Before pregnancy my husband and I travelled a lot. I told myself that I didn’t want having a baby to stop us from traveling. But realistically, I knew that traveling with a baby would be very, very different. As first time parents I wanted our first trip to be a short, close trip where we could test the waters of how our daughter traveled. In case you haven’t noticed, the Accounting Momma is not a “jump in the deep end “ type of gal; I prefer to “dip my toes in” and see how it feels.
When and Where
Surprise, surprise, I started my trip planning with an Excel spreadsheet! As I’ve mentioned before, I love to create an Excel spreadsheet for all of my trips, with a tab for summary, flights, hotel/ accommodation, things to do, etc. As such, I created an Excel file to help narrow down where we should go for our first trip.
At the time of this trip, our daughter was just about to turn 3 months old. While we didn’t have a “set routine” with her, she was generally napping 3-4 times a day (varying lengths) and going to bed between 7:00pm – 8:00pm (with a dream feed around 10:00pm), and a wake up between 6:30am – 7:00am.
While this routine didn’t necessarily limit where we were going to go on the trip, I wanted to factor it in so that we could try to stick to her routine as best as we could. Babies do well with routine (as the Accounting Momma, I also do well with routine). But I also know that travel is its own beast with babies/ kids, and that we can always get back into our routine once we’re home.
When
First, we had to figure out when we were going to go on our trip. Since my maternity leave wasn’t over until November, I wanted to go on a trip before then. Why not take advantage of my leave time? My husband had already returned to work at the end of July, so he would have to take PTO if we were going to do a longer-than-a-weekend trip.
I thought September would be a great month to travel, as 1) the weather is usually cooling down in California around this time, 2) it wasn’t as busy of a time for my husband with work, and 3) it is before peak cold/ flu season. We decided on a long weekend trip, leaving on a Friday and coming back on a Sunday.
Where
Next, we had to figure out where we were going to go on our trip. I thought our first trip should be a road trip, as I wasn’t ready yet to fly with our newborn. With a road trip, it narrowed down the locations, as I didn’t want to drive more than 3 or 4 hours away from home. Babies shouldn’t spend more than 2 hours at a time in a carseat (even less for babies under 3 months)—this is to help prevent positional asphyxiation and allow babies to stretch and move. Also this timing allowed for an ideal 1 pit stop on the road trip.
In the end, we decided to visit Monterey, California. My husband and I had both been there before, both separately and together. Monterey is a beautiful city along the coast and we figured that the Monterey Bay Aquarium would be a perfect place to take a baby for visual stimulation.
Accommodations
Once we decided when and where, we needed to figure out accommodations. There is always the debate between hotels and Air BnBs/ VRBOs. We’ve stayed in both types of accommodations before, and typically prefer Air BnBs.
We found this lovely Air BnB on the coast and chose to stay here for 2 nights. The Air BnB host was very responsive and a pleasure to work with, as she helped address my many questions on staying at an Air BnB with a baby. The location of this Air BnB was perfect, as we were in walking distance to downtown Monterey (and the Aquarium). And the view is absolutely stunning, overlooking Monterey Bay.
This 2 bedrooms/ 2 bathroom Air BnB is a remodeled 2-story house with the bottom level rented out. I believe the owners live on the floor above, and this was not an issue during our stay. The Air BnB has beautiful Spanish architecture, and when I walked into the kitchen I was immediately transported back to my grandparent’s old home. I was overcome with a feeling of nostalgia, in the best way (as I miss my grandparents dearly).
We used one of the bedrooms as our “base station” for baby girl, and set up her changing pad and suitcase in there. Since our daughter was still room-sharing with us at the time, she slept in the same room as me and my husband. This worked out very well for us, as it was a similar set up to how we had at home, with the spare bedroom acting as her nursery.
Packing
Man, I thought I was an over-packer before, but with a baby (and especially as first time parents on their first trip with a baby) I am definitely an over-packer. But I would rather be over-prepared (having extra/ the right stuff for baby) than under-prepared.
