Why do little people need so much stuff?!
Something that puts a lot of parents off taking their little one away is the thought of packing.
I think the smaller the child, the more stuff you need.
Babies you need to consider: bottles, sterilising, nappies, wipes, ten thousand changes of clothes, sleeping, car seats, baby carrier, prams.
Toddlers you can scrap the bottles and sterilising but add Toys R’ Us and a Tesco delivery truck of snacks.
Babies do need a lot of stuff but nearly every airline offers the bulkier items to be carried on free of charge. Check with your airline but these usually include: travel cot, pram, car seats etc.
How to pack for toddlers
Once I have booked a trip, I tend to start a spreadsheet and roughly plan out each day with a suggested activity and what outfits or items I might need.
For example, if we are going on a beach holiday and swimming for the day, I will note that I need to pack swim nappies, water toys, swimsuit and hats, etc.
It may sound obvious but if your trip contains different activities or elements I find this method useful to even estimate the amount of say evening outfits I need, especially if my accommodation does not have a washing machine.
What to pack for toddlers
Packing really does depend on your holiday destination, the age of your children and form of travel for luggage space.
Clothes to pack will depend on the weather at your destination.
I have created a summer and winter packing list from my experience of different holidays. I would say they are aimed for children around 1-3 year olds but obviously each child is different.
Essentials generally will stay the same for any trip, but you may want to add extra items if you intend on doing certain activities like swimming or skiing.
It may also be helpful to check my sun and winter tips for travelling in case there is something you may have forgotten.
Toys will also depend on your children’s ages and interests but here is my full guide to travelling toys.
You can be more flexible and less selective if you are travelling by car due to space, but it is surprising how quickly a boot can fill up with bulky baby essentials!
The tips below are aimed at parents flying with toddlers or packing with limited space but are helpful in general with how to pack.
Luggage allowance with toddlers
When we first started travelling with young children one of the places I would try and save money was on baggage.
I tend to book everything separately, which means most flights I book are without hold luggage.
I therefore made it my personal challenge to pack as little as possible and take as few bags as I could. No we were not going to a nudist camp.
For our first trip as a family of four, with a baby and a toddler, I managed to just take just hand luggage. Before you give me a standing ovation – this was hell…
I thought I was super clever saving a couple of hundred pounds on checked baggage but let me tell you – I would have paid a couple of million pounds not to try and carry an infant, a toddler, a pram, a travel cot, four backpacks and four silly little hand luggage cases through the airport.
Our next trip to Canada I thought I would treat us to one checked baggage but here is where I would save some money… car seats. Our car hire company were going to charge us something ridiculous for hiring two car seats. I’ll show them – we will bring our own!
A photo speaks a thousand words….
After many more trips I think we have found the perfect balance on saving a few pennies, being comfortable at an airport and not starting a family trip with exchanging divorce papers.
Read my hand luggage tips and additional advice for flying with toddlers here.
Lighten the load
Babies do need a lot of stuff. But from travelling a lot with my two children from new born up to 5-years-old, I can advise on the things that you do and do not need to take. Or offer some alternatives.
Travel cot
I think putting up and collapsing a travel cot should be the new Rubik’s cube challenge.
Anyway…
Most hotels, Airbnbs, holiday camps provide infant equipment such as travel cots and highchairs.
Do always contact them and check, even if it is not advertised as they may be able to organise something.
We have found a few independently owned Airbnbs, have not provided a cot so it was essential we took one. It is a pain to carry but most airlines allow you check them in for free and we always stuff the travel cot case full with stuff to make the most of that extra packing room!
Sterilising
If you still need to sterilise bottles, I suggest taking the tablets as the most space saving option.
Do consider what accommodation you are staying in as we have stayed in hotels and apartments with just the bathroom sink and this was a pain as it was always filled with bottles being sterilised!
One option for this is to take a collapsible bowl or bucket so that you keep your sink free. Or if they provide a baby bath this is another alternative.
I also still take a little bottle of sterilising spray. Even though my kids are older I like to spray surfaces to counteract the number of bogeys they eat.
Bottles, formula and milk
You know how much your baby drinks and needs but one thing to remember is you can take as many bottles as you need for the flight. Bottles do not count towards hand luggage or your liquid allowance.
If you are using formula, you do not want to run out midway through a long-haul flight. You also need to take enough with you or check your destination definitely sells the same brand as babies are fussy!
When travelling with a 3-month-old, I would tend to make up 6 bottles for the flight and also take extra formula in handy pots.
It was total over kill, but I would much prefer that than to not have enough. Flight attendants have always been so helpful warming bottles or providing boiling water also.
For older children, I take a bottle of long-life whole milk; with the screw top to avoid leaks. You can sometimes get flight attendants to fill up your bottles with milk but this has been hit and miss so wouldn’t risk not having any milk mid-flight!
A really handy tip is if you are struggling to fit formula or nappies in your luggage is to do a click and collect order for boots at the airport. This way you can collect it after security and just carry it on board as it does not count towards your luggage allowance.
One thing to remember is to take a big enough bag to put it in as they gave it to us in a box which was really annoying to carry.
Nappies
In addition to ordering your nappies via click and collect at the airport, remember, unless you are visiting the Congo, you can purchase nappies anywhere.
