Years before I even got pregnant, my husband, Colin, and I already had plans to travel with our baby.
In fact, we built our whole parental leave around it. With me being self-employed and my husband getting 15 months off work, we planned to spend a huge chunk of that time living out of suitcases and seeing the world with our baby (and our dog!).
As the date for our Baby Trip departure grew nearer, more and more people chimed in with their thoughts.
Some were excited by what we were doing and told us their own stories of travelling with babies. Some didn’t think it was for them but were impressed by our ambition.
And some were skeptics.
To the skeptics – to everyone who thinks babies don’t belong on planes*, to those who like to remind me on Twitter that my daughter won’t remember seeing the Eiffel Tower, and especially to those who are curious about travelling with a baby but scared to give it a try – I offer up this blog post.
*Just to put this debate to bed: I wholeheartedly believe babies belong on planes. Babies are humans who deserve to exist in the world. Trust me, no one wants a baby to stop crying more on a plane than their parents. Plus, a baby crying is always way less annoying than an adult playing phone games at full volume.
Also, a plane is a mode of public transportation. If you don’t like travelling with babies, fly private! Or, turn up the volume on your noise-cancelling headphones and relax.
All right, rant over. Let’s get to 8 reasons people say you should not travel with babies. Read on, and then let me know if travelling with a baby is really such a bad idea!
1. “What’s the point of traveling with your baby? They won’t even remember it!”
So? I don’t remember what I had for breakfast this morning. That didn’t stop me from putting in the effort to have a delicious and filling meal.
This is probably my least favourite reason to not travel with a baby because I think it’s pointless. Yes, we travel to make amazing memories. But memories fade! That doesn’t mean it’s not worth having amazing experiences in the moment.
Plus, by this logic, why do we do anything with children before the age of four? Why do we dress them in cute outfits, buy them toys, take them to see Santa or play that silly song they love on repeat? They won’t remember any of it, so what’s the point?
Why don’t we just put our kids in blank white rooms and not do anything fun with them until we’re sure they’ll recall it perfectly twenty years later?
Because they enjoy it in the moment. And so do we!
Not only will traveling with our child provide great experiences for her and for us (regardless of how well or how long we all remember it), but travel provides so much more.
Sure, Baby C may not remember where she went or what she did but that doesn’t mean those experiences won’t impact her life.
I’ve always wanted to travel with my child from day one to teach them a love of travel. I want to expose her to new cultures, new languages, new people and new foods. I want to teach her to be adventurous, open and curious.
I want to show Baby C what it looks like when you’re adaptable and how to connect with people and places you never thought you would. In my opinion, travel is the best way to do this.
2. “It’s so expensive to travel with kids!”
Actually, it’s not. At least not at this age!
As an infant, it’s actually very affordable to travel with a kid. We don’t have to buy them a seat on the airplane (though we opted to), book an extra hotel room or even pay a fare to bring Baby C along on any rides, tours, trains or buses.
Of course, as kids get older, travelling with them can become more expensive. I totally understand that flights and accommodation for a family of five is going to cost more than it would for a solo traveller.
But I think affording that comes down to budgeting, priorities and privilege – which is a whole other blog post!
Right now, we’re very lucky that it doesn’t cost us much more to travel with a baby. In fact, it’s actually cheaper for us to travel the world with Baby C during my husband’s parental leave than it would be for us to stay home in Vancouver.
With just the parental benefits paid out by the Canadian government, it would be tough to afford to live in Vancouver for 18 months. It’s a lot cheaper for us to go abroad where the cost of living is lower.
So travelling with a baby is actually saving us some money!
3. “It’s way too much work to travel with kids. It’s just not worth it!”
Yes, it does take extra work to travel with kids (and we’re doing it with a dog too!). But, I believe it’s worth it.
The way I see it: travel with a baby is more work but it’s also more reward. We are so lucky to have the opportunity to do this – to travel the world as a family.
We get to spend over a year together, making memories and introducing our child to new people and places. We get to instil the love of travel in Baby C from the beginning.
I am so grateful for the generous parental leave we get in Canada (I know some countries have it better but some have it a lot worse!).
So many parents have to go straight back to work after having children or, if they can take time off, it’s limited and only one parent can take it.
We are so lucky that both Colin and I will be at “home” with our baby for the first 15 months of her life, sharing in every speed bump and milestone. That is the greatest gift.
Another reason why travelling with a baby is worth it to us? Because we love to travel! And, believe it or not, what the parents want is important too.
My husband and I are passionate about travel and loved our time living in Prague pre-baby.
