Traveling with a Toddler Must Haves
Wondering what are the must-haves when traveling with a toddler?
Are you getting ready to take a trip with a toddler and want to know what are essentials to bring with you to make your life easier coming from a mom herself?
Well, keep reading!
We as a family have gone on many different trips with our toddler in both a plane and a car. We have learned what we will not leave for a trip without.
Here are 15 of our must-haves when traveling with a toddler you do not want to miss!
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Traveling with a Toddler Must Have Items
Sleeping Must Haves
1. Slumber Pod
This is by far our family’s favorite travel purchase.
This is a miniature tent that fits perfectly over your pack-and-play.
It makes sharing a room with your child much easier!
It makes it so they can not see you, so are not distracted by you when trying to fall asleep. It also works as a blackout curtain.
Gone are the days in your hotel room having to go to bed at the same time as your toddler!
2. Pack and Play
This is another must-have item when traveling with a toddler. Having a safe sleeping spot for your child to sleep will save you!
The one linked is especially nice because it sets up and down easily and quickly. The only downside is it is pretty heavy.
Another honorable mention is the Aeromoov Instant Travel Playard. It sets up like a tent and is also very easily set up and down. It is also very light.
3. Travel black-out curtains
The next toddler travel must-have is travel black-out curtains.
These are for those who do not have the Slumber Pod or have a child old enough to sleep in a normal bed. (Or you can use them for yourself if you like to sleep in total darkness.)
This item is nice because there are suction cups on all four sides to attach the curtain to the window. Then there are velcro pieces on the sides of the curtain to adjust the size of the curtain to best fit the window you are covering up. It might sound confusing, but trust me it really works. Look at the photos above to see it in use.
4. Sound Machine
The last sleeping must-have is a travel sound machine.
We use this while in the car or while our child is in his stroller for nap time.
It is small and compact. Has a rubber hook so you can hang it on something (Like our car’s headrest or stroller.) and has a built-in night light that can come in handy.
We have had this one for over two years at this point and still really enjoy it.
Travel Gear Must Haves
5. Travel Fan
A travel fan might not be something you think of as a must-have travel item for a toddler, but for our family it is!
This is perfect for those beach vacations or anywhere with a hot climate.
You can use this by attaching it to our stroller when walking around somewhere warm or even bringing it down to the beach with you.
A bonus is it does not take batteries but instead is chargeable. So you do not need to worry about traveling with extra batteries just for a travel fan.
6. Travel Stroller
Another must-have when traveling with a toddler is a travel stroller. Something small and compact is the easiest thing to travel with, so a travel stroller is the way to go.
The travel stroller linked is a pushable trike for your child to ride on. (We absolutely love ours!) It is a fun alternative to a stroller that your child will enjoy!
The Doona Trike has a 3-point harness, so is safe for them to ride in. Comes with a canopy to keep the sun off them, a cup holder that is easily reachable for your toddler, and the seat can recline.
The only downside to the Doona Trike is that it does not have a cup holder for yourself. (Although we fixed that by adding this to the handlebar.)
The best thing about it that makes it a really good travel stroller is it folds down quickly and folds really small. It can fit easily in your car and even in the bin of an airplane!
(When traveling we will fold it and put it right below our son’s car seat in the car. It makes it a breeze to take in and out of the car when we take stops on a road trip.)
Diaper Changing Must Haves
7. Disposable Change Pad
Change your kid’s diaper… and get your change pad dirty?
No problem, just throw it away! There is no need to deal with trying to clean it while traveling!
We do normally get multiple uses out of one disposable change pad to not be wasteful. But the ease of not having to worry about having to clean a dirty change pad while traveling is worth it to us.
8. Wet Bag
A wet bag. Let’s face it, as parents we know a wet bag is always useful when going anywhere. But when traveling it is even more important.
Your child has an accident… wet bag.
Your child has a poop explosion… wet bag.
Your child spills something all over their clothes… wet bag.
See a random splash pad and decide to have a little fun… wet bag.
There are so many different reasons you might need a wet bag, so it ended up on our must-have list of items.
Toddler Activities Must Haves
9. Doodle Pad
Having a quiet activity for your toddler to enjoy while traveling will be a must-have.
This doodle pad is an easy form of entertainment that they keep doodling on until they want to move on to the next form of entertainment.
10. Tubes
Who knew tubes would be such fun entertainment for toddlers?!
These tubes are so fun, small easy to pack, and inexpensive. It is an easy win!
11. Invisible Ink Coloring Book
Another quiet form of entertainment is these Invisible Ink Coloring Books.
I have linked above, but you can find them in almost any store.
12. Water Markers Coloring Book
This is another quiet form of entertainment of a coloring book that just needs water. (The only con is that it needs water…)
Both these and must-have number 11 are perfect things to keep in your diaper bag and take out while eating out while traveling.
13. Books
Another easy activity to keep your child entertained while traveling is books.
The books linked above are Indestructible books that are the best! They are literally indestructible! Your child can try to tear them, get them wet, or even eat with no such luck. (Do any other people’s children find such joy in trying to eat books while in the car?)
14. Sensory Toy
The next must-have when traveling with a toddler is the sensory toy linked up above. It will give your toddler hours of entertainment!
It may seem simple, but it is so much fun for toddlers to play and mess with. (This toy is the toy our toddler will play with the longest without getting bored.)
For such a small price it brings great enjoyment!
15. Tablet
(Unless you are screen-free. Then you do you. No judgment here either way.)
Preload your toddler’s favorite movies and TV shows and have tons of entertainment when the going gets rough. (The tablet is like your get-out-jail-free card.)
Tip: Download a new movie on your child’s tablet each trip, so they have something new and are less likely to get bored.
Travel with Toddler Must Haves
Traveling with your toddler can be so fun and you will make so many amazing memories, but it can also be daunting thinking about all you might bring.
These were the 15 top must-have items you must bring with you when traveling with a toddler.
All these items are things our family personally never leave for a trip without!
If you are getting ready to take a road trip with your family here is another blog post on How to Survive a Road Trip with a Toddler you can find here.
