From Baby to Beyond: Our Family Travel Packing Edit—What Worked, What Didn’t, and What Stayed
Travelling with a baby or toddler doesn’t have to mean buying every gadget on the market.
We started travelling regularly with our daughter from around her first birthday and, over the next six years, we learnt what was worth packing and what was better left at home.
Some of the products below were only useful for a particular stage, while others travelled with us until she was six and are still coming on holidays today.
As always, buying well-made items paid off. Many lasted for years and were still in excellent condition when we no longer needed them. Selling them on helped offset the original cost and gave them a second life with another family.
You’ll also notice this isn’t a list of every travel gadget available. We always tried to keep things simple. We never travelled with blackout blinds, inflatable airplane beds or ride-on suitcases. I just didn’t want another thing to carry through the airport.
All the Baby and Toddler Travel Essentials
Babyzen YOYO
Our Babyzen YOYO travelled all over the world with us.
It folds in seconds, fits into the overhead locker and, perhaps most importantly, it’s the stroller I’ve always travelled with confidence. It’s one of those products that airline crews know, and after countless flights we never had any issues taking it into the cabin.
If you’re buying one, I’d also budget for the drinks holder and footrest. They’re sold separately, but we used both on almost every trip and I really think they should come as standard.
We only sold ours because our daughter became too tall and her feet started dragging on the ground. It sold within minutes for €250.
Recently, for a trip with a 2am flight and overnight airport connections, I borrowed a friend’s Cybex Libelle. I came away really impressed. It’s lighter, sits slightly higher and worked brilliantly for an older child.
At six, our daughter is simply too heavy to carry through airports once she falls asleep. If I were choosing a cabin stroller for an older child today, the Libelle would be at the top of my shortlist.
BabyBjörn Travel Cot
If there is one purchase I’d recommend to any family travelling with a young child, it’s a good travel cot.
Knowing our daughter always had a familiar, clean place to sleep made every trip easier. Whether we were staying in a hotel, apartment, villa or with friends and family, we never had to worry about what she’d be sleeping in.
As she got older, being able to climb in and out herself actually became an advantage. If she wanted to come into our room in the morning or get up to use the bathroom during the night, she could do so without trying to climb over the sides.
We used it until she was around three or four before replacing it with the Stokke CloudSleeper. Five years after buying it, we sold it for €100. It wasn’t the cheapest travel cot available, but it proved excellent value.
Stokke JetKids Bed Box CloudSleeper
Once our daughter outgrew her travel cot, we replaced it with the Stokke JetKids CloudSleeper.
It’s been brilliant for hotels, apartments and villas. More and more hotels no longer include an extra bed for children as standard, or they’ll charge for one, so having our own portable bed has been incredibly useful.
It packs down surprisingly small, inflates in just a few minutes and still comes away with us today.
It’s also ideal for sleepovers with cousins or weekends away with friends, so it gets used far more often than we expected.
Urban Kanga Travel Car Seat
After a few frustrating experiences, we decided to buy a dedicated travel car seat.
Over the years we’d been handed hire car seats that were dirty, difficult to adjust or simply left for us to install ourselves. On another trip, we checked in our everyday car seat only to discover it had been damaged during the flight.
We actually owned two versions of the Urban Kanga. The original has since been discontinued, but the later version (from 18kg) is still available and is the one I’d recommend. It folds into its own backpack, making it easy to carry through the airport before fitting into a hire car or taxi in just a few minutes.
Unlike many of the other products in this guide, we’ve kept this one. Friends and family regularly visit us with children, so having a spare travel car seat ready to go means it’s one less thing for them to pack.
However, my sister has bought a Maxi Cosi Nomad (as her youngest is younger) – which is available worldwide. She loves it.
For Those Still in Nappies
There were a handful of products that came on every trip during the nappy years and made travelling much easier.
Skip Hop Pronto Changing Mat
Rather than carrying a large changing bag everywhere, we kept everything we needed inside our Skip Hop changing mat. It held nappies, wipes and cream, making nappy changes quick whether we were at the airport, on the beach or in a restaurant.
It slipped easily into whichever bag we were using that day and took up very little room.
Skip Hop Waterproof Wet Bag
One of the simplest purchases we made turned out to be one of the most useful.
It started life carrying spare clothes and nappies before becoming our bag for wet swimwear, muddy shoes and anything else we wanted to keep separate from the rest of our luggage.
We still use it today.
Munchkin Disposable Travel Nappy Bin
We packed one on every trip during the nappy years.
