September 24, 2018

Traveling With a Baby - Part 3 - What I packed in my checked luggage

Oops! A thousand apologies for putting up this post now - much later than I originally intended to. I started my Traveling with a Baby series some time ago. In Part 1, I shared a few practical tips for travel with children, and in Part 2, I shared my Diaper Bag checklist. In this post, I promised to share what I packed for our 9-day trip to Nigeria.



Apart from my Diaper Bag, I traveled with 2 suitcases which I checked in, and a carry-on bag which I had with me. Yes, I had my roll carry-on bag, diaper bag, purse, and Cocoa with me, aside from the car seat and stroller. I'm grateful to the few who offered to help when they saw me struggling to fold the stroller with one hand. And a big side eye to everyone else!

  1. Clothes and shoes - I packed enough clothes for Cocoa to be able to change twice a day, if needed. I also packed enough pajamas. Since we were in a much warmer climate (it was winter in Atlanta at the time), I packed a lot of little sleeveless and short-sleeve onesies and dresses, but also had a few blankets for if we happened to go to a house with very cold AC. I also packed her swim suit and 2 towels. 
  2. Diapers - I buy Cocoa's diapers by the box, and the size I have been using for a while (Size 3) comes with 198 diapers. Inside the box, the diapers are arranged in 3 packs of 66 each, so I simply grabbed one pack and put it directly in my suitcase. I already had extra diapers in my Diaper Bag and carry-on, and I figured having around 8 diapers a day would be enough.
  3. Food - This includes Jar Food, Formula, Cereal and Snacks. At the time that we traveled, Cocoa was still eating some jar food, although her preference was table food. Nevertheless, I took enough jar food to cover 2 feedings per day, as I figured she would have cereal, formula and/or table food for the rest of the day. I also went with 2 cans of formula, as at the time, she was drinking about that much formula per week, which we supplemented with cereal. 
  4. Detergent - While I packed enough clothes to last Cocoa throughout our trip, I didn't want to get unawares, in case I needed to do laundry quickly. I packed about a cup of her detergent in a ziplock bag, and it certainly came in handy. 
  5. Skin and Hair Care - I packed her regular bath soap/shampoo and lotion; as well as her washcloths. Thankfully, Cocoa does not have really sensitive skin so pretty much any brand works for her. And for her hair, I use the Cantu curl cream for kids, which I packed as well. I had already put a spray bottle together (water, leave-in conditioner and oil) to keep her hair moisturized throughout our stay. 
It may seem like I didn't pack that much. But bear in mind that I have grouped a number of things together, and also had a lot of things in her diaper bag.

I'll be back next week Monday to tell you about the unexpected issues we ran into during our trip. 

1 comment:

  1. Lol@ side eyes at those that didn't help.
    I travelled with my son when he was just a little over 3 months and people were very helpful. A well dressed gentleman offered his seat on the bus and carried the diaper bag for me till we got to the terminal and even offered to wait till my luggage came so he could wheel it outside for me. I was quite touched by his kindness. Got me believing in the Nigerian Spirit again.😁

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