Family 5 years ago Traveling to Italy with a 5/6 month old
Prior to our trip, I had heard time and time again how easy it is to travel with a 5 or 6 month old.
So, going into the trip I had some pretty good vibes about the whole thing.
All in all there were some things that exceeded my expectations and then there were things that completely caught me off guard. Because SO many of you have requested my experience and tips, I thought I’d toss together a blog post about taking our daughter to Europe for 5 weeks as she turned from 5 months to 6 months old.
First of all, the transition from 5 to 6 months is absolutely crazy by itself. In the past month June underwent a major growth spurt. She is now super aware of her surroundings and notices when we leave the room. She’s learned that when she cries, she gets picked up! June is also very interested in food, she can sit up AND rolls around.
Things That Didn’t Surprise Me
I wasn’t surprise that June had jet lag. Why wouldn’t she. However, I was surprised the very first night when she positively lost her marbles. I had never seen June cry so much. Lesson Learned: I truly wished I had given her some Infant Tylenol that night because it really helped soothe her after 2 hours of uncontrollable crying.
Most stores and pharmacies are closed on Sunday {sometimes Monday too!}. You can find a store that might be open until 12:30pm. Lesson Learned: I would researched before your trip. I would also do research prior to your trip and find a Pediatrician and Children’s Hospital for your destination.
There are many things, the little things, that you get used to having in the States that they do not have in Italy. For example: the streets are bumpy, there are not changing stations in all (hardly any) bathrooms and the products in Italy are quite different. Just know that going in you will need to get creative. Lesson Learned: Hotels have nice, clean places to change a dirty diaper!
Things I Didn’t Expect
I didn’t expect June to be so flexible with her schedule. At home we are very regimented but I think we all quite enjoyed being a bit relaxed with the feeding and napping times during the day. We did, however, keep the morning and bed time consistent {within 30-45 mins}.
Italians LOVE babies. I mean, LOVE them! Random strangers, hotel staff, waiters, anyone and everyone would come up and show some sort of affection to June. It was quite beautiful. In fact, they love babies so much that you are encouraged to cut lines! At customs we were escorted to the front of the line which was an amazing start to the trip!
We traveled in July and August and I didn’t expect it to be SO HOT. I mean, I knew it would be hot but I honestly thought we would be able to take June around town more than we did. I had packed fans {see bottom of this post for my packing list} but it was honestly just too hot for her which was a bummer.
Must Pack List
Changing Pads – They simply do not have disposable ones in Italy. I looked everywhere.
Extra pacifiers because somehow they always end up on the ground or lost.
I absolutely, positively loved having the Doona for this trip. I had my eye on this stroller since I was pregnant with June and I knew we would love it. I reached out to the Doona team and asked to do a trade and I was so thrilled when they agreed because it was the most helpful thing we had for her.
These are my favorite packing cubes and I use them for the plane. I love the little handles I can put around my wrist when I’m taking June for a diaper change.
Instead of burp clothes, I packed these bibs which prevented her from having to change outfits multiple times a day {saved on laundry}.
Not entirely necessary, but this portable bottle rack came in handy too!
100% pack a portable fan. We are so used to AC blasting in the States and this fan was a life saver this trip.
Infant Tylenol and/or any type of medication you might need for baby
If you are formula feeding, I LOVE these dispensers and we use them for bottles on the go.
So were we crazy to travel to Italy for 5 weeks with our baby? Maybe. But would I change a thing? Absolutely not. Overall we had such an incredible vacation as a family and I will treasure these memories for a life time.
Do you have any pro tips for traveling with a toddler or baby? Leave a comment below!
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