ML Interest Tag: noise-machine

14 Must-Try Travel Hacks for Trips with Babies

by Jane Putnum

Repeat after me: Getaways with young kids are not a vacation, they’re a trip. Now that you’ve set the right expectations, check out these baby travel hacks that will make your trip a little less work and a lot more enjoyable for you and everyone else involved. Whether you’re flying with a baby to an all-inclusive or taking a road trip, these are the keys to a good getaway.

photo: iStock

1. Plan activities.
For older babies who are active and stay up for longer stretches, plan simple activities to pass the time and keep them engaged. One idea: Bring a water bottle filled with pom-poms for your little one to take out and put back in. You can also bring interactive books to hold your babe’s attention.

2. Ship diapers and wipes to your destination.
You have enough stuff to squeeze into suitcases. Use a service like Amazon to send diapers and wipes ahead of time to your destination, whether it’s grandma’s for the holidays or somewhere tropical. If you’re staying at a hotel, ask them if they’ll accept deliveries prior to your arrival.

3. Nurse or feed your baby during takeoff.
This is an important one. To help your little one deal with pressure changes in the cabin during takeoff (and landing!) that could make them uncomfortable, nurse or give your baby a bottle at that time. The sucking distracts your child and alleviates much of the discomfort.

4. Request a portable crib in your hotel reservation.
Most hotels will offer a portable crib at no extra cost. Request it in your reservation, so you can make other arrangements if the hotel informs you they can’t provide it. Pro tip: Bring your own crib sheets with you. They won’t take up much space in your luggage and will be soft and smell familiar to help your child drift off to sleep in their new location.

photo: iStock

5. Baby-wear to keep hands free.
Definitely bring your baby carrier or wrap. This frees up your hands for carrying luggage and other important items, like handing your ID and boarding pass to TSA. Plus, being close to you will likely keep your baby calm and happy in unfamiliar, sometimes stressful, environments. If you’re traveling by car, keep your wrap on or your carrier easily accessible, like on the floor right by your baby’s car seat, so it’s quick and easy to put on at every stop.

6. Wear a badge to hold your ID, ticket, and baby’s birth certificate.
You know those clear name-card badge holders they distribute at conferences, with a lanyard? Use one of those to hold your license, boarding pass, and baby’s birth certificate. No digging through your purse or running the risk of it falling out of your pocket. Simple, accessible, and no fuss.

7. Simplify the car seat situation.
If you’re flying, you can usually check your car seat at the ticketing desk for no charge (call ahead to confirm with your airline). Make sure they put a plastic bag over it (you can also purchase a sturdy bag for your car seat online). Or, if you want to eliminate the hassle of bringing it with you, arrange to include a car seat in your rental car. If you’re taking ride-sharing services, check their app to see if they offer cars with car seats in that area.

8. Pack odor-blocking diaper sacks.
A blow-out at 30,000 feet or in the middle of the desert with no trashcan in sight doesn’t have to be a total disaster. Pack Arm & Hammer diaper dispenser bags or even just plastic grocery bags to mask the smell of the dirty diaper. Nobody wants to lug a stinky diaper around or assault others’ noses, but at least this will make it a little more pleasant.

9. Pack a baby essentials kit.
Keep a pacifier, wipes, sanitizing wipes, and other essentials easily accessible, in your purse or diaper bag. This goes for flights and road trips. When there’s a mess or a howling baby, you’ll want to access these items as quickly as possible.

tips for traveling with a baby

 iStock

10. Bring snacks—for baby and you.
Pack simple, low-mess snacks for your baby, like puffs or pouches. And it’s important for you to stay fed as well. Pack protein-filled snacks to keep you energized during your travels and a decadent treat as well. If drama ensues, you’re going to want the good stuff to help you through it.

11. Keep extra clothes in your carry-on bag.
Keep an extra outfit for baby and a shirt for you in your carry-on or diaper bag for air and car travel. The goal is to keep it easily accessible so when a blowout, spit-up, or other potentially outfit-ruining scenarios happen, you can solve it without having to wait for landing and checked baggage retrieval.

