Top 10 Carry-on Essentials for Traveling with Babies (2-6 months)

Top 10 essentials for flying with Babies

All you Mom´s know its difficult to decide on what to pack when traveling, especially if you are going abroad. I know I feel that way and always over pack. However, I also think better overpack than under pack especially when it comes to flying with Babies to a foreign country.

We have been fortunate enough to travel with Havana since she was 2 months old and have been traveling every single month since. Over time I started making a check list of important things I needed while being on the road and in other countries.

After having traveled to 8 different countries by the time Havana was 1 year old, I pretty much became the source of knowledge amongst many of my friends and provided new parents with care packages of essential travel items.

The package contained items you don’t usually receive as gifts at your Baby Shower, but are extremely important and you only realise you need them when there is a problem.

Traveling to a foreign country

Especially when you are in a different country you don’t want to panic and run around trying to find these things. I think this was another reason for starting a blog, so that I can redirect them to a site. I know when becoming a Mom  time is of the essence, so if I already had something written up for friends then I could easily send them the link rather than re-writing everything 🙂

Essential Travel Items (2-6 months)

Top 10 Carry-On Essentials for flying with Babies (2 – 6 months):

1. Baby Thermometer. Click here
2. Travel Size Baby Paracetamol/Ibuprofen – I personally would bring Paracetamol and Ibuprofen along, as Paracetamol never brought down my daughter Havana´s fever as a baby.  If they give you the bottles that are over 100ml you can not bring them on the plane so UK readers you can buy the smaller bottles at the airpot at Boots or little Calpol sachets as shown in the picture above. For Babies under 3 months it is not recommended to give them anything and to simply take their clothes off so that their temperature regulates itself.  However, for my second child when calling the Doctor they said we were able to give her paracetamol before 3 months as she was already over a certain weight. Nevertheless please call the doctor if your baby is under 3mo and has fever.
   • Syringe – I would use this to give the baby the paracetamol or ibuprofen, as our daughters didn’t know how to suck off the little spoon they provide. This will come in hand if your baby is purely breastfed as you cannot mix the medication into the bottle. You can obtain the small syringes from the pharmacy.
3. Baby Teether/Pacifier (or another item that helps soothe your Baby)
4. Nappy Rash Cream – Metanium Brand worked wonders for us. It was recommended to us by my cousin and clears up the rash in a matter of hours. Click here . Sudocream also have a great small travel size crea, which is perfect for the nappy bag and carry-on. Click here
5. Sterilising Tablets or Sterilising Bags – recommended to sterilise from birth to 6 months. When staying at hotels I also made sure asked if they have a kettle and if they didn’t would go to the hotel reception asking for boiling water so we could use that to sterilise the bottles in the hotel bathroom. These would only be needed on the plane if you are bottle feeding and taking a long haul flight. They are good in case the dummy drops on the floor. Munchkin have a great re-usable sterilising bag see here.
6. ´Teetha´ Teething Granules – Nelsons Teetha Teething Granules are a homeopathic medicinal product that come in small sachets. I do not think you can buy these in the US and in that case I would probably bring teething gel.
7. Emergency baby formula . This wouldn’t apply to every mother, but I found sometimes when travelling my milk supply was lower and also flying can dehydrate you. The powdered version is normally best for travelling as you don’t have a hassle at the airport. Although the airports do have a separate scanner where they can scan liquids over 100ml. Apatamil also have great ready to feed bottles with sterilised teats. I bought these at Asda (6 bottles for 8GBP). I call these emergency bottles and always have one handy in my diaper bag and carry on just in case.
   • A sterilised baby bottle. For those who are formula feeding. The MAM brand is great as it is anti-colic, slow flow and the babies normally like the MAM teats. The bottles are easier to clean and sterilise, which makes it perfect for traveling.
8. Infacol – I would generally bring Infacol with on the plane as both our daughters had bad colic. It helps relieve wind, infant colic and gripping pains and cane given to babies from birth onwards.
   • This isn’t always needed as not all babies have gas pains. However, both our daughters had gas pains, one because we were mix feeding and the other was very sensitive to what I was eating.
9. Moisturiser of choice – We always needed to carry a moisturiser on the plane as our first daughter has bad eczema and especially in the plane skin tends to get dry. Sometimes we would bring a travel sized coconut oil as it is good for her hair and skin as it is 100% organic. The Vita Coco Brand has a 50ml container.
10. A muslin in case your baby spits up and change of clothes for you & the baby. 

Additional items to pack in the suitcase:

Additional Good-To-Haves

Here is a list of additional good-to-have items along in your suitcase.

1. Nose Frida (snotsucker) & Saline drops. Click here
2. Your Baby’s favourite snacks – if he/she is in the weaning stages and if you have layovers as many airports have a limited selection of baby foods.
3. A portable breast pump– This is great for if you are breast & bottle feeding. I loved the Philips Avent brand, as it was so quick to pump and easy to bring along. Sometimes I would pump in the bathroom and didn’t need to plug it in anywhere and it only took 10 minutes to pump 90ml.
4. More paracetamol, Ibuprofen and any doctor prescribed medications.
5. An additional baby bottle. The COMOTOMO brand is a great slow flow bottle we discovered last year.
6. An additional teether or soother in case one gets lost.
7. One or two baby books. You don’t need to bring many toys with for babies, but these first baby books are quite small and have high-contrast black-and-white images that are easy for babies to focus on. I brought them in English & German.

Please do bear in mind that this list is will of course vary by parent and I didn’t include the obvious and probably most important items such as nappies, wipes, doctor prescribed medication, etc. 🙂 As ever baby is different your list might be completely different but some things such as thermometer, paracetamol are really important. 😉

It doesn’t happen to everyone, but when we were traveling from Brazil to Europe when Havana was 5 months old she got a fever on the plane so I was happy I had the paracetamol on hand. We of course stripped her of her clothes first, but it was a 10 hour flight and I was glad I had that with us. So keep that in mind as well when packing.

I hope my comments and experiences are helpful to all Moms and I am open receiving feedback and hearing you about your experiences and useful tips.

To find out about what baby carrier & travel stroller we use see this Blog. I also have an Ergobaby Discount Code you can use until April on any Ergobaby Products.

Happy Baby Happy Travels

xo