Within my trip Excel file I had a tab for packing—including what to pack for baby, and what to pack for myself. Below are all of the items I packed on our trip for our daughter, and whether I think they’re debits or credits.
Note: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
- Bassinet: While we currently use a pack n’ play for travel, at the time of this trip, we had only tried the pack n’ play crib a couple of times with our daughter. As such, we brought her SNOO bassinet, as this is what she was used to sleeping in (especially overnight). As a side note, we did not purchase the SNOO; I was able to lease it through work for free. However, we really liked the SNOO and it worked well for our daughter.
- Bassinet sheets (x2): I’m a believer in always having at least one spare. I prefer to have 2 spares, but I didn’t want to go overboard. As such, I packed 2 bassinet sheets (1 to use and 1 extra).
- Sleep sacks (x2): Same as the above, I packed 2 SNOO sleep sacks (1 to use and 1 extra). The Air BnB had a washer/dryer, but if something were to happen in the middle of the night, there’s not time to do a load of laundry and get baby back to sleep, so a spare is always needed.
- Baby monitor: Despite having our daughter sleep in the same room as us, we did bring her baby monitor (+ camera and stand) so that we could keep an eye on her when we stayed up after putting her down. We love our Infant Optics DXR-8 Pro baby monitor – the range was great, as we were able to sit outside on the patio by the fire pit and still see/hear our baby.
- Sound Machine: We love our Hatch Sound Machine, and if/where possible we will take with us. While we also have the portable sound machine (which we also brought), the regular sound machine is perfect for nighttime sleeping (and lasts all night). I highly recommend bringing the sound machine if you can fit in your luggage.
- Stroller: A stroller is a must, especially since we planned on doing a lot of walking. We walked to the Aquarium/ downtown Monterey, as well as to Lover’s Point for a morning walk to get coffee. Strollers are a perfect mode of transportation for baby.
- Car seat attachment parts: We didn’t necessarily need these, as we typically use the bassinet attachment with the stroller, instead of keeping baby girl in her car seat.
- Bassinet attachment: As mentioned above, we typically use the bassinet attachment with the stroller as it is most comfortable for baby.
- Portable fan: I brought a portable fan so that we could attach to the stroller in case it got hot. It is a three-prong fan which makes attaching to the stroller (or crib, in case the bedroom doesn’t have a fan) easy.
- Portable sound machine: I brought the Hatch Rest Go in case baby wants to nap on the go — it helps provide the same bedtime sounds she hears, associating her with sleep.
- Diaper Bag: Just a must, always.
- Baby Bjorn Carrier: I’ve gone back and forth with baby carriers. I hated the wrap-style carriers, and prefer the structured carriers, like the Baby Bjorn carrier; however, I personally am just not a huge fan of carriers in general. My husband did use the carrier at the aquarium though, which allowed our daughter to see the animals more up close.
- Baby Bottles (x2): As we were only staying two nights, I brought 2 baby bottles, and washed them so that there was always a spare.
- Travel cleaning kit: This bottle cleaning brush set has been so helpful to take on vacations, as it comes with multiple brush attachments and is a mini drying rack in and of itself to make on-the-go bottle cleaning and breast pump parts cleaning a breeze!
- Diapers (x1 bag): We packed 1 full pack of diapers to take with us, knowing that would be plenty for the long weekend. For some other trips, we’ve purchased diapers at the destination to avoid taking space in our luggage. However, given this short trip and that we were driving, it was easy to just bring a pack of diapers from home.
- Wipes (x1 pack): We packed 1 pack (+ the wipe pack that was already in our diaper bag). Similar to the above, for other trips, we’ve purchased wipes at the destination to avoid taking space in our luggage, but decided against it for this trip.
- Changing Pad: We brought our changing pad from home thinking it would make diaper changes easier, but in the end, we would have been fine just using the diaper changing pad that comes with our diaper bag. The changing pad took up unnecessary space.
