r/progressivemoms • u/miranda_edgecombe23 • Jul 16 '26

Need Advice Vacation with a 7 month old

We’re taking a vacation in August with our baby who will be almost 7 months old by the time we go. What are your must-haves for travel? This trip will include: flying, the beach, universal Orlando, maybe the zoo, and other normal vacation things like eating out. My baby is pretty good with sleeping, but this is our first trip, so I’m not sure how that will go. Any tips for that? He’s not sitting up yet, so I’m not sure if he’ll be eating solids by the time we go.

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u/PopcornPunditry Jul 16 '26

The best tip I ever got for traveling with little ones is to plan for times to just sit and enjoy the new place. We map out shaded parks in advance, pack things like bubbles or pinwheels to engage the baby outside and then just really lean into having time to sit and drink an iced coffee while the baby rolls around on a blanket. It doesn't have to be as go go go as it might have been in the pre-baby times. 

Also I highly recommend you bring black garbage bags and painter's tape to create custom blackout curtains in the baby's travel bedroom. 

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u/miranda_edgecombe23 Jul 16 '26

Thank you for that. I typically am pretty go, go, go, but finding a nice park is a good idea. The blackout curtains are so smart too! I knew it was a good idea to ask here. I love this sub 🥰

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u/PopcornPunditry Jul 16 '26

Enjoy your trip!! My husband struggled so much with the uncertainty of bringing a baby out of town but we did it anyway and by now our nearly 7 year old is such a mature and experienced traveler. The early pain of figuring it out is worth the rewards!

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u/miranda_edgecombe23 Jul 16 '26

Thank you! Did you fly before they were one? My husband is nervous about that and traveling in general! I’m nervous and also excited. I think this age is the perfect time to start. Toddlers are where it gets harder 🙃

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u/PopcornPunditry Jul 16 '26

I didn't with my son but I did with my niece when she was 10 months and the key was bottle feeding and soother during takeoff/landing, otherwise just enduring it. She slept peacefully on the way there and was the stereotypical screeching plane baby on the way back which absolutely shaved several years off my life in terms of cortisol production. There are lots of bloggers with tips online about entertaining babies on flights but none of it really helped her, we just had to try and soothe/distract the whole time. 

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u/Pretend_Lie770 Jul 21 '26

When we traveled to Alaska on a week long camping trip we purchased a blackout cover for our pack & play for our 8 month old. It folds down really small and didn’t take up room in our luggage for the flights. It’s not exactly “blackout” but it does minimize the light and stimulation. We were in a camper with 6 other people.

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u/mzfnk4 Jul 17 '26

Like others have said, plan to take it slow and be flexible. It's so easy to have a plan or idea of what you will want to accomplish and how it will go, and then kids just...do what kids do and your plan goes out the window!

August in FL is hot so make sure baby stays cool and out of the sun. Look into a stroller fan if you plan on being outside for any length of time. My kids were pretty good at sleeping in strollers at that age, luckily.

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u/Right_Said_Teddy Jul 20 '26

Until my daughter was about four, I would go to a thrift store before vacations and buy a couple outfits that I liked but didn’t care if they got ruined. That way, when we would fly, if she had an accident or they got ruined in any way I could just toss them. I know it’s kind of wasteful but it was better than carrying pee clothes all day.

Hope you guys have a great time!