I do something different depending on how we’re getting somewhere so I’ll get into that in Road Trips with Kids & Flying with Kids - stay tuned!

What did I miss?

I have several more posts coming up diving into the specifics of road trips, flying with kids, traveling with breastmilk and tons more! Have a specific question? Drop a comment below and I’ll make sure to cover it :)