We are ready for the first holiday with our baby! We developed a smart baby packing list which includes all baby travel essentials, without packing the whole house.
As this is our first vacation with Alexander, I won’t hold us to our usual standards of minimalism and efficiency 🙂 it’s the perfect opportunity to learn what we need and what is superfluous.
Keep reading to learn what to pack when traveling with a baby!
What we packed for our 3-months old baby for a long vacation
On our first vacation with our baby, we are going to Italy for a month. We will stay at my parents’ place in Cortina d’Ampezzo, in the mountains, and we may go to visit friends and family in other cities and by the sea for a few days.
Consequently, we packed plenty of possibilities to cover the August weather in Italy in the mountains, in the cities and at the sea, basically ranging from 15 to 35 degrees, with sunshine, wind, and rain.
We packed a bag of clothes and a diaper bag of other stuff. Alexander is 3 months old and 61 cm, so we are bringing clothes from newborn size to 6-months size, from 56 to 72.
Baby travel checklist: Clothes
What clothes to bring for a baby on holiday? For a 1-month holiday, our baby packing list includes:
- 3 t-shirts with long sleeves
- 4 bodies with long sleeves
- 4 t-shirts with short sleeves
- 4 bodies with short sleeves
- 3 jumpers/sweaters
- 5 trousers (4 long and 1 short)
- 1 wind jacket
- 2 pajamas
- 4 socks
- 1 hat
With these clothes, I aim to always have a combination suitable to the weather, while doing the laundry twice a week.
As you can see from the picture, I only bring bodies/onesies/rompers/whatsthename with buttons to close under the diaper. I find them to be the most efficient baby clothes: open, change the diaper, close, done! I don’t have the patience to remove the legs, or totally undress the baby each time. Diaper changing is difficult and frequent enough as it is!
Baby travel checklist: Diaper bag
In the diaper bag we keep nursing, changing and health items:
- Some diapers (we bring also a large pack, since they are cheaper here)
- Plastic bags for dirty diapers
- Wet wipes
- Sudocrem cream
- 2 small muslins and 2 large muslins (for burping, shade, light cover)
- 1 cotton blanket
- 1 fleece warm blanket (which goes in the other bag)
- Soap, vitamins, basic meds
- Mosquito spray and sunscreen
- 1 portable changing mat, super thin and waterproof
- Pacifier tied to a magnet – we are NOT losing the precious pacifier!
- ID, social security card, etc.
- A couple of toys
My smart diaper bag actually has a changing mat as the inside of the flap! This is the bag my mother used with me and my sister, so it has a special value 🙂
As you can see, the baby packing list doesn’t include any bottles because Alexander is just 3 months old and I’m breastfeeding him. A fundamental item against back pain is the breastfeeding pillow! Luckily my cousin will give me hers, so I can leave mine at home.
I must say, our activities with Alexander last always less than a half-day, so we won’t actually bring this giant diaper bag with us while out and about at our destinations.
Indeed, to go out with our baby for just a few hours, we will bring a minimalist diaper bag, more of an envelope, containing just two diapers, a pack of 10 wipes, travel-size Sudocrem, the foldable changing mat, and a plastic bag for the dirty diaper.
Also, he doesn’t require any special entertainment at just 3 months old. We bring just a rattle and a soft toy. Tummy time will be on the bed with us, we will sing and play with him.
Baby travel checklist: Travel equipment
We bring just the essentials. We are travelling by car and we plan to do some walks in the mountains – of course, just easy hikes for couch potatoes:
- Baby car seat
- Baby reminder device “Chicco BebèCare” (compulsory in Italy)
- Collapsible stroller (we have the GB Pockit+ All-City) (we keep the rain cover and an emergency blanket in the basket)
- Baby carrier (we have the Stokke)
If you are travelling by plane, I suggest this great guide on how to fly with a baby!
What to look for at the accommodation with a baby
Since we are going home, I can count on some items being already there. If we were staying at a hotel or apartment, I would ask for them to be provided:
- Baby bed or cot with linen (Alexander also sleeps with us in the big bed)
- Small bathtub
- Towels
- Washing machine, detergent, etc.
- A shop to buy more diapers and wipes close by
Conclusion: pack efficiently for a baby
We will see if I brought enough stuff, or too much!
Our guidelines to packing for a baby in an efficient and spontaneous way are:
- Pack just the items used daily at home
- Leave at home stuff that will be used once
- Choose clothes that can be matched, or work in layers
- Keep calm – whatever may be needed can probably be purchased there
Is this list useful? Do you pack less, or more stuff? Let us know in the comments 🙂
