TOP 5 BABY TRAVEL ESSENTIALS

If you’re traveling with little ones then this is the article for you! After going on several trips with our daughter (now 16 months), I’ve put together a guide with our favorite baby travel essentials. We’ve traveled with her quite a bit – locally, internationally, and trips to visit family. That said, we’ve tried a lot of different pack and plays, strollers, and other essentials!

Below I’ll go through a few tips for traveling with a baby as well as my list of top baby travel essentials. I’ll cover top gear for traveling locally with a baby as well as traveling internationally with a baby.

And don’t forget to pin this for later!

This post contains affiliate links to the products that I use and trust. Meaning that I might receive a small commission (at no extra cost to you) if you make a purchase using any of my links below. See full disclosure here.

The number one baby travel essential is a baby travel bed or pack and play. Whether or not you co-sleep or your child sleeps independently, it’s really helpful to have a travel cot while you travel. Aside from sleep, the pack and play comes in handy on trips because it gives you a chance to set your baby down. If they’re crawling, you don’t have to worry about having a close eye on them while you get ready or take a break. Throw a few books and toys in the cot and they’ll be entertained for at least a few minutes!

There are so many options on the market, we had such a hard time deciding which one was right for us. We have the 4moms which is great. The simple black color is stylish and you cannot beat the set up. The 4moms pack-and-play is known for the easy one-handed set up and it’s honestly the easiest travel crib to set up. With that said, it’s bulky so takes up a lot of room in the car.

When we traveled to Scotland we actually rented a travel cot which was perfect. They provided us with the Baby Bjorn travel crib and it quickly became our favorite travel bed for baby. It was easy to set up – maybe not as easy as the 4mom but it’s light and packs up well. We stayed in 5 different hotels during our trip and didn’t dread setting up the pack-and-play since it was so easy. I also liked that the mattress portion touched the ground. I felt like it was much more comfortable for our daughter.

I realize both of these are expensive options. If you’re a frequent traveler, it’s definitely worth the price tag. However, if you only travel a few times a year, I would find another option. I’ve linked a less expensive pack-and-play I found on Amazon. I can’t speak on performance but it’s supposed to be lightweight and easy to set up. Might be worth a shot to test it out!

A baby carrier is second on my list because I honestly couldn’t travel without it! I find it so much easier to put our daughter in the baby carrier than lug around a stroller. Don’t get me wrong, there is definitely a need for strollers however, I use the baby carrier much more often.

I like the fabric baby carriers for babies under 6 (ish) months. I’ll be honest, it’s very confusing to put on the first few times but once you get it down it’s a breeze. I also recommend double-checking your babies positioning in the carrier to make sure their hips are in proper alignment. I felt like our daughter was always so cozy in the Boba baby carrier. Once she was around 6-7 months old she was too strong for the carrier and could push herself out.

We quickly switched to the Baby Bjorn and have been using it since! It’s a structured carrier so she can’t push out of it very easily. It’s quick to put on and I love being hands-free. It’s great for day-to-day activities as well as traveling. We use it non-stop on vacation from city walking to hiking and tours, it’s great!

For those of you with toddlers, I’ll be trying out a toddler sling so will keep you posted on how we like it. If you have any suggestions on toddler slings let me know in the comments below!

Next on my list is a travel stroller. While I generally opt for baby carrying over bringing a stroller, there are absolutely times when a stroller is necessary – especially as your kids get older. We’ve traveled with and without a stroller. We generally base it on how long we are going to be gone and what activities we will be doing. We have the Mockingbird stroller as our day-to-day stroller which we love. I can open it with one hand so it’s quick to get in and out of the car. With that said, I don’t recommend traveling with your main stroller – we learned this lesson the hard way. Our stroller was absolutely destroyed from flying… Which brings me to the best travel stroller! If you’re a frequent traveler, the GB Pockit Air is a lifesaver! It opens and closes in two clicks which is ideal for getting on a plane. It’s so compact it fits into the overhead bin of an airplane so it’s perfect for traveling. The stroller is honestly great for day-to-day errands as well making it one of my top baby travel essentials. There are a few different versions but I’ve linked the most basic style.

Stay organized and make the most of your next adventure with our set of 18 customizable travel planner templates. From weekly trip planning to detailed hotel and tour organizers, these tools have everything you need to plan your trip with ease.

While I generally recommend renting a car seat while you travel, there are going to be times you want to bring your car seat. We actually brought our car seat to Scotland. We rented a car for a portion of our trip but knew we were going to Uber occasionally so wanted to make sure we had a car seat. If you’re flying with a car seat you’ll want a car seat bag since they’re a hassle to travel with. The one we have allows you to carry the car seat on your back as a backpack. This makes it much easier to travel with a car seat and ideally helps prevent damage to your car seat from travel.

While I’ve gone through most of the big ticket baby travel items, there are some smaller essentials I love for travel. If you’re a nursing mom, the milk snob is great for travel! It folds up well so I always kept it in an easy place to grab and use real quick. I also find a pacifier holder and pacifier clip to come in handy. The pacifier holder helps keep my diaper bag organized and the clip is a must for babies that love to throw their paci. I’ve also linked toy straps which I love for car seats, strollers, and high chairs. They’ve quickly become one of my top baby airplane travel essentials since you can hook the straps on everything. When our daughter was little I put teethers and other toys on them. Now I hook her snack cup onto them which is very helpful. Lastly, the silicon placemat is great for restaurants! It’s unbelievably sticky so your baby won’t be able to lift it off. I also love that you can hook toys and teethers onto it. Again it’s very convenient for babies that love to throw everything!

I’m including a portable high chair as a “bonus” because it’s not completely necessary in comparison to the other baby travel essentials. With that said, we’ve found the portable high chair to be very useful! Most restaurants have high chairs but smaller cafes and coffee shops don’t always have them available. If you’re staying in a lot of airbnbs and planning to eat there, it’s really nice to utilize the portable high chair. We actually use ours a lot when we are at friends or families houses in town that don’t have young kids.

While I’ve listed out many baby travel essentials, keep in mind you can always rent baby gear! We found this to be extremely helpful in Scotland. I was so relieved we were able to rent baby gear so we didn’t have to worry about lugging everything to the airport. There were so many luggage issues in Europe this summer, the last thing we wanted to worry about was losing baby items. Most cities have rental services so I highly recommend looking it up prior to your trip. If you’re headed to the United Kingdom we used Tiny Explorers which was excellent. Our items were delivered to our hotel prior to our arrival and we were able to drop the items off at the front desk to be picked up on the day of our departure.

I hope you’ve found this article useful! There are so many baby products on the market that it’s hard to decide what’s going to work well for you. If you enjoyed this article and are curious about more of my favorite baby travel essentials visit our travel shop. If you have any questions on the items I’ve linked please leave me a comment below. I’m happy to help! If you have any recommendations I would love to hear from you as well.

Safe Travels,

Sarah :)