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If you’re a parent gearing up to travel with a baby — congrats! Your travels may look slightly different than those pre-kid days, but traveling with a baby is 100% worth it. Traveling and exploring a new place usually results in sweet memories that you’ll always cherish, even if your baby won’t! Here are a few baby travel essentials to make your trip go as smoothly.
Ok, so we’re starting with a pricey item — but if you value your sleep then this item is worth it! This pod fits over a crib or playard and blocks 90% of light. This makes it so much easier to share a hotel room with your baby — they go to sleep early and you can still get things done and not have to worry about keeping the lights off.
Pair this with a small white noise machine, and you’re sure to keep your baby on their sleep schedule! We recommend bringing your regular playard if it’s not too bulky since your little one will already be used to it. You can also grab a more comfortable mattress for it, but for safety reasons, you need to make sure it fits!
Budget option: If you don’t want to fork over the money for a SlumberPod, you could try one of these more affordable canopy tents that also claim to block most of the light. There are also the good ol’ portable blackout curtains that are sure to get the job done. These baby travel essentials will make sure you get a good night’s sleep during your travels!
Most hotels and Airbnbs don’t have high chairs and if your little one is in that messy-eater phase of life, it’s one of the top baby travel essentials to pack! Of course, you don’t want a bulky chair to lug around so we recommend a fabric high chair. It fits on the back of most chairs and has a harness to keep your little one safe.
- Carseat and Stroller Travel bag with wheels
These are hands-down two of the best baby travel essentials you can buy. Most airlines let you check a stroller and car seat for free. And sure, you could let them check the gear without a bag but that’s what newbs do. And you’re not a newb. Get a bag — preferably one with wheels and it will make your life so much easier when you’re trekking through the airport.
But the best part is these bags are huge! That means you can use the extra space to store lightweight items like extra diapers or blankets. That’s a win-win!
4. Baby carrier
Even if you normally don’t wear your baby, you may want to consider doing so for the airport trip alone. Having your hands free to handle your luggage — or older children! — makes getting through the airport so much easier.
And if you need a new carrier, especially one that fits kids up to 70 lbs, check out Baby Tula! They have a wide range of sizes and they’re all durable and easy to use.
Unless you or your child are attached to your regular-sized stroller, we recommend traveling with an umbrella stroller…it’ll save you a lot of cargo space. You don’t need anything fancy, just a regular umbrella stroller will do! It’s easy enough to fold up that you can store it in the overhead compartment on the airplane if you need to.
- Travel car seat (and seat belt clip if you’re going abroad!)
You may want to consider bringing your car seat with you on your travels. Not only do experts recommend that it’s safest for kids to fly while strapped into their car seat, but it’ll also save you a lot of headaches when you arrive at your destination, assuming you’ll need to drive or take Ubers while there.
Wirecutter has a great breakdown of the best travel car seats on the market. Their favorite is the Chico Keyfit 35 due to how easy it is to install it securely without a base…, who wants to lug around a car seat base too!?
If you have older kids, check out the Ride Safer Travel Vest. It’s a lightweight safety harness that can fit kids up to 110 lbs!
If you’re traveling internationally, another thing to consider is a seat belt clip. You’ll quickly find that not all cars are equipped with seat belt buckles, which makes it hard to safely secure the car seat. Grab your portable buckles and you’ll never have to worry about it!
No, you don’t need to pick up rock climbing as a sport on your family travels. These carabiners can come in handy to make sure you don’t lose anything — clip your water bottle to your stroller or backpack, clip those little toys together, or attach them to the car seat…whatever you need!
Tape can come in handy for many things, but it’s especially useful when baby proofing a new hotel room!
This is one of the most important baby travel essentials that you can’t forget! Seriously, don’t be caught without this. Sure you could use a regular plastic bag, but these Arm & Hammer bags are infused with baking soda so it helps camouflage the smell!
Tell us: what are your favorite baby travel essentials we should add?