Since my son was born six years ago, we have been on TWELVE plane trips, traveled to SIX countries, and stayed at countless hotels in many different cities. When my daughter was born last year she got to jump in on the fun, with an international flight at 3 months old and two other domestic flights since then. Now I am excited to share my favorite gear for traveling with a baby that have really made a difference in making trips smooth and relatively enjoyable for the whole family.

Please note: I paid full price for each of these products and I have not been paid to write this review; however, the following recommendations include affiliate links. Full disclosure statement can be found here. Thank you!

+ + +   Graco Travel Lite Crib, Alma

Many hotels have pack n plays available by request, but ewww. Some people would argue that the less you have to pack the better, but I really doubt they sanitize those things between each use, so I repeat, ewwww. My daughter slept in this travel sized pack n play, cleverly named “Travel Lite Crib,” from the time she was about one month old to about 6 months. There were a lot of hotel stays and other changes during that time and we never had any issues with her being in new rooms or environments because she was so used to her crib.

+ + +  Summer Infant 3Dlite Convenience Stroller, Hibiscus Pink

This is not the cheapest travel stroller on the market, but we liked it much better than the super cheap umbrella stroller we used with our son when he was a baby. I distinctly remember how terrible the wheels were on that cheap thing and how irritating that can be at airports or trying to hurry across busy sidewalks in a city you’ve never been in. Not worth it to save a couple bucks! This 3Dlite stroller has smooth wheels (although not for rough terrain) and the handles come up a bit higher than other umbrella strollers which is nice for taller parents. It also comes in black, if hot pink is not your jam.

+ + +  J.L. Childress Gate Check Bag For Standard and Double Strollers, Red

This is a handy little gate check bag to put your stroller in while it’s on the plane. You absolutely don’t need to put it in a bag; they will happily gate check your stroller all by itself and toss it on top of the rest of the luggage. But I like putting it in a bag because it keeps it clean, dry, and can help keep loose items from getting lost if you like to keep things like chapstick, wipes, etc. in stroller compartments and then forget about them. Just remember to put the gate check tag on the bag when they give it to you, not the stroller itself, otherwise you may end up putting the stroller in tag side down. Because I did that. And it was so annoying.

+ + +  Munchkin Arm & Hammer Disposable Changing Pad – 30 Pack

So clearly I’m a germaphobe, but I’m pretty sure airport bathrooms are the grossest, and changing tables in airplane bathrooms are used for more than changing diapers (again, ewww). I like to keep a few of these disposable changing pads in my diaper bag for airplane and airport bathrooms, or for the unfortunate, but likely possibility of having to change a diaper on the dang floor at some point. I know there are reusable changing pads, but I just don’t love the idea of using it on a gross surface and then putting it back in my bag… next to my things… Disposable changing pads for the win!

+ + +  Planet Wise Wet Diaper Tote Bag, Quill, Medium

Speaking of diaper changes, there’s a good chance you will find yourself with a wet or soiled baby outfit. You can use this wet bag to keep a spare outfit and then swap it out if you need to. That way you won’t find your favorite soft, footie pajamas in an outside pocket of a suitcase, with poo stains, one month after your trip. Just sayin’. These are also super useful for storing used cloth diapers if you are brave enough to use them while traveling, and if so, good on ya. Also handy for wet burp cloths… anything wet… you get the idea.

+ + +  Premium Disposable Placemats – BPA Free and Eco-Friendly – Stick On Placemat for Kids

These adorable placemats stick right on to restaurant tables or airplane tray tables. Perfect for spreading out some cheerios or puffs and letting your older infant have a snack. Once your baby hits toddlerhood she will get curious and start peeling it off, but by that point you will just absentmindedly rub the surface with a baby wipe and then dump a few forkfuls of your own meal right on the table for them to play with eat.

Happy Baby Organic Stage 2 Baby Food, Spinach, Apples & Kale

Pouches! Every baby’s favorite snack to squeeze all over themselves at the worst time! But if you have a well-behaved infant, these baby food pouches are great to travel with for a quick snack. Baby can just suck the food right out of the container, or you can squeeze it into a small bowl and spoon feed them.

+ + +  Sugarbooger Flip & Sip Cup, Matryoshka Doll

For the babies who are passed the bottle stage, it’s nice to bring an empty sippy cup or thermos to fill up with water once you are through security. They can play with it, drink out of it, throw it at you, or point to the cute designs on the outside. Also convenient if you run out of bottles or finish breastfeeding right before take off or landing–you can just let them have a few sips of water to help with the pressure in the ears.

