8 Must Haves when Traveling with Toddlers

Whether you are hitting the road this weekend or donning your mask + face shield to brave a plane, you're going to need a goo

Prior to Covid we both did a lot of traveling with our littles - and these are some of our go-to things to pack in our carry ons to keep them happy en-route to our destination. 

BASIC NECESSITIES

• Pacifier (and/or bottle): for ear popping, hydration, and to calm the cries.
• Favorite Lovey: for comfort and snuggles. ⁠

ENTERTAINMENT

• All the snacks. We like to include new snacks and special treats to add excitement and fun to the trip, and because Remy has some food intolerance issues – we are all about the allergy friendly options like those from Once Upon a Farm, Made Good, Pure Organic and
  • One way to make your snacks extra fun – put them in fun containers. We have used colorful pill containers to sort snacks and make opening each section extra exciting. You can then use the same container to sort mini pom poms or other toys by color. OR you can put puffs or cheerios in a mint container (like this) so smaller kiddos have the task of extracting each one carefully – further extending the life of the snack!

• Games – like these adorable word cards you can use for a giant matching game. Or make up a story together around the cards as you flip each one over. We also love felt toys – like this ‘make your own pizza’ set, as they take up very little space, won’t break, and are fun for littles (texture!) as well as older kids (playing pizza shop.)

• Mess free art supplies – like crayons, paper, window clings, stickers and sticky notes.

FOR SLEEP:

Traveling during nap or night time? Make sure you have some of your sleep routine basics.

• Sleep Sack: put it on them on the plane, or let them cuddle it in their carseat.
• A book: part of our daily sleep/nap routine, we usually bring one new one and a couple old favorites.
• Wet Wipes: this is for those that typically get a bath before bed. A quick refreshing wipe over their face and hands can help mimic part of your routine for a more successful on-the-go sleep experience.

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Honorable mention:

• Screens. Ain’t no shame in our game – we definitely let the iPad do the parenting once we’ve run out of other options. Remy’s fave TV shows while traveling were Bubble Guppies, Dora, and Octonauts. For games she loves Khan Academy Kids, and when she had no tolerance for TV she loved a good Justin Timberlake or Bruno Mars music video. (And how cute is this sleep sack she is wearing in the above shot? It's a sample we made when testing out design details way back in 2018!)