- Reusable mats (x2): On our changing pad (with sheet) we also use the Blue Snail mats (to help absorb messes). I packed 2 so that we would have 1 to use and 1 spare.
- Burp cloths (x10): We packed way too many burp cloths. I’m not sure why I packed so many to be honest. Our daughter was not a huge spitter-upper, but I felt like I needed this many at the time. We would have been fine with 1-2 per day (so total 5 or 6, and that’s generous).
- Bibs (x3): Our daughter wears a bib when drinking milk out of a bottle, so I packed one for each day my husband was giving her a bottle + 1 spare.
- Blankets (x2): I probably would have been fine with one blanket, but brought two just so I could have a spare. Our daughter used the blanket in the stroller, as it was a bit chilly in the mornings in Monterey.
- Wash clothes (x3): Honestly, I’m not even sure why I brought wash cloths. We weren’t giving our daughter baths that frequently, so she didn’t actually need them. And if she did end up needing one, the Air BnB had enough towels.
- Breast Pump Bag: For a pumping mom it’s inevitable to bring all the things related to pumping and milk.
- Breast pump: First, I needed to bring my breast pump. I chose to bring my Ameda Joy Plus pump, as I knew I would be pumping at least once per day.
- Milk bags: I didn’t plan to store my milk in the freezer while there, as the milk I pumped on Friday would be good in the refrigerator until Sunday when we got back; however, I brought a couple bags just in case.
- Boon trove milk collectors: At this time, I was using the Boon Trove milk collectors (which are phenomenal by the way), so I brought them with me. I love how easy and hands-free it is to collect milk with these things – I highly recommend.
- Bottle collectors: As with all pumping, I had to bring some bottles to collect the milk. I planned to bring all the pumped milk home in bottles as I wanted to keep refrigerated (and not frozen) during the trip.
- Pumping bras: While not a necessity, as I pumped at home and not on the go, I did bring nursing bras (which helped when I fed baby girl on the go).
- Nursing pads: At the time, I was still leaking fairly often (hence why I was using the Boon Trove milk collectors), so I continued to wear the reusable nursing pads as well. I prefer these to the disposable nursing pads at they were much more comfortable, and so easy to clean just throwing in the wash. I recommend using a mesh bag to put all of the nursing pads in to keep them safe while washing.
- Nursing pillow: Since we drove to Monterey, it was easy to take my nursing pillow with me. For other trips, I have not taken as it is too bulky to fit into my luggage/ carry on airplane. I love the My BrestFriend nursing pillow and think it makes nursing my daughter so much easier, so I was happy to be able to take it with us on this trip.
- Clothes: I overpacked for clothes, like I always do. I think worst case scenario with baby girl blowing out or spitting up on every outfit. But at the same time, I knew there was a washer/ dryer at the Air BnB and still overpacked. My only recommendation is to make sure you have all of the necessary articles of clothing that you need for your specific destination (i.e., in Monterey it got pretty cold in the mornings so I brought mittens and socks for our daughter, along with a warm fuzzy onesie).
- Toys/ Books: It’s always good to have some toys (and books) on deck to entertain the baby. We didn’t bring any large toys – we tried to stick to small, easy-to-pack toys that we thought would be entertaining for our daughter.
- Pacifiers (x3): At this time our daughter was still taking pacifiers, so we packed the 3 we had for her. Pacifiers always fall on the ground or get dirty, so we rotate out and clean them as needed. It’s always good to have spares for this, especially if your baby is heavily dependent on pacifiers. Thankfully our daughter only took pacifiers at sleep time.
Driving There
Given that check in to our Air BnB wasn’t until 3:00pm, I was aiming to leave between 9:00am and 10:00am, accounting for a 3.5 – 4 hour drive (with traffic) and one pit stop (for lunch/ baby feeding/ diaper change).
