The Ultimate Toddler Travel Checklist

This month meant another four-hour flight for my toddler. In her two years of life, she has been on more than two dozen flights and two long-ass road trips. That’s a lot of travelling with a toddler and if you’re wondering, I still get anxious before each and every trip. Every single time.

Fortunately though, I’ve gotten quite good at travelling with my daughter and have the ultimate toddler travel checklist I swear by. It has ensured hassle-free trips, even when I’m pregnant and bitchy. Kidding, I’m never bitchy of course.

Anyways, so here’s the travelling checklist that should (ahem, I make no promises with small devilish children involved) make your travel easier if not exactly easy. It’s broken up into sections I eloquently named The Disaster Zone section, The Mommy Needs a Break section, and the God-Forsaken Anything Goes section.

The Disaster Zone section:

1. Disposable change pads. The last thing you want to do after using a change pad in an airplane or gas station is put it back into your bag. Double ugh. I use disposable change pads when I have to change a diaper in any sketchy place.
2. Baby wipes and hand sanitizer. Your baby is going to put his/her mouth on the armrest, window, table, everything. Just get used to it. The best you can do is wipe everything down so at least a few less germs make it into his/her mouth. The hand sanitizer is seriously necessary after you've reached under the seat for the millionth time.
3. A crossbody bag with just diapers, change pads, baby wipes, etc. Airplane washrooms are disgustingly small and there’s barely enough room to fit yourself in, never mind trying to set down a diaper bag. I use a small hands-free crossbody bag to carry only the essentials for unavoidable and frequent trips to the washroom.
4. Baby lotion. I find that flying is super drying for my daughter's skin and I always carry a travel size tube of lotion that I continuously slather all over her. She's prone to dry skin and this helps prevent that from happening.
5. Disposable diaper sacks. When you dispose of a diaper in an airplane, you’re expected to dispose of it in a bag. If you don’t bring your own sacks, you will have to ask the flight attendant for a bag every time. I find it easier to bring my own instead of waiting for a flight attendant to be free because I figure they have more important things to worry about than my diaper changing needs.

The Mommy Needs a Break section:

1. Blackberry Playbook or Apple Ipad or whatever tablet you prefer. These are lifesavers during travel. They entertain with games, movies, and apps in more ways than a tired mommy ever could.
2. Party size playdough packs. I don’t let my daughter play with playdough very frequently because she’s at an age where she doesn’t really do much with it beyond make a mess. However, when we’re travelling, it’s one of my go-to activities because it keeps her entertained in a small space and she loves the novelty of it.
3. Colouring book/notepad with Mess Free Markers. I think whoever invented mess-free markers deserves all the accolades in the world. These are genius. I especially like the travel pack that conveniently packs away the colouring book and markers in its own case.
4. Favourite doll or stuffed toy. This one is a must for any trip. It provides comfort and I find my daughter loves to keep busy caring for her doll. She loves to feed her snacks, give her water, change her diaper, and anything else that she can’t yet do for herself. Go figure.
5. Stickers and books. For whatever reason and known only to small children, stickers amuse endlessly.  I always buy some new packs when travelling to keep my daughter busy and entertained. A few books also help us pass time and my daughter loves to make up stories to the pictures for me.

The God-Forsaken Anything Goes section:

1. A rolling carry-on suitcase. When my daughter was young, I would gate check the stroller and found a shoulder carry-on easier to navigate. Now that she prefers to walk I find it a lot easier to have a rolling carry-on because inevitably, I will end up carrying her. I usually keep my rolling carry-on empty except for a few necessary items because my daughter has her own rolling carry-on and right before we board the plane, I place her carryon inside mine so that I have less to drag with me when we’re getting to our seat.
2. Mess-free snacks. I rely on seaweed snacks, dried fruit, and mixed nuts. These are foods that my daughter absolutely loves and they don’t make a mess or result in sticky fingers. Win-win all around.
3. A small blanket or shawl. My daughter never falls asleep while travelling but I always carry a small blanket just in case. A sleeping baby is a quiet baby and that is the ultimate end goal in my books.
4. Car seat. I never travel without my daughter’s car seat. I can do without a stroller but I always make sure I take a car seat with me. I actually purchased a car seat just for travelling that is super light and one that I wouldn’t mind getting all banged up because trust me, the airlines will find a way to bang it up.
5. Extra set of clothes (preferably pajamas). It’s absolutely imperative to take another set of clothes because chances are, you’re going to need them. That’s just the name of the game so you might as well as accept it. I prefer to take pajamas in the event that my daughter falls asleep and that way, I don’t have to worry about changing her before putting her to bed.

So there it is. That’s my ultimate toddler travel checklist. I hope it helps and if you have any of your own must-haves, please fill me in! I need all the help I can get.