So as much as this trip is about family time and introducing our child to travel, it’s also about us parents doing what we want to do – which is 100% okay!
4. “What’s the point of traveling with babies? They’re just going to ruin it by crying all the time!”
Yes, babies do cry. But would I rather listen to my baby cry on a beach in Portugal or in my apartment back home? Portugal, please!
Obviously I say that a little tongue-in-cheek. It can be a lot easier to deal with meltdowns and blowouts in the privacy of your own home where you’re comfortable and have all of your resources within reach.
I’d much rather console my crying baby on my couch than on a packed airplane with 300 passengers glaring at us.
But this goes back to my previous point: the work is worth the reward. For every awful tantrum or sleepless night, there will be so many happy moments and unforgettable experiences.
We’re only a couple of weeks into our European travels and already Baby C has made friends with restaurant servers and fellow travellers, tried new foods, been wowed by museum exhibits and castles, and enjoyed hanging out in our new apartment.
And as we become more experienced parents, and more experienced travellers with a baby, I imagine each meltdown, sleep regression and blowout will become easier to deal with.
They’ll become part of our routine and not something we let completely ruin our trip. I would rather get through dozens of flights with a screaming baby than let the fear of one keep me from flying at all.
Plus, with our plan to long term travel, it’s okay if our kid “ruins” a day or two. It won’t be a big deal if a teething-inspired meltdown or strict nap schedule cause us to come home early – we can try again tomorrow!
We’ll be abroad for months, so can afford to lose a few days. In fact, a few days relaxing at our apartment is the only way we won’t get travel burnout.
5. “With kids, you can’t travel like you used to.”
That may be true. But you can still travel!
We know our travel days are not going to look like they used to. Travel is a whole different ballgame with a baby – so we’re adjusting accordingly.
Just like how I’ve switched up my travel style from when I was a 21 year old solo travelling student to a married 30-something traveller with a husband and a dog, things have changed again now with a baby in the mix.
Our plan is to slow way down when travelling with a baby. When we told people we wanted to spend our parental leave travelling Europe with our baby (and dog!) in tow, they thought we were nuts.
But that’s because they were imagining a typical Europe trip where you visit five countries in two weeks, jump on planes and trains every three nights, and pack each day full of things to see and do.
If that was the plan, I’d think we had lost it too!
Instead, we’re spending 4-8 weeks in a single place. We’re renting furnished apartments and have established routines for naps and bedtime.
Instead of seeing as much of a city as we can in three nights, we’ve given ourselves just one itinerary item to check off each day. And somedays we don’t even get that far!
With multiple weeks in one place, we have time to find a local boulangerie and become regular patrons. We can learn which grocery store has the snacks we like and where the closest place is to buy diapers.
We’re able to frequent the same dog park each day and set up a home office for ourselves to use while Baby C naps.
So yes, travel looks different with a baby. It’s slower, it’s closer to home and it comes with a lot more gear.
But in my opinion we’re unlocking a really cool (and possibly better!) version of travel. And the only reason we’re able to go on a trip like this – for this long with this much time off work – is because of our baby.
So not only can you travel with a baby (albeit in different ways than you used to), but that travel might be better and might be possible because of your baby!
6. “Kids can’t travel. They need to stay home and stick to a routine.”
Who says we can’t have a routine abroad?
With 4-8 weeks in each place, we have plenty of time to set up routines, establish sleep schedules and create a sense of normalcy. We’re also travelling with Baby C’s travel crib, so she’ll always have the same bed no matter where we go.
After a few nights of jet lag in Paris, Baby C was already pretty well adjusted to Europe time. She’s figured out her schedule of eating, playing and napping really well.
I believe kids are flexible. If we establish from day one what “routine” looks like to us, I think our kid will get it. So far, she’s done great!
I truly believe each family gets to set their own routine and kids will adjust accordingly.
If Baby C grows up thinking it’s totally normal to switch homes every month or two and take naps in her stroller on busy days, I don’t think that will make her any better or worse off than if she slept in the same crib in the same room for three years.
(But ask me again three years from now!)
Different things work for different families. I know some families need to follow strict routines and schedules for everyone’s benefit. And other families don’t.
We’re just getting started, but I trust that we will find our rhythm. And the beauty of our relaxed, slow travel itinerary is that we can always adjust. If we decide that an afternoon crib nap works better for everyone, we can make that happen!
7. “It’s not safe to travel with a baby.”
I think the people who say this are the same people who say it’s not safe to travel solo, travel as a woman, travel to Africa** or travel after dark.
