All Inclusive Infant Travel Tips

I recently took my 2.5 month old son to an all inclusive resort in Mexico. Yes, I am crazy, but it was kind of important to go, because I was getting married there.

Before the trip I searched online for tips about traveling with an infant and found some helpful articles, but nothing that gave advice that wasn't common sense. So I thought I'd contribute some not as obvious thoughts for those who could be in the same situation as I was.

Pack an extra outfit for the baby and yourself on the plane

As you probably already know, babies poop a lot. I had the fabulous fortune of having my son do a blow out right as we were landing in Cancun, with a 20min delay on the tarmac. Poop leaked all through his clothes onto my arm and leg. Luckily I had an outfit to change him into, but I didn't have one for myself, so I lived in poopy clothes that day. 

Even if you don't have a shit storm happen on the flight, a cooler weather appropriate outfit is a great idea to change your child into before you land; The Cancun airport was super hot and hardly Canadian winter clothing appropriate. 

Bring your breastfeeding pillow on the plane

I didn't because I already had so much stuff, and I regretted it. The pillow doubles as a perfect propping up device for your baby, as well as makes a great arm rest for you when you are holding him. Without it you are stuck taking the brunt of the weight of your child the whole flight, and it gets very tiring. 

Bring your car seat 

The transfer company we booked with said they would provide a car seat for us. They knew my sons age. The seat in the van was a toddler booster seat - not at all safe for an infant. 

Besides the safety factor, our car seat adapts as the seat in our stroller and worked great as a replacement bouncy chair for the week. 

Pack a bottle for the transfer

Speaking of the transfer, when you are driving and in control you can pull over anytime to breastfeed. Not the case with an airport to resort shuttle. My son was great the majority of the trip, but after 12 hours he had enough and screamed the whole transfer ride to the resort. On the way back to the airport I learned my lesson and I put a bottle in his diaper bag. As soon as he started crying I fed him the bottle and he was a happy man, as were the other travellers in the van. 

Prepare to sanitize

I had about 7 bottles of pumped milk and my pump with me at the resort, but had no way to sanitize anything. I brought my steam bag but my room didn't have a microwave. As we all know the water in Mexico doesn't have the best reputation so I was stuck. Luckily my bottle used disposable single use Playtex Drop Ins, so I was still able to feed him. As a last resort I used bottled water to rinse everything else. 

Bring a kettle to boil water or ask ahead about a microwave. Or pack enough to use fresh everything every time!

Pack outfits that you can pull down easily to breastfeed

I had a lot of cute dresses that I brought on our trip that I couldn't wear because I couldn't pull them down from the neck, and obviously with a dress I couldn't pull it up without flashing the world my knickers and stretch marks. Make sure your dresses can stretch down from the top to get the boob out; Test out your wardrobe before you go if you plan to breastfeed. 

Plan ahead for drinking days

As mentioned, I brought about 7 bottles of pumped milk with me on the trip in a cooler bag with ice packs, and then stored them in our mini fridge. I also pumped 2 bottles in the first couple days I was there, and brought formula just in case. 

I found it best to literally plan your drinking day. It takes the spontaneity out of things, but at least then your husband or babysitter is prepared. We also tested out the formula before we left, as I had been exclusively breastfeeding, to make sure there were no bad effects from it.  

One thing I did not plan to do is pump to relieve engorgement, and I woke up in a puddle of breastmilk with crazy rock hard boobs. Get your pump ready by your bed before you go out so you can pump before you go to sleep. 

And If you didn't already know, you do not need to 'pump and dump' to get rid of alcohol. It will pass through your system just like it does in your blood. For more info on that Google "Dr. Newman drinking while breastfeeding". 

Make the shade

Getting your baby out of the sun is super important. Bring a lightweight shade cover for your stroller as you will be walking around a lot from room, to buffet, to pool etc. I didn't think of this but ended up using my muslin breastfeeding cover and it was perfect. 

We also bought a PeaPod which was amazing not only for the shade but to protect against bug bites and give the little guy a comfy place to sleep by the pool! 

Block off the day after you return home

My son was not happy the first day back home. Sleeping routines were gone, and he was tired. There was a ton to unpack and chores to do to get ready for the week. Make sure both you and your partner have at least one day off work when coming home so you can tag team chores and cranky baby. It will make the transition back to reality a lot easier!