We have a traveled a lot with our kids, at every age and stage! When they were babies and toddlers, we lived in Asia, so we traveled by plane to visit our families in the US and New Zealand. Now that they are a little older and we live in America again, we travel mostly by car. Here are a few essentials that helped to make all of the traveling easier by age. (If your children are past the toddler age, scroll down for some big-kid ideas!)
Traveling with a newborn was actually much easier than I thought. Eating, sleeping and using the bathroom whenever and wherever makes life much easier. And the white noise and motion of the plane helped my babies to sleep. That said, this little Diaper Bag Travel Bassinet is awesome! It serves as a bed, a portable changing station, and a diaper bag!
These Mesh Feeders were always a fun surprise for babies and kept them interested for a little while on the plane and in the car. You can fill them up with fruit or crackers or whatever you’d like and baby can suck or chew away!
While you can’t have your baby in a carrier during take off or landing, they are really handy for getting quickly around the airport, especially if your child falls asleep in them like mine did! We had a few different ones, but the Ergobaby Carrier was the most comfortable and had the best support. The Baby Bjorn was great when they were teeny, but after that we almost exclusively used the Ergo. *If you are doing any international travel, many countries around the world do not have good sidewalks, so carriers are handy when strollers won’t do.
These Munchkin Snack Catchers were a must-have when we traveled with toddlers! Not only did it keep the snacks from falling all over the place, but they could squeeze their own pudgy, little hands through the lid, so it also kept them occupied for a few minutes!
If you plan on traveling a lot with your little one, it could be worth it to invest in the gb Pockit Stroller. They are probably the best travel stroller on the market and get great reviews from legit traveling parents. They are lightweight, breakdown to a backpack size (they even have backpacks for purchase), and are narrow enough to get around almost any place you would be going.
These Water Wow Coloring Books are awesome for little ones (and my big kids sometimes still use them!) There’s a little pen-brush that you fill with water and then as they “paint” the page, the colors come out. Best of all, the pages are reusable! I did keep the pen in a little ziplock bag because sometimes they leak.
These Magic Pen Coloring Books are similar to above, but they are no-mess and don’t require any water. The only drawback is that the pages are not reusable. I loved not having to take out all of the colors/markers/and pens while traveling though!
If your littles ones are big enough for candy, I would recommend Ring Pops while traveling. The sucking motion helps their ears pop during take off and landing if you are traveling by plane. And having them wear it on their fingers prevents sticky suckers from falling on the car floor or worse- plane floor!
These Pea Pod Sleepers are awesome to give kids a place to nap, block out some light and noise, and keep a consistent “sleep spot” no matter where you end up. This is a great option for children 6 months and up to help keep them contained while they are resting. They also pack up really small and just pop right open. You can even use them on the beach!
This Portable Chair Harness turns every chair into a high chair for your little one. It folds up very small and fits over most chairs. It’s great if you’re moving around a lot or are unsure as to what type of accommodation each stop may have.
Not only is this an Inflatable Foot Rest, but if you put it in front of your child’s plane seat, it gives them enough space to lay down and sleep. This is gold on long flights! It’s also nice in cars for them to prop their feet up on. And it deflates when you’re not using it, so no space lost!
This Foldable Travel Toilet Seat fits both oval and round toilets. It has suction cups as well so your kids don’t feel unstable. This is one of those things that you don’t think of until you get there and realize that your child will not get on the potty without it!
Both little and big kids will love these Reusable Stickers. There’s a bunch of different scenes to choose from. My kids sometimes use the pads to create sticker scenes and sometimes they just use the windows. Luckily, they come right off!
Now that my kids are bigger, they are great travelers! They are content to read books, watch movies, and play games on their tablets for most of the time. These Amazon Kids Fire Pro Tablets are great for ages 6-12. The Fire HD 8 is recommended for ages 3-7.
These Bluetooth Headphones are made to accompany the Fire tablet and you don’t have to worry about cords tangling while you travel!
This Car Headrest Mount Holder is awesome to hold your kids’ tablet for car travel and protects their necks from looking down for too long.
There’s nothing worse than getting onto a plane with a low battery only to find out that there are no charging ports! This Portable Charger will help with that (and may save your sanity!)
These Backseat Car Organizers are great for a long road trip or even just for normal, everday use. They were a big tricky for our toddlers to reach while they were buckled into a car seat, but once they got a little bigger, they worked out well.
These Travel Journals are a fun way for big kids to keep track of their adventures and gives them a break from screens!
Uno and Phase 10 are a couple of our favorite card games to play with our big kids. This little tin is easy to pack and will provide some fun during your trip. We also like Bananagrams as a travel game.
I hope that these ideas will help your travels go smoothly! Here’s to the next adventure!
