The Chirping Moms

Flying with Children: Tips and Printable Packing Lists for Kids

We have had a summer full of travel adventures.  So far this summer, we have hit the Jersey shore, took a short day trip to Baltimore, road tripped down to Grandma’s house in Raleigh, & took a two week vacation to visit family in Iowa and friends in Chicago.  I would have to say that I am learning how to travel efficiently & (somewhat) effortlessly with three kids, five and under!  Today, I’m sharing some tips and secrets for traveling with little children, including some printable packing lists for kids.

 

As a family of five that was traveling for two weeks, we had A LOT of stuff to pack.  Clothes, toys, shoes, swim gear, sweatshirts, & more.  I really tried hard to keep our packed items to the essentials for two weeks with a few extra items that would help keep our kids entertained and content for the weeks that we were away.  We managed to fit all of our packed items into two checked bags, but we still had to prepare for a full day of flying, layovers, and more with three kids, five and under.  So when packing for the airplane, I tried to keep our items as minimal as possible with three kids including only our tried & true travel favorites with the basic necessities of flying with children!

 

If you are going to bring a carseat along, check out this post on “How to travel with car seats (without losing your cool)”. It’s a big help.

OK, now let’s start with packing the baby’s bag.  Thankfully now that she is 15 months, I am out of the breastfeeding and bottle stage which means no more need of bottles, nursing covers, formula, & more which makes it a lot easier to pack.  Here is the following printable packing list that I created as well as a little more details about each item:

 

To Print: Right click on the image below open in a new window.  You can either save it or print it from there.  Make sure you scale it to the size you would like when printing!

 

Packing List for Toddlers

 

1.  We used our Urbini lightweight stroller for Abby and also brought along a super easy & cheap umbrella stroller that our boys could use as needed.  We tried to keep our strollers as lightweight and small as possible because we knew that on the other end that there wouldn’t be much space in Grandma’s and Grandpa’s car after all five of us and our luggage were in there.

 

To pack Abby’s gear, I used the fun super cute new Hedgehog Skip Hop backpack which is small and light enough that even her big brothers could help carry it through the airport or could easily slip in the stroller basket or hang on the stroller handlebars.

 

2 and 3.  You always need diapers and wipes.  Just pack a few extra diapers and make sure your wipes case is loaded.  Wipes also come in handy for spills in the airport, messy faces after lunch, wiping down the airplane trays, and more.  All else fails, my little one just likes to pull and put back wipes in the case and it will provide a few moments of entertainment.

 

4.  Changing Pad.  I recently received the Aden & Anais portable changing pad.  I think that it’s perfect for on the go.  Lightweight, super portable, and soft for changes out and about. I love that it can be easily thrown into my daily laundry to be cleaned.

 

5.  I usually just throw in a one piece romper which is compact and easy to pack.

 

6.  Pacifier & pacifier clip.  One of my life-savers for traveling (if you have a paci-loving kid!).

 

7.  Thankfully, Abby’s lovey include three very precious things: her beloved Wubbanub, a pink knit blanket that Grandma gifted to her when she was born, & her beautiful soft and cuddly first doll, the Corolle Babicorolle Babipouce Doll.  This doll is her absolute favorite & is the perfect first doll for little girls.  This doll comes from my favorite doll brand, Corolle, made just for little hands.  Soft body, machine-washable, & of course with the infamous light vanilla scent.  Her three favorite things are a MUST for travel!

 

8.  Some of my favorite snacks for toddlers that portable and easy to travel with are:  yogurt melts, fruit snacks, fruit pouches, and leather strips.  Better to be prepared with more than not enough!

 

9.  Sippy cup of choice.  Right now, one of Abby’s favorites is the Evenflo Triple Flo tumbler.  Since she is recently tranistioning off of bottler, the Evenflo Triple Flo tumbler features  an adjustable valve that grows with your child with three different flow rates.  It also has a “close-off” position designed for leak-free, on the go use which was perfect for the airplane.

 

10.  For her favorite small toys and books: we included her Sophie giraffe, lift and flap books, touch and feel books, & soft cloth books.

 

11.  A small book of stickers from the $1 section at the craft store or Target can go a long way.  We peel them off and place on paper.  And repeat.  And repeat.  Great and simple entertainment for toddlers.

 

12.  Ziploc Bags are super easy to bring & you never know when you may need them.

 

13.  Hand Sanitizer for ALL of those germs!

Now for the boys, it’s a lot easier to pack & honestly Aiden is old enough at five that he will read a list below and do most of the packing himself!  Finally, life with kids is starting to get easier.  Below, I am featuring a sweet and simple airplane packing list for children:

 

Again to Print: Right click on the image below open in a new window.  You can either save it or print it from there.  Make sure you scale it to the size you would like when printing!

 
Packing List for Children
 
For the boys, they jointly packed a small backpack that they could carry through the airport and together, we let them pack one Melissa & Doug Trunki that included their “spare clothes” as well as any toys & loveys that they would like to use at Grandma’s and Grandpa’s house.  This was our first time using our Trunki suitcase but I was very pleased with their own little suitcase as Aiden was able to pull it through the airport the entire time!
1.  Change of Clothes, including sweatshirt.  For the boys that just meant underwear, t-shirt, and gym shorts.
2.  Sweatshirts.  Sweatshirts can double as pillows or be used if one is cold on the airplane and is the only one that we packed for the trip as we were heading somewhere warm in the middle of summer.
3.  Books.  I let each kid pick out a few small lightweight paperback books.  Some of our favorites for the flight included the small sized I Can Read series (with my five year old) & our books about airplanes (both boys).  These are our favorite airplane books:  Amazing Airplanes, Disney Planes  and A Day at the Airport.

