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Travelling with kids can be extremely stressful, above all if you do not organise your baby bag properly.
We just got back from our holiday in Brazil and, while on the plane, I thought "I wished someone wrote a post on what to pack in the carry on luggage in order to survive 10 hours flight with a toddler" so here I am doing just that.
Don’t you worry! With our easy to prepare bag, you will never be caught unprepared without having to carry your full house with you.
#1: One full change of clothes
This goes down to basics. If your child makes a mess while he eats or if he “evacuates” more food than normal, then you will want to change him.
#2: Nappies, nappy cream and wipes
6 nappies are enough for a 10 hours trip (provided your son does not have a stomach bug at the date of travelling!)
#3: New toys
This tip is a real life saver but make bring toys your toddler has never seen before . A lot of times my friends ask me how do we manage to travel so often with our little boy. I am telling you: buy small and fun toys for the flight! Your toddler will be entertained for a bit of time with each one of the novelty toys. For this last trip I bought, among other things, some touchable bubbles, play-doh, a sticker album.
#4: A DVD player or a tablet with his favourite cartoon
I know, this is a bit of a naughty tip. We spend so much time educating our children in not watching too much tv and not being hooked up on cartoons. However, the flight is not the right time to educate your toddler. It is all about survival and Peppa Pig, the night garden and RaRa the noisy lion helped us a lot on our way to Sao Paulo.
#5: A warm wool jumper
Hopefully, your baby will fall asleep at some point during the flight. In this way, he will not wake up because he’s freezing.
#6: Medicine
You never know what can happen during the flight, so prepare a little bag containing: Plasters, disinfectant wipes, antibacterial gel, baby ibruprofen, baby paracetamol.
Hopefully you will not use any of this but, if needed, you are prepared.
#7: A dummy
Even if your child does not use a dummy (mine only use one at night), bring one with you.
If he screams non-stop and you do not know what to do to calm him down, this could be the last resort.
#8: Food
10 hours flight means 2 lunches/dinners and 2 fruit snacks. I suggest you to bring also a pack of rice crackers for the in-between lunches (only if you are desperate)
#9: A blanket
Use it on the plane changing table. They do not have one and it is handy not to put your naked baby on the same hard plastic where hundreds of babies have been before. Yuk.
#10: A bottle with 7 spoons of milk powder
You can just add water and you have a full bottle of milk that will calm down the angriest baby.
#11: A summer change
If you are going from a winter Country to a summer Country, please pack shorts, t-shirt and sandals, otherwise your baby will boil in the sun once arrived at destination.
Hope you enjoy packing your cabin luggage and if you have any other tips to add to the list, please comment below! You can also find some more tips browsing Directory World for good parenting advise. Good luck!
Love,
C xx
Cathy Lavictoire
Great post Carla , really useful tips, sticker books work a treat 🙂 Hope you had a lovely holiday.
Cathy x
Carla
Hi Cathy, yes we had a lovely holiday in Brazil - thank you. However, life is so different now with a toddler! Look out for next week's post. Some more holiday tips for a smooth holiday with kids. Love, C xx
Tommy Wang
Thanks for sharing with us the favourite things you like to take for your kids when travelling.
One suggestions to add in the list is we should bring books that have kids' favorite stories along for vacation and travel. They will love the stories.
Cheets!