When it comes to going on vacation with a baby, it can be incredibly stressful, especially when you’re a first-time parent. We took our first vacation as a family of three this summer in St. Augustine Beach, and I definitely learned a lot and figured out some hacks for traveling with a baby.
Here are five tips for how to have a fun family vacation with a baby:
1. Stay Someplace With Plenty of Space
When it comes to traveling with a baby, now is not the time to try and squeeze into a small hotel room. You might think, “Babies are small we don’t need that much space.” While babies may be small, they have A LOT of stuff, especially when you’re traveling to the beach.
We decide to stay at Colony Reef Club, a St. Augustine Beach vacation condo rental complex with oceanfront beach rentals. We love how big the condos are and how close they are to the beach, plus Colony Reef has some wonderful amenities!
We stayed in Gold Ocean View 2209. It had three bedrooms, two bathrooms and a large living spaces so we had plenty of room!
2. Stay Somewhere With A Pool
As fun as it is bringing your baby to the beach, getting them there and set up comfortably is a lot of work! A tent, somewhere for them to sit and play, toys, a cooler for milk or a chair for you to breastfeed from; it’s a lot of stuff to drag down to the sand!
Trust me on this, if you’re going to the beach make sure you stay somewhere with a pool! We ended up going to the pool every day and only going to the beach a few days out of the week. The pool at Colony Reef just got remodeled and it was beautiful! We took our son JJ in the big pool and the kiddie pool and he loved them both. Plus they had a Kona Ice truck come and park right next to it, how cool is that??
3. Make it a Full Family Vacay!
We ended up having my whole family join us for our vacation and it made the trip so memorable and fun! We had our pick of babysitters if we wanted to have a date night, and JJ had such a good time playing with all his aunts and grandparents. Colony Reef had plenty of space for everyone to join us, another reason why we chose to stay there!
4. Make Sure You Have Easy Access to Laundry Machines!
Babies are messy, there’s no doubt about it! From spit up to blowouts, there was no way we were going to make it through the whole trip without having to do laundry. Instead of staying at a hotel with communal washing machines you have to pay for, stay in a house or condo that comes with a washer and dryer. All of Colony Reef’s condos have laundry rooms, which we took full advantage of!
Bonus Tip: Do laundry the night before you head home. That way everything is clean and you won’t have to tackle loads of laundry on top of unpacking!
5. Try to be OK With Deviating From Your Routine
Babies can have a “vacation mode” too. While we tried to stick to a general routine (same bedtime and nap pattern we have at home) that didn’t always work out. Being in the sun or outside a lot can make your little one more tired, or make them not want to sleep because they’re experiencing new things. Don’t stress if you don’t stick to your usual routine, one week away won’t hurt and your baby will regulate once you get back home!
Thank you Colony Reef for having us this summer! We will definitely be back!
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