Our trip to Mexico (tips for traveling with a baby!)

We just got back from our glorious Mexico vacation and I couldn’t wait long to share some pictures with you! Mostly though, I want to share my tips for making a vacation with a one year old (or any baby for that matter,) actually feel like a vacation. We had such a wonderful time, it was really bliss, and having Hugo there made it so much better. Seeing the beach is great, seeing it for the first time through the eyes of a little one was better than I could have imagined.

Now there’s no denying that a vacation with a baby is different than a vacation with just grown-ups, but in this case- different was really great.  Anyway- here are my tips:

#1- A Room with a View (sunrise from our balcony ^^)

Having a room that overlooked the beach was by far the best choice we made on this trip. With a baby, you can’t really predict how the days/nights will go, and the ability to step out and feel like we were on vacation even in our room was great. Also, we got to relax with a glass of wine out there after Hugo went to sleep at night…plus we pushed his crib onto it for a couple of his naps so we didn’t have to tip toe around the room. Who wouldn’t want to sleep with the ocean in the background?

#2- Flexible Schedule

We stick to a pretty regular routine at home. Naps happen after a certain amount of awake time, meals occur in between, and everything is relatively regulated. I made a choice to let all that go for this trip though and it was a great choice. We just followed Hugo’s cues, let him stay up later some days, and always made the naps happen around our schedule not the other way around. I love having routine in our normal lives, but this “go with the flow” vibe really helped make the trip fun for everyone. Luckily he found the sounds of the ocean and the beachy breeze as relaxing as we did and he fell asleep pretty much anywhere. (See above…) On the left he had passed out with Andy in a hammock and on the right in my arms staring out at the ocean. I really loved that we didn’t have to head to the room for naps if we didn’t want to and it made our days extra fun and relaxed.

#3- Babywearing

It’s no secret I’m obsessed with baby wearing, but it was exceptionally convinent on this trip. We didn’t even bother with a stroller and the easy in – easy out of the ring slings was awesome since Hugo didn’t necessarily want to be worn for long stints of time.  I could pop him in on the way to breakfast, out to eat, back in for a walk on the beach, in to head up to the room etc…

Also- nothing helped more with the beach/hammock/on the go naps as having a sling in the beach bag. All I have to do is pop him in here, and he usually passes out within a few minutes. They were a serious lifesaver!

#4- Travel with Friends

We took this trip with another couple that we actually met during our birth class when I was pregnant. Katie and I were due 3 days apart so we bonded over our last month of pregnancy, chose to both have a home birth, and our newborn babies were born a week apart. We’ve stayed close the last year and I thought it would be fun to all go together so their little lady Olivia could play with Hugo and we could celebrate surviving the first year of parenthood.

It was SO fun traveling with them. It really gave everyone a break too, as the Mamas could take the babies for a bit and give the Dads some time to chill and vice versa. (Katie and I hit up the spa on our last day which was such a treat!) We were on the same schedule so our days started and ended early and we were all Ok with that.

We had big plans to bring our monitors out into the lounge area outside our rooms and all hang out after the babies went to sleep but we all ended up exhausted and passing out shortly after their (later) bedtime anyway. Even so, it was a blast sharing it with friends- we plan to make this a yearly tradition now!

Happy Baby- Happy Parents right? He really had a blast and was just so in awe of everything. From the NYC “blizzard” a few days before to this, this child was in heaven. I can’t wait to take him to the ocean again this summer, and in the meantime we are going to Disney World in 3 weeks so we have that to look forward to!!

I hope this post was helpful. Please comment with any specific questions. Until next time Mexico…

 PS- We stayed at the Westin Resort and Spa in Cancun and flew direct from JFK on Jet Blue. Both the resort and the direct (3 hour flight,) were amazing!