The Ultimate Packing List for Traveling With a 6-Month-Old
The Ultimate Packing List for Traveling with a 6-Month-Old
When my daughter was six months old, my husband and I took her on our annual week-long anniversary trip. Our destination was Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, and during our trip, I felt that we were well prepared. Although it shouldn’t have been a surprise being that I had probably spent months planning the trip including an iPhone note of a checklist of things to bring, I was still nervous I would be unprepared, especially as a first time mom.I decided to compile everything I packed into an organized list to be shared with other moms who plan to make a similar journey.
Sleeping
Keep it simple for sleeping. Call your resort or hotel in advance to see if they have cribs that you can reserve for your room but be prepared for alternative arrangements because in our case, the crib provided by the hotel was not very good. We ended up co-sleeping throughout the trip, which neither my husband nor I minded at all.
Sleepsack – we brought two in case of any mess or blowouts
Pajamas – we brought two long sleeve footie pajamas (also in case of mess or blowouts) and one short sleeve option in case the AC in the room does not work well. This ended up being the case for us, so definitely recommend! I am a big fan of the Carter’s Purely Soft Footie Pajamas because they tend to last longer and grow with the baby and have a bit of stretch for easier dressing.
Sound Machine – my husband and I opted to bring our trusty sound machine that we use at home. We love the wide range of color and sound options.
Baby Monitor – our baby monitor is super compact and simple to set up so we just took the one we use every day at home and stuck it in the suitcase.
Feeding
We also kept it fairly simple for feeding since our baby had just begun to eat solids. Below are the only items we ended up using.
Thyseed Baby Bottle – I live by these bottles. We primarily breastfeed aside from her bedtime bottle as she is gentle sleep trained and falls asleep on her own with our help so we like to avoid breastfeeding at night as it usually ends up in feeding to sleep.
Momcozy Travel Brush – we also use our Momcozy travel brush daily in our home and the travel case made it super easy to pack away and throw in the suitcase. The travel case also makes it easy to store in her diaper bag if she was primarily bottle fed.
Silicone Baby Bib – we use silicone baby bibs every day at home so another item that was a good buy and easy to toss in the suitcase when we were ready to go.
Baby Spoons – since my daughter was still just starting solids, we brought a pack of teether spoons to keep her hands and one normal baby spoon for purées.
Muslin Burp Cloths – pack about one per day – helpful for cleaning messy hands and faces after solids, spit-up, or any spilled milk.
Diapering
For diaper essentials, this is one place I overpacked. I felt better to be overpriced than underprepared. We brought two packs of Pura Diapers and three packs of Honest Baby Wipes (two in the checked back and one in the carry-on/diaper bag). Pura diapers are the only diapers we use at home as they rate well on the clean ingredients list and don’t break the bank. Baby has also hardly had any blowouts and I can’t help but attribute that to Pura diapers. We tried a few different brands when she was a newborn, but haven’t had any issues since using these consistently.
For a week-long trip, I would still recommend bringing two packs of diapers, but just one extra pack of wipes in the checked bag.
Beach/Pool
We packed all of these items, aside from the portable fan that we kept on her stroller, in our large carry on and everything fit just fine. We ended up using all of these aside from the beach sun shade but mostly because she was spending so much time in her beach chair. Sun protection is a must for beach or pool time.
Swim Diapers – I prefer reusable swim diapers because they are much more cost effective.
Portable Baby Beach Chair – a portable pop up chair is the cutest chair for the beach and also very versatile as you can bring it anywhere. It even comes with extra straps so you can secure it onto a normal chair to act as a high chair. It folds up fairly compact for easy traveling.
Sun Hat – I recommend getting a Sun Hat with UPF Protection. We try to minimize the amount of sunscreen we use on baby so a sun hat with built in protection helps.
Sunglasses – Definitely necessary to protect their little eyes, especially while at the pool or beach where the sun reflecting off the pool or sand definitely seemed to affect my baby without them.
Pool Floaty – We purchased a pool floaty and left it in the original packaging until our trip to make sure it would take up as little room as possible. The floaty we purchased easily deflated and packed right back up into our suitcase when it was time to leave.
Portable Fan – A portable fan is a must have, especially if you are traveling somewhere where the climate is especially hot and/or humid. We practically had our fan on the entire time whenever baby was in her stroller and just made sure to keep it on the charger while we were in the room, however, the fan we purchased tended to keep a charge well. I now use this fan practically daily whenever I go on walks, living in Texas where the climate is also very hot and humid.
Baby Beach Sun Shade – We actually did not end up using our beach sun shade because our baby spent most of her time in her beach chair under an umbrella or in our arms. However, I think if we were there longer or perhaps if she was a bit older, I’m sure we would have put this to good use. The beach shade we purchased came in pretty compact packaging that we also just left in its packaging for easy travel. It fit in our luggage easily.
Plane
Our primary goal for the plane ride was to make sure our baby stayed occupied and content.
Toys – We purchased plenty of new toys that way when we introduced them to her on the plane, they would hopefully capture her attention and keep her occupied longer. The Montessori Activity Block kept her busy for a long time with lots of different activities to play with. She also loved the Sensory and Teething Toy we purchased. This one now stays strapped to her stroller for our daily walks.
Book – We brought her all time favorite interactive Felt-Flap Board Book that kept her entertained during the flight.
Tape – After seeing many videos saying to bring tape on a flight, I highly recommend doing so. We brought Colorful Masking Tape and she highly enjoyed playing with it.
Pacifier – Our baby does not go down for naps as easy without a pacifier and the NUK Pacifiers are her favorite. It’s not a bad idea to get the NUK Pacifiers that have the ring on them so they can be tied onto a Pacifier Clip to avoid dropping them on the floor. Use a Pacifier Case that straps onto your diaper bag or carry on to keep extras on hand in case one does end up on the floor.
Clothing
When it came to clothing, I packed about two outfits per day—one for daytime activities and one for dinner (because, of course, I had to coordinate her evening outfits with mom and dad!). I also packed three extra outfits for unexpected messes, and I’m so glad I did. Once babies start solids, the messes aren’t just limited to diaper blowouts anymore!
If you’re flying, I also recommend packing at least two extra outfits in your carry-on. Even if your baby isn’t prone to blowouts, accidents happen, and it’s always better to be prepared. My daughter rarely has blowouts anymore, but I still pack two extra onesies and a pair of pants in our carry-on—you never know when you’ll need them.