6 things this travel reporter learned about bringing a baby along for the adventure

Before my partner and I had our first child, we got a lot of great advice about traveling with kids. Always bring snacks! Bring good distractions! Remember that you’re on their timeline!

But in my first six months as a parent, none of those nuggets of wisdom seemed to apply. Traveling with babies (babies younger than 6 months old in particular) seemed to be a whole other adventure.

Our first daughter was born in August, a time when we might reasonably be traveling but instead were spending our days at home, recouping and recovering, but mostly just staring endlessly at our cute little blob of a person. Those first weeks inside were great, but we soon felt the pull to get back out there, starting the process of figuring out just how, exactly, to bring this tiny human along for the ride.

Over the last six months we’ve learned a lot about traveling with a baby — or, more specifically, traveling with our baby. Some of what we learned does not apply to other parents (like our complex travel system for cloth diapers), and some lessons learned by other parents do not apply to us (our baby, incredibly, is a great sleeper).

After our adventures on trains, planes and in cars, from long vacations to quick day trips, here are six things I have learned about traveling with an infant:

1. It’s really easy to forget about yourself

On our first big trip with our baby, a two-nighter in a tiny house on Mount Hood, we did a great job packing for her. Ourselves? Not so much. My partner forgot to pack any long sleeves and had to borrow mine as we hiked around in the chilly mountain air. I somehow managed to forget to pack underwear.

Your baby is obviously a huge priority, but so are you! Don’t get so distracted that you neglect your own needs. Diapers are important, but so is parents’ underwear.

2. Sometimes you just have to pull over

The most dad thing about me is my stubborn resolve to make “good time” on a road trip. All stops are planned. The itinerary is set. My schedule is impeccable! It didn’t take long into parenthood before I realized I needed to soften that stance.

Our baby is typically very chill in the car. When she does freak out — at the end of a day running errands, for example — we usually let her go until we get home. If it’s 15 minutes, we’ll all be fine. But when she started screaming at the start of a two-hour drive to Breitenbush Hot Springs this winter, we had to pull into a rest stop to try and soothe her. When she erupted again an hour later, my partner implored me to pull off the highway so we could change and feed the baby once more. I had to give in.

3. People will offer to help you. You should accept it.

Like many people, I have long struggled to accept help from others. But when we’ve been out and about with the baby (especially when one of us is alone), friends, family and even strangers have offered no shortage of assistance. “Let me get the door!” “Oh, you dropped this!” “Let me watch her for a while, really!” It has taken some work, but I am finally accepting their offers.

There’s no reason to suffer alone, especially while traveling, and especially when people are offering to help. Every time I worry that accepting peoples’ offers will somehow be an imposition, I’m reminded of a great piece of advice from a friend: Accepting help is a gift to those who offer it.

4. The world is your changing table

One thing I’ve suddenly become aware of as a parent is the changing table. Every single one. I clock which restaurant bathrooms have them, and which don’t. Which places have them only in women’s restrooms. Who has those ubiquitous Koala Kare fold-down deals and who has actual tables.

Another thing I’ve realized is that our baby hates these places. After changing our screaming infant in the men’s room at Timberline Lodge, and, regrettably, on the floor of a ramen restaurant bathroom, we’ve come to embrace the world as our changing table. With a simple fold-up, waterproof changing pad in hand, we have changed our baby on park benches, living room floors, the backseats of cars and across our laps on an airplane. Nobody has batted an eye.

5. Pack N’ Plays are a gamechanger

We didn’t think we needed a Pack N’ Play, also known as a portable playpen. In the first few months of our baby’s life, when she wasn’t sleeping at home, we found ways to make safe, comfortable beds for her, usually by assembling some collection of cushions and pillows. It got old fast.

The Pack N’ Play, which folds up compactly and is pretty easy to lug around, offered an easy and safe place for her to sleep, whether we were in a hotel room, her uncle’s apartment or staying over at a friend’s house. We have one on hand for road trips, but haven’t tried to fly with it: good friends and one gracious Airbnb host have been able to lend us theirs. When our baby gets more mobile (which is any day now), the playpen will be a good place for her to hang out when we’re in places she shouldn’t be crawling around.

6. Everything is figure-outable

It would be far too easy to have a baby and say, “Welp, our days of travel are over.” But a baby need not be a ball and chain that tethers you to your home. Whatever kind of travel you like to do, there’s usually a way to make it work with an infant. Like to backpack? There’s gear for that! Need to fly cross-country? You can make it work!

The biggest thing I’ve learned about traveling with a baby is that it’s really possible to travel with a baby. Before she was born, I wasn’t so sure. Do trips look different now? Definitely. But with six months of experience under our belts, and all that good advice in our back pockets, I’m ready to keep up the big adventure.

—Jamie Hale covers travel and the outdoors and co-hosts the Peak Northwest podcast. Reach him at 503-294-4077, jhale@oregonian.com or @HaleJamesB.

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