Milan with baby – Packing List & Tips for your city trip

We are back to our travel habits and Milan with baby was our first city trip as family. Our son is now 9 months old, he can sit well, he crawls and likes to eat basically everything. We booked a 4 nights accommodation through AirBnB and we had a direct flight from Munich Airport with EasyJet. Here are some tips to book cheaper flights. We return by train with a 5 hours stop in Zürich.

Preparing

Probably you have heard this from all the mamas and blogs that you have to prepare and that is true. Almost all lists for traveling are accurate and I will share what we actually used at our son’s age. Take in consideration the fact that you are in a city and not the middle of the Amazonas. There will be plenty of supermarkets, shops, pharmacies or whatever you might need to buy things there too.

NOTE TO SELF: Pack what you need, but don’t over do it.

Packing List for a city trip with baby

Transport and getting around

Getting around has to work smoothly. We took

• Our stroller – ABC Design Salsa 4
• NO baby car seat (shell)
• my Limas baby carrier – offers a very comfortable position for naps. Our boy can sleep upto 1 hour in it, that is his max time limit of sleep outside a bed.
• My husband’s baby carrier from Baby Bjorn – that allows the baby to face the world.

Clothes

We love to travel light: before baby and now as well! We travel with minimum + 1 (maximum 2) of the things we need, except dippers :). For the baby I packed:

• one full set of clothing for each day
• 2 extra bodies
• one towel (our stay offered white clean towels)
• one summer sleeping bag
• one summer hat (that he does not like to wear)
• A pair of swim diapers (I planed a day to go swim because our baby loves water)
• no sun glasses (for the same reason)
• no baby shoes (for the same reason & he does not walk yet & barefoot is awesome in summer)

Pack for the right season

The weather is still hot in Milan in mid September so I took extra

• A shade/ cover for the stroller
• Picknick blancket – if your baby crawls this will be useful especially in the parks in Milan.

Toiletries

Here each mama knows better what the baby needs. I always have with me my big Diaper Bag from ABC Design where I can easily organise everything for the day ahead. In our Milan with Baby city trip I packed:

• Baby sunscreen from Pediaproetct
• Baby wash lotion also from Pediaprotect (travel size) – we travel for 4 days so 200ml is really unrealistic to pack
• Baby dippers – here you know the number + a few extra in case of emergencies or accidents
• Weleda nappy cream
• Pacifiers – 5 this is a number that works for us. Our baby only uses them when he sleeps or is very tired. We sterilise them through boiling each evening at our accommodation.
• Cleaning wet wipes 99% Water – they do the job for almost ANYTHING
• Disinfection Wipes – they come in very handy in the means of transportation: the tray tables, refreshing the stroller etc.

Entertainment

We can not leave this part aside at this age. We have one book at the stroller and I packed a small backpack with some of his favorite toys. I mixed and matched from each category:

• soft toys
• chewing toy
• wood toys
• 2 baby books
• squawky toys

Everything that I picked for him are easy to clean. The little baby hands touch a lot of things during the day, the toys are sometimes thrown on the ground as you probably know already.

NOTE TO SELF: Select toys for playing that are easy to clean.

Sightseeing in the city

Getting around

We got everywhere we wanted on foot and by public transport: bus, metro and tram line. The city is very well connected, but do plan a few extra minutes for your transfers, especially if you need to catch something on a schedule. In Milan a regular 30 minutes commute to the main station transformed very fast into a 50 minutes journey. Get comfortable shoes for long walks. One of the purposes for a city trip is for you to get to visit around. If your baby is comfortable and ready for adventure you should be even more!

NOTE TO SELF: plan at least 15 minutes extra when getting around.

Stairs and elevators

In a perfect world there is nothing to discuss here. In our beautiful and diverse world, not all entrances are equipped with a lift and not all of them are always working. Be prepared in the case you have to take everything on the stairs, stroller included. Everyone was amazingly friendly and helpful to help us carry our things that in the end this was not such a big issue.

Baby Crawling and moving

If your baby got to the stage when s/he is in motion on it’s own, space for him would be very important. I mentioned above the picnic blanket that would be very useful. Milan is very dirty for babies to crawl on the streets. In a few seconds his tiny and sweet feet and hands got dark. I have to wash him thoroughly with soap afterwards.

Sleeping – on the way and accommodation

We were a travel family before having a baby and we are a travel family now. Sleeping on the way was very important. Our baby boy prefers a baby carrier to a stroller. Sleeping during the day on the go is not an issue for us (him at least, because I do the caring around 😀 ). If your baby sleeps only in bed consider getting an easy to reach accommodation or plan your sightseeing accordingly. Milan with baby is a fun city trip, but our babies needs are of course a priority.

Eating in Milan

Eating out was easy and delicious. Milan offered a wide variety of typically Italian restaurants, poke bars, vegetarian and vegan options. I packed a few snacks for the way to keep the tummy full and happy:

• 1 baby smoothie / day
• baby grain snacks
• water (make sure you have enough for the baby and yourself in the summer time)

We had our main meals usually sitting in somewhere or back at the accommodation where I prepared a simple dish. My plan was not to cook at all these 4 days.

Thank you for staying until the end. Address your questions, ideas and personal experience in the comments below.

DISCLAIMER

All the tips below are for orientation only. Each baby is different and each mama knows best what their baby needs. Thank you for supporting my creative business.