**Reminder: Africa is not a country. If you want to talk about “the dangers of travelling to Africa,” do your homework and be more specific.
They paint an entire area of travel with a broad brush based on (usually) no firsthand experience. And they’re almost always wrong!
Are there dangers to travelling? Absolutely! But there are also dangers if we stayed at home. No place is perfectly safe and every place has its own risks.
The idea that you can’t leave your specific place in the world because it’s the only safe place for a child is just untrue.
Of course, as first-time parents, we wanted to take some extra precautions. We have done our research to ensure we have access to great medical care and are fully covered by insurance.
We’ve also chosen to travel to Europe with Baby C – a place where we have lived before and where we are comfortable. We won’t be going to any places that would be deemed particularly unsafe, like a war zone or place with a disease outbreak.
Anytime I find myself going too far down a rabbit hole on safety, I try to remember that there are kids everywhere. Every country in the world has children.
There’s no reason why I won’t be able to keep my baby safe, comfortable, happy and fed in any of the places we’re planning to go on our Baby Trip.
8. “You can’t take a child away from their family and friends back home!”
To be honest, this was one of our biggest hesitations to planning a long term trip with our baby.
Our families were so excited for our little one to get here and we hated the idea of saying, “Congrats, you’re a grandma! Okay, you’ll see your grandchild in a year!”
But this trip is important to us. Prioritizing time for our family of three (or four, if you count our dog, Ellie) to bond and make memories is important to us. Introducing our child to travel and all of the positives that brings is important to us.
And so we’ve found a few ways to still go on this amazing trip, but not “take my grandbaby away!” as my mother-in-law might put it.
First, this trip is actually allowing us to spend more time with friends and family.
We spent the first 10 weeks of our Baby Trip in Toronto living with my parents. We not only got to join my parents for dinner almost every night but we had the opportunity to hang out with so many of our friends and family members in Toronto.
Without this trip, most of my family probably wouldn’t have the chance to meet Baby C until Christmas. And even then, it’d only be during a short visit.
Instead, we got so much quality family time in. My parents and siblings really got to bond with our daughter, interacting with her on a near-daily basis. We even made them a photo book of all our summer memories!
Second, we are hoping that friends and family will join us along the way on our baby trip. We’re currently hosting my mom in France (and she’ll join us again for Christmas), a few people flying out for Baby C’s first birthday, and my sister planning a trip to join us in the spring.
Not only will they get to spend time with our family but they’ll also get to spend time in Europe. I love the idea of making these beautiful memories with our extended family in places all over Europe.
I’m picturing baby’s first gelato, selfies in front of the Eiffel Tower and sunsets on the beach with grandparents, aunts, uncles and friends all around us!
By arranging visits during our baby trip, we’ll be able to focus on more quality time with our loved ones. We may not see them as often as if we were living in the same city, but spending a few weeks under the same roof will be a different and deeper experience.
Lastly (and most importantly to our loved ones back home), we won’t be gone forever. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take this much time off and slow travel with our new little family.
While I know we’ll continue travelling with Baby C as she grows up, we are not planning to move abroad permanently. We will be returning to Canada and making up for all of that lost time with loved ones.
So…maybe you can travel with your baby?
As we walked through the Toronto Airport with Baby C, our dog in her carrier, two suitcases (we started with three but downsized), two backpacks, a stroller, a car seat and a travel crib, it did feel like we had bitten off more than we could chew.
At one point, a flight attendant came by to give us instructions for having a baby on the plane and then came back to ask if we were also the ones with the dog.
When we said yes, she replied, “Wow, you’re travelling heavy.”
And I think that’s fair to say. Travelling with a baby (and a dog!) can definitely be considered “travelling heavy.”
Is it as easy or simple as travelling without a baby? Of course not. But neither is making breakfast or finding time to shower! Babies complicate things.
We decided to bring a baby into our lives and yes, that comes with some sacrifices. We can’t do things exactly how we used to. But it also comes with a lot more joy and new opportunities.
And it doesn’t mean we have to give up travelling. We can find a new, perhaps better, way to do what we love and introduce our baby girl to the world.
Of course, our sample size is one. We can only speak from our own experience and the immense amount of privilege we have with a healthy child, strong passports, savings in the bank, etc.
But for us, travelling with our baby – even if she cries, even if she won’t remember it and even if we have to lug around all of her gear – is so worth it. I can’t imagine letting any of the reasons above keep me from going on this trip.
If you want to keep up with our Baby Trip in real time, subscribe to my newsletter below! And if you have any advice about travelling with a baby, please leave it in the comments below.
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