Top 5 tips when planning your first trip with your first born
Our very first trip with our first born was amazing. In fact, that first trip became a core memory for both my husband and I, and it went way better than I expected it to. Traveling with an infant can be stressful, and vacations look a lot different as a young family with a baby than they do as a married couple. By keeping these tips in mind, you can make the most of your first vacation with your little one:
Select a hotel or resort where you’d be happy to stay put and not leave the property.
Bring your car seat regardless if you are renting a car or not.
Invest in product-specific travel bags for your stroller and car seat.
Bring a SlumberPod or similar product. Black out curtains alone won’t cut it!
Purchase a travel router to use your Nanit camera on public wifi.
It’s fine to over-pack on the first trip. I encourage it!
Stay at a hotel or resort with nice amenities.
Yes, a resort. Opt for one that provides all necessary amenities on-site to minimize the need to leave the property Why? Vacation rentals (AirBnBs) are great and all, and it might seem like the better choice at first to have your own kitchen, bedroom and laundry machine. But you’re on vacation, right? And as real as I tried to make my expectations about my first trip with our 7 month old being a relaxing one, I certainly wanted to try my hardest to make it that way! And we are so glad we chose a resort. Here’s why.
At a resort, everything is within walking distance: dining options, pool (and hopefully the beach if you are going somewhere warm!), gym and yoga classes (if either of you can find some self-care time), a spa (God willing), and typically a general store that has convenient items should you need a bottle of wine, a coconut water, or a new toy to keep baby occupied. There’s no need to drive to dinner or to the beach, and having nice-to-haves like a gym onsite only increases your chances of actually going. And if baby gets fussy at any point, or worst case has a melt down, you can easily bail and head back to your room.
Housekeeping is a huge added bonus. Remember, you’re on vacation! Why go through all the hard part of traveling to your destination to only have to do laundry and dishes? When we were in Hawaii on our first trip, we went through so. many. towels. Towels were replaced during our normal housekeeping routine and at turn down service, and we were so grateful for this added perk. And how nice would it be to come back to your room with a bed that is made?! Score. Clean sheets if baby spits up all over it? Mega score.
Breakfast at the hotel was such a fun part of our day too. When we went on our first trip, our baby was 7 months old and was just starting out on solids. Our resort had an omelette bar at breakfast so I was able to choose a different veggie to go into his eggs each day. We also had fun introducing him to tropical fruits like papaya, mango, and pineapple, mashing them up and sometimes stirring them into plain oatmeal. No cooking, no dishes, just an awesome and fun bonding experience.
And if all else fails, you can order room service :) Need I say more?
Bring your car seat.
First off, I recommend renting a car, even if you don’t plan on using it a lot. If you are planning this trip in advance, prices should be competitive with the total cost spent on ride share services. Think about getting to and from the hotel and airport, what you’ll do if you need to make a run to the grocery store, or if you want to go offsite for a meal/activity. We only planned on using our car to get ourselves between the airport and hotel, but it was nice knowing we had it if we needed to run out for something. And our total cost for the rental car was about $30/day because we booked it in advance.
Even if you don’t plan on renting a car (you should), you’ll still need to have a car seat for the Uber. If relying on Uber, I would also recommend selecting Uber Black service which essentially guarantees a newer vehicle (and the ability to attach your car seat base with the anchor clips) and professional drivers. The likelihood of getting an older vehicle or a driver in their 20s is much higher when using UberX. So take that into consideration when doing a cost comparison between renting a car or using a ride share service.
Some car rental companies offer car seats for an added fee, but I’ve heard stories of car seats being unavailable upon arrival. Depending on the age your child, you may not be comfortable with the type of car seat they do have for your use. Take my word for it and bring your own car seat.
Invest in product-specific travel bags.
We have the UppaBaby Vista V2 stroller and the UppaBaby Mesa V2 car seat. Both of these are expensive products, and the UppaBaby travel bags are worth the cost to protect these investments! If you purchase the UppaBaby brand travel bags for your UppaBaby products, they are protected from damage during transit through their TravelSafe program.
Also, I LOVED having my Vista V2 stroller on our travels. Yes, it’s a big stroller, but it really was not that difficult to pack it up in its travel bag at the gate (it takes 2 minutes…) and having the large storage basket in the airport and throughout our trip was a life saver. In the airport, I had free hands while baby was in the stroller, and the basket held my personal carry on, baby’s carry on, my baby carrier, my sweatshirt and the waters + snacks we bought in the terminal. When we packed up the stroller, I used the carrier to carry my baby and wrapped the sweatshirt around my waste, and my husband carried the other items. Around the hotel, the stroller basket carried all of our items for the day: diaper bag, pool floaty, towels, sunscreen, water toys, etc. I would’ve had to wear my diaper bag backpack, carry a beach bag, and carry the pool floaty. I was so happy we had the Vista with us. We also had longer than usual walks throughout the airport to the gate, and we were grateful to have our stroller with us then too.
Bring a SlumberPod.
I remember thinking - most hotels have black out curtains so I don’t need to worry about bringing any black-out device on my trip. WRONG. Here’s why.
If you are at a resort, you are most likely sharing a room with your baby. When baby goes to sleep at 7pm and you want to relax, have a glass of wine, watch the sunset, play cards with your partner, or do any activity that requires a lamp being on, is that all happening while the baby is asleep in the crib next to you??? Unless you have a unicorn baby, not sure that would go over very well! The blackout curtains in the room become moot (maybe not entirely, but they’re certainly not doing much for your baby while you are moving about in the room with lights on).
Enter the SlumberPod. First thing we did after checking into the room was set up our SlumberPod, sound machine, travel router and Nanit camera. On our first night in Hawaii, it was still light outside at bed time. My husband and I could sit out on the balcony and not worry about the light coming into the room as we came and went. We also ordered room service after our son fell asleep. We had the bedside lamp on while we ate in our robes :)
We had friends travel without a SlumberPod and put the crib in the bathroom. Seemed like a good idea at first, until they needed to use the bathroom while baby was asleep! Spare yourself the headache..
Purchase a travel router for your Nanit camera.
Nanit cameras won’t work on public wi-fi. You’ll need to buy a small travel router on Amazon for it to work. The travel router connects to the hotel’s wifi, and makes the network you use private & secure, which enables your Nanit to connect to it.
Having our baby camera was great and made the routine feel familiar. It also made it easier to check on our baby while he was asleep in the SlumberPod, vs unzipping it or using the mesh peek hole. Some couples I’ve spoken to purchased Vtech radio monitors (sound only) for trips, but purchasing the travel router felt like a better investment.
Worried about over-packing? Don’t be.
A friend of mine gave me good advice before we went to Hawaii - don’t worry about over-packing on your first trip and bring everything you think you may need to feel comfortable. This was really great advice and after following it, I endorse it.
I was really hung up on having to bring my breast pump - I have the bulky Spectra S2 and never invested in the Willow/Elvie travel pump. I was still breastfeeding and had gotten in the routine of a nightly pump before bed (2.5-3 hrs after my baby’s last feeding). This helped me maintain my supply and feel less engorged in the morning. I thought about purchasing a manual hand pump for our trip, which is way lighter to travel with. But I hadn’t used one before and didn’t have enough time to test it out for a few nights before the trip. So I heeded her advice and mentally prepared to pack large bags that I would have to check. I brought my pump, and I used it each night, and I’m glad I did.
Have any questions? Reach out! I’d be happy to answer them :)