If you’re like me and you’ve been going to conventions for a while, it’s hard to stop going. Having a child is an amazing experience and it absolutely changes every aspect of your life, including hobbying and gaming. Cons are a whole other story. I don’t want to call myself an expert, but I’ve taken my little one (LO) to Adepticon, NOVA Open, Richmond Open and hopefully more cons in the future. I’ve learned a few things so hopefully my experience can help you. Anyone want to have a play date at Adepticon!?!

Before we jump in, lets just get this sorted. Plan, plan, plan! The more prepared you are before the con, the better off you’ll be. The other important thing is communication. Whoever is going to with you needs to know the plan, if you’re doing this solo, god bless.

Tickets / Events

This is something you have to do in advance. Almost every convention lets you preview the events before they go on sale. This is a must for planning! If you’re LO is on a pretty standard routine, plan your events around it. We tried to have lunch or dinner together as a family, we succeeded 2 times.

Something my partner and I have done for every con is alternate days. Let’s use Adepticon 2025 as an example. Something to note. We arrived Wednesday afternoon, so while it may look like I was on LO duty more. It was really only bedtime.

Day	Me	Partner
Wednesday (arrive, check-in)	LO duty	GW Event Preview
Thursday	LO duty	Blood Bowl 7s, Full Scale AT
Friday	2 RPGs, Airbrush Class	LO Duty
Saturday	LO Duty	Dropfleet
Sunday	Blood Bowl 11s	LO Duty

Some lessons learned here:

• Leave time to walk the vendor hall when you’re not on LO duty. He did not have the patience to let us browse even while sitting in a stroller.
• Prioritize what events you want to do. I really wanted to do Pirate Borg on Friday, so I based my whole schedule around that. Communication is key here. While I wanted Pirate Borg, my partner really wanted to play Dropfleet. That was the starting point for determining which days we were alternating and what other events we were doing.

Travel

This is a big one. How are you going to get there? I live on the East Coast with my partner and we drive everywhere. We’ve only flown with our LO once. The biggest lesson I learned was to pay the extra money and pick your seats. Method of travel comes down to cost analysis, what is in the budget and what you’re bringing. Flying would’ve been faster but limits what you can pack/bring with you. We’ll talk about all the things to bring with you later.

Weeks before Adepticon, I setup a list in Google Maps of places we could stop and stretch our legs. Places like parks, playgrounds, indoor playgrounds, malls, weird attractions. The list covered our whole route. There are websites and apps that can help you do this. I found places via Google Maps and zooming in on the route and searching what was nearby.

Don’t assume your LO is going to sleep most of the time. I think this is the biggest misconception we had. He napped but not as much as I thought he would. Since he was awake most of the time, he had to do something, right? Thanks to my 3D printer, I planned ahead (hmmm, where have I heard that before..) and printed fidget toys and small knick knacks. Things he could spin, smash, etc… but not swallow. I loaded up a bookbag with these, books, other toys and kept them nearby. As he got bored of one or threw it, I gave him another.

Speaking of 3D printing, print or buy yourself something to mount a tablet or phone to a headrest. I’m not a fan of screen time, but when you’re going to be in the car for 12 hours excluding stops, sometimes you need a break. This is the one I printed in PETG, you don’t want it melting when it gets hot out.

Remember that Google list I put together? We stopped at 1 of those places. It was a really nice park so I’m glad we stopped. However, once we got on the interstate, we only stopped at rest stops and made 1 excursion to a small mall. Know your LO, if they need more room to run, maybe go the park route. For us, running around the rest stop was enough. I thought we would stop every 4 hours, it ended up being every 3. No biggie, we left early enough where the amount of stops or length of stops didn’t matter.

Hotel

Some people prefer booking an AirBnB, Vrbo, house, etc… Personally, I like being a short walk from the con. Even better if I don’t have to go outside. This is more vital in the colder months, looking at you Milwaukee in March. If I’m inside then I’m not lugging around hats, jackets and gloves.

In terms of what type of room to get, get something you’ll be comfortable spending time in. Usually at cons you will spend little to no time in your room. With a LO you’re now in the room for naps and bedtime. Obviously stay within your budget, but if the choice is between a small cramped room and one that has a couch or table to sit at, go for the couch and table. Its nice to not have different options for places to sit.

Always get a mini fridge! Absolutely vital, you’ll see why below.

I’ve had mixed results with using Hotel cribs. Some are very sturdy, wood cribs. Most recently, it was a very cheap pack ‘n play. We usually end up co-sleeping in a King. There have been talks of bringing our own pack ‘n play but co-sleeping means we get to sleep past 7 AM most days. Totally worth it for us.

