Traveling to Japan with a 5-month old Baby – Tips on Diapers, Feeding, Train Rides (Shinkansen) & More!
We just returned from our incredible 14-day trip to Japan with our 5-month-old baby Isla, and we wanted to share some insights on what we found particularly helpful for managing changing, feeding, dining in restaurants, hotel accommodations, navigating public transportation, and enjoying our sightseeing needs.
Diapers
You probably don’t need to pack all the diapers you think you need. Diapers can be found at drug stores or even at Toys “R” Us! Even though a few Reddit posts warned us the same, we still brought approximately 14 days worth of diapers. On our last day, we had 6 diapers decided to go out to buy some for our travel day home just in case of any delays. When we went out to buy them, Sugi Drugs only had big packs (e.g. 40 pack) and immediately looked at each other and said “We should’ve just bought diapers here..”
Where we found diapers:
Sugi Drugs (big packs)
Lawsons (hit or miss)
Family Mart (hit or miss but we did find packs of 4 at multiple locations)
Toys “R” Us (definitely had them but may be out of the way in Tokyo)
Changing / Toilets / Baby Rooms
Toilets with changing tables could be found almost everywhere: especially the shopping department stores and train stations.
At department stores, they had specific changing table rooms called “Baby Rooms.” Those rooms had hot water dispensers and a sink for any feeding / formula needs. There was usually a private nursing section in the room or next to the room.
Every train station toilet we went to was fairly clean, except for the one in Shibuya (most likely because it’s very crowded). However there are many toilets and it could’ve just been the one we went into.
Bring dog poop bags or diaper bags to toss your diaper in. You should hold onto these if there is no specific diaper pail in the toilets.
Formula / Feeding
Hot water dispenser in the “baby rooms” at department stores and airports.
Our baby is formula-only and we packed two cans of ByHeart formula (each can lasts almost a week as she’s eating 32oz each day - 8oz each feeding and 4x a day).
We found Meiji formula in powder, ready-to-drink, and even melt-able cubes at Sugi Drugs. We were out of formula with 2-3 days left in Japan so we purchased the ready-to-drink (7oz cans) and melt-able cubes from Sugi Drugs. Both of these options are so convenient! The ready-to-drink ones worked so well when we were in a rush or on the subway/taxi. The melt-able cubes were great for our flight home as we could ask the flight attendants for some hot water. You only need about 1-2oz of hot water to melt the cubes (we did not try it with room temperature water).
Courtyard Marriott in Ginza was the only place that provided an actual crib (a cute one too!). The other hotels we stayed at only had pack ‘n plays.
Hotel & Accomodations
Opt for hotels so it’s easier to find the location as some airbnbs can be difficult to find.
Call ahead of time and ask for a “baby bed” which is essentially a crib. It’s just easier to say “baby bed” with the language barrier.
Be sure to include every single person in your booking (including baby) as Japan has strict occupancy tax for per person/per night. Sometimes places will charge you at time of check-out versus during the initial booking. We stayed at a ryokan in Kyoto and they charged us at check-out and we had to pay in cash.
Restaurants
Only make reservations for the places you REALLY want to eat at. Booking a private room is also nice.
Make sure you check the restaurant is children friendly. There are definitely places don’t allow kids under 12. Or they’ll only allow if the children is able to eat their food. Some allow children if they can sit on your lap as they don’t take up extra seats.
Reservations for places that do allow kids don’t want you to add them as a children if they are not having a meal there (e.g. we only put 2 adults since our baby doesn’t eat solids yet and can’t sit in her own seat)
Some places can accommodate a stroller, some places will ask you to fold it up.
Ippudo Ramen in Osaka was very accommodating and saw that we were feeding so asked if we wanted to be served separately.
The bassinet provided by Japan Airlines near mid-back of the airplane.
Flight Tips
We had our baby on Japan Time 2-3 days prior to our arrival in Japan so we wouldn’t have to deal with her jet lag and lose the first few days in Japan. If you have the ability to do this, I would highly recommend it!
Purchase the bassinet seat to guarantee you have the bassinet. Alternatively, call ahead to see if you can request a bassinet (however this does not guarantee the seat as someone might be able to purchase it after being assigned to that seat). We risked it by not purchasing the seats but luckily got the bassinet seat both on the flight there and back. It was sooooo helpful that now when I look back, I’m not sure why I thought we could switch off holding the baby for 10 hours. She slept amazing in the bassinet and even spent some time in there playing by herself.
Train / Taxi Tips
Book seats ahead of time for your bullet train to Kyoto / Osaka / etc. Baby does not need a seat since they can be lap held. We also used the tray tables to let her play/sit on. The bullet trains all had toilets and changing tables on board!
Set your Google maps to “wheelchair accessible” so that it can direct you to enter and exit from the points that have an elevator.
Look for elevator 🛗 signs near your exits (be quick to scan these signs as train stations can be busy and you could be blocking someone’s way). If we didn’t immediately see the sign, we typically stepped off to the side. Most train stations weren’t terribly busy, just Shibuya.
Strollers: we used ours on the station 50/50. During rush hour, we would carry our baby and fold the stroller BEFORE getting to the train tracks. Non-rush hour we found that the stroller is fine in the station and on the train.
Taxis don’t require a car seat by law so don’t feel like you need to pack a car seat AND a stroller. We used our baby carrier during taxi rides or just held onto her.
Sightseeing Tips
Depending on our specific destination, we would either take both the BabyBjorn Carrier and the Bugaboo Butterfly stroller with us, or opt for just one of these for convenience. We would plan for the next day the night before, so that we could pack in the evening and be ready by morning without having to scramble.
Research the places you are going to see if they are stroller friendly.
For example, the Fushimi Inari Shrine in Kyoto is not stroller-friendly as there are stairs that go throughout the Shrine. There is stroller-parking in the front of the entrance so I would recommend either 1) bring your stroller and park it there or 2) don’t bring it at all. This will depend on what you do the rest of your day.
Osaka Castle is stroller-friendly on the outside but if you plan on going inside, you might want to think about just bringing a baby carrier. We read that some of the elevators were under construction and also knew we weren’t going inside, so we opted for just the stroller.
Many places have stroller-parking and I never saw any issues with theft. If you do park your stroller, I would just bring any important items with you and not leave it with the stroller (e.g. don’t leave your passport in your stroller bag; but a water bottle or food is probably fine!)
If your baby isn’t old enough to enjoy the sightseeing and they can nap anywhere - plan it around their nap time! Especially if the place is stroller-friendly and your baby can nap in the stroller, you can enjoy pushing them around while seeing what you want to see.
If your baby is old enough to enjoy sightseeing - plan it around their awake/happy times!
We booked TeamLab Borderless in the early morning so we could avoid the crowds and it would be right after her feeding. It was so fun to see the exhibits through our baby’s wide-eyes. The entire exhibit is not stroller-friendly but they have a huge (free) locker room in the beginning where you can store your items and park your stroller.
Sharing my favorite travel essentials below!
$25 off the No Reception Bag (literally the best bag with all the different ‘cubes’ and pockets)