12. Think location, location, location for the hotel room.
When you book your hotel room, ask for it to be away from the elevators, pool, and vending/ice machines. While you can’t control if the hotel room is perfectly noise-free, choosing your room carefully will help make it a quiet space.

tips for traveling with a baby

iStock

13. Pack a sound machine to help baby sleep.
Increase the quiet factor in your room by bringing a small, portable sound machine with you to mask noise from other rooms. Don’t want to haul something else with you? Download free white noise or wave sounds to play from your phone or tablet.

14. Do a thorough check of the hotel and car before leaving.
This is one of those tips for traveling with a baby that you’ll thank us for later. Before checking out or returning the rental car, look under beds, under seats, the trunk, and glove compartment, because something will likely be left there. And always double-check that your baby’s favorite lovey and stuffie is with you at every transition and location change.

Make sure to capture all the travel moments—and share them with your family and friends near and far—with the Tinybeans app. The secure platform puts parents in total control of who sees and interacts with photos and videos of their kids.

Advertisement

Related reads

Advertisement

7 Hotel Hacks to Make Your Room Baby-Friendly

by Meghan Yudes Meyers

A relaxing stay at a hotel sounds like the perfect vacation, but having a baby in a hotel means doing some pre-planning. The focus: potential hazards and figuring out how your child will eat, sleep, and have their diaper changed in your new space. Also, you’ll want to ask questions like: Do hotel rooms have cribs? Read on for 7 tips and hotel hacks so you can rock your room like a parenting pro.

hacks for hotel rooms with cribs
AdobeStock

1. Borrow the hotel's baby supplies.
Many parents have lots of questions when traveling with a baby like, "Do hotel rooms provide cribs?" Most offer cribs free of charge (bring your own sheets), and many lend out high chairs so you can leave the travel chair at home. Some chain hotels even supply bottle warmers, diaper pails, and sound machines. If you're staying at a hotel with minimal options, look online for local rental firms like BabyQuip that can outfit you with everything you need for your room, as well as a stroller for outings. 

2. Have necessities delivered.
Why waste suitcase space with extra diapers, wipes, and snacks when you can have them delivered to your hotel? First confirm that your hotel will accept deliveries prior to your arrival, and then put that Amazon Prime membership to good use, or use a local grocery-store delivery service. If you're staying at a higher-end hotel, they will often pre-stock the room with all of your parenting needs.

baby travel hacks
AdobeStock

3. Do an initial cleaning.
When you get into your room, plonk baby on the bed with a toy and give the room a quick cleaning. Bring disinfecting wipes to clean telephones, TV remotes, alarm clocks, door handles, and other objects your child might touch or put in their mouth. Move garbage cans up to countertops so your little one can't get into the trash. Then get on your hands and knees to assess the room from baby level. Are there any coins or small, sharp objects on the floor? Any sharp edges on furniture to watch out for? Did a previous tenant leave anything under the bed or couch that you don't want your child to play with?

Related: Ultimate Guide to Flying With Your Baby

4. Create a kitchen.
If your room doesn’t include a kitchen, one of the best hotel hacks is to set up a makeshift command center to handle everything from warming bottles to making oatmeal. The in-room coffee machine can sometimes even steam veggies or boil eggs for your little one. And if your room doesn't have a refrigerator, bring a collapsible cooler to keep your child's food fresh. You can also tote it along on your daily adventures (ice from the ice machine keeps things cool), so it's worth making room for it in your luggage.

hacks for traveling with a baby
AdobeStock

5. Don't forget the tape.
While your home may be decked out in safety locks, corner guards, and outlet covers, all you need to pack to baby-proof the hotel is duct tape. It can be used to secure drapery cords, seal electrical outlets, keep toilet lids and mini-fridges closed, and more. If your furniture has sharp edges, place a washcloth over the edge and tape it in place! Running low on tape? In a pinch, Band-Aids can cover outlets to keep curious fingers safe.

6. Create baby stations for daily tasks.
Since hotel rooms aren't set up for children, finding space to change diapers or heat bottles can be tricky. Designate the desk or dresser as your baby changing station and move other items to a different spot. Pack a small bag or portable changing station to keep diaper cream, wipes, and diapers organized. A hanging cosmetic case attached to a door can double as a bottle-making station.

