Tips for traveling with a baby (or children)

A friend of mine with a three-month old recently asked for tips on traveling with her baby. Sharing my thoughts incase it's helpful to you! These can easily be translated for traveling with children of any age.

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While I am no longer a baby gear expert (hard to believe that season was 6 years ago for me and so much has changed in the baby-gear realm!), here are a few general principles/ideas I've discovered to be helpful along the way. Obviously less is more when traveling, especially when there's so much baby gear that can be required on trips!

1. Know the resources at your destination and do an initial errand run if you can for items such as diapers, baby food*, etc.
2. See if there's anything you can borrow (from the airline, hotel, rental car or a neighbor/family member at your destination) so as to avoid lugging a lot of gear (pack n play from a neighbor/family member, crib from hotel, car seat/booster from rental car company, etc.).
3. Ship what you can: for long trips have diapers/baby food delivered from Amazon, etc. (I've had Zappos ship sandals at the last minute to our destination).
4. Do what you can to make your life easier by cutting corners that you usually wouldn't. (If you make your own baby food, give yourself a break and buy pre-made food on trips.)
5. Pack an awesome bag of essentials; it will likely be your sanity! (a few diapers, wipes, burp clothes, change of clothes for baby, extra pacifier if using, light blanket, *snacks and favorite toys plus a treat for yourself.* A drink/pacifier that baby can suck while plane is ascending and descending, if you're flying.) Older children can pack their own bag-of-fun, and I like to pack a small bag of extras with interesting toys/books for when their supply runs low or–on road trips–has landed on the car floor.
6. Figure out when you can catch a break on the trip and plan on it. ...So important as trips require extra energy and usually mean less sleep when little-ones have a challenging time sleeping in a new environment.
7. Show yourself grace, especially in the tough moments, and go with the flow of the adventure!

Rainbow Quilt Surprise

Came home after a fantastic dinner with my husband and friends, and found this lovely surprise under my desk! I think I literally gasped because I was shocked to find this little creation of art. Though both of my sons were in bed, I knew which one made it. Signature order, structure and thoughts expressed through pattern. After stumbling across this expression, I could just imagine seeing my little guy's movements, effort and thoughtful placement of the fabric swatches. I used to see surprises such as this a lot, but it's been a while now that he's in Kindergarten all day. What a delight to see such playful artwork in a unique place. Refreshing. Thankful for my present tonight.