Traveling with a baby: What to expect?

Ford and I recently became parents, which we couldn’t be more excited about. Even though our son Miles isn’t even two weeks old, we’re already thinking about planning a trip with him, so I was hoping to get some advice from OMAAT readers who are parents.

Family travel is complicated (obviously).

There’s no denying that traveling as a family is more challenging than traveling alone or as a couple. I’m excited about the challenge, because it’s the whole aspect of the journey that I’m looking forward to learning all about.

Having a newborn is truly special, although on the travel front, I can’t even begin to express how excited I am when Miles gets a little warmer, and we get to see the world through a child’s lens. I remember when I was pretty young, and how excited I was every time I went on a trip, visited for the first time cities that I only learned about in school, etc.

But in reality, we are many years away from that. We currently have a ridiculously cute thing that sleeps all day, drinks formula and drinks.

The bad news is that his travel experiences probably won’t enrich him much for the next year or two. The good thing is that babies don’t cost you any extra to travel domestically, and internationally you “only” have to pay 10% of the adult fare (even if they sit on your lap, and you don’t get any money). seat).

Is there a sweet spot for newborn travel?

Obviously people have very different preferences when it comes to infant travel, although I’d love to hear where OMAAT readers who are parents stand on this.

Here’s the advice I’ve received the most so far (or I’m hearing the advice I want to hear…hah).

• The best time to travel with babies is before they start walking, because you can take them everywhere with you; Once you start walking, it becomes very complicated
• If kids travel with you from an early age, they’ll become better travelers, and eventually the job will be less difficult, because they’ll be more used to being in the travel groove.

As I begin to consider the possibility of baby travel, it brings me to some questions and considerations:

• How early is it to start traveling? I ask this about the general development of children, the immune system, various vaccines, etc.
• Is it better for us to stay in roughly the same time zone, or how do young babies cope with jetlag and long-distance travel? I mean, he’s been sleeping about 20 hours a day since now, so is there really that much of a schedule shift going on? 😉
• Are there pros and cons to the types of destinations you visit with an infant, whether it’s a resort destination or a city destination? My gut says resorts are better because you can enjoy the fresh air and not be with crowds of people…
• Is traveling with a baby just a recipe for a bad time? It’s clear that taking care of an infant is a lot of effort under normal circumstances, and when you add in the potential stresses of travel, is it more trouble than it’s worth?
• Are you committed to being with the babies 24/7 when you travel, but is there a point where you feel like you have to go to a nice dinner to get some kind of childcare (at the hotel or any other source) for one night, or just be off the table for a long time?

These are just a few of the things that blow my mind. Honestly, I think we’ll start slow and work up from there. Maybe we’ll do a local layover first, then take a short flight somewhere, and try a longer trip shortly after that.

I’m just hoping that over time Miles will become a good traveler, ultimately half of the equation is that we are good travel parents, because I know there is a huge learning curve there.

Finally, I’m sure some OMAAT readers are wondering, “Does this mean there will be no international travel reports for the next two years?” No, my plan is to still do review trips like I did before the pandemic, just reviewing more airlines and hotels over multiple days. I’m lucky that I work from anywhere, so I’m usually at home with Miles 24/7. I also think it makes sense to do review trips – after all, this blog is my livelihood.

at last

Now that we have a newborn, it’s a whole new world of travel for us. While we’re not ready to travel with Miles yet, we’re ready to start planning some things. I’m not sure how long it’s worth traveling, what destinations are best, and how to deal with jetlag since newborns sleep all day?

For OMAAT readers who are parents – any tips?