Babies at 6-12 months will be interactive! They will enjoy sitting, starting to crawl or even trying to stand and cruise on objects (for solid crawlers). While you’ll still be calling the shots on vacation, your 6-12 month old can be a part of what you do and will show interest in new surroundings.

Things to do

There are great things to do with a 6-12 month old baby. Some of our early travel memories with our child started at the 6 month age, when we could face her outward in the baby carrier and point to things that moved, and get her to laugh. Here are some ideas for your travels!

Interactive activities

At this age, you can engage your baby in (and get their reaction!) to more “interesting” and interactive things to do like going to bodies of water (pools, lakes, beaches), gardens, beaches and cities.

Babies at this age like to interact with their environments! When our baby was five months, we took her on a short trip to a farm and pointed out the farm animals moving around. There may be lots of availability of cute day trips that you can consider for your baby.

Walking around

Some things we did at this age were walk around cities, take short trips to natural areas with big expansive views, visit swimming pools and stop at playgrounds to go in the baby swings (toward 6 months). Hiking and walking on short trails was a good activity that didn’t tire us out and gave our baby a chance to see some surroundings.

How to get around your activities

Your baby can probably sit, but also wants to crawl, be active and try cruising along walls and tables! Here are a few tips for getting around your daily travel activities easily at 3-6 months.

Bring a stroller AND a carrier

Be prepared with both a stroller and a baby carrier in case there is refusal of either. Having a packable baby carrier is also a great idea at this age if you find yourself at a hiking trail, a farm, a hilly area or somewhere like a garden with steps and levels, where using a stroller isn’t the best idea for convenience. I recommend the Baby Tula Lite.

Wear smart walking shoes (for parents)

At this age, babies tend to start growing in all directions: height-wise, and weight-wise. While we had a 14-lb baby at 6 months, others had babies edging on 20 lbs, which was quite a different story!

If you plan to “wear” your baby in the carrier, wear supportive shoes. Babywearing during travel is actually a great workout, and it will certainly put stress on your feet. Another tip of mine is to switch off between parents with wearing your baby in the carrier.

Incorporate naps

For babies on a 2- or 3-nap schedule, incorporate naps during driving time, flights, time in between activities or downtime at the hotel. At this age, parents can work on planning travel around naps.

If it works for you, you can still be encouraging naps in the baby carrier when your vacation plans are already set, if you’re in transit already (airport layovers) or when you plan to be walking for the duration of a nap.

Sleep schedule and your activities

Your baby’s sleep schedule at 6-12 months may be much more predictable than before! This can help with vacation planning.

For us, it let us “punctuate” the day with naps, planning meal outings and flight times around when we hoped our baby would be tired.

Jet lag

Our first tip is to tackle jet lag for babies who have already formed rigid sleep habits. At 6-12 months, most babies are usually open to change and flexible, when compared to toddlers! Combat this type of sleep challege at our jet lag page.

Nap-friendly spaces

Create plans for friendly nap environments: this could be a big sun shade on the stroller, a cozy baby carrier with a sun flap, a car seat or a travel crib in a quiet room at your vacation rental.