Where to begin? Packing is such a personal thing so I think I'll stick to some tips and tricks. These packing tips are somewhat universal for little ones, but our experience speaks for an infant 2-6 months old.
Baby Gear. First rule of baby travel...don't pack more than you can fit on your back and push with your hands. For us, on a 9 day trip, that meant 2 roller suitcases (under 50lbs), 2 backpacks, 1 car seat travel bag with car seat base, and a car seat/stroller combo. Miss Lu is still small enough to ride around in her car seat stroller, which saved us some room and allowed us just to bring her click and go stroller. Otherwise, we'd have brought her car seat and base for car rides, plus a larger (much heavier) stroller which may have put us over our manageable limit. Here are our must haves:
Car seat & stroller (combo preferably), base (with travel bag)-no need to purchase anything special unless you don't have a travel bag to check your car seat base. We recommend the Ultimate Backpack Padded Car Seat Travel Bag. That allowed us to check the base, any any extra things you didn't fit in your other luggage. Then we gate checked the stroller and the car seat.
Backpack/diaper bag-I recommend a backpack for plane rides and long trips. Shoulder bags can get really uncomfortable and don't hold as much. We used a Timbuk2 Parker backpack, and it did the trick. I LOVED that it had a side access pocket for a laptop which we used for extra diapers and the portable changing station instead. Super fast access to take care of the dirty business!
Portable changing station-Normally I don't use one since our diaper bags come with, but using a backpack and having this changing station was perfect for airplanes and short little outings throughout our trip. We used the Skip Hop Baby Pronto Portable Changing Station with Cushioned Changing Mat and Wipes Case.
Baby carrier-we brought two. Probably excessive, but both were useful for different reasons. A small one (Chicco Ultrasoft Infant Carrier) that we could fit in our carry-on was perfect for the plane and really helps if baby gets fussy and you need to walk the aisle with them. Also handy when boarding and deplaning, in case your arms are taken by a million other items. We used the larger, more ergonomic one (Ergobaby 360) for day trips, longer walks and times we wanted to avoid cobblestone stroller rides. We were lucky enough we already had both of these items. Truthfully though, we didn't use the Ergobaby as much as I thought we would since Switzerland was so stroller friendly. But baby sure did enjoy the view when we did.
Organizing for efficiency. Maya and I shared one mid-size quad-roller suitcase. If it would've been any more, our stuff wouldn't have fit in our rental car, nor would we have had enough arms to push and carry our bags. That meant Mommy packed about 25% of the shoes she would have for a typical girls' trip. For her first couple of domestic trips I used gallon size Ziploc bags to pack her gear. I labeled them "tops", "bottoms", "PJs", "accessories", you get the idea. Then brought a couple of empties to collect the dirty clothes.
This worked great, but not super sustainable if you're going to travel a lot with your little one. I'd save the bags but it got wasteful throwing out the dirty ones. So for this trip we got washable packing cubes from Eagle Creek. Not labeled, but see through enough to know what was in each cube. My favorite packing cube is the Eagle Creek clean/dirty cube. Just as it sounds, you have the clean stuff packed on one side, and as they get dirty, transfer them to the other side that's pretty air tight. I wish I would have bought 4 of those, but that does add up!
We were also able to be pretty efficient and kept our clothes to a minimum since we booked an Airbnb in the middle of our trip that had laundry facilities. This was a big win for all of us! No one wants to carry poopy clothes with them 24 hrs a day.
Be airplane/airport ready. What you bring with you on the airplane is probably the most important. I was paranoid I would run out of things in the case of a delay. It's not like they sell formula, diapers or pants for your infant at the airport newsstand. This is the only time I'd recommend over packing and why the backpack came in handy. Bring twice as much food, diapers, wipes, and clothes for the little one as you think you'll need. Bring a gallon plastic bag or packing cube to hold the soiled clothes and save others from the stench. Airlines also like it if you bag your dirty diapers so the smell is contained. Bring yourself an extra set of clothes, the chances you'll get caught in the crossfire are higher every additional hour on your itinerary.
These are our big hitter tips, I hope you find these helpful. If you have questions or other recommendations, please share!
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