We were on track to leave at 9:30am, with the car all packed up and ready to go. We put our daughter in her car seat and as we were backing out of the drive way we heard the loudest fart/ blow out. Thankfully she didn’t blow out her outfit into the car seat, but there was definitely some poop on her outfit, so we had to change it. We pulled back into the garage and went into the house to change her diaper and clothes and we tried leaving again 10 minutes later.
By 9:45am we were on the road again! I sat in the back seat with our daughter, as I still wasn’t at that point of not sitting with her in the car (I can’t remember when I stopped sitting in the back seat). Baby girl slept most of the way until our first pit stop.
We made it Livermore where I stopped to nurse her. As it was approaching lunch time, my husband and I also grabbed a bite to eat. Nursing in the car was smooth, while my husband left to get the food. We had to change baby’s diaper in the car, which was not as smooth as I thought—we did it on the back seat (since the trunk was packed up) so she was at a slight angle. And given that her car seat was in the middle seat in the back, we accidentally bumped her head against the car seat base in the car. We felt so bad, but she ended up being ok, just a little scratch on the temple!
After half an hour, we were back on the road. We hit some traffic in the Bay Area (as expected) since we drove through the Bay Area in the early afternoon on a Friday. Thankfully baby girl slept most of the way to our Air BnB. We arrived in Monterey around 2:30pm, which was perfect since I was informed around 1:30pm that we could check in early!
Day One
The check in process at the Air BnB was very smooth. We actually ran into the host as we were checking in, and she helped walk us through some of the things at the Air BnB. Our daughter stayed awake for the next 2 hours and snuck in a late afternoon nap before we decided to head to a nearby brewery.
We went to Dust Bowl Brewing, which was ~10 minute drive from the Air BnB. We had to pay to park, but the location is great! There was plenty of seating inside (as it was a bit chilly), as well as ample seating outside. I hadn’t been drinking that much since giving birth, so it was nice to go to a brewery and enjoy a beer.
After the brewery we went back to the Air BnB to get our daughter ready for bed. My husband fed her a bottle, while I started cooking dinner. For the first night we decided to cook a meal at the Air BnB; however, half way though cooking, the tortellini we had brought from home was moldy. Once we got baby girl down around 7:30pm, we Doordashed Taco Bell (and it was lovely).
At the time we were doing dream feeds with our daughter, so around 10:00pm, I breastfed her and we put her back to sleep in the SNOO. As we were getting up early in the morning (for a Chelsea FC game), we got ready for bed after doing the dream feed.
Day Two
Morning Walk
We woke up early the next morning to watch Chelsea beat West Ham 3-0 (which was a nice surprise); however, baby girl also woke up a bit earlier than normal (oh well—at least we were already up). After feeding her and getting ready, we walked towards Lover’s Point (where we took some cute photos) and grabbed some coffee at Captain + Stoker.
Monterey Bay Aquarium
After returning to our Air BnB and getting dressed (for slightly warmer weather), we walked over to the Monterey Bay Aquarium (a short 10-15 minute walk from the Air BnB). We spent a couple of hours at the aquarium, taking in all of the sights. Our daughter loved the fish tanks up close, being able to see all of the sea creatures swimming around.
After a couple of hours it was time to nurse baby again. One of the coolest things about the Monterey Bay Aquarium is the nursing lounge! Most places barely have changing tables in the bathrooms, let alone somewhere to nurse a baby. I was in awe and also proud of Monterey Bay Aquarium for accommodating nursing mothers.
While I have nursed in public before, it’s not an easy feat, and I prefer to nurse in private. The nursing lounge has 3 individual siloed nursing chairs with foot rests. I was lucky and had the nursing lounge to myself at the time. There is also a tv showing sea-related videos, as well as a bookshelf with books (for younger kids). There is also a sink and bottle warmer when you first walk in. I was pleasantly surprised and very impressed with this nursing lounge — I highly recommend the Monterey Bay Aquarium if you’re a nursing mom on the go and are looking for a fun activity to do with the baby.
