With holidays, you may be traveling or celebrating for the first time with your lovely baby. It can seem mind-boggling, but with some thought, it can be done. Go. Have fun. Or have fun receiving people as you are comfortable.

Here are some tips to help and you will see some personal anecdotes in italics.

NO MATTER WHERE YOU ARE

• With more family around, you may be expecting multiple date nights, but your family may have other ideas. Conversely, your family may expect to do a lot of baby care, but you may not want that. Talk about expectations before the event.

• Young babies, are just going along for the ride and have no expectations. Just enjoy their wonder.

• If gifts are involved, your older baby may most enjoy crunching the wrapping paper – it’s such a wonderful sensory experience. Enjoy them enjoying the crunching noise they have discovered; they will get to the gift later.

When it first happened, I think I was almost disappointed that my older baby/toddler was more into wrapping paper. Then I realized what a great gift the paper was and that with time the toy would get good use. Any gift may not mean much for a child in the first few years.

• Hand washing is always important against the many viruses out there, and at any time with a new baby. It is easier now than ever to ask people to wash or sanitize their hands.

• Consider what is comfortable for you with masking and passing your baby to others.

• If you are in a public place, wearing your baby keeps them closer than a stroller. If your baby is in a stroller, consider a stroller cover so well-meaning people keep more distance.

• Try to have the baby fed on their normal schedule.

• Try not to be too rigid with sleep as they’ll often make up for an altered sleep schedule.

• Remember if you are outside or doing new and stimulating activities, your baby may sleep more and in unusual places.

Every year we would do a camping trip and it took a while for our baby to get comfortable enough to sleep in the tent. We just anticipated this learning curve and with each baby, each year, we got there. Same with sleeping in someone else’s house. There was a learning curve, and we needed low expectations, especially for the first night.

• For a baby find a special book you read every year, a special song that is always sung, or an ornament that is in your baby’s honour.

• Take a picture of your child each year in a festive place like in front of the Christmas tree.

• Decide on one or two birthday traditions or a grandparent day tradition. The traditions can change over the years and likely will.

We have done a picture in front of the tree for so long that our older children still expect it before gifts are opened, and we all treasure those pictures.

• If you are out or have company, pick clothing that is easy for diaper changes and dressing. Think diaper changes in your stroller - can you do that in the outfit you picked?

• Pick practical outfits for yourself too. As a breastfeeding mother, a beautiful dress may not be the answer when your baby is hungry. Think ahead to what will work for feeding.

I sometimes wondered about baby outfits with snaps in the back. A loving relative would sometimes give us the cutest outfits like that, but choosing snaps on the back made diaper and clothing changes harder. The easiest are outfits that zipper in the front.

IF TRAVELLING

• Whether you are driving or flying you’ll want to take just what you’ll need. One of the most important things to know is whether will you need a safe sleep surface.

• Are people hosting you open to baby-proofing as needed? With extra adults around, will there be enough supervision that the environment need not change much?

• You don’t need all the toys and baby gear you have at home.

• Maybe a baby-wearing device will work rather than a stroller.

• Maybe some things can be acquired on the other end by your hosts, like most of the diapers.

• For your older baby’s entertainment, ordinary household items often bring lots of fun. For your younger baby, people are the best entertainment and where you are going, there will be more people than at home.

With one trip with a baby, I had friends on the far end who loaned me a car seat. Phew, one less bulky thing to bring on the plane. That said, I have traveled with a car seat, and a playpen for the baby’s sleep.

• Ask ahead if they have cribs or what type of sleep surfaces they might have for a baby. You can even ask for the crib model number and then look up if that type of crib is still recommended. You may need to bring your sleep surface.

• If flying with your sleep surface, you can ask the airlines for a plastic backpack cover for added protection during transit.   

• Have safety equipment: think shovel, candles, flashlight, blankets or sleeping bags.

• Have snacks and water for the older people. As applies have snacks and drinks for your baby.

• For your breastfeeding baby, consider where you will stop to breastfeed.

• If you are pumping, buy an outlet device for your cigarette lighter so you can plug in your pump.

As a breastfeeding mother, I found that once packed and out of the house, it was quite easy to travel with my baby. The eventual ease of breastfeeding became apparent when packing snacks, toys, and whatnot for my toddler. As a breastfeeding mother, I knew that my baby was alright as long as my routine anatomy joined me.  Our three babies traveled quite a bit.

• Ask the airline what baby gear you can freely bring.

• One medium size suitcase can often hold two people’s clothes so you can save a piece of luggage. Baby clothes after all do not take up much space.

• For the airport, take a stroller to the gate and then gate-check it. Check if it will meet you at the arrival gate or in the checked baggage.

• It is not needed yet ideal to get a seat behind the bulkhead as there is a bit more space.

• Have a baby-carrying device like a sling for the flight. It not only provides a little privacy for breastfeeding. It can also hold a toy or two, and even allows you to hold your baby and eat!

• Consider a handheld fan in case the two of you are warm together and need more than the overhead airline option.

• Know that your baby may react to the noise and need a calm, reassuring parent.
  Your baby may also react to the air pressure, like adults they may feel more discomfort on the descent. Encouraging swallowing on descent may be helpful by having them feed or suck on your finger or soother.

I loved flying with a sling as it contained my baby, and, breastfeeding beside any seatmate was comfortable. I didn’t wear a cover when breastfeeding in public, but in the confines of an airplane, the sling doubled as one. With my older baby, I seriously could eat hands-free using the classic airplane fold-down table and have 1-2 toys remaining inside the sling available to my baby. I could also wear him in the airport facing out so he could see everything.

• Bring any special feeding or pumping devices.

• Bring vitamin D drops and any medications.

• Allow extra time.

• Bring any documents you may need if going out of the country, and no matter where you are going bring your baby’s health card and immunization record.

• Start with shorter trips.

• Test out your gear before your trip.

Plan for it, and have a wonderful time!