7. Ensure a good night’s sleep.
Re-creating the soothing comforts of home can help your child, and you, sleep better. If your child falls asleep to music or a noise machine at home, bring them. (If you play them through your smartphone, placing it in a coffee cup can help amplify the volume.) If you’re using the hotel’s crib, bring your own sheets for a sanitized snooze that smells, feels, and looks like home. If your baby is used to sleeping in their own room, create a separate space by placing the crib in the bathroom or closet, or tucking the crib behind the couch or TV. And if your baby can’t get comfortable in an unfamiliar bed, make a baby nest by rolling extra-large hotel towels lengthwise on the mattress to form a pod and placing a spare fitted sheet (check the closets for extras) over the mattress to make a cozy sleeping space.

Make sure to capture all your best travel moments—and share them with your family and friends near and far—with the Tinybeans app. The secure platform puts parents in total control of who sees and interacts with photos and videos of their kids.

Advertisement

Related reads

Advertisement

Hatch Just Dropped a Portable Version of Their Viral Sound Machine

by Kate Cartia

Your favorite Hatch noise machine now comes in a smaller, portable option

Whether you have one next to your bed or in your little one’s room (or both), there’s a good chance you have a Hatch sound machine somewhere in your house. It’s actually pretty impressive that Hatch is the sound machine everyone knows, considering all the choices out there. In fact, even if you haven’t heard of it, you’ve probably seen the Hatch Rest (their first product) somewhere. And with their latest launch, the Rest Go, you can add to your Hatch collection or give them a first try. Either way, it’s a game changer.

Hatch

This genius little device lets you take the noise machine that keeps your babe soothed and asleep anywhere. We’re talking 10 different sounds (whitenoise, heartbeat, ocean sounds, and more) at your fingertips so you’re able to calm your little one no matter where you go. It even includes a ring that lets you clip it to anything—diaper bags, strollers, carriers, high chairs—wherever you need it.

Hatch

Of course, it’s not really “convenient” until you don’t have to mess with apps, wifi, or bluetooth. No one wants to try to get a signal or shuffle through an app menu when you’re dealing with a fussy fest, so we’d like to thank Hatch for making the Rest Go without any of that. All you need is to grab and go, since it comes with a rechargeable battery that lasts all day, keeps playing while it charges, and uses the included USB-C (and adorable color-matching charging cord).

Hatch

The Rest Go is drop-proof. Drool-proof. Kiddo-proof (for when they inevitably get their little hands on it). It only has 3 buttons, too, so you can operate it easily while you handle more important things. Just clip it wherever it works best for you at the moment and let it do its magic.

It’s available in 5 earth-toned hues made from recycled materials (another Hatch first). The outer shell is created using 99% post-consumer waste, recycled into one of the handiest baby products we’ve used in a while. And for $34.99, you can snag one for each car, diaper bag, or an extra to send along to grandma’s. Or, bundle the Rest Go with the Hatch Rest 2nd Gen and save.

We’re not leaving home without this one ever again.

Hatch Rest Go ($34.99)—Buy Here!

 

 

All the products listed are independently & personally selected by our shopping editors.

If you buy something from the links in this article, we may earn affiliate commission or compensation. Prices and availability reflect the time of publication.

All images courtesy of retailers.

Advertisement

Related reads

Advertisement

No, Your Baby’s White Noise Machine Won’t Deafen Them: What Parents Need to Know

By Jamie Engelman

As a Pediatric Sleep Consultant, I pride myself on staying up to date on the latest—and safest—sleep recommendations, so when I saw the online buzz about a recent study in the Journal of the American Medical Association about the harmful effects of white noise machines, I felt my heart sink to my stomach. I frequently recommend white noise machines to clients who have environmental noise waking up their little ones early in the morning or throughout the day, so yes, I was freaked out. After all, these were reputable news sources making these claims.

