While packing was totally daunting to us at first, we got it down to a science after some traveling in our child’s first few months. In this course, we’re providing you with our foolproof packing lists that have thought of every possible thing that we take along for the journey, plus, we hope to provide you with the confidence to build on those lists with the particular products that work for your baby and your family.

Let’s get into the tips.

Pack a few days in advance.

I always start packing for our child two or three days in advance. First, I want to make sure that all the specific items are clean, dry and out of the wash. I set them aside for packing. And next, I want to make sure that everything we need to bring along will fit in the suitcase, or in another bag that we’re bringing.

My tip: Buffer in some time to make any adjustments or add in clean laundry that came out of the washer.

“Mock pack”

This is a term we use to describe making sure everything on our packing lists for ourselves and our baby is accounted for, well before the hour when we need to be in the car leaving for a road trip, or departing for the airport.

The night before you leave, zip up the suitcases, make sure they close or are within weight limits, and determine if you have to shift things around. This might be some diapers going in the parents’ luggage, or realizing that you want some more “non-replaceable essentials” to go in the carry-on, rather than the checked bag.

Come prepared with a packing list.

Go into your packing project with a packing list. Luckily, we’ve provided a packing list for each phase of your baby’s life. I suggest using those and printing them out, if you like to check things off!

Having a good packing list is good to know if you need to buy anything and have it available for when you want to start packing.

We abridge our packing lists and build off them, each time we travel. We see how our baby’s needs have changed, and we also remember last-minute-additions from last time we traveled that are helpful.

Test out a baby carrier.

If you haven’t had to use one, get a baby carrier and test it out for a few times before you actually need to use it. You could “wear” your baby at the supermarket, around the house or for a walk around the neighborhood in order to get them acquainted with how it feels, and to get YOU acquainted with how to adjust it and wear it comfortably.

You will want to know its quirks and how to easily get it on and off, before struggling to do it minutes before boarding a flight, for example. As you’ve seen in other parts of this course, we recommend the Baby Tula Carrier Lite for its packable properties!

Test out your travel crib

If you’ll be bringing a travel crib, it pays to introduce your baby to it, beforehand. It makes one fewer new variable for the trip, when all the surroundings are new. The crib will be more familiar.

Helpful Tip

What we’ve done in the past is to let our baby either nap, or have some independent play time (or both) in a new travel crib, to create familiarity with the feel of it.

Get to know “baby packing hacks.”

Social media is full of packing hacks for parents when it comes to your baby or toddler’s things and how to get them all to fit in your luggage.

Stuff diapers into your checked car seat bag if flying, or do things like stuff baby socks into bottles if you’ll be packing light!

Another packing hack I invented is to take a tiny bottle of moisturizer from a hotel, empty it (or use it up), and put your baby’s sunscreen in there. I’ve found that it’s hard to find organic baby mineral sunscreen in travel size, so I made my own, in order to be carry-on approved!

In regard to diapers, you can pack only a day’s worth of diapers, if you will be able to find diapers at a supermarket when you land or arrive. We should’ve done this when we went to Mexico, but instead, we brought “nearly enough” for the whole trip, and then we “nearly ran out.” Not ideal!

Remember that it’s OK if you forget something.

Packing for a baby is stressful, and that’s in addition to packing for yourself!

Remember that there are things that will be available when you land. There are pharmacies, supermarkets, corner stores and shopping malls all over the world. While there will be a variance in brands or in variety, ultimately, there should be baby clothes, baby food and baby medicines at most corners of the globe.

My note: of course, for things like brand-specific breast pump parts, your favorite breastfeeding products, specialized baby formulas or one-of-a-kind stuffed animals, keep them close by in the diaper bag for your entire trip.

Your packing lists

Find our packing lists for the following age groups at our packing lists page.