If you are interested to go to Osaka, where it’s known for the amazing food, and have a baby, there is no need to worry. In this blog post, I will share with you our experience of going to Osaka with a baby.
A little backstory: In October of 2019, my husband and I took our daughter K to Asia. We went to Singapore and Japan. She was a 1 year old.
It was her first international trip and I could not be more excited for us.
Flying into Osaka, Japan from Singapore, I had my share of worries about getting food for the baby or even bringing her around.
However, we figured it out and learned some lessons along the way. I will be sharing them with you in this blog post.
Before you continue, please know that this is part of my huge Asia series. Please read the other posts here (will update as I continue to write):
- Review: Flying with EVA Airlines
- How to handle baby jet lag
- Kid-Friendly Places to Visit in Singapore
- Free Things to do in Singapore
- 8 Unique Restaurants in Singapore
- Singapore on a budget: 7 Ways to save money
- Sentosa with a baby: 7 Tips
- Our Experiences at Paid versus Free Play Places in Singapore
- Osaka with a baby: Travel Tips (this post)
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Contents
Here was our experience travelling to Osaka with a baby:
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1. Attractions for the whole family
There are so many things for you to do with your baby in Osaka. Some of the attractions we love are the Osaka Kaiyukan (Aquarium), Dotonbori, Tempozan Wheel, and The Umeda Sky Building.
I wrote more about the Osaka Kaiyukan here.
Dotonbori is a nice place to walk around with a baby. I would highly recommend for you to go in the morning when the crowd is a lot smaller and you can take your time to enjoy the place. If you are interested to eat at the different restaurants on the main strip, go in the afternoon or early evening.
When we arrived in Osaka, it was late at night and we were really tired and overwhelmed by Dotonbori. It was a lot better in the early evening to try the different food.
One of the restaurants my husband M loves is Zundoya Ramen. They don’t have baby seats, but you can hold them in your baby carrier if you want. This is the one we have (or you can get it on Amazon here).
On our last day in Osaka, we just walked around Dotonbori in the morning. It was really nice and peaceful. You can check out Don Quiote if you want, but it’s pretty cramped in there.
If you are in the Umeda area, you can check out the Umeda Sky Building. It’s such a great view from the top and you can take lots of really nice pictures of the buildings in Osaka.
If you are interested to get tickets for these places, I highly recommend Klook. We saved some money using the Klook website.
On the other hand, we planned to visit Minoo Park which was an hour train ride from Dotonbori, where we stayed. However, due to the rainy season, it was not advisable to go. If you do get a chance to go, please let me know how it went. You can tag me on Instagram @makingdayscount.
2. Food and Family Friendly Restaurants
The food in Osaka can be pretty amazing. Whether you eat at Dotonbori, or at a fancy restaurant, you can find really good food. There are some tourist trap restaurants or fast food restaurants, which are not bad.
I would highly recommend for you to do your research before you go. Make a list of what you must try and definitely check those out before you just wander around.
In terms of eating with a baby, this can be a different story.
Not all the restaurants in Osaka have high chairs for babies, and you’ll have to hold them while you eat.
We went to Mizuno, which serves Okonomiyaki near Dotonbori. The line is pretty long so be prepared to entertain your baby if you do decide to go. The issue that we had was that since the group we were travelling with had 2 babies, we had to hold them.
The way they cook okonomiyaki is very cool, but a little dangerous with babies. They will cook it on a hot plate right in front of you. We were able to hold the babies from touching the hot plate, but I’m not sure if it’s worth the constant worry and shoving food down our throats.
If you have older children, it might be easier? I’m not sure as I do not have experience in that yet.
If you have a younger child and they do not know how to crawl yet, it might be easier as you can just strap them on you with your baby carrier (we have this one).
Depending on what you’ll be eating, you might have to take turns holding the baby.
If your restaurant has a high chair, then it’s so much easier to put them into their own seat while they eat (hopefully). We brought this portable high chair cloth that we could setup for our baby. It only works with chairs with high backs, so we did not use it too often.
