I’m far from an expert, we’ve taken a total of one trip with Levi and it was just for two nights and only an hour and a half away. But as a planner, I spent a fair amount of time looking at other people’s recommendations for baby travel and thinking through our day-to-day to figure out what we might need. I’m sure this list will also change as Levi grows and has different needs, but here’s what we brought for a successful first trip away from home!

Portable sound machine

This portable sound machine is still a top baby item for us. I always have it in our diaper bag and never leave the house without it. I actually got a second one to bring with us on the trip in case one of them failed. Easily one of the most important things for us, Levi always sleeps with a sound machine on!

Portable bottle brush

If you bottle-feed your baby, this is such a great little kit to have with you for travel. We also go this travel bottle soap to go with it.

Bottles

We love these Comotomo silicone bottles and have used them since Levi was a few weeks old. We brought two on this trip and that was plenty for us.

Egg night light

We all stayed in one hotel room so Levi was asleep by 7pm in the same room as us. I’ve heard of people having their babies set up to sleep in the bathroom or a large closet on vacations so that they can make it really dark, but the rest of the family can still have lights on after bedtime, but that didn’t work for our hotel room. Bringing this egg-shaped night light was great because it’s not bright enough to bother him, but allowed us to not be in a pitch black room hours before our bedtime.

Diapers & wipes

This is an obvious one, but depending on where you’re going, make sure to bring enough unless you plan on purchasing them while you’re there!

Changing mat

Maybe another obvious one since most people have one in their diaper bag, but I thought I’d include it just in case. We have the one that came with our diaper bag and I also like this vegan leather one.

Travel crib

This is not the lightest or smallest or least expensive travel crib, BUT it is insanely easy to set up. I got the mini version (which is now discontinued) on Facebook Marketplace for so much less than they retail for. I thought the mini version would be nice because it’s more compact, but is supposed to still fit up to 3 years, however I don’t know what 3 year old would fit in this thing. Levi will definitely outgrow this before he turns 1 (although he is a long baby). But I was so happy with the setup, that I will be getting the full size version. I definitely recommend checking on Facebook Marketplace or other second hand stores because it will make it so much more affordable and they are often barely used! Another note: depending on where you’re traveling to, you may not even need to bring your own crib. Hotels and even AirBnBs often have them for you or there are many baby travel gear rental companies you could use as well!

Magic Merlin Sleep Suit

We use this sleep suit for every nap and for nighttime at home so it definitely had to come with us for the trip! Levi has always been such an excellent sleeper and while I’m sure part of that is just how he is, I do equate a lot of it to the fact that we swaddled him for a long time and then as soon as he could roll over in the swaddle we switched to the Merlin and he loved it. (We tried a few nights of just using a sleep sack and it was a disaster!)

Since we drove we also had our carseat and stroller and brought the baby carrier as well—all of which we used throughout the trip.

Of course we also brought enough clothes for the two day trip, plus some extras in case of accidents, blankets for the stroller, burp cloths and a few books and toys, although we didn’t really end up using them much since we were out and about for most of the daytime. Since it was a short trip we skipped the bath so didn’t need any of those items.

I’m looking forward to doing more trips with him, but also a little nervous for longer trips which will inevitably lead to needing more things. I’m already an over-packer so we’ll see how that goes!

Baby Travel Essentials