Hi, my name is Mulanga Makhubele. I am a wife and first-time mom to an adorable 23-month-old baby girl. I work in corporate South Africa and am trying to figure out the delicate dance that is being a mother, a career woman and a whole fulfilled being.
Advice from a traveling mom to parents travelling with newborns (0-8 months)
Starting RaizingShiloh
Motherhood is hard and often lonely, information about how to navigate your way around pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding and what you should expect (in the South African context) is few and far between.
I started my blog, RaizingShiloh, to help solve this problem. I wanted to teach as I was learning, to become part of a village for the many women who would come after me. To ease some of the burden of parenthood for moms by creating content that disseminates information I wish I had known about.
Why travel with a newborn?
For some of you, traveling has been a big part of your life and letting it go now that you have a newborn might feel like losing a piece of you.
While being a parent is important, making sure that you retain the essence of who you are even during this period of your life will make for a much better parenting experience.
For others this is not by choice. Perhaps some life circumstances have made travel a necessity and your baby must come with you and you are panicking. It is nerve wrecking and you might have been stressing about having to do this and trying to figure out how to plan for this trip…
Well, I’m here to assist you with some tips and considerations for travelling with a baby.
Key documents every newborn parent should be aware of
Let’s begin with the important admin required for travelling with newborns.
These are mostly required for international travel from South Africa. The only document required for local travel within South Africa is your baby’s hospital card.
Just like you, your baby is going to need a passport and a visa. We took our daughter to get her passport when she was 2 months old and taking the passport picture was the cutest thing. We still have the picture with us and it’s so adorable. Your baby’s passport is valid for five years in South Africa. Keep up to date on the full list of documents required for travel with children.
Documents for newborns travelling internationally with both parents
- Hospital card (you should take this with you everywhere in case something sends you to the emergency room)
- Passport
- Visa
- Copy of birth certificate
Additional documents for newborns travelling internationally with one parent
- Police affidavit (if you are traveling with your baby without one of their parents, an affidavit from the police stating that the parent has given consent fo you to travel is a must, this is especially important if your baby shares a different surname to you)
where applicable
- Copy of a court order granting full parental responsibilities and rights or legal guardianship in respect of the child.
- Copy of a death certificate of the deceased parent
Travel vaccinations for newborns
Make sure your baby is up to date with all their required vaccinations before you head off to a new county. If you are getting vaccinated for the trip, ensure that your child also gets the appropriate vaccinations. Seek advice from a medical doctor.
Booking flights for a newborn
The great thing about booking flights with an infant is that unless you insist on getting your baby a seat, all children under the age of 2 years fly for free.
This is because children under 2 do not get seats of their own but sit on the lap of the person with whom they are flying.
Choosing seats for travel with a newborn
- The first few seats in the aisle, the ones with the most leg room, are the seats I would recommend. These usually have the most room.
- Choose the aisle seat. You might need to do a lot of getting up for diaper changes, to soothe your baby or just to stretch your legs so getting an aisle seat is best. Nothing is more awkward than having to ask people to move while they are sleeping.
- Ask for a bassinet. A bassinet is a bed that is smaller than a crib and designed for newborns. Airplane bassinets typically have a weight limit of 10kgs. As soon as you have booked a seat, call the airline and ask for a baby bassinet. Most airlines offer these for long flights.
Optimal flight times for travel with a newborn
- Try and ensure that your flight times coincide with your baby’s bedtime. This way, as soon as your baby is settled, they will fall right to sleep. This makes overnight flights ideal.
Booking accommodation when traveling with a newborn
My husband and I are those travellers that give very little thought to where we stay when we travel as a couple because we hardly spend time in the room. Looking for places to stay with a baby and the additional thought required was quite a change for us.
When travelling with a newborn, consider the following when choosing accommodation:
Safety
- Find out if there are rooms that are designated or at least recommended for parents with kids.
- For babies that can move around, ask about safety. Do they have balconies? How are the rooms spaced? Can you get a room on the ground floor?
Moving around
- If your room is not on the ground floor find out if there are lifts to get to your room. This helps with making moving a baby stroller easier.
Making baby food
- Even if you have chosen a fully catered hotel, you will need to find out if there are facilities to make your child’s milk, or cereal or warm food if this is a requirement for you. A microwave might be important for sterilizing bottles if your child is bottle fed and finding out if this is offered will help you better pick your accommodation.
Sleeping arrangements
Nothing is more important for you and your baby than getting a good night’s sleep.
- Hotels sometimes offer baby cribs, high chairs and other baby necessities so email your accommodation and find out what they can offer you.
- Consider the lighting. It’s important to understand the weather of the area you are going to. For example, the sun only sets at around 10pm during summer in London. If your hotel blinds are not thick enough, and your child requires darkness to fall asleep, bedtime might be tricky. You should therefore ask the hotel how thick their curtains are. Even if the sun sets early, street lights might come through and disturb your child if the curtains are too thin.
- Ask about noise levels (sound insulation). Find out where your accommodation is located and more importantly the level of sound insulation in the accommodation. I assume you would do this for yourself anyway but accommodations near highways, or train stations or any noisy areas like bars might be too noisy for your baby.
Bathing
Babies cannot use showers, so you should find out if the accommodation has both showers and a bathtub.
Once you are done with the travel admin, the next thing to think about is packing. Do look out for our next blog post in this series for newborn travel packing advice.
Join the RizingShiloh community
If you would like to join the RaizingShiloh community please join our Facebook group. It is a private group that is made up of young women that are navigating motherhood, we help answer each others questions as well as share resources we found helpful. It takes a village to raise a child and we would love it if you joined ours’.
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Thanks for the post. My 3.5 year old has only travelled within SA – it seems like a daunting task to take a young child overseas but these tips will help if we take an international trip with her.
Wow !! I didn’t realise how much preparation goes on when travelling abroad with a baby, especially an infant. Thank you for sharing your story Mulanga .
Hi Ladies. Thank you so much for this post Mulanga. I used to travel so much prior to having a baby and when I had my princess all of that stopped. I’ve been so anxious about travelling with her not knowing where to start, what I need to pack and if I will get facilities that cater for babies. I completely loved how comprehensive this post was… Now I’m ready to go on adventures with my baby ❤️