The Wandering FamiLee

Hi and thanks for landing on this post. I’m just going to pop in a little disclaimer here to say that by no means am I a parenting expert. This is not a ‘how to’ or a blog about new age parenting. In fact, I’m pretty sure a parenting expert would recommend a calm and quiet start to life with a structured routine. This is not that.

This is a sharing of our experience bringing a new baby on the road, travelling overland and exploring the world. If this post helps provide reassurance to anyone thinking of doing something similar then that’s a wonderful thing 😊.

Travelling with our baby

Our beautiful baby girl is now 10 months old and we started travelling with her when she was 5 months old, so what we’re sharing is from our experience over a solid five months. Rio completes our family of five, with an older brother of twelve and sister of nine, plus the addition of two lively springer spaniel dogs. We’re away in our 1977 Mercedes 1113 converted firetruck and so far since her birth we have moved through six countries. We’ve gone from the UK to France, Spain, Portugal, Morocco, into Western Sahara and onto Mauritania where we turned back towards Europe. Right now we’re hanging out in central Morocco.

Day to day travelling with a baby

Every day is different. Some days may be spent driving, others exploring, some relaxing, many socialising but whatever is going on you can bet there will be a whole lot of watching going on. And by that I mean; looking down, preempting injury, choking hazards, cat scratches, being prepared for complete strangers to pick up your baby and kiss them. There’s also a whole heap of carrying, navigating new phases, feeding and more feeding. But, I’m pretty sure all of that is the case with any baby when they become mobile (well except the strangers picking them up part).

But by contrast, there is a whole lot of presence happening here. Being there as a family for every milestone is something extraordinarily special. Every little reach, step, expression, sound and exploration is seen and felt by us all.

Our baby girl has so much available for her to experience and an abundance of people to learn from. She loves all other children, animals, water and sand (so much sand)!

Sometimes we’re completely on our own in the middle of nowhere. Other times we are with fellow travellers and friends. Sometimes we stay on campsites, but mainly we stay on Aires, parking areas and free camp. As a surfing family, we mainly hug the coastlines but sometimes we’ll venture inland or into cities.

We’re all about slow travel. Well we have to, our truck tops out at 50mph! We try to keep it to driving no more than 200kms in a day. We feel like that’s enough for the baby and we move on whenever we feel ready.

Rio wants to move. She started crawling before 6 months old, standing just after, and has been cruising ever since. Now at 10 months, she’s walking on her own. She wants to do everything her bigger brother and sister do and it seems she is going to catch up quick!

Although every day is different we try and provide an anchor for her throughout the day by sticking to a rhythm.

Keeping to a baby schedule when on the road

It’s a pretty simple schedule but one we do stick to. It avoids our baby girl getting over tired, over hungry and over stimulated in a busy world.

This structure gives us something to work around. Play could mean in the truck on the floor, out for a walk, on the beach, outside the van and everything in between.

Nap times might vary but there always has to be one in the morning and one in the afternoon. If we’re at home in the truck she sleeps in her bed. If we’re out and about, she’ll sleep in the baby sling or carrier. We didn’t bring a buggy or pram. I’m happy to carry her and she’s happy to be with me. I also find it easier being able to access all terrains, narrow streets and just having less stuff when out and about.

How baby sleeps when travelling

Apart from the two daytime naps, our baby girl sleeps from around 7pm to 7am. And no, she most definitely does not sleep through the night. She wakes anywhere from twice to five times a night.

She has her own little toddler size bed which is next to ours so she can roll over to cuddle and breast feed. Co-sleeping in this way works for us. It means we all get more sleep and she is content in being close to me. We co-slept with our older two and I’m pleased to say they transitioned easily into their own beds when the time was right.

We have a little monitor on in the evening to keep an eye on her but I’m never far away in case she wakes. That means no more late evening socials for me for now. But it does mean I get to spend some quiet time with my husband and the older kids or just do my own thing in the evenings.

Shopping for baby while travelling

In our experience so far, you really don’t need a lot. Perhaps a few key things that you try and maintain while away. In that case I try and stock up on them in the countries I can buy them, ready for the when we’re in the countries that you can’t. For us that really only includes:

• Eco nappies
• Water biodegradable baby wipes or cotton wool
• Bio (organic) baby snacks
• Weleda calendula cream
• Organic baby wash

We haven’t needed to buy anything else for our baby specifically on the way. We brought a small selection of toys and about 5 books with us. She is still squeezing into the same clothes that were oversized when we left. Babies find things to play all the time, like shells and pebbles and at the moment she loves jar tops.