However, as is all too often the case, the headlines were inflammatory and drastically misleading. After reading the article and looking further into the studies it referenced, I discovered that in actuality the headlines were clickbait meant to scare parents into clicking on the link. While I do not have a degree in audiology, I do have a background in research methods and know a thing or two about debunking a news story. To me, this was a quintessential article fear-mongering article meant to terrify parents.

It began with a classic worry-inducing headline, went on to list a few points about the potential harm that [insert any topic here] could be doing to your child and ended with a one-liner in the last paragraph essentially stating that, “Most experts agree that if you have even the slightest modicum of common sense, this isn’t something you need to worry about.”

Let’s unpack the story that have so many parents tossing their noise machines in the trash, shall we?

What’s Wrong with Baby Sound Machines?

The article in USA TODAY starts with the headline, “Caution Urged for Infant Sleep Machines!” and by the second sentence, claims that a study shows that white noise machines, “could place infants at risk of developing noise-induced hearing loss.” The study they’re referring to tested 14 different machines along with the volume of noise emitted at different distances.

The results? All 14 machines tested exceeded 50 decibels at 100 centimeters from the sensor (with the threshold of 50 decibels being the recommended noise limit for hospital nurseries). So, if hospital nurseries set sound machines to 50 decibels and every one tested exceeded that, does that mean there is not a sound machine on the market that does not damage a baby’s hearing? Well, wait, how loud is 50 decibels?

To avoid going into all the painfully boring details of how decibels work, here’s some relative perspective:

  • A vacuum cleaner is 75 decibels
  • A shower is around 70 decibels
  • A normal conversation is about 60 decibels
  • And a quiet conversation at home is around 50 decibels

So, using a bit of logic, it would seem that the reason pediatric nurseries are suggested to keep the noise below 50 decibels has more to do with creating a sleep-friendly environment than preventing hearing loss. The lull of a quiet conversation is definitely not enough to do any type of hearing damage! I think we all can agree on that!

But My Sound Machine Goes Up To Over 85 Decibels!

It was found that three of the noise machines tested were capable of putting out more than 85 decibels of white noise. That’s closer to the level of a garbage disposal or blender and is the point where North American occupational health and safety associations recommends that people wear hearing protection if they’re exposed to it for a full work day.

So, it sounds like there is potential for hearing damage should you put one of these three sound machines on at full blast and place it right next to your baby’s crib. I’ll admit, that’s worth letting parents know about. But I have two thoughts here:

If you turn on a blender-level noise machine on maximum volume in your baby’s room and expect them to sleep, I think you need to try that little experiment on yourself first. Let’s be honest about how many of us can sleep well—if at all—next to a lawnmower or when your husband is making his morning smoothie. I would think that common sense would prevent parents from cranking these things to level 11 and leaving them next to baby’s head overnight.

Warning parents about the potential harm of white noise machines can be done in a calm, non-panic-inducing manner.

Keep Your Sound Machine!

I try not to let it get to me, but it really does drive me absolutely crazy when media outlets take a perfectly rational study like this one—whose only conclusion is to suggest that the machines should ship with some kind of instructions on how to use them safely—and try to cause a panic in order to draw “numbers” to their website. I wouldn’t be at all surprised to hear that this has caused at least a few parents, who are of course extremely concerned about protecting their babies, to throw away a great product that helps their little one get the sleep they need just because of some inflammatory headline with a bit of fine print.

The one thing that every parent, pediatrician, scientific researcher and academic can agree upon is that we all need sleep. It is a basic human requirement.  We suffer without it and we thrive when we prioritize it. If your little one sleeps better when you have a white noise machine between their crib and the door or window, please don’t buy into the idea that you might be damaging their ear drums.

As long as you’re keeping the volume at a reasonable level, all you’re doing is helping them get the sleep they need.

If you are concerned about the decibel level of your sound machine, I’d recommend downloading the Decibel X app on your smart phone to give you some peace of mind & give everyone a good night’s sleep!

Jamie is a Certified Pediatric Sleep Consultant and offers personalized sleep solutions to exhausted families nationwide. With a background in child development and infant mental health, she keeps up to date on the latest evolutions in the field which allows her to blend technical knowledge with empathy and compassion to tailor her support.

Advertisement

Related reads

Advertisement