Your Baby Travel Questions, Answered
Travelling with a baby comes with a surprising number of questions — especially the first time.
How do you book their flight? What happens to the stroller? How many diapers do you actually need? Where does the baby sleep?
We had all of those questions too.
These are the answers we’ve learned through flying, road tripping, camping and travelling internationally with Parker. They’re based on our own experiences, so always double-check airline, airport and destination-specific rules before you travel.
Flying With a Baby
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Yes, your baby still needs to be included on the reservation even if they’ll be travelling on your lap.
How you add a lap infant — and what you’ll pay — depends on the airline and route. Domestic lap infants may travel at little or no additional airfare on some airlines, while international tickets can include taxes, fees or a percentage of the adult fare.
Parker has always had his own boarding pass when we fly.
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Start by checking your airline's specific process. Some allow you to add an infant while booking online, while others require you to contact the airline after booking the adult ticket.
Don't just arrive at the airport with your baby assuming they're automatically included on your reservation.
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It depends on the airline.
Some airlines allow an additional diaper bag for an infant, while others count it toward your normal baggage allowance. Check the baggage rules for your airline before packing.
Regardless of the allowance, we keep our diaper bag as accessible as possible because it's the bag we're constantly reaching for during a flight.
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We’ve always had our stroller tagged at the check-in counter before going through security.
Our stroller comes apart into two pieces, so we get two tags. We then use the stroller through the airport and leave it at the aircraft door when boarding.
So far, ours has always been waiting for us at the aircraft door when we land — although return procedures can vary by airport and airline.
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This varies by airport, but our experience has been much easier than we expected.
We’ve typically used the family line. We take everything out of the stroller, carry Parker through the detector, and the stroller is inspected separately before being returned to us.
Give yourself extra time and don't worry about being the fastest people through the line.
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Generally, airports make exceptions to standard liquid limits for baby food, breast milk and formula, but the exact rules and screening procedures depend on where you're travelling.
Keep these items easy to remove from your bag and check the rules for the airports you'll be travelling through before you leave.
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Some long-haul aircraft have bassinets available in designated bulkhead rows.
They’re limited, have airline-specific size and weight restrictions, and usually need to be requested in advance. Request one as early as possible rather than assuming you'll receive one at check-in.
We've found bassinet seats incredibly useful when they’ve been available.
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Some long-haul international flights offer infant or baby meals, but you generally need to request them in advance.
We’ve actually had great experiences with them — ours have included things like baby food jars and pouches.
Still bring enough familiar food and snacks for the journey in case the meal isn't available or your baby decides they're absolutely not interested.
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We keep this surprisingly simple.
A couple of small toys, teethers, books and snacks go a long way. Nursing or feeding can help pass time too, and honestly, the airport and airplane themselves provide a lot of entertainment.
You probably don't need an entire carry-on full of toys.
Packing & Baby Gear
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For a flight or long travel day, we pack more than we expect to use in case of delays, missed connections or unexpected messes.
For longer trips, we usually bring enough to get us through the travel days and first few days at our destination, then buy more locally when we know they'll be readily available.
We did exactly this in Thailand rather than packing a month's worth of diapers.
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Ask yourself:
Will we actually use this — or am I packing it because something might happen?
We focus on the things Parker relies on every day, what we need for travel days, his sleep setup and destination-specific essentials.
Bulky items can often be rented, provided by your accommodation or bought when you arrive.
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Sometimes.
For airports, cities with good sidewalks and trips where stroller naps are useful, we love having one.
But we travelled around Thailand for a month without one and relied heavily on our baby carrier. The right answer depends much more on the destination and how you plan to travel than on whether you're travelling with a baby.
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We pack for the climate and activities rather than bringing a huge number of outfits.
For hot destinations, lightweight clothing, a sun hat and good UV swimwear get a lot of use. For colder trips, layers are much more useful than one giant bulky outfit.
And always put a change of clothes for baby — and ideally a clean shirt for each parent — somewhere accessible on travel days.
Sleeping & Staying Away From Home
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Many do, but never assume one will be available.
Check before booking or contact the property ahead of your stay. We also look at whether the accommodation has enough space to actually put the crib somewhere that works for our family.
If an appropriate sleep space isn't available, bringing or renting a travel crib may make more sense.
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For us, “babies allowed” and “baby-friendly” aren't necessarily the same thing.
We look for practical things: enough room for Parker to sleep, somewhere we can spend time after he goes to bed, a fridge or kitchenette when possible, and a location that doesn't make every outing complicated.
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We try to keep the familiar parts of Parker's sleep setup consistent while accepting that the schedule itself might change.
Familiar sleepwear and the same general bedtime cues help, but naps sometimes happen in a carrier, stroller, car or plane.
Travel sleep isn't always going to look exactly like sleep at home, and we've learned to be okay with that.
Road Trips With a Baby
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We plan shorter driving days than we did before Parker and leave room for long stops.
Rather than racing to cover as much distance as possible, we build in time for feeding, diaper changes, crawling or playing, and just getting out of the car.
Our road trips are slower now — but that's not necessarily a bad thing.
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Our essentials stay somewhere we can reach them without unpacking the vehicle: diapers, wipes, changing supplies, snacks or feeding supplies, spare clothes, small toys and anything we expect to need during stops.
The things you might need can go in the trunk.
The things you will need should not.
Camping With a Baby
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We do.
For us, the biggest considerations are having an appropriate sleep space, insulation from the ground, suitable sleepwear for the expected conditions and a backup plan if the weather changes.
Camping with Parker takes more preparation than camping did before him, but it has become one of our favourite ways to travel as a family.
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Pretty much wherever you need to.
We've changed Parker in the tent, on our sleeping pad and outside using a portable changing mat.
The biggest thing we've learned is to have everything ready before you start — and bring more wipes than you think you'll need. We managed to underestimate wipes during our 16-day camping trip even though we had plenty of diapers.
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We don't use an adult sleeping bag for Parker.
For our camping setup, we use his own appropriate sleep space and infant-specific sleepwear rather than putting him inside one of our sleeping bags.
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For us, a travel playpen inside our family tent has worked really well.
It gives Parker his own familiar sleep space while still leaving enough room for our sleeping setup.
Travelling Internationally With a Baby
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Usually, no.
Before a trip, we research what we'll reasonably be able to buy at our destination.
In Thailand, for example, we easily found diapers, wipes, formula, baby snacks and groceries in more developed areas. That meant we only needed enough consumables to get through our travel days and until we reached a supermarket.
We do bring anything Parker specifically relies on or that might be difficult to substitute.
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For us, absolutely.
It isn't always easy. Travel days are longer, plans change, and we've had plenty of moments that didn't go the way we expected.
But we've also watched Parker experience beaches, wildlife, new foods, different people and places around the world — and we've made some of our favourite family memories along the way.
You don't need to travel internationally to have an adventure with your baby.
But you also don't need to assume you can't.
Still Planning Your First Trip?
Start with whatever feels like the biggest unknown.
Everything on Little Parker Travels is based on our family's experiences. Airline policies, airport procedures, entry requirements and safety recommendations can change, so always check current official guidance for your specific trip.