My husband and I will be travelling to Rome in mid-September with our baby who is due any day now. (Yikes!) If all goes as planned, she will be about 3-1/2 months old when we're in Italy. This is our first baby, so it will be our first trip with a child and I'm very nervous already. I'm trying to finalize plans for the trip now before I become an ovewhelmed and sleep-deprived mommy!

I'm looking for a recommendation for a hotel in Rome that is conveniently located, comfortable, and accomodating for a baby. For example, we'll have a stroller, so I'll need an elevator. We plan to be in Rome for 4 nights before joining my extended family at a villa in the countryside for a week (the original purpose of the trip). I think I need at least a 4 star hotel, so I realize we'll probably have to pay a lot, and that's fine given that this is such a unique experience for us.

If anyone can recommend a hotel they've stayed at with or without a baby that would be a good fit, I'd be very appreciative. Also, I'm happy to provide more information about my needs/expectations. For what it's worth, my husband and I have travelled extensively in our pre-baby days, and honeymooned in Italy 5 years ago (though not in Rome), but this baby thing is making me feel like a first time traveller!

Thanks!

We have been taking our kids since they were about 3 months old. Ten years later and we still think traveling with them when they were tiny was terrific. As far as hotels, you can do a search here or on romeby.com. We found that most hotels have a cot/playpen that they can set up in your room for an additional fee per day. I always found them to be very clean in Italy, better than the US. I like to wipe them down though with disinfectent wipes and bring our own blankets. We found our Baby Bjorn front baby carrier helped a lot. Baby hat and sunscreen required. Strollers can be too difficult to manuever on those cobblestones and within the crowds. Many of the sites you will want to see don't have elevators...Spanish Steps for one. When making your flight reserv. be sure to request the bulk head. When we used to fly Alitalia, the one thing I liked about the airline was that they had a little cot that fit in the bulk head space.

Although I haven't taken an infant to Rome, I have taken my two young daughters a couple of times. Once we stayed in two connecting rooms at the St.Regis, heaven, but expensive. You don't need that much space, one room at the St. Regis would be perfect, with ample room for a crib. The St. Regis is very child friendly. The other time we stayed in a Senior Suite at the Del Senato. It was wonderful and couldn't be more centrally located. Again, you might not need all that space and could get by with a junior suite. The double rooms are pretty small and I wouldn't want to squeeze a crib in there. With a small infant, I would do a baby carrier over a stroller. Large strollers that fully recline, something you need for an infant that can't sit up, are just too big to manage easily in Rome. There is an elevator at the Spanish Steps. It's next to the entrance to the Metro.

I don't have any hotel recommendations for you, but I think you could probably stay at any hotel which you would have been interested in prior motherhood. I did notice Romeby.com allows you to choose child-friendly hotels in your search. Many 4 star hotels provide a babysitting service as well.

3 1/2 months is a great time for you to travel. You should be recovering from the "fog" which you will most likely experience the first couple of months. The baby should be sleeping longer at night, and he/she will be more alert during the day. And, your baby won't be eating baby food yet, so you won't have to lug that with you.

If you do bring a stroller, you might consider buying a snap-n-go. This is a stroller base which you snap your infant car seat into. Then you have a car seat if you take taxis or rent a car in Italy, or for the flight,if you decide to buy a seat for the baby.

I agree that you will probably want to use a baby bjorn carrier (or something similar) for sightseeing. Some doctors do not recommend sunscreen on babies until 6 months, though.

My second child preferred his car seat over his basinett or crib for sleep until he was 4 1/2 months old -- he had terrible reflux so it was better for him to be slightly upright. If your child is the same, you won't even need a crib if you have the car seat.

You will have a lot of fun! I travelled with my first son when he was 3 1/2 months old. It was almost easier than those long hours, in the first few months, alone with him at home.

Well it's exactly 2 months since I posted this inquiry -- I'm now the proud mommy of a beautiful baby girl -- and this is the first chance I've had to check for responses! Thanks to those who responded for the tips/encouragement about traveling with the baby. Based on your advice, we will definitely bring the baby bjorn, as well as the car seat/stroller combo. Based on some favorable recommendations, we've booked a room at the Hotel Art near the spanish steps. I hope it's okay. I'm still nervous about the trip, but feeling a lot better after reading these posts!

Congratulations! We saw many Italians traveling with their babies last summer. Everyone in Italy seems to love babies/kids. Just don't overschedule and be flexible.

Congratulations!! And best wishes for your upcoming trip. You'll get a lot of use of the baby bjorn -- and at 3 1/2 months she'll be able to face forward to see all the sights and people.