The Ultimate Baby Travel Checklist to Help Keep Them & You Well-Rested
Traveling is no easy task. Add a child, or two, or three to the mix and it makes the situation even more stressful. But don’t sweat. I have you covered. I am sharing my ultimate baby travel checklist with you to make sure you have everything you need to keep your child’s sleep (and days) on track.
I am sharing everything I think was essential for travel from my personal experience of traveling with my children. My daughter has probably been on over 25 flights in her 4 years and both of my children have taken over 6 road trips (9 for my daughter since we went on a few before my son was born).
Here are some of my top travel tips to keep in mind when traveling with littles:
GIVE YOURSELF GRACE.
You are bound to forget something. Trust me, even with a checklist there is always at least 1 thing I tend to forget each time we travel. But don’t worry. There will be stores where you go and you can always grab it at your travel destination city if it is something you need and cannot be without.
SHIP ITEMS IN ADVANCE.
I literally shipped a pack n’play to my sister-in-law’s house one time because we needed one for my daughter and she did not have one. Best decision ever! We plan to go back to her place this December and will be using it again for my son. If we stay in hotels or rented places then I almost always order water bottles and diapers to be delivered to the place before we get there. Saves a ton of time and worry.
TRY TO OFFER FIRST NAP IN SLEEP SPACE.
Offering their first nap of the day in their sleep space in your travel location will help get them restorative sleep. Then the rest of the naps are okay to happen on the go in strollers, car seats, and carriers.
NOTHING HAS TO BE PERFECT.
I love preaching the 80/20 rule. I want you to remember that YOU are also on vacation. YOU need to enjoy yourself instead of being stuck in a room/home just because your baby needs to nap/sleep. Have fun and enjoy a little. But just a little, okay. Just Kidding.
BRING ITEMS FOR SLEEP SUCCESS.
Be sure to create a similar sleep space for your child wherever you are traveling. If you are sharing a room with your child or multiple children for that matter then the space can get tight super quickly.
Here are some items that help create an ideal sleep space:
SOUND MACHINE WITH CHARGER
PORTABLE SOUND MACHINE WITH CHARGER
SLUMBERPOD ($20 OFF WITH CODE: RESTEDMAMA20)
PORTABLE CURTAINS/BLACK HEAVY DUTY TRASH BAGS/ TIN FOIL
LOVEY/BLANKET
PORTABLE CRIB/ PACK N’PLAY WITH SHEETS
MONITOR OR CAMERA WITH CHARGER
FIRST AID KIT
*These items are essential even if you won’t be sharing a room with your child/children when traveling.
DOWNLOAD MY DETAILED BABY TRAVEL CHECKLIST NOW.
Remember, that travel causes a true sleep regression that results in changes in your baby’s sleep patterns. They could experience short naps, multiple night wakings, early risings, harder to put to sleep, or numerous other things. These sleep changes may last for days, weeks, or months.
I talk about my daughter’s sleep regression from our travels to India when she was 5 months old in this blog in case you want to read it. I basically share the difficulty we had and that it took us several weeks to get her sleep back on track and still it was not perfect for several months after.
Here are some things to remember once you return home from travel:
GIVE YOUR BABY TIME. Give them time to adjust back to their normal routine once home.
PRACTICE WHAT YOU DID BEFORE TRAVEL. Continue to practice the same sleep practices you did before you traveled. If you did not use any sleep associations then do not start using them now. I am not saying that you should not help soothe your baby though. Soothe as you please.
PAUSE. Give them the chance to practice self-soothing techniques and try to fall back asleep on their own. Attend to them as needed.
STAY AT HOME. Try your best to stay at home for the first few days after returning home from travel to help have consistency in their day and they are able to get restorative sleep in their sleep space. On-the-go sleep is not as restorative as sleeping in their ideal sleep space.
If you found this blog to be informative and useful then please forward to a friend that may find this baby travel checklist helpful.
Want more guidance and support to improve your baby’s sleep?
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NIGHT NIGHT,
Unnati
For more information on how I help CREATE RESTED & THRIVING FAMILIES follow along at @nestedtorestedsleep and SIGN UP for my monthly NEWSLETTER.
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