There are many ways to successfully travel with a toddler, children or even other adults. A lot of ways will depend on how well your child travels. Are they excited for an adventure, or do they crave their routines? The answer to this question will help you decide how much pre-planning is required.

I consider myself lucky that I have a child that loves to travel. Her first short plane ride was at 6 months, and she had her passport by 9 months old. She’s traveled to 5 countries, and currently Mexico is her favorite destination.

We have traveled as a family, with grandparents, and also her and I solo. Below are some tips I have found to be helpful when traveling with a young child to your destination, hopefully it will give you some new ideas. I have also linked to some of the products we use, but there are many similar items that could be used in their place.

Pre-Trip:

Before the trip, get the excitement going by showing your child different places on a map, eating different types of food you may encounter and our personal favorite, watching any movies that relate to the location.

Relating the trip to familiar items- In our Disney loving house, we found if we can relate our trip to a movie, our daughter was much more excited. For example, when we went to Mexico, we watched a lot of Coco, and listened to a lot of Mariachi music. When we were preparing to go to New Orleans, we talked about jazz music, and getting to eat beneigts like Tiana makes and read a lot of the Princess and the Frog stories. Anything you can do to get your child excited will be a plus. One word of caution, is to not build up any experience unless you are 100% positive you will be doing that.

Packing:

Below are suggestions for things you may not think about when packing with a child, but could make you and your child a bit more comfortable being away from home.

Packing Cubes- For any family trip, especially if you will be staying in multiple locations is getting a set of packing cubes for each family member. These have been very helpful to easily find clothes for everyone and keep everyone’s stuff separate for quicker mornings. I also like to make sure that each family has their own color. It makes it easier for children to find their clothes.
Activities- Other things we like to pack are sticker books, puzzles,any small sized activity that can be packed, and brought out whenever needed.
Fire Stick or Apple TV- at our house we only have Netflix and movies, so bringing along our Fire Stick or Apple TV have been lifesavers. Just be aware that you may not get all of the shows you are familiar with outside of the US, but sometimes that can be a good thing. Mickey’s Clubhouse is on Netflix in Mexico, and it is not at home.
Packing Diapers- If you don’t take a car seat, and have a little in diapers, you can always pack the diapers or more disposable type items in a duffel bag to save space in your suitcase. That way, if you don’t need it coming back, it can easily fit in your suitcase. Or you will have a bag to bring back extra goodies. If you are going on an extended trip, you can also plan on purchasing diapers where you will be traveling. This saved on a lot of space, when we only needed to pack diapers for 2 weeks, instead of a month.

Make sure when you are packing that you pack light enough that you, or any other adult traveling with you can easily carry all of the bags and your child, because they may want to be picked up even more when traveling.

Carry-on Packing- I like to have a backpack and a large purse for longer flights or cross body if I know it’s a shorter flight. A great comfortable cross body is the Sash Bag , it allows you to have all of the important things in an easily accessible place.
Books- Books are a big part of our every day life, so I like to bring a few thin, paperback books so they don’t take up much space. Another option is downloading kids books either on apps like Dr. Seuss books, or through Kindle and reading on your electronic device.
Toddler Bag- My daughter also likes to carry her own backpack, but since she is still pretty young, I make sure her backpack is small enough that it can either fit inside my purse or can clip to the outside of my backpack. The small ones from Skip Hop have worked great, and even have a place for her to have her water bottle, her camera and a few toys. If your child likes to play with figurines, bath toys can be great toys to take on trips. Not only are they typically a bit larger and easier to find, but they can be washed off if they get dirty.
Clothes for Everyone- Another important thing to bring in your carry-on is a change of clothes for everyone that is traveling. I’ve never forgotten a change of clothes for my daughter, but I have learned from experience that airports typically have a great selection of shirts, but not pants.

Car seats:

There is a lot of information about taking car seats on trips, so I will share what we have done. We decided to purchase a lightweight 5-point harness car seat and travel bag to take on family trips. It can be a pain to lug it around, but a good bag with backpack straps or wheels can be a lifesaver. When my daughter was in diapers, we put all of the diapers we would need for the trip, minus the ones for the travel day. One trick is to get the cinch sacks to put the diapers in, that way if you need to take the car seat out of the bag at the airport for security checks, its very easy to take everything out, and then put it back in. This only works if you are not taking the car seat on the plane. Many families take the car seat, as it is the safest option, and it’s a familiar place for a child.

When I traveled with my daughter by myself, I did not take her car seat, because I knew I wouldn’t have an extra set of hands with me. With a bit of extra searching, I was able to find a Taxi company at my destination that could provide car seats. It was an added expense, but well worth not having to worry about the car seat.

Airport:

Baby Wearing- One of my best tricks is to have a baby or toddler carrier with you. I love my Lillebaby because of the back rest, but any that are comfortable to wear for long periods are great. I also found that travel wet and dry cloth bags which can clip with a carabiner are great for packing it away and keeping it dry when you aren’t using it. My daughter has been worn most of her life, so she’s very comfortable in the carrier, which makes it nice to be able to carry her for long distances, especially running through the airport for a short connection. The added benefits of a carrier is that your child is up close to you away from strangers, they feel safe close to you, and if you are nursing, you can nurse discreetly to calm an anxious child.
Activities at the Airport- There can be delays, or long lay overs, so being prepared to keep your child entertained can be a challenge, especially for the younger kids. We like to take a small set of magnetic building blocks or Squigz with us to keep little hands busy. We also travel with an iPad with movies my daughter has picked out, and some puzzle games that she likes, but try to save the iPad time for the flights.
Strollers- I have only taken a stroller once on any of our trips, and that was when I knew grandma would want it while I was in a conference during the day. Since my daughter does so well in the carrier, strollers tend to just be one more thing to try and carry.

Flights:

Don’t be Afraid of the iPad- When my daughter was younger she would watch movies with the sound off, now she likes to have her headphones. She has always been a calm and laid back child, so we really have no issues flying with her. Currently her longest single flight was 8 hours and she watched two movies on repeat.
Other Activities- For kids who may not want to sit still and watch a movie, a few things that are great to have are window clings, sticker books,Melissa & Doug Water Wow books, dry erase books, small magna doodles, or for the younger crowd, even painters tape or sticky notes that can be played with are great options. Now that my daughter is a bit older she likes to take her camera, and a few larger figurines. The trick for toys on the plane is limiting small parts, or things that can easily fall under or between seats.
Snacks: We also bring an oversupply of snacks like gold fish, or my daughters favorite gummy bears. The sweet snacks can come in handy if you need to gently bribe your child into sitting still, or waiting patiently.
Take-Off and Landing - We also make sure her water bottle is full so she can take a drink at take off and landing. For smaller children, bringing a bottle for this purpose is also helpful, even if they haven’t had a bottle in a while, some kids like to use it again for fun. If you are still nursing, it can be quite helpful to calm an anxious child while flying.

These are some tips I have found for traveling with my family, but remember, whatever works for your family is the right way to travel.

This post contains Affiliate Links. Read our full disclosure for more information.