Baby & child essentials to pack on holiday / vacation

I’ve spent 7 years travelling with babies and young children, often on my own. I’ve braved buses, trains, the London Underground, and every London airport.

I’ve been writing about my top tips and must-haves for any journey with young children, particularly where a lot of distance is travelled on foot, such as around airports or train stations.

This page is full of advice and recommendations for must-have items to pack when you’re travelling with young kids.

The intro and summary page to this whole travel section can be found here. Other detailed sections include:

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So here is my best advice, but obviously do take into account your own circumstances and preferences!

Disclaimer: Please note that I have not accepted any payment or freebies for this article. This is simply me telling you what I find to be the best kit for a journey with young children, after a bit of trial and error over the years with my own money.

Different trips, different needs

First thing’s first: Obviously you’re going to need to pack differently depending on what type of holiday you’re going on.

Admittedly, a lot of baby and child equipment you’ll need regardless of whether you’re going for 3 days or 3 weeks, however your accommodation has a massive impact on what you pack. For example, will there be laundry facilities and/or a kitchen?

If you’re staying with friends and family who have children, then most of your needs will be met and you can pack relatively light. Hotels and AirBnB’s offer varying facilities. Camping would need a separate post altogether!

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Things you don’t actually need:

There are something things I’ve left out on purpose because, for the most part, you don’t need them. That said, there are exceptions to every trip, so use common sense.

Travel cot – Very big, bulky and heavy to take, and most places nowadays will provide cots on request. That said, if you do need to take one, there are some particularly travel-friendly smaller, lighter versions.

High chair – Too big and bulky. Even the clip-on ones that clip onto the table edge are a bit bulky, I find. We have a fabric highchair harness that slips over normal chair to convert it to a highchair. Very light and packable. See below.

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Must-haves and handy travel kit:

Food related

Fabric chair harness – Converts any chair to a highchair with a 5-point harness. Very light and packs down very small. It’s a permanent fixture in my boy’s nappy bag.

Perhaps not for 6 month olds who still have trouble sitting up, but otherwise it’s perfect right up to when they outgrow the need to highchairs altogether. It has a 5-point harness, so there are shoulder straps. Our one is from Pueri and works just as well as the more expensive brands.

Plastic cutlery & bowl – Unless I know there’ll specifically be baby/toddler-friendly bowls and spoons etc., I tend to bring a set, unless I’m low on luggage space. I’d hate to damage crockery from the rental place because of an enthusiastic throw from Littlie.

Water bottle – Separate item on this list as it’s THAT important. We carry one for each child, and have them with us in our daypack or hand luggage without fail. You’ll need them all day, every day of any trip. Ideally something with a handle (to clip to you your bag with carabiners), and a good lid. (Tip: If you’re flying, it may be handy to keep it empty until you get through security.). We have these roll up ones, and a hard bottle for Littlie.

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I’ve also seen these online, which more look more sturdy and still roll up, but I’ve not tried them.

Bibs – Two or three bibs, if needed. Depends on how adept your kids are.

Healthy snacks – You don’t have to pack everything in the kitchen cupboards, but a few packets of your kids’ favourite healthy snacks always come in handy, for example apples, raisins, ricecakes or Organix Oaty bars.

Often snack options ‘on the go’ aren’t particularly healthy. Littlie loves the veg only puree pouches by Ella’s Kitchen. He is very happy to have these as a snack and I rely on these for much of his veg intake! They’re hard to come by in small shops, so I try to pack a couple (warning, they may not make it through hand luggage at Airport security as they’re over 100ml, but they usually let me through with them as I need them for the ‘baby’. Or they don’t notice that it’s 120ml not 100ml in the liquids bag).

Baby/child-specific foods – Milk, formula, baby rice. Also any specific allergen free products you may need. Things you perhaps can’t get hold of easily but will need. At least enough with you that will last until you can get to a larger supermarket.

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Sleep related

This section focusses on the needs of babies and younger toddlers as they can be so sensitive around sleep and sleeping conditions. Older kids are (hopefully) more adaptable.

Tin foil – I know you can buy those fancy blackout blinds, but they’re big and heavy and often the suckers don’t work well enough. A few metres of carefully folded tin foil is barely noticable in a bag, but is usually enough to create a perfect blackout for your difficult sleeper.

TOP TIP: Tin foil is completely black out if you cover the whole window pane. And you don’t even need anything fancy to stick it on with – splash some water on the window, and the tin foil will stick to the window pane. Ideally have the foil overlap the edges of the window to make sure all the cracks are covered. Job done.

Monitor – Unless you’re in the same room as the kids, we always take a monitor. You can by cheap slimline travel-size ones, but we take our normal one as it has the lights and music they’re used to.

Familiar sheets / sleeping bag – For babies and younger toddlers I like to take some of their clean but used bedding to give them a familiar scent in an otherwise alien room. I take Littlies pillow case (possibley mini duvet cover as well, depending on space), whereas I used to take his sleeping bag when he still used one.

Favourite teddy – Obviously.

Buggy blackout – for naps whilst out and about (if you bring a buggy). See travel section further down.

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Hand luggage / daypack

You need some essentials to hand all the time. So what should you have handy in your hand luggage / daypack?

• Child entertainment (I’d suggest the full list above, perhaps minus the bedtime stories)
• Snacks for everyone (lots of snacks for kids & grown-ups. you will definitely need them and they’re extortionately expensive when you’re at any terminus)
• Drinks bottles (see above for recommendations. Refill whenever you see an appropriate spot as you may not get another chance. Unless you’re on your way to the airport, then I travel with 1 full bottle for sharing, and leave all the rest empty as they need to get through security).
• Wipes and tissues (for spills and clearing up)
• A spare top for each child (some one will spill something. It’s the law.)
• Travel paperwork (tickets, passports, ID)
• Book/magazine/kindle for you (for when they inevitably borrow your phone)

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Summary

To summarise this very long list, my top go-to picks are:

Feeding time

• Fabric chair harness (travel highchair)
• Water bottles (roll up ones are very travel-friendly)
• Healthy snacks
• Baby-specific and allergen-free food (if needed)

Sleep time

• Tin foil (to use as window blackout)
• Baby monitor (unless everyone is in the same room)
• Familiar bedding (for smell)
• Favourite teddy

Entertainment

• 1-2 small toys each (like a car or a pony)
• Colouring / busy books
• 1 Story book each (bedtime)
• Card game (e.g. Uno)

Wash bag

• First aid (Calpol, plasters, thermometer. Saline nasal spray for babies)
• Travel wash

Luggage (see related post for more)

• Scootcase
• Rucksack for adult (with detatchable daypack)
• Pushchair/sling/hiking carrier (dependent on preference and type of holiday. If you take a buggy, I recommend bringing a blackout shade)

Hand luggage:

• Usual travel essentials (passport, tickets, ID)
• Snacks and water (see above for ideas)
• Entertainment (see above)
• Spare top for each child (spills WILL happen)
• Wipes & tissues (no explanation needed)
• Book/magazine/kindle for you (if, heaven forbid, you should have 5 minutes to yourself)

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