Five essential items when travelling with a baby.

Some people might call me crazy, going on a six-week venture around Europe with a nine-month-old.

We weren’t even parking in one spot. No, we were travelling to four countries, with numerous stops along the way, demanding little Miss to learn to adapt to new environments as quickly as she left them.

Suffice to say, I was a little nervous about the whole venture. Some might find the 23-hour flight the most daunting. I decided to go in with the mindset that it was one day in the scheme of things. It was the next 42 days I was worried about!

After trawling numerous websites for advice and tips, I went in as prepared as possible. Still, I think it’s worth sharing the highlights for me – and a little info on why these little tidbits can make all the difference!

1. The travel pram.

I don’t care to think about how many hours I spent researching travel prams. I went from thinking about buying a cheap umbrella pram, to taking my own heavy-duty beauty for baby’s comfort.

In the end, I opted for something in between, sinking some dollars into a Mountain Buggy Nano. Best thing I ever did. The pram weighs a mere 5kg, it has ample storage and, best of all, I could take it on the aeroplane as carry on (Qantas, EasyJet and British Airways all allowed it), meaning there was no waiting around at the gate or the oversized luggage carousel for me!

The pram itself is a bit more comfortable than any pram, meaning baby girl had a comfortable ride while we pushed around Europe.

2. The nappy purse change mat.

I bought this long before I travelled, and I have always appreciated the handiness of this creation – a simple fold-up purse that holds about three nappies, some nappy bags and a tube of cream. The best part? It folds out into a wipeable change mat.

One thing we didn’t find a lot of on our trip were baby change tables. But with this, it didn’t matter. I could roll it out and change little Miss without worrying about what sticky wonders were lurking on the floor beneath me. Though, to be honest, Europe, a few more change tables wouldn’t kill ya!

3. The baby carrier.

While we did not use the baby carrier while we were out and about it was worth its weight in carry on for the plane. Little Miss likes a bit of motion to get to sleep, but you can’t exactly rock baby with elbows out on an aeroplane. The carrier meant we could jiggle her to sleep up and down the plane before heading straight back to our seat with baby already all strapped in for cuddles, comfort and security.

4. The stick blender.

If your baby is still liking purees, this is the way to go. A stick blender takes up no room in the luggage, but is handy to have when you have a baby who is a little bit fussy about food.

Our little one wouldn’t take supermarket-bought baby food, demanding that we puree our way around the world. The stick blender was our saviour. It was either that, or she would’ve happily lived on bread for six weeks.

5. The bedding.

One of the most daunting things about taking baby out of routine is the thought that they may not sleep well. The best advice I read was to take your baby's own bedding so they feel familiar. So, we brought our own sheets, sleeping bags and our favourite cuddly bunny for consistency the whole way along.

We also brought a spare set for when the others were being washed. It may sound tedious, but it was worth the extra suitcase space. I took it one step further by bringing our own washing powder and fabric softener so that everything smelt like home (maybe a bit OTT, but it worked for us with baby adapting really quickly!).

Shoulda, coulda, woulda...

I thought I was prepared, I really did, but even the most organised of us make mistakes.

The first one I made was not buying a travel high chair. I stupidly made the assumption that most restaurants would have high chairs – they did not. I also figured that not having a high chair wouldn’t be that difficult as it was easy enough to feed baby on the floor – it was not. My advice would be to look around for a light-weight travel high chair. They’re out there, and worth every penny.

The second mistake I made was not booking an extra night of accommodation for the day we left Europe. We had an 8pm flight and an 11am checkout. While that was fine when it was just me and hubby gallivanting around bars and restaurants, nine hours without a bed, with three suitcases and a baby who doesn’t like to sleep in a pram is ridiculous.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

Hopefully you can benefit from my mistakes!

Happy travels.

Do you have any more to add to the list?

Carly Greenwood is a writer, editor and Mum (not in that order). Read more of Carly’s musings at musingmummablog.com or follow Carly on Twitter @musingmumma