+ + +  Dr. Brown’s Pacifier and Bottle Wipes, 40 Count, 3-Piece

I like to keep some sanitizing wipes around for when baby drops a bottle, pacifier, or toy they are going to suck on. In a pinch they can also double as a hand wipe, cleaning off a surface for playing, or even cleaning up a small spill.

+ + +  Inglesina Fast Table Chair, Navy

This travel table chair is nice for bringing to hotels or staying with friends or family who don’t have high chairs. It can fold up relatively flat in a suitcase and takes about 3 or 4 minutes to get set up securely. I’ve even brought it to restaurants when my babies were still a little small for those larger wooden high chairs.

Bonus Recommendation!

+ + +  Pro Packing Cubes – 6 Piece Lightweight Travel Cube Set – Organizers and Compression Pouches System for Carry-on Luggage, Suitcase, and Backpacking Accessories

These packing cubes are seriously the best for family travel, even after the baby stages. We have sets in four different colors for each member of our family. That way you can pack everyone’s stuff in the same suitcase for a short trip and easily find what you’re looking for without digging through EVERYTHING. Or you can expand to 2 or 3 pieces of luggage and just pack the cubes however they fit best without getting everyone’s clothes mixed up. The cubes also keep things folded up nice and snug.

So that’s it, guys! I hope this list helps make your experience traveling with a baby as enjoyable as possible!

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Do you have any favorite gear must-haves for traveling with a baby? Please share in the comments!

Complete Preschool Carry-on Packing List

(Under Construction!)

Our flight from Seattle to Germany was was long, boring, miserable, and eventful. Trying to entertain a preschooler on a transatlantic flight can be very tricky!

With about eleven hours of flying time, I wanted to make sure my son had enough stuff to keep him occupied. But is there ever really enough for a bored, tired, anxious 3 year old to do when he has been up for 18 hours? Oh, the misery of being cooped up with a preschooler who won’t sleep, use the airplane bathroom, or stay quiet while everyone else is trying to sleep on the flight. Since my husband was already in Germany, my amazing Dad offered to accompany my son and me on the trip over.

We did have about 5 hours of peaceful bliss while he was enjoying the contents of what I packed for him, and before he was just too tired and restless. So, let me share what went well, and I’ll just pretend the rest of it never happened  + 2 thumbs up+

Packing the Carryon

Ok, first I went out and bought about $50 worth of new toys and snacks. Yes, I know, shame on me, but if you had flown the flights I have, you would just nod along and say: Yes, good, $50 worth of new toys and snacks.

Then I took them all out of the packages (huge waste of space when packing a carryon) and wrapped them up to be opened on the plane. The brown paper wrapping was used for candy so I could let him open those ones after snacks throughout the flight.

Here’s a close up of some of the toys. I tried to get things that could be enjoyed quietly or take awhile to put together so the entertainment value would last.

My dad flies often and is accustomed to having all the perks and none of the lines. Sorry about the 40 minute wait for security, Dad. He kept turning around and saying: This is ridiculous! My son kept trying to escape by low crawling on the dirty airport tile. But he did get to write his name scribble on a luggage tag, which he was really proud of.

The Easy Hours

The first hour of the flight was spent enjoying the new games on his new LeapPad. (He opened it the night before so he could get the hang of how to play the games.)

And he enjoyed showing his bunny Lemmiwinks around our row.

Of course a 3 (and a half) year old can’t put an 18 piece transformer together all by himself, so my dad had to lend a hand. It was a good quiet activity and I’m glad we saved most of them for when the lights were dimmed so that everyone (but us) could get some sleep.

He loved opening up Marshall and his fire truck, and then getting to watch the show on the kindle – PAWS Patrol for the win!

The International Layover

We had a really short layover in Reykjavik, Iceland. After briefly falling asleep on the descent, he woke up SCREAMING bloody murder for the entire 20 minutes of landing. I think it was a perfect storm of having refused to use the bathroom for 8 hours, being midnight in the time zone we had been in, and just wanting to get the hell out of his seat belt. As we entered the airport in a dreamlike stupor, he threw up his hands, tears in his eyes and said: This isn’t Germany! followed by a pitiful sob. I got an empathetic laugh from a passerby, which gave me just enough gusto to carry the little screamer through customs and onto the next plane.

At that point I took him to the bathroom and insisted that he use it. While he screamed, I’m sure everyone on the plane thought I was beating him, but eventually he went, and the plane took off.

