How to Travel with a Baby in 2021: Top Six Most Effective Tips

While the COVID-19 baby boom turned out to be a baby bust, in reality, a new study has revealed that a dramatic rebound is on the cards. According to the survey, experts are now anticipating a 10-15% surge in baby births over the expected numbers in the summer and fall of 2021. If you’re one of the parents expecting a baby later in the year, a huge congratulations to you.

What’s even better is that around the time your baby comes on board the journey of life, travel restrictions would have eased a little as well. This will give you a perfect opportunity to go on a vacation with your newborn to make some memories soon as they arrive. However, travelling with an infant or baby could be a taxing task. The good news is that you have plenty of time to prepare for that one journey to beat them all.

Here are the top six most effective tips for travelling with a baby or an infant when the world finally opens up. With these tips, you are guaranteed to have a trip with your baby that will give them something great to look back upon when they grow up.

1. Minimize the Travel Time

This is one of the most crucial steps to ensure that your baby is super comfortable and has a good time on the trip. Plan a trip that’s to the point and short. To illustrate, if you plan a trip to remote hilly areas involving many winding roads and switching vehicles, you’re just asking for trouble as it will make the baby cranky.

On a similar note, long-travel will also cause the baby to get cranky and uneasy. Therefore, it’s best to choose a destination that can be easily approached and doesn’t take long to reach, whether you’re driving or taking any other means of travel.

2. Reduce Stopovers

Remember this, while stopovers are relaxing and help adults rejuvenate from a long stretch of driving or travelling, it’s the opposite for babies or infants.

Babies tend to get bothered and stressed if there is a lot of luggage hauling, stopovers during road trips, or layovers at airports. This could be caused by disturbed sleeping patterns or an irregular feeding cycle. It would be a bad idea to plan any destination that would require such interruptions. Instead, plan a destination that can be reached in one go and directly from your town or city.

3. Check Weather Forecast Beforehand

It would be best if you check the weather of the destination before making any plans at all. There are dedicated websites like Weather Tomorrow, which give the current climate in any location and give the forecast for the coming days. 

This will help you pick a destination with the perfect weather that will suit your newborn. Choose a destination that’s not too hot and neither too chilly, and it shouldn’t be too humid or too dry. Bear in mind, any extremity will put your baby in discomfort and make it difficult for you. 

4. Go an Extra Mile With Lodging

The whole purpose of this trip is to make memories with your newborn. But if the star of the trip is cranky and uneasy throughout the journey, you’ll have more bad memories than good ones. Check out all-inclusive packages on offer by various hotels that include accommodation as well as other facilities. 

Your hotel must offer infant-specific meals, doctors, and other facilities. Give a wide berth to backpackers hostels, lodges, and homestays, which would have been your preference otherwise.

5. Plan a Minimal Itinerary

The famous adage that goes, “Less is more”, holds quite a lot of significance when planning a trip with your newborn. The focus of this trip should be on the comfort of the baby more than your wanderlust. 

Refrain from a heavy itinerary packed full of sightseeing and other laborious activities. Instead, stick to relaxing days on the beach, a day of sightseeing, taking pictures of the baby with prominent tourist attractions, and then some more relaxation.

6. Check Age Restrictions 

This is mainly important for first-time parents. Most accommodations and tourist spots have a minimum age for entry. Make sure and double sure that the hotel you pick and the attractions you have planned to visit accommodate an infant or baby. 

This will save you from last-minute inconveniences and disappointment by being denied entry into the hotel or a famous tourist spot. Look for the best places to travel with a baby and plan your vacation in one of those destinations.

With that said, if you start planning right away, not only will you be able to sort everything out by the time your baby is ready to travel, but you also save a lot on booking hotels and travel tickets much ahead of the time. Keep the points mentioned in this article in mind, and you’re set for a fantastic first trip with your newborn.