With a newborn, traveling is completely for you both as parents. Where have you been wanting to go, or take a little break to?

Consider these things when choosing travel with a newborn

Traveling with a newborn might be something you feel totally comfortable with, or something you have a few concerns about. We recommend thinking about these topics.

Choose a road trip

You might only want road trips if you’re not ready to fly with your newborn. The stress is lower because you don’t have to pack suitcases and go through security, nor wait on rigid flight times (and delays).

Road trips also usually let you return home on a more flexible whim, if you need to come home. We’ve done this, and ended road trips early when the unepxected occurred! We were grateful for the option to drive home.

The destination is for you (parents)

At this point (the newborn phase), the destination is mostly for you and your needs (visiting family) or your wants (resort vacation to relax and seek warmth).

We know plenty of parents who chose to go “south” in winter to tropical getaways, with their newborn (toward the 12-week mark). If you’re traveling during spring or summer in warm places, the wide range of outdoor activities that can be done with a newborn may be really relaxing. We found this to be a sweet spot for outdoor trips.

All-inclusive resorts remain a very popular travel idea for parents traveling before their baby hits the 3-month milestone.

Trips already on the calendar

You might already have plans to go to annual family reunion trips, like our trip with our baby at 13 weeks. That was an annual family reunion and fell at the end of our child’s newborn phase. Had it been a week earlier or a month later, we still would’ve tried to travel for it.

If you have trips already on the calendar, like weddings, family occasions, reunions or previously-planned vacations, plan in advance if you want to take them with your newborn. With advance planning, you can get align all the things you’ll need to leave home with your little one.

Access to healthcare

Try a trip to a destination where you can seek medical care, maybe in your native language, in case your newborn has any issues.

This is also a worthwhile thing to consider in case you experience any postpartum health issues, many of which resolve after 12 weeks postpartum for most women, but everyone is different. I got sick with a fever at six weeks after giving birth and I was pretty glad I was at home, with access to my local urgent care, where I went for an appointment.

What kind of destination do you want?

When traveling with a newborn, there are still lots of choices. If this is the time you are choosing to travel, think about how there are so many options!

A cold and cozy destination

If you go for a cold destination (ski areas, or pretty places in winter) you probably won’t take your newborn out much. Also, if it’s winter, days might be short (but this can help with sleeping in!).

We went to New England with our newborn at 13 weeks (and some people may say, the newborn phase ends at 12 weeks)! But it still felt like the newborn phase to us). We took the baby out for only one or two walks the entire time because it was cold and slightly snowy.

A warm and tropical destination

Warm, sunny and tropical destinations are favorites for many parents who travel with a newborn. The typical type of chosen retreat for parents of newborns or young babies are all-inclusive resorts, where everything from on-site dining to the cleaning of your room is taken care of. Plus, there’ll be a pool!

We have friends who chose to go to Mexico or the Caribbean toward the end of their baby’s “newborn phase.”

A destination to visit family or friends

Family and friends will be best at understanding that you are a tired new parent, especially if they are parents themselves. If you choose to go on a short vacation to visit them somewhere (like we did), they will be glad to help, whether it is holding the baby, feeding the baby, changing the baby or taking the baby on a walk at nap time.

We got a ton of help with our newborn from family when we made that first trip. It made it possible for us to get some time for ourselves to sleep (for Becca) or to work out (for Dan, who was training for a marathon!).

While visiting family in friends at their house or in a suburb isn’t a bucket list experience, it is a very helpful foray into what traveling with a baby is like. We’re thankful that a trip like this was our first experience away from home with our baby, and we let it shape us into pros!