Remember the time when you were kids and your parents were worried about all the travel packing for you? Now you have to do all the travel packing for kids. There was the time when it was your responsibility to make every other life around you as difficult as possible? Well, it seems tables do turn.

Today you are a parent and probably not sleeping at night and clearing the mess that your little monster has created. It’s quite surprising how easily these little munchkins can mess up a neat and tidy place. Not an easy job that is. Imagine travelling with them.

Not everything in this world can you save like your spectacles or your mobile screen or probably your iPad, but there are few precautions that you can take and make your journey a little LESS stressful and more enjoyable. Travel packing for your kid can be a real pain, here are few tips to help you plan a trip with the baby, remind yourself to do or carry these things along with you:

Things you do not want to miss when travel packing for kids

Diapers

When travel packing for kids, the most important and non-negotiable item for your trip with the baby will be the diapers. Obviously, you already have stuffed enough of them in your bag and you don’t think these will satisfy the baby.

You can ship some more to your destination even before you reach there.

Services like diaper.com from Amazon help you send diapers before your arrival time to the destination.

Wet wipes

Doesn’t matter if you are a new parent or not, you will always keep some extra wipes with you when you start travel packing for kids. You can never have enough of wet wipes with you. You will never know what will go wrong or when will you need some extra wet wipes. Just always be over prepared.

Keep extras – of everything!

Not only just wet wipes, keep extras of everything that you are carrying with you for the babies because if there are delays you will never run out of anything.

Extra Clothes

Packing itself is a huge task when it comes to travel pack for kids it can actually be the most tiring job. Always keep an extra outfit for the baby in your carry-on or diaper bag for air and car travel.

Like a scout you need to Be prepared 

And you don’t want to put these life-saving hacks under the pile of clothes so that in case of any mishap like spit-up or anything more traumatic than that happens, you are prepared.

Strategically planned flight

Book a late night flight and let your toddlers dream run on the runway break free. Make sure you block the cabin or the airport lights, and you are good to go. Try to book a direct flight and not the one with multiple halts so that it becomes easy for you to reach your destination. If a direct booking is not possible, try to book it for a shorter distance.

Always carry backpacks

It becomes easy to travel with backpacks, your hands remain free and you can put a lot of emergency baby stuff in it. You know being prepared is never harmful.

Kangaroo bag+Backpack=awesome!

Travel packing for kids means a lot of stuff to put in, backpacks are just perfect for it. And it leaves you hands-free to take care of all your child’s needs.

Pack light

You might think that you’ll be able to manage if you have a few extra bags but with the baby, it’ll be really tough for you to manage. Pack light for yourself, so that when you travel pack for your kids, you have space for their extra clothes. You can always use laundry at the hotel and reuse your clothes because as mentioned before when it comes to kids you have to pack a little extra of everything. So let it be light for yourself.

Relax a little

Travelling can be really tiring for every family member of yours. Adults sleep and recharge themselves but children have a different style of relaxation. Many airports these days have play areas, let the baby grab a ball there and play. If you are at an airport which does not have a play area, let them just roam around freely under your supervision.

It does not hurt to carry a small, light toy that your child likes to play with.

Carry Flasks

You never know when the flight will get delayed, so always keep food formula ready with you. Keep a bigger bottle which has warm water in it that is drinkable by the baby. And keep another bottle with you that has hot water in it, so that if you run out of warm water, you can always dilute the hot water and make it drinkable for the baby.

Milk bottles

Always keep milk bottles with you if the baby is not breastfeeding anymore and keep extras of these too. If you are breastfeeding, then there’s more on that below.

Changing Mat

Keep a changing mat with you. You’ll need it when you have to change baby’s clothes or diapers in the changing room. you never know how hygienic the baby change room will be, so include some changing mats when you are travel packing for kids.

Diaper Rash cream

When you are travelling and it’s a long journey, always keep diaper rash cream with you because at any point they might get a rash and that will keep them irritated in the entire journey. So when considering travel packing for kids, never forget rash cream.

Tag and Track

Tag your baby with every possible detail, like name, age, your name, your contact number, and your address. Don’t lose sight of your baby, of course, but anything can happen and you’ll rest easy knowing you’re prepared for any scenario.

Repurpose luggage tags

Try using tags that won’t fall off easily. A good way is to use a nice luggage tag and place it on your baby like a necklace or bracelet. You can get luggage tags made of rubber or other friendly materials which if your baby ends up chewing on, it won’t be harmful.

Activity engaging

For the babies who are not sleepyheads and are more active than toddlers, try to keep them engaged with small tasks like drawing or interactive books that help them forget about the mischief they secretly plan inside their genius minds.

Snacks, an important part of travel packing for kids

No magic can work as beautifully as the food magic will. Let your bag be the magic hat for a magician who never runs out of food or snacks. Mess-free snacks, fruits, dry snacks will help your child be happy during the travel, which means happy travel for you too. Make sure you never forget snacks when you are travelling with kids.

Bibs

If you are at a place where changing clothes per snack or per spill is not possible then keep a magic bib with you so that whatever spills, spills on the bib and you don’t have to change the baby’s clothes every hour.

Nursing while take off

When we as adults face pressure changes in flight, we gulp water and stay calm. But this is not as easy for the child to do. Make sure you nurse the baby while the flight is about to take off. This will help the baby maintain the ear pressure and stay calm.

Breast pumps

Breast pumps help the stimulation to maintain a sufficient production of milk to the baby. If your child is still breastfeeding and you are somewhere where you can not breastfeed the baby, carry a breast pump (also if you are uncomfortable nursing in public). You can also always pump the milk at home and carry it in a bottle with you. Pump out the breast milk in a bottle and keep extra of it with you.

Favourite Toy

For a baby, it can be tough to get adjusted to a new place and there can be a possibility that the baby might not sleep easily. Baby will always have a favourite toy that makes him comfortable enough to sleep with. Leave everything aside and pack that toy. Keep that toy handy so that in flights also, the baby is familiar with something.

Warm blankets

If you are planning a trip via flight or even a road trip, both ways might leave your kid exposed to cold temperatures which might make the baby shiver. You don’t want that. Keep a warm blanket with you, so that the baby remains comfortable while travelling. and you remain relaxed while travelling with kids.

Camera

Give them a child-friendly robust camera that will keep them engaged and who knows, you might get surprised by the pictures they take. Just sit back and relax. A holiday means a holiday; there is no point of taking a break if you are more stressed than your working days on your holidays.

Journeys are about creating great stories; make them as beautiful as your miniature is.

Also, let us know in the comment section if you feel there are any other essentials to pack when travelling with kids.

Also read: 11 tips for travelling with small children