Travel Must Haves for
ohhappyplay.com
with little kids
traveling
Traveling with children can be stressful, there is no doubt about it but if you’re prepared it is totally manageable and can go quite smoothly! It all comes down to how you approach the situation so if you’re prepared it will make all the difference. We traveled a lot in the last 5 years since becoming parents and I will share what has worked well for us in hopes it helps you on your journeys as well!
What to Pack with When Traveling with Kids
1. Stroller
I think having as many luxuries you have while at home on your travels is SO important. I can remember our first big trip ever with our first daughter and thinking after we came home that how I will never take an umbrella stroller anywhere again! It just wasn’t as functional as my everyday stroller so I had written them off completely. That was UNTIL we welcomed our second daughter and I got introduced to the UPPAbaby G-LINK Umbrella stroller. It has superior sun shade coverage, reclines for naps, functional for use with real little babies, lightweight and easy to fold!
2. Carry-On Luggage That Is Multifunctional
Sometimes our 3.5 year old gets tired pretty quickly so when I came across the AMAZING Micro Luggage Easy, I fell in love with the idea and was so I was eager to put it to use and it was EVERYTHING I had hoped it would be and more. Even when my daughter wasn’t riding it I had my bag piled on it and it was always being used. It was so nice to have somewhere to put her when her little legs did get tired and we didn’t have to slow down trying to get to our gate and across the airport.
3. Travel Carseat/Plane Harness
If we are traveling with carseats we have always loved the EvenFlo Tribute seats but with the girls maxing out those limits for harnessed forward facing options I have since purchased these Cosco Finale DX 2-in-1 Combination Booster Car Seat for carrying along with us (combined with the Britax Pull Cart still) BUT this last trip we went on we were lucky enough to have my parents traveling by car so they drove our Diono 3RXT carseats so we didn’t have to fuss with them at the airport but I still wanted to have the girls harnessed for our plane ride because they aren’t the safe weight for lap belt only. I found some Child Airplane Travel Harness safety devices and they worked out wonderfully for us!
4. Diaper Bag/Backpacks
I absolutely love my TwelveLittle Diaper bag and all the storage it offers for travel and daily use. I even got two Kids Backpacks for the girls to use for their belongings and they were just the right size and comfy for the girls to carry through the airport. I love these!
5. Activities
- I-pad (or whatever tablet you choose) – I found these super cute cases for our iPads that act as stands as well as protection! – Headphones: We recently got these Untangled PRO Little Gadgets headphones and have really enjoyed them! – Boogie Board/Electronic Notepad: This is essentially an electronic sticky pad but it offered SO much fun for the girls! Between “taking orders”, writing stories and drawing pictures these definitely were worth buying for trips alone! – Mess Free Marker Coloring Pad: I like getting 2 similar to these (one for each flight) as a way to keep the kids busy until electronics can be used.
And lastly my favorite piece of advice that I learned while traveling is that “being 30k feet in the air is not the time to try to reason with a toddler so just give them that lollipop!” It really makes me laugh and is so true, so pack those lollipops!