My wife and I recently returned from a week long vacation to the Dominican Republic with our three month old baby. Although it is definitely different traveling with a newborn, we were still able to enjoy our vacation. As new parents and avid travelers, we were very eager for little Alexandra Rose to get her first passport stamp. There is no doubt that traveling with a newborn presents a new set of challenges which is why we opted for an all inclusive beach vacation for our first adventure as a new family. Here are some things I learned during our trip to the Dominican Republic:
1. Opt for non-stop flights and minimize time zone changes- While planning this trip, my wife and I wanted to minimize the number of connections we had so we flew directly from Minneapolis to Punta Cana. With a non-stop flight, there was minimal chance of lost checked baggage and minimal hassle trying to make a tight connection. There is no doubt that a non-stop flight eased our stress level considerably.
2. Plan to have a bottle, breast feed, or have a pacifier ready for the baby right at the start of take off- With this in mind, the baby is distracted during take off and this minimizes the chance of any pressure related ear pain.
3. Lower your expectations – This way, if the baby has a melt down or struggles with schedule changes, you will be able to get past this easier and enjoy your new way of vacationing more.
4. Go places where there are other kids on vacation – This made us feel more comfortable that we weren’t diminishing anybody else’s vacation given the high number of young families at our resort.
5. Avoid a vacation with lots of sightseeing or tours with a newborn – We still attempted to keep to a schedule with Alexandra thus scheduling any tours or sightseeing would have been very difficult.
Baby and Mom in the shade on the beach
6. Bring more diapers and baby outfits then you think you’ll need.
7. Make sure you have a pacifier clip – Cleaning sand off a spit out pacifier got old pretty fast.
8. Become skilled at eating with one hand – It seemed every meal Alexandra became fussy just about the time we sat down to eat.
9. If your resort has a buffet, learn your wife’s likes and dislikes for food – Because Alexandra was fussy during our meals, I would usually dish up my wife’s food so she could calm Alexandra down.
10. Traveling with a newborn is different, challenging at times, but if you love to travel, there are few reasons not to hop on that plane and continue to see the world.
Little A chilling in her chair
