Today’s Hint: Create a Diaper-Changing Station Wherever You Travel

The diaper changing station we set up in a hotel bathroom during a recent trip.

It’s an understatement to say that traveling with a baby or toddler can be challenging. Not only is there a ton of gear you have to avoid forgetting along the way*, but you also have to be extra vigilant with your child everywhere from the airport to the hotel.

So that’s why today’s hint, which I learned from my mom, is one way to make traveling with a little one a little less stressful. Wherever we travel — whether to my parents’ home, a hotel or a condo — the first thing we do when we arrive at our destination is set up a diaper-changing station.

Basically, we find a comfortable spot (such as an extra bed, a little table or a towel on the floor) that we designate as the changing spot. There, we put a travel changing pad covered by a towel as well as all the diapers, wipes and other diaper changing accessories we either shipped ahead of time to our destination via Diapers.com or brought with us.  We also hang a plastic bag – or put a trash can – somewhere nearby for dirty diaper disposable.

Then, whenever we need to change our daughter’s diaper when we’re not out and about, we have an area all set with everything we need right at our fingertips and we don’t have to scrounge through suitcases and bags to find what we need.

Others like this trick as well. “Designate a baby-changing station,” recommends Colleen Lanin of TravelMammas.com, in a Parenting.com piece on 18 tips for traveling with a baby and in this family travel tip roundup. She notes on Parenting.com that by setting up such a spot, “you won’t need to chase down the diaper bag when that first big poop occurs.”

This trick also works if you’re traveling by car – just set up the station in the backseat, though unfortunately, it’s harder to set up such a station in an airplane.

In short, just like unpacking your suitcase soon after you arrive at a destination can help you feel settled, I’ve found that creating this kind of diaper station soon after arrival does wonders for relieving some travel-related stress as well.

What are your tips for making travel diaper changing easier or cheaper?

*Here’s a hint for remembering all your bags along your journey: count the number of bags you have and make sure you have that number at the critical points along your journey (like when checking in at the airport, at baggage claim, when getting into a rental car, etc.)