A Guide to Visiting an All-Inclusive with a Baby

A family getaway to a beautiful tropical all-inclusive resort is the perfect vacation idea for your first trip with a baby! Staying at an all-inclusive with a baby makes it super easy for new parents to travel somewhere beautiful and relaxing with their little one.

Planning a vacation with a baby can be stressful and time consuming, but a little upfront planning can really make a big difference. In our guide to visiting an all-inclusive with a baby, we share our tips for finding the right resort for your family, packing tips, and how to make your international travel days as smooth as possible.

We hope that our tips for taking your baby to an all-inclusive resort below will help you get the most enjoyment out of your family vacation.

This post contains compensated links.

10 Tips for Choosing A Baby-Friendly All-Inclusive Resort

Finding the right baby-friendly all-inclusive resort for your family vacation can be a time-consuming part of your trip planning, but it is also the most important. There are so many amazing places to travel with a baby and we know that new parents don’t have a lot time to plan a family trip, so to help out we have done a lot of research for you.

We highly recommend these baby-friendly all-inclusive resorts, which are not only excellent resorts for adults, but also offer some amazing amenities for parents traveling with babies or toddlers.

When deciding on the best baby-friendly all-inclusive resort for your family, consider the following:

1. Check Availability of Baby Equipment – Cribs, High Chairs, etc.

Many of our recommended baby-friendly all-inclusive resorts provide all the essential baby travel equipment, such as cribs and high chairs. If your baby resort does not provide this equipment, you may need to pack your own travel crib or travel high-chair.

Once you’ve booked your all-inclusive resort, email the hotel and confirm they will have a crib available during your stay. Be sure to ask what type of crib they have available.

On our first all-inclusive vacation with our baby, we stayed at the Grand Palladium Kantenah Resort & Spa in Mexico. Upon check-in, we were originally given a rickety old wooden crib that we were not comfortable with, so we asked the front desk for a pack-and-play by showing them a picture of one on our phone. They were happy to oblige and brought one to our room right away.

2. Do They Have a Kiddie Pool?

Is there a dedicated baby pool, or at least a kiddie pool at your family resort? Babies love playing in the shallow water of a kiddie pool, and you’ll have a much more enjoyable time with your baby at the all-inclusive resort if they have a pool for little kids. Look for a pool with very shallow areas, kiddie slides, spraying water, etc.

3. Do They Have a Baby-Friendly Beach?

While it’s way easier to let your infant enjoy time in the water at the kiddie pool, there’s no denying that babies love playing in the sand. Families are drawn to all-inclusive resorts by the soft white sand beaches and crashing waves. But not all beaches are the same and not all are baby-friendly.

Pay close attention to the quality of the beach and the water at the resort. If the beach at your all-inclusive resort is too rocky or the waves are too rough, you may not have much fun playing with your baby at the beach. Reading reviews for your resort is a quick and easy way of finding information about the quality of the beach.

4. Look For a Kids Club or Baby Club

Baby skin is very sensitive to the sun and it’s important to have a place where you can give your infant relief from the sun, especially during the peak hours for UV exposure.

Your default place for shade is your hotel room, but sometimes it’s nice to have an indoor play area for your little one. Having ‘normal’ play time is very important for little ones while on a family vacation as it gives them a much needed sense of normalcy.

Many family-friendly all-inclusive resorts offer a kid’s club, but pay close attention to the fine print. Many kids clubs are only for older, potty-trained kids. But there are a select few baby-friendly all-inclusive resorts which open up their play areas to infants. For example, the Finest Playa Mujeres resort, just north of Cancun, has a Mini Club, with a special play area for babies.

5. Check the Hotel Room Configuration

Try to find a variety of pictures of your room on the hotel website. Will there be a good spot to put a crib? Keep in mind that having the crib next to your bed is not ideal, as your baby may have trouble sleeping if they can see or hear you. 