Food

We’ve done a few different things for this depending on where we’re going. Something we always do is have snacks on hand while we’re driving. LO has a small container with a lid that he can stick his fingers in and grab snacks out of and we had a small container up front to give him a refill if needed.

For Adepticon, we brought a lot of food with us. Before arriving at the hotel, we stopped at a grocery store to get some milk, yogurt and blueberries (hence why you should get a mini fridge). We planned on eating breakfast in our room with cold brew coffee cans and this worked out very well. No need to pay for over-priced hotel coffee. Didn’t need to go outside to find a local coffee shop. Saved some money. Plus the convenience of not having to wait in lines or leave our room earlier. LO had yogurt, milk, cereal and blueberries. This mirrored what he usually has at home.

At Richmond Open, we ate out every meal. I’ll be honest, I didn’t do a good job planning for this trip and it showed.

Obviously bring whatever your LO is used to eating but if you haven’t introduced them to apple pouches yet, do it. They’re very convenient and its fruit. Depending on what kind, sometimes fruits and veggies.

Breastfeeding, Pumping, Formula, Baby Food

I’ve traveled a few times while breastfeeding/pumping. It was challenging. Very much so that I decided to stop very soon after and wanted to be fully done before NOVA Open. I never really liked breastfeeding in public, I might’ve only done it once? In general, I was just uncomfortable. So I researched ahead to see if the location had lactation/mother’s rooms or planned enough time to walk back to our hotel or sit in our car. Breastfeeding while cramped in a car is not ideal, granted, that was before we got a bigger car.

Make sure you pack EVERYTHING you might need and then pack a little more. Then triple check that you have everything, including cleaning supplies and a drying rack or towel.

LO started out exclusively breastfeeding, then we introduced pumped milk.Then we were doing a combination of pumped milk and formula. Formula is so convenient when traveling, as is pumping. Pumping in a moving vehicle is not ideal, but I did that a lot.

Whatever you do, plan ahead! Things to think about:

• Location, whether that is pumping or breastfeeding
• Storage. Keeping things cold, and having plenty of bottles on hand
• Cleaning. Whatever you use at home, you’ll need when traveling
• Parts. Bring extra pump parts, bottles, nipples, etc..
• Covers, towels, etc…
• Timing & Schedule. Give yourself extra cushion in your schedule. Being rushed or stressed will only make things harder

There was a really nice time, when LO was having formula, pureed food and dissolvable/easy to chew snacks. It was so easy. Plop him into a portable high chair, spoon some jarred food into his mouth, then make a bottle of formula. This is the high chair we keep in our trunk and bring to every con. In my mind, this feels like the best time to travel. Going out to eat is cheaper since LO is eating jarred food. LO can eat almost anywhere. Plus jar food is kept at room temperature. If you’re making your own jar food, I have no advice for you. Sorry!

What to do when you’re there

While walking around a con is fun, you can only do that so often with a LO. If you’re lucky, there could be museums near-by. We opted for a library. The Milwaukee Central Library was a 10-15 minute walk. It had a very large children’s area with a lighthouse you can go inside, stage and train table. Overall, we spent 2-3 hours there. Libraries are a nice free option to help keep costs down and have fun indoors.

If the weather is nice, we’ll go to a park. I found a very nice one near Richmond Open, Lowe-Massie Park. I didn’t check beforehand if there were bathrooms or a changing table and was very surprised when not only there was a bathroom but it was very clean. Richmond Open is down the street from Kings Dominion. I thought about going but didn’t want to try and do a solo parent excursion, maybe I’ll be brave enough next year.

Before a trip, I always check to see if there are any parks, museums or indoor playgrounds nearby. Worst case scenario, a trip to a store or mall kills time. Some malls have play areas for kids or they’ll just love running around.

Is it worth it?

The big question. Yes, it is 100% worth it. These trips may look different than they did in the past but that doesn’t mean they are less valuable. There will be moments when you reminisce about the old days, gaming and drinking well into the night. It’s still feasible but will be different. The biggest takeaway from these trips is planning, communication, flexibility and continuing your normal routine as much as possible. If you eat dinner at 6 PM, try to stick close to that time. If bedtime is usually 8 PM, try to be back in your hotel room before then.

If the options are stop going to cons or bring LO with you, I’ll bring him with me. That might change as he gets older but right now, he loves rolling dice and shaking paint pots. Our most recent con had him paint his first mini. Paint is a loose word, but there is paint on a mini and he looked cute doing it.

Like with any trip, there’s more to think about but the memories, laughs and giggles are worth it.