Baby led Weaning On Vacation (Part 2) - Easy Mommy Life (2024)

In Part 1 of this series I spoke about how you can prepare and plan for a vacation with your baby. In this post I will give you meal ideas for baby led weaning vacation.

I have also listed everything my son ate on our recent weekend getaway. This can serve as an idea as to how a baby led weaning vacation looks like.

Always keep an eye on your baby when eating. Do not leave your baby alone while eating.

Depending upon your travel plans, you can either stay at an accommodation with an attached kitchen or stay in a hotel. Each has its own benefits. Sometimes it’s difficult or economically unviable to find a decent hotel and you would rather prefer to cook your own meals. Other times you’d prefer cooked meals. So, what food can be offered on a baby led weaning vacation?

Accommodation with Kitchen

This is the better option as you have complete control over your baby’s meals. You can pack a few essentials and buy fresh produce from a local market.

Essentials you can pack are:

• Dal (Lentils)
• Rice
• Quinoa
• Whole wheat pasta
• Oats
• Dalia (Spouted Wheat)
• Onions
• Potatoes
• Tomatoes
• Cheese

It’s easy to cook a variety of dishes with these ingredients even if you have limited kitchenware.

Staying at a Hotel

Hotels usually carry a kid friendly menu and are happy to make adjustments to the dishes with regards to salt and spice.

Examples of foods you can offer at each meal are:

Breakfast

• Steamed Idli
• Paratha
• Scrambled egg (made from whole egg for babies over 1 year or egg yolk for younger ones)
• Fruits
• Cheese
• Plain Yogurt
• Plain Oats

Tip: Add fruits like berries, mango, chikoo, soft plums to plain oats and it becomes a complete meal of its own.
Lunch/Dinner

• Pasta
  Tip: Ask the chef to prepare with no salt and spices
• Steamed veggies
  Tip: Ask for a tablespoon of olive oil on the side, to add over the veggies.
• Potato Wedges
• Grilled Chicken
• Steamed Fish Fillet
• Fish Fingers
• Potato Patty

Snacks

Carry reusable pouches and fill them with oats and locally available fruits. Little ones are adept at eating from a pouch by the time they are 9 months old. Other snacking options are;

• Fruits
• Apricots
• Raisins
• Baked Sweet Potato
• Boiled egg
• Hard cheese
• Plain yogurt pots

What my toddler ate on our recent trip

Recently we planned a short weekend trip to Pune. We stayed in a room that came with an attached kitchen. We requested the hotel for kitchenware like a saucepan and some spoons.

Day 1: We had a 4 hour car ride to the hotel. Breakfast and a snack were packed for the journey.

Breakfast

• Methi Theplas
• Oats Pouch – To the oats I added almond butter, cinnamon and flaxseed powder. This porridge is thick in texture and easy for my little one to suck out of the packet.

Snack 1

• Boiled sweet potatoes.

Lunch

Even though our room came with an attached kitchen we went for room service for lunch as we were tired from the journey.

• We ordered Pasta with cottage cheese and spinach from the Kids Menu (without salt and spices on request).

Snack 2

• Left over Sweet potatoes and an Avocado that I carried.

Dinner

• Leftover pasta from lunch and chapatti.

Day 2:

Breakfast

• The buffet had a lot of options; Little A had scrambled egg, papaya and watermelon.

Snack 1

• The hotel room provided with complimentary fruits, Little A had Banana and Apple.

Lunch

• We cooked dal khichdi and served along with few slices of avocado. He also ate a chapati from my husband’s plate.

Snack 2

• We were out during the evening so I packed the same dal khichdi in the reusable pouch and a few medjool dates.

Dinner

• I cooked quinoa in the room and ordered steamed veggies from the menu. I also asked for a tablespoon of olive oil on the side which I drizzled on the quinoa and veggies along with some pepper.

Day 3:

It was time for us to leave and again a 4 hour journey back. This meant preparing another oats pouch for the road.

Breakfast

• Steamed idli and egg omelet from the buffet.

Snack 1

• Banana

Snack 2

• Oats Pouch [Oats, cinnamon and flaxseed]

We were back home by lunch.

Other foods you can carry for long journeys are:

• Potato and Peas Patty / Chicken patty
• Paratha
• Theplas
• Chapati [use nut butter as a spread, roll it, and offer baby]
• Cheese sticks
• Boiled root veggies like taro root.

I know baby led weaning purists are against the use of pouches. But I find reusable pouches to be great option for travel. You can make your own homemade food and your baby can eat on their own with minimal mess. I don’t think it’s bad if it’s used occasionally especially for travelling. It’s better than providing packaged food outside.

As you can see with proper planning you can have a stress free vacation with your baby led weaned baby. This way you wont compromise on their nutrition during travel.

Hope this post helps you with ideas. How did you plan your vacation with baby? Drop in a comment below.