Your days of traveling from one faraway destination to another does not need to come to an abrupt halt just because you are now the mom to a beautiful baby! You survived first trimester travel, second trimester travel, and possibly third trimester travel. While you may not feel ready to jump on a plane the day after giving birth, there is no real reason why you need to wait a year or two either. You could certainly travel with your newborn as soon as you’re ready even if they are still breastfeeding.
Here are 9 post-partum travel tips:
1. Visit Your Doctor First
Prior to making any travel plans, you should make an appointment to see your doctor. This appointment will allow your doctor to examine you and see if you are okay for travel. This is the time when they can give you any needed vaccinations or tell you if there is anything specific that you should be doing to stay healthy while traveling.
2. Visit Your Baby’s Pediatrician
Your baby will need a check up just like you, so that their doctor can tell you that they are okay to fly as well.
The doctor can tell you if there are any vaccines that your little one needs prior to travel or any medication that you should take with you.
3. Find the Nearest Medical Facilities at Your Destination
Despite your doctor giving you the all clear for travel, you are still going to want to know where the nearest medical facilities are located at your destination. After all, you never know when complications will arise, especially after a c-section, or when your baby will spike a temperature of 104 or have major ear pain. This knowledge will hopefully prevent anything from happening (you know, the “I am prepared, so I will not need this information that I searched hours for”) and if you need it, you won’t be scrambling while looking for a building with a competent doctor inside.
4. Take Comfortable Clothes and Shoes
You may want to wear all your pre-maternity clothes, but do not think for one minute that all of them are going to fit you within the first few months or so. Even if you try them on and they do, you may find that they are not as comfortable as they used to be.
Grab those items that you know that you can easily sit in from morning until night and know that you will thoroughly enjoy your vacation in comfort.
5. Move Around
While you may no longer be pregnant, you are still going to be prone to blood clots and other ailments if you sit still for too long. It is still recommended that you get up and move around quite often when you are traveling, and if that is not possible, then at least do some exercises in your seat.
6. Always Drink a Lot of Fluids
Traveling takes a lot out of you, especially when it comes to hydration, which is why you need to make sure that you are drinking a lot of fluids.
This is especially true if you are breastfeeding, because you need to drink more for that as well.
7. Pack Lots of Snacks
Okay, so your baby will not be eating too much while you are going to your destination, unless you count the formula or breastmilk that they will be drinking. However, you are going to need to pack a lot of snacks for yourself, so you can keep your energy levels up. This is so important, because it will allow you to keep up with your baby, produce breastmilk if necessary, and prevent you from becoming a monster when you get slightly hangry.
8. Choose Your Seat Wisely
Traveling with a baby is going to change how you look at where you sit on an airplane. While an aisle is wonderful while you are pregnant and needing to use the bathroom quite often, a baby can get bumped into by flight attendants and other passengers if you are not careful. The window seat is often the best choice, because it gives you a little extra room for your baby to stretch out while they are sleeping and if you are trying to clean them up or change them without getting up.
However, there is something to be said about the middle seat too, especially if you are traveling with someone that can sit in the aisle seat. That middle seat, and your helpful companion, will ensure that you can easily get up when you need to, without interrupting another passenger, and will give you enough extra space between the two seats for your baby’s comfort.
9. Stick to Your Schedule
Yes, traveling can mean different time zones and plenty of things to do, but when you are traveling with a little baby, you need to stick to the schedule that you created. Now, I know that babies are unpredictable and that their schedules can change from one day to the next. However, if you have been feeding your baby every three hours back home, do the same thing when you are traveling. With that being said, if your baby is out of sorts and wants to eat every two hours while on vacation, feed them! The schedule that I am mainly referring to is naptimes and bedtimes. Yes, your baby is portable, and will most likely sleep anywhere, but think of all the sleep that you can get while they are sleeping! Yes, the sleep that you are still lacking in more ways than one! Embrace it while you are away from home and do not need to worry about all the extra chores that you need to do when you are not traveling.
These nine tips will have you successfully traveling with your baby just weeks after delivery! It may not be as easy as traveling alone or with your spouse but think of all the memories you are making together and the things that your baby will learn from an early age. Embrace these days completely, because your baby will not be little for long and before you know it, they will be off on their own and you will be traveling alone once again or perhaps with the rest of your family including your now toddler!