If there isn’t a great spot in the hotel room for a crib, consider travelling with a PeaPod Plus travel tent. This portable tent fits just about anywhere (including your suitcase). We have traveled extensively with our PeaPod Plus and we like how you can zip up the flaps on the side to prevent your baby from seeing you in the room.

If your baby-friendly all-inclusive resort provides a crib or pack n’ play, you may wish to bring along a SlumberPod sleep tent. This travel miracle allows both baby and parents to get a much better nights sleep.

When staying at an all-inclusive with a baby, it’s really nice to have your own room. Many of our recommended all-inclusive resorts for babies offer 1 and 2-bedroom configurations, which is another way of ensuring a good sleep for everyone in the family. Remember… a well rested baby is a happy baby!

6. Get a Room with a Balcony

Trust us, when staying at an all-inclusive with a baby, having a balcony or patio in your room can be a life saver! Sharing a hotel room with an infant can be very challenging, especially if your baby is a light sleeper. If you have nowhere to escape to, you’ll be relegated to whispering to each other in the dark, for fear of waking your sleeping baby.

Having a balcony at your all-inclusive resort gives you a place to escape to, while your baby sleeps. This separate space gives you the freedom to talk without fear of waking your baby. 

7. A Large Resort is Good For Family Walks

If your baby sleeps in their stroller, you may wish to stay at a large family-friendly all-inclusive resort with lots of pathways to help you walk them to sleep.

For example, when we stayed at the very large Grand Palladium Kantenah all-inclusive resort in Mexico, we spent a lot of time walking with our baby along the many pathways through the on-site jungle. She loved finding various jungle critters and the extra exercise helped ensure a good night’s sleep for our little one.

8. Check the Restaurant Open Times

Many family-friendly all-inclusive resorts will have both buffet and a-la-carte restaurants, so make sure you are happy with your dining options.

Most importantly for parents visiting an all-inclusive with a baby is to check that the restaurant hours are appropriate for your family. For example, if you baby is an early riser, ensure that there are viable food options available at the time you need them.

Also watch the seating times for dinner. If your baby goes to sleep early in the evening, you’ll want to go for dinner early in the evening. Many restaurants at all-inclusive resorts don’t open until 6PM.

One really useful amenity we look for at a baby-friendly all-inclusive resort is 24-hour room service. This is so convenient for the nights you don’t feel like going to the restaurant with your baby, or feel a little hungry after a 3am feeding.

9. Find an All-Inclusive Resort with Babysitting

Taking a vacation with your baby to an all-inclusive resort is a wonderful family experience. As amazing as it is to share these memories with your baby, you will still be in a romantic, tropical paradise and you may be tempted to spend some time alone as a couple.

Your all-inclusive vacation is a wonderful opportunity to reconnect with your partner after the life-changing experience of having a baby. Staying at an all-inclusive resort with a babysitting service or nanny service allows you to have some romantic time together. Spend an afternoon at the spa or have a romantic seaside dinner for two, knowing your baby is in good hands.

Beaches Negril and Beaches Turks & Caicos are two very baby-friendly all-inclusive resorts which offer private babysitting services for parents looking to reconnect.

10. Find an All-Inclusive Resort Close to the Airport

After a long day of flying with your baby, this final logistical detail is important. If your resort provides transportation, it will likely be in a large bus or van, filled with people staying at different resorts. It will then drop the guests off at each resort, usually starting with the closest to the airport.

If your resort is the furthest from the airport, guess what… you are last to get off. What could be a 30-minute drive direct from the airport could take as long as 90 minutes! 

If your resort doesn’t offer transportation or if you’d like to skip the shared transportation, Suntransfers offers private transfers from the airport to your all-inclusive resort in many of the top tropical destinations.

Not only will they greet you at the gate with your name on a sign (who doesn’t love that??), baby car seats are available if booked in advance.

