Planning Vacations with Babies and Toddlers

Who needs a vacation more than the family with a baby or toddler–or both?!

There is A LOT of information on this site to help you plan for your best possible vacations with babies and toddlers (and preschoolers!) as your children grow.

Not to mention, there are also dedicated help sections for flying, and travel with car seats, and the best travel baby gear in case you landed here first!

Scroll down for great starter links to help with:

  • When to take what kind of trip?
  • Where to go, what to do, what to know, where to stay!
  • The Worldwide Directory of Baby Gear Rentals
  • And more!

You can also search for specific topics (eg. vacation with grandparents, camping, all inclusive resorts, cruise vacations), the destination you’d like to visit, or types of accommodations right here:

Here are some of the main categories to help get you — and your next vacation — started.

Praise for Shelly Rivoli's Travels with Baby guidebook for parents
Over 400 pages of help for planning all kinds of trips: travel abroad, urban adventures, beach resorts, camping trips, cruise vacations, and more!

And don’t forget Travels with Baby: The Ultimate Guide for Planning Travel with Your Baby, Toddler, and Preschooler (my 400+ page guidebook!) is chock full of even more travel and vacation planning advice and recommendations. As one 5-star Amazon reviewer explains: “It covers all those things you don’t know you don’t know.”

Now, here are some key areas to explore right here, right now, on TravelswitBaby.com!

When to take what kind of trip? Planning ahead for vacations

Especially if you are planning a trip with your first baby, it can be hard to know what will be the best ages or types of vacations to plan!

There are numerous posts on this site (and wisdom in the guidebook) to help you plan ahead for great family vacations with your child from birth up to 5 years.

Some good places to start? How to Plan the Best Vacation with a Baby or Toddler will give you a good start with some important things to keep in mind.

Also, don’t overlook the Ages & Stages series that gives you a solid snapshot of what to expect and what might make for the most enjoyable vacation through each age from birth to 5 years.

Author Shelly Rivoli with her baby in Thailand.
Exploring Bangkok, Thailand with baby #1 at 7 months old. (Ah, memories!) Photo: Tim Rivoli

Where to go, what to do, what to know, where to stay!

Check out our Destinations page or use the search box for locations and types of accommodations.

And be sure to visit our sister site FamilyTravel411.com for curated guides to cool destinations for families throughout North America and around the world!

The Worldwide Directory of Baby Gear Rentals

First published in the first edition of Travels with Baby (2007) — it quickly made sense to bring this baby online. And oh, how the Worldwide Directory of  Baby Gear Rentals grew from there!

Not to mention, the popularity of renting baby gear, whether for use at home of those things you only need a short while (infant bassinet, baby bath tub, etc.), but also for traveling parents! https://travelswithbaby.com/blog/baby-rentals-worldwide-directory/

Now it’s easier than ever to rent the baby gear you need at your destination, whether it’s the ideal stroller for a day at Disneyland, a full-size crib rental for your vacation rental, the proper car seat for your European rental car and more.

My Worldwide Directory of Baby Gear Rentals will help you find the baby equipment you need to help relax and enjoy a safe and relaxing vacation with your little one. Find baby gear rentals!

Air Travel – Tips and advice for flying with babies, toddlers, and preschoolers

Know your rights when flying with a car seat, find out how to bring aboard baby food for your flight, decide what to do with the car seat at the airport, and get tips for keeping toddlers entertained at the airport and on the plane.

Car Seat and Road Trip Tips – Car seat travel FAQs, tips, and road trip advice

Do you need a car seat in the taxi? Looking for an airport shuttle in New York or Paris that provides car seats or boosters? What can you do if your car seat doesn’t fit in the airplane seat? Will your 11-year-old need a booster seat in… Costa Rica?