Hi, we will be traveling to Mexico with a 15month old, I am wondering if anyone has any advice or tips they found useful. We were told to bring a playpen as one isn’t guaranteed, and we were thinking a stroller? Anyone travel with babies this young have any advice for the plane to keep him occupied? 

Insurance for sure

Lori we have got the cancellation insurance, covid insurance and general travel insurance. Hopefully covered all of our bases.

Bring lots of snacks for the plane!

A stroller or carrier and a pack n play is good but will cost you. I'd call the hotel and ask for a guarantee on it. Lots of snacks and formula if your little one still has it. Food that they like in the suitcase for when you are down there. I brought sippy cups and diapers and swim.diapers and his favorite blanket and sheet from home. Baby Tylenol and anything else like that. We brought our baby monitor because we had a separate room. An umbrella stroller is the best. We also didn't bring a car seat and just held him...we started travelling with him at 3 months. Where in Mexcio? If it's really touristy you should be fine. We also bought a pool floaty that we could blow up in the suit case.

Krista we are flying into cancan but staying in Puerto Morelos. We did get one of the pool floats he can sit in that has the umbrella shade.
I called the hotel, and they said they can put our name down for one but they won’t gaurentee they have one when we arrive
Our travel agent said not to bring a car seat as the transfer from the hotel is on a bus and he wouldn’t be able to use it there ether. If we left the resort to tour playa Del Carmen or Puerto Morelos we would need one for a cab? Unless we commit to not leaving the hotel..

Richelle Loucks when we left the resort it was in taxis and I held him the whole time. They really don't care. I never took my pack n play because they always had one so I don't know what to suggest about that. I also took a baby probiotic just in case he had some tummy troubles from the food.

Krista you can bring 2 free items for baby. We didn't stay in an all inclusive and rented a car so our items were a car seat and the play pen. It's free to gate check your stroller. This was westjet anyway.

For sure snacks, food, drink etc. Favourite toy/blanket. We didn’t find the take offs or landings to actually be an issue with their ears. Food and drink was just used as a distraction. It was just that they needed cuddles. Hard to do when they have their own seat and need to sit with a seatbelt on. Download their favourite shows and bring a charger.

Plane:
Bring a package of Dixie cups for the plane. Super entertaining for a toddler to stack and restack. A small kids tape measure, play dough, stickers, colouring, lollipop, snacks and more snacks.
Pool:
Floating balls, dive toys, bath toys (boat etc), Speedo swim vest (not a PFD but more comfortable).

Susan stickers are not great for removing if they are prone to sticking them on window, seat backs etc... I have definitiley heard from some Flight attendant friends who have had to spend extra time trying to remove prior to be able to board people getting on the plane for the next flight.

We brought both a stroller and play pen to Mexico, don’t forget a crib sheet for it, we had no issues. In terms of plane ride we downloaded some of her fave cartoons for her to watch on the iPad, also snacks and fed them to her slowly, a few small toys and her fave book. She did really well but towards the end she cried for a little bit which was understandable. Have fun!!

To add to other comments, take all the baby meds you might need: Tylenol, benedryl, saline etc.

Blackout blinds!!

https://www.westcoastkids.ca/gro-blind-large
WESTCOASTKIDS.CA
Gro Blind (Large)

Umbrella stroller with a canopy (we bought a cheap one off Kijiji purely for the trip). We brought UHT milk as we weren't sure of availability (ie wanting milk at 9:00 at night). Also a cloth high chair (goes on a regular chair and clips up like a high chair)

What time is ur flight?
Bring a stroller that reclines totally flat for naps and a muslin blanket to shade the sun and muffle noise (drape over stroller). Enjoy ur time out and have babe do stroller naps in the day. This was our drinking at the pool time! It was amazing!
We would walk and walk at nap time then when babe was asleep we would park stroller next to us at pool and we got 2 hrs of pool each day alone! It was awesome!

Game changer!

Great idea Brittney! You need to bring me one for my next flight!

Mairilee haha any time! Name your snacks of choice and I’ll totally hook you up

Brittney Bring your sis and kiddies!!

Stroller with big wheels

Stroller is a must!
Sunblock /Hat/Sandals and water shoes/ daipers/ toys that can be lost and not attachments to the baby/ tons of snacks
Life jacket if you are planning to go to the resort pool
You will not need a car seat.
We used a private transportation and we requested in advance the car seat and they had it for us in the van.
If you don't get a play pen at the hotel maybe ask for other options such as a cot etc.

Yamila where did you find water shoes?

Richelle Loucks at Walmart and Canadian Tire

Also you can check second hand stores for cheap Summer items. I did take a robe similar to this and a poncho for after the pool

Depending on where you are going, I highly recommend BabyVallarta. You can rent anything from cribs to toys to potties to bikes. They are awesome and deliver right to you.

And pool toys and lifejackets. We’re going soon too with my older kids and just renting age appropriate toys (that my kids love because they are “new to them” and lifejackets. It’s worth it just for that!

We used to rent a playpen, high chair, bag of toys from a local company.

To add onto anything else people have said above, ideas from friends that are flight attendants (and my sister when she traveled with her babes) that I have heard that seem like they would be very helpful. More diapers onboard than you think you might need, a few extra changes of clothes and extra food/formula if you use it. If there is a delay of several hours, you don't want to be stuck with bags dropped and unavailable. Also, the blow out or vomit situation, if it happens more than once and you only have one change of clothes, that can be a night mare. My sis printed out loads of coloring sheets and brought special crayons/pens or whatever to use. A friend used to go to the dollar store and buy loads of small new items, she actually wrapped them as a gift as she said that kept her babes occupied a few more minutes doing the unwrapping lol a puck to charge phone/tablet in case in seat charging isn't working for some reason, like others said, download netflix or whatever shows and have them loaded onto your tablet, laptop/phone. My sister never used these, but I wonder if headphones that are sound reducing as well as plug into electronics might be good to make snoozing easier with less distractions. Oh and the last thing my sis told me she wished she had done. Boarded early and gotten herself sorted at the seat with what she needed through the flight in her bag under her seat or in the seat back. She had a flight once in bad weather to BC and too much turbulence to be able to get up and get her carefully packed bag she had put above in the overhead compartment.

All great suggestions! We will also be bringing laundry detergent to do a quick rinse in the tub if we need to wash clothes. And bringing ziplocks/reusable containers for snacks at the resorts. You usually have a fridge in your room so I would stock it so you don’t ever have to worry about not having food!

When my kids were little I used to buy cheap toys from the loonie store and wrap them all up individually and each hour on the airplane I would give them another one to unwrap. It kept them occupied for about an hour and then it was time for the next present

Bring Wagon!!!

A cheap stroller that's small, a body carrier and a portable playpen.
We did Japan with my daughter when she was 9 months and that made it way easier.

We brought blow up play toys and if you have a baby then a blow up floaty that holds the baby is always nice to have in a pool and if they are brand new they travel awesome because they are flat as a pair of pants. Then leave them there for some lucky person or give them to your maid to take home.

And lollipops for the flight because their ears sometimes won’t pop and it helps when that occurs