We thought long and hard about transport tips for the newborn phase, and we’ve come up with the best practices to keep both a newborn and their parents calm on travel day. We went into our travel time with a newborn pretty prepared, understanding that there would be bumps along the road and we’d have some problems to solve.

Flights

For flying with a newborn, here is a collection of handy tips.

Bring a baby carrier!

Newborns like to be close to their parents for comfort. You’ll likely want to be using the baby carrier leading up to the flight itself, for naps, for calming your child or even for nursing while in the airport.

Feeding on the flight

Be prepared with how you’ll feed your baby on the flight (nursing, bottles, formula). If nursing, you’ll probably want your nursing cover nearby and easily accessible from the diaper bag or personal item. If breastfeeding (and dealing with all that thirst!), never hesitate to ask flight attendants for a drink.

If you’ll be preparing bottles on a long-haul flight, feel free to ask the flight attendants for bottled water.

Lap infant vs. baby’s seat

Decide on doing lap infant vs. getting your newborn their own seat (and buying them a ticket) when you book the tickets. Or, as a third option, for infants under 4-5 months, you can get a bassinet (when available) on a longer-haul flight.

You can read further on the topic at what to do with a baby before, during and after flying.

Road trips

Road trips and being away with our newborn for longer than we’d ever been away from home before with a baby, taught us to improvise.

Be prepared for anything

Be prepared for a baby with gas, a baby who won’t sleep, and a baby who is constantly hungry. Your newborn may be lonely in the back seat, if two parents are sitting up front, and one parent may have to go “entertain” the baby in the backseat with books or rattles.

Car tricks

You will learn how to do lots of things in the car: change a diaper, clean a car seat, do an entire outfit change, and breastfeed or bottle feet while sitting in the front seat, parked outside a supermarket. It’s all part of taking road trips with your baby as a form of travel.

Frequent stops

Acknowledge that there may be frequent stops (or not! Some babies may sleep straight for 2 hours, quietly, at this age), but some newborns may nap for only 15 minutes and find it challenging to relax.

Remember: all newborns are very different from one another. Road trips with a newborn will vary greatly from family to family.

Train or bus

While traveling by train or bus is rarer for family travel at the newborn phase, sometimes it is the way to go, if you’re going from major city to major city, or to a place where you’ll be visiting family or friends who have a car.

Quick tips:

  • You might want to be near the bathroom on a train or bus in case you need to change a dirty diaper; newborns frequently need to be changed.
  • Remember that trains and buses are confined spaces, and on a bus you need to remain seated, unlike in an airplane, where walking around is completely allowed when the seat belt sign is not on.
  • Train and bus are probably the least-popular transportation options when you have a newborn, but sometimes it’s the best or most convenient way. Ask for the patience of those around you if your newborn is fussing.