BABY GEAR ⚙️ for traveling long distances with a baby under one!
By: Hedieh Randolph
Tags: Traveling, Parenting, Travel, Traveling With Kids, Baby Products

As many of you have seen via social media posts we are on a one month adventure all across Spain with our nine-month-old baby boy. We are mid-way through our trip and have already changed locations four times with five more locations to go. When doing a trip like this, planning and pre-planning is key.

A lot of you have asked me what car seat, stroller or crib we took on this trip and why, below you’ll find our favorite brands, gear, and tips to help make your travel, day to day outings, and babies sleep time much easier.

Before I dive into baby gear talk, I’d just like to mention that I am not getting paid to share any of these baby products, I am sharing because I’d like to help other traveling parents get the most out of their adventure! Here are the favs!

#1 absolute best and most needed gear on this trip has and will continue to be the ErgoBaby Carrier. We have the Omni 360 Baby Carrier All-In-One

Cool Air mesh, but I’ve heard the other ErgoBaby ones are just as good. a couple of friend of ours went to Japan with their six-month-old last year and they swore by their carrier and even went as far as saying you don’t need to travel with a stroller. We totally agree!

Kamran has been in that thing for 90% of our outings and it really takes a lot for him to get tired of it. The idea of being close to mom and dad, but still be able to see everything and everyone from a higher level ( than the stroller ) really helps him enjoy his outings. We also love it during restaurant outings because some places don’t have high chairs or he just gets bored of sitting and dining so we can take turns going for mini walks with him while the other basques in 15 min of sipping wine and actually tasting the food, dare I say, uninterrupted!

A few things to keep in mind when you use the carrier:

during peak hours in the sun make sure to use an SPF proof sun hat

apply baby-friendly sunscreen, because baby skin is sensitive and burns easily!

I’m kinda a freak when it comes to sun protection so during our time in Sevilla, especially since he’s exposed to more sun in the carrier, and because it’s been the absolute hottest here so far we switch up our daily routine to minimize sun exposure. I’ll share more about that later!

#2 Nuna pipa car seat with traveler backpack because it’s super light, voted safest car seat and can be strapped into any car using the seatbelt. It’s so light that I was able to carry him in the carrier, wear this backpack and pull my luggage/ purse with ease through train stations and airports. We brought it from home because it can be unreliable to rent a car seat out here and you’ll need one from the airport to your Airbnb/hotel.

It’s so light that I was able to carry him in the carrier, wear this backpack and pull my luggage/ purse with ease through train stations and airports. We brought it from home because it can be unreliable to rent a car seat out here and you’ll need one from the airport to your Airbnb/hotel. #3 Uppa baby minu traveling stroller . This is also very light and can be assembled and disassembled with one hand. I open and close it while holding Kamran all the time. It doesn’t have the biggest wheels because it’s a traveling stroller so sometimes it’s a little hard to steer especially on these Spanish cobblestone streets, but unless you are in a hurry, that shouldn’t be an issue for you. I love the Minu’s SPF 50 shade cover and easy to wipe material. If you do go the minu route, I would highly recommend you pay extra to get their travel bag, which is also a padded backpack. We almost got a cheapo travel bag off amazon instead and I’m glad we didn’t because this fits perfectly in its own bag which makes lugging it around much easier and lighter.

I open and close it while holding Kamran all the time. It doesn’t have the biggest wheels because it’s a traveling stroller so sometimes it’s a little hard to steer especially on these Spanish cobblestone streets, but unless you are in a hurry, that shouldn’t be an issue for you. I love the Minu’s SPF 50 shade cover and easy to wipe material. If you do go the minu route, I would highly recommend you pay extra to get their travel bag, which is also a padded backpack. We almost got a cheapo travel bag off amazon instead and I’m glad we didn’t because this fits perfectly in its own bag which makes lugging it around much easier and lighter. #4 Lotus travel crib. This crib is also light (catch the theme?), and sleek looking. It sits super low to the ground so if you have a bad lower back, like me and basically every single other mom out there, then you will love the side zipper option. You can zip it open, pop the baby in, and zip it back closed without waking them up. This crib packs up really nicely and hardly takes any room when it’s packed up. It’s easy to set up but takes the average person at least 10 minutes to pack up.

Some smart hacks that we found to be helpful when it comes to adjusting to sleep in new environments and new time zones are instilling a sense of familiarity! Full disclaimer the hacks I’m about to share have only worked half the time for us because he’s discovered the comforts of our cushiony Airbnb beds and the warmth of sleeping between mom and dad with full access to moms buffet *eye roll*, but if you are stricter than us then hopefully these work better for you!

Buy the lotus fitted sheet off amazon because it’s the only fitted sheet that works with this crib and snaps into the crib so you don’t have to worry about taking it on and off anytime you pack to go to your new location

Set up the lotus crib with the same fitted sheet you will be using on your trip several days before you travel and get your baby used to sleep in it during naps and during the night.

Move the crib to a few different rooms to help them adjust with change before you leave your house! ( we didn’t do this one but if I had thought of it before I probably would have )

Do not forget their usual sleep sack and favorite lovey if they have one.

Kamran's elephant lovey, sleep sack, and fitted sheet that already smells like him, as well as ocean sounds, have helped him get into familiar sleep mode regardless of location or time change. Admittedly, I’m kinda into the ocean sounds to help with my jetlag as well. One last thing on sleep is to make sure all your Airbnb’s are infant or kid friendly and look for places that say they have blackout shades included. I’ll definitely share my Airbnb tips soon!

So overall we had three baby items that we checked in. Across Europe and according to ( most airlines ) baby items are free to check in and we haven’t had any problems yet. Iberia airlines during our flight from Mallorca to Madrid questioned our reason for having three baby items but we simply said it’s his stroller, crib, and car seat and the baby needs it to get into cars, to sleep, and because he can’t walk yet!! They couldn’t really argue with that and let us check them without charge.

I’ll write another post soon on what we did when it came to baby food, snacks, toys, and overall packing! Here we are with his carrier and sun hat at Alcazar in Sevilla.

Please let me know what you think and if this is helpful! Go travel with that baby!! You will be happy you did more of it!