Travelers Barista: Is your baby a Traveling baby? A few signs they may not be

My first child Lilly was an amazing little baby. She rarely cried, didn't mind car rides and ate and drank her bottles without a fuss. Having her do so well made it easy to travel with her but little did I know this was not the case for every child.

Along came my son Logan, and he showed us that not all babies are made for traveling. I think he may have even cried on his first ride home from the hospital. I should have taken his inability of short distance travel at home as a sign that any sort of long distance wouldn't go well. Unfortunately it took us a couple difficult trips to realize that he was not a traveler and it would be a while before we could go over night in a hotel without being up all hours of the night with a crying baby. He was picky at what he ate, where he slept and didn't care for being in his car seat. I hate to discourage any sort of travel, but had I known what I know now I may have postponed some of those trips we took with our son. They didn't make for much of good memories, just a well deserved lesson to share with others.

Here are a few signs that your child may NOT be a good traveler:

Picky Eater
Doesn't do well in car seat
Needs to be held alot
Gets sick often (i.e ear infections, colds, allergies) When your traveling you are susceptible to so many MORE germs and viruses that you may not have at home. If your child tends to pick up illnesses often (like my son) then they are Highly likely to get sick on your vacation. No fun for the rest of the family or your sick baby. And if your traveling with a sick child, medical care can be a stressful thing to worry about.
Picky about where they nap during the day, prefers crib - This may be a great routine at home but on vacation you'll find that if your child is not in the comfort of their own crib, they may wake up several times at night and keep you up, thus making you extremely tired and unable to enjoy the daytime of your trip. Even having a full sized crib on some of our vacations didn't cut it for our son.
Not Easily Entertained - Going out of town you might think this would give your baby some new scenery to excite them, but this isn't always the case. If your stuck in an airplane for 2+hrs, or in a long car ride, or maybe in a new place that they just don't like. Some babies may be bored at home or hard to entertain, but being at home gives them certain comfort level they can't get anywhere else.

I'm happy to say our last trip to Maui as a family was AMAZING, he is now almost 2yrs old and getting better each trip we take. Not to say he doesn't still have his moments, but if you have a baby who doesn't travel well, just know that they are very likely to grow out of it and it gets easier!