These four small words, “traveling with a baby” are pretty powerful. In fact, when parents tell people they are going traveling with a baby, newborn or infant or under one the responses range from: “Oh wow,” to “Are you insane?”

Why does the phrase “traveling with a baby” get such a strong response?

In our opinion, this wonderful concept (traveling with baby) seems to attract an unfairly disproportionate volume of the latter. But for keen travellers (or those just desperate for a holiday in the tropics or change of scene), it’s frustrating ; really, should we be querying our sanity because we’re keen on traveling with a baby?

In many ways, no.  After all, there’s no getting away from the fact that when you have a baby under one, a lot of your day is spent feeding, dressing, changing, bathing and entertaining them.  You’ll be doing that at home, so why not do it somewhere more exciting?

Well, if we’re to give the naysayers any rope, sure, you’ll probably find that a number of tasks are trickier on the road. Your accomodation may not be babyproofed, so you have to keep an even closer eye on your newly mobile baby than normal. You may be changing bub on a bed rather than a change table, so they ‘escape’ far more easily, or your back protests.  Sure, there are myriad reasons to simply stay at home and do nothing fun, ever.

But who wants to live like that?  If you have the money, time and oomph to travel: do it and yes, go traveling with a baby! (Well, to be specific, go traveling with YOUR baby 😉  Travel widens your perspective, shakes you out of the doldrums and generally just makes you feel excited. Plus there are great family memories being made here.

If you need any more evidence, here are some further reasons why we say “GO FOR IT” to traveling with a baby:

  1. You may be on maternity leave now, so the time away doesn’t have to be scheduled around work.
  2. As long as they also feel safe and secure, babies (especially after about 8-9 months old) will love the new experiences, sights and sounds you’ll probably see on holiday. They’ve likely never seen the beach/the ocean/ the snow – how amazing!
  3. If you’re a traveller, a holiday – any holiday – will probably recharge you immensely. Even if it doesn’t result in more sleep while you’re away, it will often be more relaxing than being at home (of course, this depends on what you’re doing but certainly in a resort you won’t be thinking about unpacking the dishwasher).
  4. The plane trips are never as bad as you imagine they will be. (See our tips on flying long haul and short haul here.)
  5. Photos! So many cute photos! Your bub on a plane, your bub on a beach, your bub wearing a puffy snow outfit. Who can resist?
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Aussie journalist, travel writer and founder of babieswhotravel.com Sue White has always been a traveller. When her son was born, Sue knew her travel itch would still need regular scratching. But how do you travel with a baby under one and still have a good time? Is it even possible? Where do busy new parents discover practical tips to support those first few trips? To find out, Sue and her baby son travelled both Australia and Europe doing house sits and house swaps; cat sitting and car journeys; took on 24 hours flights and short domestic jaunts; travelled with friends, solo and family members; and cycled, drove, flew and train-ed around seven countries, all before his first birthday. Learn more about Sue.