When it comes to baby food, there are a few options:
a. You can order something on the menu for your child
b. Check out baby stores such as Osaka Akachan Hompo for pre-cooked baby food packets (so many different flavors)
c. Go to a grocery store or convenience store such as 7-11 and prepare your own baby food
The best way to find out if the restaurant is family friendly is to look up reviews online or message them. Do be aware that some restaurants have smoking and non-smoking areas. However, they might not have a clear divider so the smoke from the smoking area will come over to the non-smoking area.
One place you can check out for quick eats is the Kuromon market. It is within walking distance of Dotonbori. It’s basically a market where you can order from each individual ‘stalls’.
You have to try the tuna and salmon from this store.
It is melt in your mouth goodness. So GOOD.
If you want to eat cooked food, there are many options available as well. We had crab burger and grilled oyster among other delicious food.
3. Best Places To Stay
There are a few choices for you to choose from as to where you want to stay:
We chose to stay at an AirBnB as it was cheaper. Read here for our experience booking our first AirBnB and how we saved $45. Unfortunately, when we arrived at the AirBnB, the washroom smelled like someone smoked in there. It was not healthy for our health, especially our baby’s.
I’m sure that there are others who have a pleasant experience with their AirBnB in Osaka, so be sure to read the reviews even a few weeks before your trip. We did read the reviews, but it must have been someone recent who stayed there who smoked.
AirBnB is a good choice overall, as it has a kitchen for you to prepare food for your baby if needed. Click here to save CAD $45 off your first stay.
The other option is to stay at a Hotel. Note: If you book with Booking.com, they have a deal of 25% off (as of writing this post) for Asia.
We stayed at the Sotetsu Grand Fresa Osaka Namba. We had stayed there before, so it was an easy decision for us.
It was in an ideal location as it was across the street from Dotonbori and easy access to the train station. Also, there’s a 7-11 not too far away.
However, it does not have a kitchen like an AirBnB. I guess you’ll have to pick what is more important to you.
Check out Booking.com for great deals on hotels.
4. Shopping
Osaka is filled with big brand names and local stores. You can find stores such as Uniqlo in most malls, if not all.
We went to Abeno Q’s which is a mall where they have the One Piece store. M (my husband) was interested in that, so we decided to check it out.
There are a few free play places in the mall. It was really fun for Baby K to explore the play places.
Depending on what you want to shop for and also if you prefer going to a mall or just on the street, there are tons of options for shopping.
One really cool thing about these malls is that there’s usually a supermarket or food court in the basement level. You can check that out to buy food or snacks.
You can probably tell that we are more into food than shopping.
Search online to see what you want to buy before checking out the stores or malls in Osaka.
5. Recommended Baby Items We Loved
While travelling in Osaka, I found that there were certain baby items that we love and glad to have.
First, it’s our baby carrier (or Amazon here).
Hope that you are not bored of me saying this, but a baby carrier in Asia is a must. It’s more convenient to transport them around instead of a stroller. A stroller is great too, but it can be more challenging when navigating the train stations in Osaka.
Next is our food container and utensils.
It is so important for us to have our food container (get similar one here) and child size utensils. It is just easier to contain the food and feed her.
We bought pre-cooked food at the baby store for her so we could just put them in the food container when we feed her. It is something to carry, but worth it for convenience.
Thirdly, our portable changing pad (similar one here).
The portable changing pad will allow us to change our baby anywhere. Even if they have a changing station in the washroom, I would put the changing pad over it. What I love about it is the ability to store diapers and wipes.
I just grab it and go.
If you read our dilemma about baby poop on the plane, you’ll know why this portable changing pad is so important to us.
Do you have anything you want to add to the list? Please let me know in the comments below.
To see more on our adventure to Asia, please read the posts below (will update as I write them):
- Review: Flying with EVA Airlines
- How to handle baby jet lag
- Kid-Friendly Places to Visit in Singapore
- Free Things to do in Singapore
- 8 Unique Restaurants in Singapore
- Singapore on a budget: 7 Ways to save money
- Sentosa with a baby: 7 Tips
- Our Experiences at Paid versus Free Play Places in Singapore
- Osaka with a baby: Travel Tips (this post)
Thank you so much for reading my blog post on travelling to “Osaka with a baby”. If you like what you read, please pin the image below and share it with others. Thanks!
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