Traveling Smarter with Baby in Tow

Coming off of a recent family vacation, it dawned on me how much this whole “traveling with baby” concept terrified me. I remember my first flight with my daughter when she was only 5 months old and thinking, “Oh my God, please don’t let us be ‘those people’ on the flight.” Obviously, I was referring to “those people” who have that screaming, inconsolable kid who could not be calmed, soothed, tamed or even bribed into being well-behaved. We’ve all seen it and many of us have experience it.

For those of you who have yet to travel with baby, let me leave you with a few words of advice: don’t worry. And, here’s why.

First, people are a lot friendlier than you think. Many people will just smile and slip their headphones on and continue on as if you and your baby weren’t even there. Also, if your kid should decide to have a meltdown, you may notice how helpful other passengers are, especially other parents. If they offer help, take it. This last flight, the guy sitting next to me literally poured me my beer while Lennon was passed out on my arm. He replied, “Five kids.” We are all a team here, people.

Another tip? Travel lightly! Babies and kids require a lot of “stuff” so try and leave more of your things at home if you can. You can also be a “smarter packer” and pack things that don’t take up much space, like dresses from Dorothy Perkins (which you can get at an incredibly discounted price via Groupon Discount Codes right now.) Dresses are easy to roll and take up minimal space compared to jeans and two piece items.

Traveling with a baby is a lot like being a parent itself: you just have to be clever, be prepared for some questionable look from bystanders, and accept that you have no control.