Things to keep in mind while traveling with a baby!

We got to learn a lot about traveling with babies!! as new parents we were quite skeptical and our parents being the conservative old school types, did everything possible to discourage us about taking your little one out on trips. I however strongly believe that babies are very flexible and it all comes down to us and how we manage taking them around and spending time with them. Yes they are not going to remember anything from the trip but they are currently in a phase were they are growing continuously and so are fun to be around every day. Traveling with them is probably the best way to make memories with them (for the parents). Having said that every baby and parent is different and their choices of traveling with or without the baby has to be respected completely.

Below are some points I learnt while I traveled with my little one and I feel should be kept in mind while you plan your next vacation:

Keep it simple: Keep your vacations as simple as possible, ensure that the destination is self sufficient and easy to go around. If its a place where all the essential supplies of the baby are easily available you can travel much lighter keeping your focus on the baby more than anything else. Its also good to travel to places which are easy to get around. probably accessible until the last mile in your vehicle itself. Some thing I discovered about my baby is that she loves long drives, enjoys the views half the time and sleeps through the rest of the time.

Travel light: In continuation with the last point, I also feel its much easier if you travel light. Once you have a baby, you realize that most of your decisions are influenced by your baby, so is what you pack for your trip. You would have to take more stuff than you realize for the baby. So if you choose a place where all the baby essentials are easily available, it makes life much more easier. You don't want to be lugging around all the extra bags when you have a baby to focus on.

Baby wearing: Wearing your baby is probably the best way to get around. every place may not be accessible by the baby strollers and the little one wants to be carried all the time. Ensure that you as well as the baby get used to baby wearing which makes things much easier for you. You carry the baby and yet your hands are free.

Lower your expectations: You are traveling with an infant, they don't know how important this trip is for you, so its better to lower your expectations. You many not end up seeing every thing there is to see in a destination. Sometimes with a baby in hand you many not see anything at all. Its ok, just be happy with whatever you get to see. Its normal for us to expect to see everything in a place which may normally take one week within 4 to 5 days and that’s definitely not going to happen.

Start off with staycations: Start off your journey with simple staycations, babies take quite some to get used to the world outside our womb, while they are still getting used to our homes we take them out to a new place. If this first vacation is a simple staycation it would be easy for both the baby and you. Even staying in a new place is a big enough change for your baby and might be better to do just that the first time.

Watch out for the climate: Choose a destination with moderate climate, ensure that the climate of the destination is not extreme until the baby has experienced extreme climate where he/she lives. You do not want your kid to fall sick on your vacation and also ensure that good medical infrastructure is available where you go.

Having said all the above points do have a lot of fun!! don't let anyone judge you for choosing to travel with your baby. You will get a lot of comments that your kid is not going to remember anything, you are putting them through a lot of trouble, etc. JUST IGNORE. You are making memories for yourself and you deserve to make as much happy memories as possible. Babies are very flexible and adapt to everything pretty easily if we handle them well enough.