 

4.  Crayons & Coloring Books.  We packed the Melissa & Doug crayons which are easy to travel with and a few of our favorite coloring books.  Another favorite activity for the airplane are the Melissa and Doug On the Go coloring books, the Leapfrog Leapreader system and books, and some simple basic skill workbooks.  An easy way to keep my kids learning & practicing basic skills this summer is with a few minutes a day of a skill-based workbook (remember I am a former teacher!).  We brought along the School Zone Little Thinkers workbook series, one for preschoolers & one for kindergartners.  Not only did we do these on the airplane, but we also did a little each day on vacation!

 

5.  Stickers.  Again a simple and easy way to keep the kids entertained.

 

6.  I let each kid pick out a few small toys that they can carry in their hand.  For my boys, this meant RescueBots & mini-Minions.
7.  Sippy Cup:  For the boys, the sippy cup of choice is the Thermos straw bottle.

 

8.  Snacks & Drinks.  You can pack small snacks such as fruit snacks, fruit leather, & again apple sauce pouches.  We carried all of the boys’ snacks in their Planetbox lunch case.  Our Planetbox is something new that we received this summer that Aiden will use in kindergarten.  But the boys (and mom) are loving it so much already this summer with picnics & outings that we decided to bring it along for our travel adventure.  It has various compartments to store different foods which allows parents to pack a well-balanced meal quickly.  It was the perfect snack carrier for the airplane because it carried a little of this & that.  It was also great to have on the other end for the outings that we had with the grandparents:  picnics at the park, road trips in their car, and more.

 

9.  Entertainment Device.  Totally keeps kids entertained in the air & quiet.  The other passengers on the plane will thank you!  With two kids, we brought along a headphone splitter in case they both wanted to watch the same show.  Totally grab one if you have more than one kid!  For our iPad, some of our select favorite apps that kept the kids busy are:  Crayola Color, Draw, & Sing app, Homer, & Minion Rush apps for my five year old, while my three year old loves the Duck Duck Goose! and Super Why apps.

 

10.  Headphones.  I was hoping to find some kid headphones the night before we left, but the only ones left at Target were some of these Sony headphones but we have been very happy with & plan to use for future trips.  One piece of advice just make sure you have the bigger headphones to the little earbuds for kids because the buds always fall out of kids’ ears & you will spend the whole time trying to wrestle with little earbud headphones (been there, done that).

 

11.  Hand Sanitizer & Wipes.

 

12.  Loveys & Stuffed Animals.  Of course, they each have their favorite stuffed animal, but one of their new favorite loveys is the Poketti.  They received these as a birthday party favor this spring & these have not left their side.  The Poketti is one of the most adorable plush animal that also contains a pocket to carry things in.  They are great for travel because it is a small lovey and travel pillow in one that also has a little pocket to carry iPods, trinkets, cell phones, and more.  Designed by a seventh grader during a team entrepreneurial project, it is one of the cutest little things ever.

 

For my husband and I, we kept our carry-ons simple.  My husband had his work bag.  In that bag, we also packed our iPad & Kindle which we knew would come in handy.  And remember, we also packed a headphone splitter that we had in case the boys wanted to both watch the same show or play the same game. I carried my own little “travel” bag that included a few extra snacks and my small purse.

 

Now for a few simple tips for the airport and airline:

 

  • Keep a few small “secret” snacks for those almost meltdown moments.  Some of our favorites include:  M & M’s, lollipops, chewing gum (for older kids).
  • Download a few new apps, shows, or movies before flying.  The kids will be excited to try out a few new things.  With the Kindle, I was able to download a few new free shows & games at home before we left, so one kid could watch a new show while the other was trying out some of the “free” iPad apps that I had downloaded!
  • Try hard to schedule flights that you know your kids can handle.   I’m all about watching deals but when the best deal on the flight out was at 6 am, I knew that was not doable.  We have to get up, drive to the DC National airport, park, & get checked in for the flight.  We spent a few more dollars just to have a flight start a few hours later.
  • Dress yourself and kids in comfortable clothes.  For a full day of flying, don’t go for major style.  Go for comfort, trust me you won’t regret it!
  • For a restless toddler, take a quick break to walk to the bathroom.  Just a little change in scenery & moving their legs will help.
  • Keep tummies full.  Nothing makes my kids grumpier than a hungry tummy.  We made sure to grab breakfast & lunch before heading on the plane and packed snacks for “hungry” moments on the plane.
  • Look at it as an adventure & don’t be intimidated.  Honestly, the flying and traveling with three kids wasn’t any tougher than a normal day.  I find most people very patient & often find our family humorous as they watch us navigate the airports & juggle three kids’ needs on the airline.
Now in just a few weeks, it’s time for us to pack up again.  This time it will be via car & to one of my favorite places on Earth:  the North Carolina coast!  Here’s to happy summer adventures!

 

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Comments

  1. Loved this! I'm going to try the Little Thinkers workbooks for M and the new apps you mentioned. I can't believe how fast the kids are growing up. Keep up the great suggestions!

    Reply

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