Travelling with a baby for the first time

A few weeks ago we did our first HomeExchange exchanges and foreign trips with our baby, who was 7 weeks old at that point. We stayed for 2 nights in a hospitality stay in Germany and 4 nights in an apartment in Prague.

This might be scary for some, but for us it was a great adventure as we can never sit still! Want our advice on how to travel with your small baby?

  • Read descriptions and prioritise children-friendly apartments
  • Check if they have an elevator and/or are on the ground floor (so easier with a stroller / pram and all the extra stuff you have)
  • Pay attention to the description of children facilities they have and what you’re able to use (e.g., we asked for a baby bed, but then realised that it’s suitable for toddlers and not for babies)
  • Ask the hosts for recommendations what to do for the relevant age
  • Take into account that travelling will take 3x longer. In our case, Prague is 8h away when driving so usually we’d be able to make it in one day. This time we split each way in 2 days (4h each day) and did 1-2 stops during the day.

During the trip, we realised that our baby loves exploring city (both when sleeping and when awake) and it doesn’t matter how many cobblestone streets there are, he doesn’t mind! What he doesn’t like, is loud restaurants so we avoided those after the first experience.

5 Likes

Oh wow! That’s amazing that you had such a great vacation with such a little baby! He’ll have a childhood full of fun adventures :star_struck:

Wow, you guys are rockstars for taking a 7-week-old on such an adventure! Love how you made it work with stays in Germany and Prague. Your tips are super helpful for baby-friendly setups and factoring in extra travel time. We’re planning our first trip with our 1 year old son, and I’m curious: how did you handle feeding and diaper changes on the road. Also, any go-to baby gear you couldn’t live without?
Thanks for sharing, and hope you’re planning the next trip already! :blush:

1 Like

Best of luck with your trip! I love hearing about these stories of travelling with people of all ages. My youngest is 5 now and it feels like forever ago that she was a baby. Travelling with little ones can be scary, but sometimes I think it’s best to just try it! Maybe start close(ish) to home first if you are worried.

Best of luck, feel free to message me directly for more tips! We’ve been going on regular trips since the first one.

Diaper change:

  • fuel stations usually have baby changing facilities, pretty good ones
  • when not available, we just change in the car, mostly in the boot or just on the backseat
  • otherwise just in the grass / table / anywhere is doable as well, the same as you’d do it home if you have everything with you.

Baby gear:

  • we’ve recently got a backpack to put the baby in when hiking, used only twice so far, but it helps when you want to go somewhere where it’s tricky with a stroller;
  • enough food (including smoothies he can drink himself!) and drinks for the baby on the way;
  • new toys to keep him distracted when auto ride is too boring.

Otherwise we try to keep the approach ‘happy parents = happy baby’, while taking consideration his sleep cycles. Up to 3 months old we were able to take him out when going for dinner, but since he got more stable rhytme, we’re making sure to be at the accommodation by his sleeping time at night. Sometimes one person might go out in the evening, but no dining in the restaurants anymore…

1 Like

Some great advice thank you :slight_smile: Also I just wanted to add that I have found HomeExchanges so much easier with little kids than staying at a hotel. You can put them to bed in their usual routine but still have space to relax and watch tv/chat when they are asleep. Eating is also so much easier as you can buy and prepare food that you know they will eat!

1 Like