Travel to Vietnam with Baby: The Essential Packing List

Travelling with a baby can be overwhelming. I’ll go over 5 of the most essential things to pack when travelling to Vietnam with baby in tow.

Baby Carrier or Pram?

Depending on your destination, a pram might not be very useful. Sidewalks are uneven, and in the big cities, sidewalks are parking spots for scooters and sitting areas for street food vendors! Opt for a quality soft baby carrier instead, or a baby hiking backpack if you plan to go trekking in northern Vietnam. A baby carrier is your best friend, because your baby can fall asleep on you while you’re sightseeing or eating! And as controversial as it sounds, you can wear your baby when travelling in a car, since most cars don’t have baby car seats (Vietnamese babies don’t ride in car seats!)

A pram could be useful in cities like Da Nang or Phu Quoc, and always handy at airports. If you decide to bring a pram, take a compact one. Some of our guests buy a cheap one in Vietnam and leave it when they go back to their home countries. 

Portable Highchair

Another amenity that isn’t popular in Vietnam is baby highchair, so if you don’t want to hold your baby on your lap while eating at restaurants, pack a portable highchair. On the other hand, the Vietnamese people are known for loving babies, so restaurant owners and staff might offer to hold your baby for you while you eat. If you’re not uncomfortable with the fact that they will be touching and kissing your baby, this can be quite nice. Some of the babies love the attention!

Sunscreen

You would think sunscreen is widely available in Vietnam, but it’s not. Vietnamese people protect themselves from the sun by avoiding the hours when the sun is strong, and if you do go out, they put on long sleeve and big hats. You should be able to find sunscreen in all supermarkets in the big cities, but not necessarily the brands you want. Our family prefer natural sunscreen containing zinc oxide instead of chemicals, so we bring our own sunscreen wherever we go, not just when we travel to Asia.

Travel with Baby Essentials

Breastfeeding cover

Vietnam, like many Asian countries, is conservative, so if you’re breastfeeding, it’s best to do it as discreetly as possible. When we took our daughter who was 6 months ago at the time to Japan, I remember walking around to find empty parks or car parks to breastfeed her. We carried a breastfeeding cover that was not only handy for breastfeeding, but it doubled as a blanket to cover her from the sun and stimulation when she fell asleep in the baby carrier. 

Breast pump

Why lugging a breast pump with you if you can easily breastfeed your baby? That is because if you’ve been enjoying a break from letting your spouse or grandparents feed the pumped breast milk for you so you can take a nap during a scheduled feed, it’s best to not break a pattern. After being exclusively breastfed for 2 weeks or so, baby might decide they don’t want to take a bottle anymore, then you’ll face the difficult transition or lose the little piece of freedom completely. Luckily, the voltage in Vietnam is the same as that in Australia, so travellers from Australia can conveniently plug in their breast pump with a cheap, widely available adaptor (you can get one from Amazon or even borrow one from the hotel). If you don’t want to bring your breast pump to Vietnam, you can consider feeding baby with a bottle of expressed milk or formula to keep the routine going. 

Food pouches

Here is a bonus one: pack food pouches for your baby if she’s transitioning to solid food. Vietnamese people feed their babies with rice porridge, flavored with some vegetables and meat/fish. I think rice porridge is delicious, but if your baby isn’t used to the taste, there aren’t many other options. Boiled eggs, avocados and other fruits are easily accessible, but not baby purees, roasted veggies, oatmeal, etc.- common foods you would give your baby at home. Baby food pouches are fairly healthy and convenient food to give your baby, especially when travelling on a tour. You can find them at supermarkets in big cities in Vietnam (Ho Chi Minh, Hanoi, Da Nang), but you might not find your preferred brands, so it’s best to pack ones from home. 

Those are my top 6 essential item to pack when travelling to Vietnam with a baby. Please refer to my Travel with Baby Essentials packing list for more essential items. I would love to hear what you think every parent with a baby should bring on their Vietnam trip. Please share in the comments and help fellow parent travellers!