Nappies take up so much space that sometimes it is worth buying them at your holiday destination, even if they are a couple of pounds extra.
One other tip when it comes to nappies is: Did you know that swim nappies are reusable? As long as your child did not soil the nappy with last night’s curry, you can dry swim nappies and re use them! So really you only need to take a couple.
Car seats
Like I said in my luggage allowance section, taking a car seat is a huge inconvenience. They are awkward and heavy to carry.
The only possible advantage I can think of is if you have booked a seat for your infant and want to secure them in.
However, why would you pay a seat for your infant when you know they will not leave your lap anyway? Plus plenty of airlines provide a bassinet for them.
My reasons that I have previously taken car seats is because my car hire provider charged extortionate rates or stated we could have car seats ‘when available’.
I am still so unsure of what this means. Will they let me drive their rental car away with my 3-month-old strapped in with just a seatbelt?
…or in the roofbox?!
I presume it can only be some legal thing they must state. Like when we tell the Health Visitor we check our smoke alarm every week.
But when I first read it, I was terrified that they would run out and we would be left stranded.
I have rented plenty of cars across the world and have never been refused a car seat.
I still rent from companies that state ‘when available’ and just reassure myself that there will always be another car available from one of the other rental desks if needed.
You don’t want this added stress when travelling with toddlers but trust me when I say taking a car seat is the much more stressful option.
I would suggest just paying a little extra for a car company that meets your requirements.
As there are so many holiday extras comparison sites out there and you are a busy parent, if you need the stress taking out of planning your holiday or organising extras such as car hire, visit my travel services here.
Prams
We have never been lucky (or rich) enough to have a fancy pram that with a click of a button folds small enough to fit in your purse, or a overhead locker.
If we need to take two prams, we often check one in and then take the other to the gate.
Note that you will not receive either of these until baggage claim.
I think maybe once (and we travel a lot) the pram may have been outside the airplane door with the wheelchairs, but this could have also been a mirage.
Do remember that most baggage claims are a long walk from the airplane. This, plus tired toddlers, is not the best start to your holiday.
I always pack a toddler carrier for my flight, the one where it sits on your hip, just to take the strain off as I will also be carrying luggage.
This one was only cheap (probably from Temu) but I love it as it also has compartments for things so it is an essential for my Disney trips and queuing.
Best suitcases and luggage for toddlers
Trunkis are crap!!!
‘Pack it, Ride it, Pull it, Carry it, Love it!’
Well I can pack f-all in it; the kids will ride it right into Karen’s shin at the airport; they sure as hell ain’t pulling it; yep I am carrying it along with everything else: nope I don’t love it.
Trunkis class as your hand luggage but are much smaller than a cabin case and a really awkward shape so a waste of vital packing space in my opinion.
We have had two Trunkis and both have broke, thankfully not whilst away!
Yep Trunki’s can “Get set. Go!” …away!
The only bonus of a Trunki is Ryanair officially allow Trunki’s as a child’s personal item even though it exceeds the dimensions.
That’s right, Ryanair are capable of doing something decent.
Toddlers need a lot of stuff, so we usually take four hand luggage cases, minimum on a trip. Fine, but unless you married an octopus, how are you getting them to the check in counters?
We give ourselves ‘jobs’ at the airport. I tend to take care of kids and pram. Husband has suitcases.
He can sometimes pull/push suitcases if they are of similar height or we have these straps that are super cheap and can strap two cases together making them easier to pull along.
Here are more tips for navigating the airport with toddlers.
Packing cubes
When researching tips for my first cruise I think I heard ‘packing cubes’ 20 thousand times. I didn’t get it. Surely, they don’t save space, it just makes it more restrictive?
Well I will admit when I am wrong, unless to my husband, and I now love pack cubes.
I always used to roll my clothes but folding them in to packing cubes really does compress them and you are able to take more. I don’t know the Science; all I can think is that it is pure magic.
The compression isn’t actually the main reason I love them so much. It is the organisation and when going away with toddlers, organisation is your new best friend.
Organisation, matched with your toddler’s erratic unpredictability equals well… less chaos. There are no miracles here.
It also aids with unpacking and storing your clothes when short on drawer space.
Packing cubes allow you to organise your clothes in the best way that suits your family and your trip.
I firstly tend to have different colours for each family member and then organise this into subcategories.
It really depends on the holiday but here are some popular ones I tend to use:
- Casual wear
- Evening wear
- Swimwear
- Pyjamas
- Underwear
- Warm stuff
It also works a treat for simple husbands when they ask what to change the kids into and you can say a colour cube for them to grab something from. Though I’m sure they will still end up looking like Bjork!
If I still haven’t convinced you to join my packing cube cult. On our latest trip, I had a genius idea.
I used the packing cubes to pack any clothes that had not been worn in the designated family member’s colour.
I also use the left-over packing cubes to organise my washing by whites, colours, darks and delicates.
When I get home, unpacking is so much easier. I put packing cubes in the correct person’s room to be unpacked as and when. I also could put washing on right away as it was already sorted!
Trust me, future home you, will thank holiday you!
To join my packing cube fan club or help with booking your next holiday check out my travel planning services here.