Packing Guide For Travel With Kids

This is a follow up blog post to my ‘Traveling with a Toddler‘ post. This post provides sample photos of how I pack clothing for my child, downloadable checklists for making sure you have everything your kiddo needs, and a ‘Car to Plane’ diagram on who carries what. It’s 100% overkill and I realize it will be different for each families’ needs, but some might find it a helpful jumping off point, especially if this is your first time taking a big trip with a toddler.

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Getting From the Car to the Plane…and everywhere in between

I haven’t found our 2.5 year old to be super helpful when it comes time to haul all of our luggage from the car/public transportation to Check-In at the airport. I’m hoping with age he will have more of a desire to pull his own suitcase and less of a desire to bolt through the airport as soon as I let go of his hand for one second. Until then, my husband and I pack so that we only bring what we can manage. I’ve made a graphic to help visualize how we do this, as well as a more thorough explanation below.

My Husband:

• Large Roller Bag of his stuff. This gets checked at the ‘Check-In’ counter.
• Large Roller Bag of my stuff. This gets checked at the ‘Check-In’ counter.
• Backpack which serves as his Carry On (See ‘Traveling with a Toddler‘ Post on what he packs)
• Cross body bag “Man Bag” as his personal item (travel documents, hand sanitizer, wipes, tissues, Advil, etc.)
• If we are bringing a car seat on a trip, my husband will attach the car seat bag to one of the large rollers and we check it at Check-In.

Me:

• I push the stroller with our child in it, as well as his carry on duffel bag, and his backpack.
• I wear my backpack which serves as my carry on (See ‘Traveling with a Toddler’ Post on what I pack)
• I push my son’s roller bag, which is a medium size. This gets checked at the ‘Check-In’ counter.

My Son:

• Get’s a free ride to the gate via his stroller.
• When it comes time to board the airplane. We Gate-Check his stroller, he wears his backpack (personal item) and his duffel bag is his carry on item. (Although I am the one carrying it for him)
• Check out my ‘Traveling with a Toddler‘ post to see what I pack in his carry on and backpack for the plane ride.
• When we arrive at our destination, we retrieve our stroller when we get off the plane, load everything back up, and we are on to the next thing.

How To Overpack For Your Child Like a Pro

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Yes, I said ‘Overpack’ for your child, because, as we have learned by now, that’s what I do, also children are messy and require many outfit changes. Here is my general guideline for packing for my toddler. Based on your child’s age, you might not have to prepare for the apocalypse every time you travel, but with a 3 year old, that’s how I prepare.

So first of all, where are you going and what’s the weather going to be? I pack my son’s clothing by “outfit and season” and in layers. Let me simplify this in an example.

Say we are going to visit my family in Pennsylvania in late summer. So chances are, hot/warm during the day, cooler in the evenings and early mornings.

So for this I would pack a coordinating set of the following:

I would bundle-fold all these things together and each “outfit stack” would get placed in the vacuum seal bag together. Now when I get to our hotel room, I can take the whole stack out and stick it in the dresser bundled together. When we are getting him ready in the morning, I can make the call whether he will need a t-shirt or tank, shorts or pants. We always travel with a hoodie for additional layering.

Now let’s do a Fall/Winter example:

• T-shirt
• Long Sleeve T-shirt
• Sweatshirt/Sweater
• Pants
• Socks
• Underwear

Same thing here. Everything is folded/bundled together, packed in a stack, and ready to use. Winter clothes are bulkier, so you might have to make two stacks, but you get the idea.

Questions you might be thinking:

• Is this necessary? Probably not, but as I am sure you know by now, I like to be prepared for anything. Weather can change, plans can change, my son’s ability to drink water and eat food in a civilized manner can change… We might be spending the day in Grandma’s overly-warmed house, in which case we might wear a t-shirt under a sweatshirt, and remove layers as needed. Or we might be going sled riding, so long sleeve t-shirt, sweatshirt, pants, and then all the necessary outdoor attire. Maybe we are going from a casual day running errands in the car to a nice dinner at a restaurant, so long sleeve shirt, pants and then throw a nice sweater on top to ‘dress’ it up a bit. I only do this, because all of these scenarios have presented themselves, and I’ve always had enough options to accommodate.
• How many ‘outfits’ do you bring for you child? My general rule is 3 full ‘outfit bundles’ more than the amount of days you are staying. So if we are staying 7 days, I bring 10 full sets of ‘outfit bundles’. Between the options each ‘outfit bundle’ provides, and the additional 3 bundles, we are more than prepared for any mess that comes our way. Also, this depends on accessibility to a washing machine. When we stay with family, I definitely don’t feel like I need to bring as much because I can do laundry more often. My son can usually get two nights our of a pair of pajamas, so for a 7 day trip I might bring 5 pair just in case we have a potty accident in them. I always pack a hoodie or light jacket and I bring A LOT of extra underwear. (We are in early stages of potty training and we are going through at least 3-4 pairs of underwear a day, so if we were going to travel right now, I would bring a lot of extra pants and socks too.)
• Do you buy your child’s clothing in similar colors specifically so you can match them in bundles? Kind of. I mean, I don’t solely buy his clothing based on whether or not it will match other things in his wardrobe, but I do think I gravitate naturally towards certain colors for him, so it’s usually not hard to find a t-shirt, sweatshirt, sweater, pants, etc. that happen to work well together. But no, I don’t shop with this specific goal in mind. I also try to buy him solid color basics to make layering a bit easier, but I think that’s just a life hack that applies to any age.
• Do you always do it this way? No, but I think you will find my alternate way even more ‘extra’. Sometimes I pack child’s size hangers in his luggage, and hang all his t-shirts, sweaters, and sweatshirts in the hotel. This makes them less wrinkly (and sometimes I even iron them in the hotel). When I hang them, I still “bundle” them in the closet, so they all hang next to the coordinating pieces. Then I unpack the coordinating pants, shorts, socks, underwear stacks in the dresser in the same order as the coordinating tops are hung in the closet. See I told you it was more extra. Although, bringing child-size hangers is a good tip because often the hotel ones are too large to hang kid’s clothes from. Don’t forget to rubber band them together though or they will be a mess in the suitcase.

Packing Checklist

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I make a lot of lists, then I misplace them. Sometimes I think of something in the car while I’m driving, and forget by the time I get home. Sometimes I start a list in one notebook, and continue it in another notebook, then forget where I put my list and start a third on the back of a napkin. Point is, for as organized as I am, it can be hard to keep track of what you need to remember to pack, especially when you can’t even remember where your list is. So, I made this downloadable, printable PDF list to get your started. My standard disclaimer: Every family is different, ever kid is different, so this list will be different for you for each kid and each trip. This list is based on my child and my child’s needs when we travel. Please cross off, edit, add to this list to make it work for you, or use it as a starting point to create your own. I hope that you can find it useful.

Download the Packing Checklist