Traveling tips with a newborn - We took our four-month-old to Brazil!

We took our then four-month-old to Brazil! Both my husband and I are Brazilian with a lot of family and friends there and I was still on maternity leave, so the timing made sense. That still did not make the prospect of traveling with Sarah (our daughter) at such a young age less daunting and overwhelming. I went through it in chunks – all documentation needed; list of anything we needed to bring; pediatrician visit prior to going and all needed medication to bring; packing; travel logistics itself.

Since it’s international travel, we took her picture at CVS and had her passport done through the post office in Fair Lawn, and within 10 days we had it mailed to our house. She is also a Brazilian citizen, so we didn’t have to worry about a visa or any COVID requirements for any of us.

I love lists, so for this trip, it was no different. Weeks before I started listing out anything and everything, I thought we needed to bring: diapers (she’s only ever used Pampers swaddles and I was afraid she would have an allergic reaction to even the same diaper type but manufactured in a different place, so we brought enough for a month and then some. I would probably not do that today), wipes, clothing, pacifiers, sunscreen, bug repellent. Up until our trip, Sarah was exclusively breastfed, but I was nervous about doing it on the go and how it would work. Because of this, we had her adapted to a formula that we also brought, and, in the end, the breastfeeding worked out on the go, but it was also good for my piece of mind to have another way to feed her.

We had her four-month shots done two weeks before our trip to eliminate any risk of vaccine reactions right before or during our trip. One big tip is if you are going on any type of travel, check in with your pediatrician before doing so – they check the country you are going to and if any extra shots are needed or if you should bring anything extra. With her being younger than six months, there wasn’t anything besides Tylenol that they recommended.

I packed for all three of us a few days before traveling and had most of her things in the checked luggage and only took with us on the plane the essentials we would need for the trip itself – passports, sling and baby carrier, formula and bottles, diaper bag with lots of extra clothing and burp clothes, Boppy (I would not do this again – it’s a bulky item that we did not use enough to justify the hassle), foldable stroller that could come with us in the plane (we ordered the Evenflo Otto and it fit in every plane we took) and blankets for Sarah which we used a lot since it gets pretty cold on the overnight flight.

Prior to finalizing our trip plans, Sarah was not a fan of the baby carrier, and we would not have survived the trip without it. I had heard it would be super helpful so starting about a month before we left, I would put her in the carrier a little bit every day, and by the time we traveled, she would stay in it for a long period of time and even fell asleep in it. Since we were both familiar with the airports here and in Brazil, we didn’t have to wonder if they would have family rooms or how the airport logistics are – if you are going to a destination you have never been to before, I would recommend doing some research on that.

Our experience was very positive, and we are itching to travel again with Sarah. I will say that a very big plus that came out of this was us realizing we really can do anything with her, and the day-to-day tasks seemed a lot less daunting after such a big trip. Taking her shopping or driving for a little longer now flow a lot better. I would 10/10 recommend traveling with your little ones if you are on the fence about it.

If you have any additional questions or would like to chat more about my experience please reach out to me (Priscila) in the Fair Lawn Moms WhatsApp Chat!