Traveling with a baby is done like this
Easy tips from Carolien
Otis hasn't even hit his first year yet and already has more stamps in his passport than the average Dutch person. Jon and I love to travel, and especially now that the little man flies for free until his second birthday, we try to sneak away whenever we have a few weeks off. I get a lot of questions from young mothers about whether it's not extremely difficult to travel with such a little one, but good preparation is half the battle. That's why I'm sharing my essential flying tips.
To avoid dragging around too much, we try to travel as light as possible in terms of luggage. Ladies: often half the contents of your suitcase comes back home untouched (especially those three pairs of heels, because believe me: with a little one on your arm, you really won't wear those). And wearing your outfits twice or doing a wash while on vacation is also not a disaster.
A baby carrier is a must when traveling by plane. This way, the little one can comfortably lie against you in the airplane (Otis always calms down when he's on my chest) and you have your hands free to carry the rest of your stuff. I'm personally a big fan of the baby carriers and wraps from Artipoppe. Easy to use and you still want to look a bit fashionable while out and about.
Now we find it quite handy to also take a stroller with us on our travels, where Otis can take his naps comfortably. For our first trip, I borrowed the Yoyo Babyzen from a friend and upon returning, I immediately bought one for myself. This is the only stroller that is so compact that you can take it on board. This way, Otis could sit in the stroller right after getting off, while other passengers struggled for an hour in the customs line with their little ones before getting their strollers back at the baggage claim. The Babyzen can be used from six months and before that, you can click your car seat onto it with special adapters. This way, we had a car seat for Otis with us on vacation, and so far there has always been a free seat on board, allowing us to place Otis in his car seat next to us (which is a huge relief during a long flight!). We use the Cybex Cloud Q seat, which has a reclining position, so you don't have to worry about the little one sitting in his seat for more than two hours straight.
During takeoff and landing, give your little one the breast or a bottle: this reduces the pressure on their ears and decreases the chance of ear pain. And pack enough muslin cloths! I use them for everything: as a burp cloth, towel, sheet in the crib, blanket, or beach towel. Through lidor.nl I found small muslin cloths from Numero 74, which are ideal for the diaper bag on board.
If your little one is already eating solids: bring enough food. The food on board is not exactly baby-proof and with a full belly, Otis sleeps better. I always carry a few pouches from Ella's Kitchen (the fruit and savory varieties). I also make banana pancakes myself that Otis loves to eat on his own (banana, oats, and oat milk; that's it). And if your little one still has milk: bring enough milk powder. I spent half of our vacation in Curacao in mild panic because I couldn't find Otis’ milk variant anywhere. From now on, I will take double amounts, just in case!
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