There was a beautiful sunrise, and even though none of us had really slept, it was exciting that we were almost in Germany!

He was out cold for the last hour of the short(er) flight. Actually we were the last people to walk down the stairs of the plane and board the bus to the terminal. He slept all the way to baggage claim. Why couldn’t he sleep like that on the flight?!

But as miserable as those few dark hours were, we made it to Germany and I will never have to fly with a 3 year old for eleven hours ever again.  +fingers crossed+

Have you ever entertained a preschooler on a transatlantic flight? 

Please note: there are affiliate links in this post, which means if you purchase an item from my link I will get a (very) small percentage of the purchase. Full disclosure statement can be found here. Thank you!

Melissa & Doug Felt Friends Stickers: These are so fun to make!

Kindle Fire for Kids: A tablet of some kind is basically a must for long flights with young kids. Bonus points for this kid-proof case and easy return/exchange policy for when your kid drops it on the tarmac.

Washi tape: Totally removable tape that you can put all over the plane walls, windows, and tray table. Win!

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse figurines: Any small toys that can stand easily on the tray table will do. I recommend getting these for cheap at a thrift store, but if you’re in a pinch, click on the link and grab these ones!

Check out this awesome kids tray! It’s already clean and will keep toys and snacks contained.

A Successful Flight (Minus the Swearing)

I spent a lot of time preparing for our flight from Oahu to Phoenix. My backpack was full of tricks and snacks for entertaining my son. When our row was called to board at the airport, my husband was standing near the line and motioned for us to come over. My son was struggling to get his backpack on and mumbled, “Dammit.” My husband called from about 15 feet away, “What?” And my son hollers back “DAMMIT!” The lady sitting next to me gave me a look with her eyebrows raised. So we were off to a good start.

He had fun perusing the safety info and helping Daddy get his seat belt on. We bought some new t.v. shows he’s never seen on the Kindle Fire and rented the movie Up. The movie was a big fail – he just didn’t have the attention span for a movie, but he spent about 2 hours browsing the new t.v. shows, so that was a win.

I tried something new on this flight. I always worry that we are bothering the people in front of us when my son is rough opening and shutting his tray and when he “accidentally” kicks the seat in front of him. So when we first sat down in our seats I got the attention of the man sitting in front of my son. “Sir? Hello this is my son behind you and he’s going to try really hard not to touch your seat, but if he does feel free to turn around and tell him – I don’t like that!” The two ladies sitting with him laughed and he seemed pretty good-natured about it. Plus I didn’t have to be paranoid that the man was fuming every time the seat was bumped. I’m thinking if we started annoying him at any point he would have been comfortable enough to at least turn around and make a joke about it.

Also, do yourself a favor and get some Kids Headphones. These are some of the best customer rated kids headphones on the market!

Here is one of my goodie bags filled with wrapped surprises. It made it through security, but there’s always a chance that they will have to open the gifts if the x-rays make them suspicious of something.

(Side note: I love these water bottles for kids!)

Most of the small wrapped gifts for this flight were figurines from the Goodwill and small pieces of candy. I also found some cool washi tape from Amazon that is reusable and kinda feels like the sticky part of a post it note.

We had a lot of fun putting together a lego spiderman car. It was a small miracle we didn’t lose one of the tiny pieces on the floor of the plane. Only downside was the plane was dark and mostly quiet by the time we were putting it together and he was just SO excited and kept yelling out with glee. Eh, better than crying.

(Another side note… get some of these Little Animal Toys: Again, go to a thrift store for these little guys, but it’s hard to beat this deal on Amazon for new ones!)

So, when we were waiting for our row’s turn to exit the plane a lady tapped me on the shoulder and said “Your parenting was a real pleasure to witness.” I couldn’t tell if she was joking, so I said, “He wasn’t too loud?” (Because he totally was loud most of the time.) She said, “Well kids are loud, but you guys did a wonderful job with him.” So I’m willing to bet she wasn’t the same lady who heard him yell DAMMIT as we were boarding.

As we left the airplane the pilot was just exiting the cockpit and asked him if he wanted some wings. He was so stinkin’ proud of those wings! He has worn them quite a few times since then :)

So at the end of the day it was a very successful flight! Three and a half is a whole new ball game for 6+ hour flights – so much easier than the 12-24 month age. We have one more long flight before we reach our new home, but I have a few more new ideas up my sleeve for that one. And miles to go before we sleep!

How cute is this leather kids backpack with a plane stitched on?