A Packing List for an All-Inclusive with Baby

When packing for your all-inclusive vacation with baby, I recommend you start with our baby travel packing list. There are, however, some key things to consider specific to a family beach vacation:

1. Sun Safety for your Baby

Most baby-friendly all-inclusive resorts are located in the tropics, which means your baby’s tender skin will be exposed to the most intense UV radiation on earth. As you prepare for your tropical vacation with your baby, make sure to read our Sun Safety Tips for Babies, plus these 20 tips for taking a baby to the beach.

2. Should I bring a car seat?

If you are only taking the transfer bus from the airport to your resort, you will not need a car seat for your baby.

If you have plans to leave the resort, things get a little trickier. Will you take a taxi while you are there? Even though some countries allow babies in taxis without a car seat, we would never, ever recommend anyone do that.

3. Should I bring a stroller?

A lightweight travel stroller can be especially good if your family-friendly all-inclusive resort is large and if you can get your baby to sleep in the stroller. Don’t forget a CoziGo stroller cover to block the light to help your baby nap on-the-go! Also make sure to check for any restrictions on stroller size with your airline.

4. Packing Diapers and Wipes

Depending on the location of your all-inclusive resort, you may not be close to a town where you can purchase extra diapers and baby wipes.

If your resort is away from a town, or if you are picky about the brands you use, then you should bring more diapers and wipes than you will likely need. A good rule of thumb is to bring 1.5x the diapers and wipes you would typically use over the number of days in your trip (including the travel days).

5. Packing Baby Food

Wait, what? Why do you need to consider this? An all-inclusive resort should have all the food and drinks you need, right?

Well, yes, but if you are traveling with a baby who is on solid foods, having a few baby food pouches or jars with you can save you during unexpected travel delays. You can use them to feed your baby on the plane, bus rides or at other times when food isn’t accessible.

Our daughter didn’t love food pouches, but we always brought some for emergencies as she will eat them if she is really hungry. Also, make sure to pack enough for the trip back home. You never know when you might encounter delays.

6. Reusable Plates, Bowls & Cups

If your baby likes to toss their plates, etc. on the floor, you may want to bring your own reusable plates and cups so your baby doesn’t break the dishes at the all-inclusive resort.

We used a reusable baby plate for our daughter at our all-inclusive resort and thought it worked very well. Remember to use the bottled water provided by your all-inclusive for washing these items if your destination doesn’t have safe tap water (which most don’t).

7. Ziplock Bags

It may seem to simple, or even silly, but bring plenty of Ziplock bags!! They are so small to pack, but are so incredibly useful for your all-inclusive vacation with baby.

We would take advantage of the breakfast buffet at our all-inclusive resort to stock up on baby-friendly foods and snacks for the day. Ziplock bags are very useful for storing muffins, fruit, bread, etc. which enables you to have food available throughout the day for your baby to snack on. Bring a spill proof snack cup on your trip to help keep your baby snacks from ending up on the floor.

8. Sippy Cup

If your baby is drinking milk, bring along an extra baby sippy-cup or two. Filling an extra sippy cup at the breakfast buffet ensured we had milk available for our baby throughout the day for snack time and before bedtime.

9. Baby Beach Essentials

This may go without saying, but you can’t take a baby on a beach holiday without beach toys! We have a list of the best beach essentials for toddlers and all the best beach essentials for babies.

10. Don’t Forget these Essential Items for an All-Inclusive with a Baby

Just a few last things to add to your all-inclusive with a baby packing list… You’ll be happy you have these essential items along on your trip!

• Baby Friendly SPF 50 Sunscreen.
• Baby sun hat.
• A travel-friendly beach tent.
• Avon Skin-So-Soft Bug Guard – suitable for use for the whole family.
• Swim diapers.

All-Inclusive with a Baby FAQ

We hope you have a wonderful time on your family beach vacation to an all-inclusive with your baby!! 

Found this post useful? Share it with your friends!