You can pretty much get everything you need when travelling for a baby but you may have to compromise on brands and materials.

Personally I love not having to succumb to retail pressure to buy stuff like we have in the UK. And, with no delivery address there’s no need to scroll online for delivery either. Win win!

When babies get ill when travelling abroad

A poorly baby is a parent’s worst nightmare and being sick away from home can make your health anxiety reach new heights.

On this trip, we have had to overcome a baby with constipation, diarrhoea, fever, bumps and bruises, teething, rash and so many mosquito bites. All these are really rubbish but go hand in hand with travelling. We’ve managed to get through them all really well with what we have onboard the truck. 

We use homeopathy for most things and breast feeding helps keep babies immune system high. Most things we ‘feed’ through. 

The key takeaways here from our experience is:

• Drink only bottled of water you know has been well filtered
• A tube of Arnica is a must have for those bumps and bruises
• Pharmacy’s and medical centres are readily available out there in the world if you need them
• An amber necklace is magnificent for teething
• Stay calm and remember the body knows how to heal

How to navigate development leaps and difficult times

Tantrums – we all have them. The tricky thing with babies is that they can’t tell you what it’s all about so it takes a fair amount of energy as a parent to work out what’s what.

Luckily, living in such close quarters means you all understand each others needs pretty quickly.

Adapting to a babies ever changing development keeps you on your toes when you’re living in a camper. Things that were safe or out of reach one minute, aren’t the next. To react to this takes a two-phase approach; firstly, baby-proofing as much as possible and secondly, keeping close to baby at all times. I am definitely not one for helicopter parenting but in a blink of eye my baby girl can go from playing in front of me to two hands down the toilet in an instant!

Introducing solids to babies when travelling

As we are together as a family all the time, our baby wants to do everything the rest of us are doing. She will not entertain anything that looks like it’s specifically for babies. So that’s all purées, jars of mash, fruit pouches and baby rice out the window. Instead, she’s eaten what we have and joined us at mealtimes. At first it was one meal a day and gradually grew to three with snacks in between. We don’t have a blender so food was mashed with a fork or given as finger foods. Sitting down in her travel high chair was a bit tricky for the first few months and she’d eat on my lap or the floor before wizzing off. But she actually seems to have eating a meal in her little chair down over the last few days. Baby weaning is a messy business. Luckily we have two springer spaniels who are always eager to clean up the mess.

Travelling with a new baby – the best bits

So without further ado here are the best bits of travelling overland in a camper with a baby from your our experience so far:

• Top of the list has to be being present as a family for every milestone, event and just every day.
• All of us being together every day means I get to share the load a little. The others help out with the chores or look after the baby rather than me having to do it all by myself
• Introducing baby to things she might not have experienced in our home country (like the donkey that’s just walked by while writing this)
• Meeting plenty of different people in different places has without doubt helped with our babies confidence. She also is able to express full autonomy on whether she would like to be with other people and to what extent.
• Travelling gives our baby new food and flavours to explore and try which she may not have otherwise
• Spending the winter outdoors in a warmer climate gives baby more time to explore the world around her
• As mentioned above, it’s really helpful to be away from retail pressure to buy baby stuff for the sake of it. We’re travelling without an income so we are really conscious of every penny, cent or dihram spent. Which means we only buy things we actually need. It feels good to not feed more consumption onto planet Earth.

Travelling overland with a baby – the worst bits

To be honest, there are no ‘worst bits’. But, here are some things that may be challenging that are worth consideration:

• Being together all the time is not for everyone. There’s nothing wrong with that. We all need space from time to time.
• I find my own personal experience is different this trip as so much of my energy is directed at the baby. It can be harder to socialise sometimes.
• We miss family at home and they miss seeing these precious moments of the first months of life. Video calls are great but not like the real thing.

‘Must haves’ for baby while travelling n a camper

It’s very small, but here is our list of must haves when travelling with a young baby overland:

• Calendula cream – amazing for all types of sores from bums to rashes
• Arnica gel – for those inevitable bumps
• Essential oils – we have a range but lavender is great for everything especially cuts, sting and bites
• We have a travel homeopathy kit which has all you need. Great for the whole family
• Something you can use as a bath. A great way for baby to pass the time if your stuck inside because of bad weather
• A thermometer, although mamas generally know if there babies have a fever

Summary and takeaways

Travelling with a new baby really is a wonderful thing. The world is a beautiful place and people are kind. Travel takes away the pressures of modern life which regulates our nervous systems as parents which naturally passes through to our babies.

If it’s on your radar, or you’re deliberating on it or have any questions, I’d be only to pleased answer any – just hola!

Thanks for reading xxx