Swimming nappies come in very handy.
Family and friends of mums to be – this post is for you. Does your own special up the duff loved one yearn to travel? If they do here’s a tip – they are nervous. I know this because I was one of them. They are nervous not only about impending labour and their baby’s health but nervous about having their wings clipped. I was nervous that having a baby meant that one of my life joys, exploring the world was well and truly over. Thankfully that wasn’t the case – my three children can attest that their mum routinely carts them this where and everywhere – for work, for holidays and pretty much at every opportunity possible. If your special pregnant lady is having a baby shower here’s a tip – encourage them to embrace travel with their little one. Encourage them by choosing a gift that says “nesting be darned – I want you to be able to flee the nest sometimes too.” Not sure what sort of gift to give. Lucky for you, after three kids and loads of travel I know exactly what gifts they need.
- A portacot. Unless a mother co-sleeps with their child a portacot rates as essential travel with baby gear. Hiring a portacot is expensive – this is a gift that the mumma to will thank you for every trip they take when they realise you have saved them around $50 each hotel stay.
- A mega bag. Seriously, who knew you have to cart so much darn luggage around with you while traveling with a baby? Not me – as soon as I found out I purchased a whopping big suitcase for trips with my little one.
- A baby carrier. As far as I am concerned these are gold for any parent planning on leaving the house with a baby. Factor in an airport, luggage, and heaven forbid a layover and they are an essential item.
- A lightweight umbrella stroller. We leave our heavy-duty stroller at home when we travel, replacing it with a lightweight umbrella stroller that can easily be transferred in and out of cabs, and most importantly, that will not break the bank if it is damaged by the airport luggage folk.
- Any baby clothes with travel paraphernalia on them. Socks decorated with aeroplanes, I love NY baby tees, buses, trains automobilie embroidered onesies. All of these items will remind the mum to be that having a baby doesn’t mean their travel wings are clipped. They are instead breeding a future travel pal.
- A diaper cake. Substitute regular diapers for swimming diapers in the tried and true baby shower gift – the diaper cake. This will have the mum to be eagerly anticipating their first vacation swim with the new arrival.
- Breastfeeding wear. I’m a staunch advocate for the rights of breastfeeding mums to breastfeed when and where they want. The reality is though that the close confines of airplane seating make breastfeeding on a plane a challenge. Having clothing designed to maximise modesty while feeding is a plus.
- A travel voucher. Want to send a strong message to the mum that their travel days aren’t behind them? Then give them an airline or accommodation voucher to use when they are ready.
As it happens the team over at Mum’s Grapevine have an amazing baby shower giveaway running now until October 30th. Head on over to the Mum’s Grapevine site for your chance to win over $6000 worth of baby shower gifts including some that fit perfectly into this list of gifts for mums that love to travel.
What a great list and what I’d advocate – so many items you receive for your first born are all about nesting and being at home but these are sure to inspire and encourage you to be an active traveller. Certainly love our huge wheelie suitcases, Phil & Teds Traveller cot, light-weight stroller, bubba wrap for newborn most important nursing cover! (all of these weren’t first round purchases but with experience what we now use, if only we’d known!!)
We are always travelling with our little ones and you sure do need a lot of stuff for them! My kids love travelling and camping so it is worth the effort.
Hi Anne, I haven’t tried camping with my little kids yet, although the eldest has gone on the occasional boys only camping weekend with his dad. I suspect if we are going to start doing that is a family I will have to create a much longer list of things to have.
Giving travel gifts to new moms is such a great idea. Good reminder for them that while their life is changing, it doesn’t have to mean giving up things adults love too. I wish I had traveled more when I had my first babies!
Hi Katie – I do think mums need encouragement that they can do it (one of the reasons I blog). Stories from other mums that travel with babies helps instil confidence.
This is a great list… travel doesn’t need to end when you have kids. We travel with all 5 of our munchkins. Although, you definitely need the gear. I would add an ergo or sling to carry baby in when they are little. And, we’ve used our baby jogger a ton. My fav stroller!!!
Traveling with 5 munchkins sounds even more complex than with my three. Yes – my own sling was used all the time (home and travel) It was the only place my youngest would sleep when out and about. She would never sleep in the stroller.
Great ideas for the Mom and Dad who want to continue traveling–and I love encouraging that! I had to look up “up the duff” 🙂 had never heard that expression–ha!
We love getting friends and family a white noise/sound machine. A great way to create a familiar sleeping environment if you use it at home & then when traveling.
LOL Kate – I forgot “up the duff” was an Aussie term. A white noise machine is a good idea – I know my sister uses them. We used to take an iPad with my sons sleep music with us everywhere.
Brilliant tips – we travel so much with our little ones and I can second all of the above as necessities 🙂 Mim x
Hi Mim,
Thanks for stopping by my blog and great to hear you agree with all of these items.
great ideas! we travelled with our children from when they were babies and now they are seasoned pros. I agree that having children is no reason to stop travelling!
We took our eldest round the works when he was 3 months old. It was perhaps a little bit too much but it’s been all easier since then!
Really great ideas! I especially like the suggestion of gifting the mum a mega sized bag. All those spare outfits and the baby items make packing light difficult. The day when we no longer needed car seats and strollers made traveling much easier.
Hi Michele. I use a diving bag when I travel with the kids (MASSIVE). The four of us share one bag – so much easier than carrying four.