Friendly reminder to make sure you purchase your Monterey Bay Aquarium tickets online in advance as there are no in-person ticket sales.
Cannery Row
After the aquarium, we walked a short distance to Cannery Row where we grabbed lunch at The Fish Hopper. My husband and I split some fish and chips with clam chowder (you can’t go to Monterey and not get seafood!). It was approaching mid afternoon and getting a little hot in the sun so we walked back to the Air Bnb so my daughter could grab a nice 1.5 hour mid-afternoon nap.
After her nap, we decided to head to Revival Ice Cream. Whenever I go somewhere on a trip, I always look up the best food places to visit. I have a massive sweet tooth so I couldn’t say no to a highly rated ice cream shop. And the best part about Revival Ice Cream is that they do ice cream flights!! I had never had an ice cream flight before, but it did not disappoint. Highly recommend this place if you’re in Monterey.
Patio Dinner
Afterwards we went back to the Air Bnb to settle in and get ready to prepare my daughter for bed (around 7:15pm). Once she went down, my husband went to Il Vecchio to pick up our dinner that we had ordered online. Thankfully the restaurant was located within walking distance of the Air BnB so my husband enjoyed a nice sunset walk when picking up our food (and even ran into some deer).
We ate our dinner on the beautiful patio at our Air Bnb. We brought a bottle of wine from home and drank it with our Italian dinner. Once the sun set we lit the fire pit on the patio to help keep us warm. We stayed outside talking for a while until I couldn’t bear the cold anymore. It was a lovely evening spent with my husband.
Driving Home
Baby girl slept in until 7:00am on Sunday morning, which was a respite for my husband and I since we stayed up a bit later the night prior (plus the early morning the day before with the Chelsea game).
We had until 11:00am to check out of the Air BnB so we took our time in the morning packing everything up, getting breakfast, and feeding/ changing baby. We left Monterey around 10:00am to hopefully miss some traffic.
Pit Stop Friend Visit in Oakland
We took a detour to Oakland on the way home to visit some of our friends. Baby girl slept the entire way to Oakland, which was ~1.5 hours. This was the first time our friends were meeting our daughter so it was exciting to squeeze in a visit to see them. We hung out at their house for a few hours, before getting back on the road around 2:30pm. Our daughter slept the entire way back home too. She did very well on the trip home getting her naps in while driving, which made the driving very smooth.
Home at Last
Once home we unpacked everything (I mean getting it out of the car and into the house, nothing further—actual unpacking probably took 3-5 business days). We relaxed with our daughter, feeding her, changing her, giving her a bath, before putting her down for bed around 7:15pm.
After she went down for bed, my husband and I were able to relax and reflect on an amazing first trip with our daughter. Unfortunately, we came home on a Sunday, so my husband had work the next day. It’s always so difficult going back to work after a vacation, albeit a short one, but still stressful (let alone returning on a Monday, which is the worst day of the week). My husband spent the evening recovering and getting refreshed for a new week ahead. I spent the evening making an Instagram post about baby’s first trip 🙂
Traveling with Baby
If you’re worried about taking that first trip with your baby, not knowing if you can stick to your “normal routine”, not knowing how baby will do in the car, and everything in between – trust me, I had the same concerns (I am a massive worrier). But once you do it, you realize that it wasn’t so bad and that life doesn’t stop when you have a baby. You embrace the fun and adventure out there with baby.
I’m not a “go with the flow” type of person (as you can guess), but everything as a first time parent is learning, and my husband and I learned how we could travel with our baby on this trip. Did everything go smoothly? No. But did we adapt and adjust (just as you do with everything else in life)? Yes. It’s just a lifelong learning process.
While I don’t necessarily miss all of the traveling that my husband and I used to do, I do want to keep traveling with our daughter. I want to show her the world. I want her to explore new places, try new things. And even if she doesn’t remember any of it, memories are still being made for our family, and that’s something that I’ll always cherish.