Traveling with a 4 month old to Europe

YES we did it! never in my life did I think I would venture to do this, but hey that goes to show that you never know what life has stored for you. So Ximena was 4 and a half months and we ventured on our first family trip all the way to Italy!

I had travel to Europe before so I knew what it was like to be in long flight, long trip and I had an idea of the difference of Europe and the States as far as commodities, which I didn't care for when I went as a single twenty- something years old. But oh do they matter when your traveling with a little one. Things such as a changing table or just a bathroom big enough to change a baby, depending on where you are visiting strollers might not be a good idea amongst other things.

When the idea first came to us about Italy I thought my husband would be the first to say no to traveling with baby but instead he was the one that encouraged me, so I did what any modern day mom does, go do my homework and did hours and hours of research on how to travel with a baby. which was helpful but when you stop and think about it, it's Italy not Mars, they have babies too! So I relaxed  and just tried to pack and be prepared for every scenario I could think of and just took it one thing at a time.


Tips and tricks: 
-Always carry plenty of bottle water for baby bottles, I always tried to have 2 bottles on me, I only used bottled water for the baby.

-  Changing baby was challenging because changing tables are rarely available and a lot of the times restrooms were so small, so you have to get creative, I always carried disposable changing mats.

- I also took the mat of her baby gym, which didn't take up space and was perfect to allow the baby to rest and stretch herself for example during our layover waiting time.

- Since Ximena was only four months old I only took a couple of toys, with a baby that age you don't need much to entertain them and they still sleep a lot, so I would save the space and weight of packing a ton of toys.

- Skip the cute shoes, accessories and fancy outfits, pack comfy outfit, if you're going to be out and about site seeing and having your baby on the carrier most of the time you want them to be in comfortable clothes, I did pack 1 outfit with dress, shoes and headband for her but other than that she was super comfy all the time.







- If you take a stroller I suggest one that is foldable and you can carry if needed and that it also allows for your baby to lay down (the umbrella strollers are not comfortable for them to sleep on) we found this one that we loved.

Must haves: 

Ergo baby was my best friend on this trip, we took a stroller but found that we were rarely able to use it, however our Ergo baby was amazing, super easy to use and comfy for baby she loved being close to mommy and would sleep a ton in it, I think this also helped her being in crowded places because she was so close to me, crowd or noises didn't bother her. This also take a lot of the weight of your back and I could say we successfully walked for hours carrying baby and it was not tiring a t all.

A bottle with liners, because I knew we would be out and about all day most days and didn't know how easy it would be to get the bottles washed I opted for this and made things so much easier and less stressful, All I had to carry on a daily basis was one bottle enough disposable sacs for a day.

Formula in travel packs, this little packs can make a 4oz  bottle per pack and I found that this were perfect for the airport/traveling part of the trip. It was way easier and faster to just open a pack, pour it in the bottle and dispose of the packet as oppose to having to deal with one of the little plastic containers, also since our total travel time to our destination was so long the plastic container would not fit enough formula to last the whole way. and I really didn't want to be carrying a whole can with me. I only used this for the way there and back, not during the trip.

Ditch the cute purses or other diaper bags and go for the backpack, this was perfect for the whole trip.from airport to site seeing you have enough room for everything and it won't be on the way of carrying the baby and bag we use a dark color back pack and we would take turns if I carried the baby my husband would carry the back pack and switched when needed.

what are your tips, tricks and travel must haves for traveling with a baby?

Thanks for reading,

Letty