It stopped hotel rooms, holiday apartments and even friends’ homes from smelling after used nappies. Once it was full, we simply threw it away.
For Mealtimes
Bright Starts Portable Booster Seat
The Bright Starts portable booster seat travelled with us for several years.
It folded flat, weighed very little and gave our daughter somewhere comfortable to sit by hotel pools, in restaurants, holiday apartments and when visiting friends and family.
It wasn’t particularly expensive and, once we no longer needed it, I sold it for €20.
OXO Tot Roll-Up Bib
We tried a few travel bibs over the years, but this one from OXO Tot was our favourite. It rolls into its own pocket, takes up almost no room in your bag and was always clipped inside the Longchamp, ready for mealtimes.
First Aid Kit
We always travelled with two separate pouches: one for first aid and one for medicines. We still do.
Our first aid kit contains the basics: antiseptic spray, tweezers, scissors, plasters and our favourite healing balm.
Thankfully, we rarely need it, but when we do, everything is in one place.
Travel Pharmacy
Alongside our first aid kit, we always packed a separate pouch with medicines.
It contains children’s ibuprofen, Calpol, antihistamines, mosquito repellent, insect bite cream, arnica, thermometer, our favourite healing cream and any prescription medication we need.
We still travel with exactly the same system today. Having everything organised means we’re rarely searching for a pharmacy after bedtime or trying to explain what we need in another language.
Children’s Travel Toiletries
Rather than buying travel toiletries before every holiday, we kept a small wash bag permanently stocked.
For years it contained Mustela shampoo, body wash and moisturiser, together with a toothbrush, toothpaste and the everyday essentials we knew we’d need.
Having it permanently packed made getting ready for a trip much quicker.
Snacks & Drinks
We always travelled with reusable snack pots and water bottles.
Our Sistema snack pots have been with us for years. They’re lightweight, stack neatly inside each other and are perfect for fruit, crackers, sandwiches and little treats for the journey. We still use exactly the same ones today.
When our daughter was little, our favourite water bottles were from OXO Tot. They were leakproof, easy for little hands to hold and, from memory, the best we found. The only downside was that they were difficult to buy in Europe, so we usually brought them back from the USA whenever we could.
As she got older, we switched to Sistema bottles because they were easy to replace and available almost everywhere. For hot summer holidays, we also use insulated Liewood bottles, which keep water cold for much longer.
Whether we’re heading to the airport, the beach or a day out sightseeing, our snack pots and water bottles are always packed.
My Longchamp Le Pliage
I never bought a dedicated changing bag.
Shop Longchamp Le Pliage medium
Instead, I used one of my medium Longchamp Le Pliage bags as our everyday “get out of the house” bag, and naturally it became our travel bag too.
Once we reached the potty-training stage, I upgraded to the XL version for travelling. It gave us plenty of room for spare clothes, the foldable toilet seat and everything else we suddenly seemed to need, whilst still working perfectly as our everyday bag.
As our daughter got older, she started travelling with her own little backpack containing activities, snacks, headphones and her water bottle. Of course, there were plenty of moments when she no longer wanted to carry it, so it simply went inside my Longchamp.
Even today, our XL Longchamp has room for her backpack, all of our snacks and anything else we pick up at the airport. It’s still the one bag that comes on every flight with us.
Six years later, I sometimes think it’s paying me rather than the other way round. 🤭
Foldable Travel Toilet Seat
One of the smallest purchases turned out to be one of the most useful.
Our foldable travel toilet seat travelled with us for several years and made unfamiliar public toilets much less daunting, whether we were at airports, motorway services, restaurants or shopping centres.
If you’re approaching the potty-training stage, I’ve written a separate guide covering everything we used, including the foldable toilet seat, travel potty, reusable training pants and waterproof wet bag.
Shop Foldable Travel Toilet Seat
Final Thoughts
Travelling with children changes surprisingly quickly. Some products are only useful for a year or two, while others stay with you for much longer.
Looking back, these are the purchases that made family holidays simpler and easier, and many are still part of our packing list today. The best ones weren’t necessarily the newest or the most expensive—they were simply the products that worked so well, we reached for them before every trip.
Not every purchase was a success either. We bought a MiaMily ride-on suitcase and, whilst it worked well around airports when our daughter was awake, I found the suitcase awkward to open and not particularly good on uneven surfaces. We stopped using it after about a year and I’ll probably sell it. The Yoyo bag with wheel was a good concept but it was hard to find things inside the bag.
If she still fitted in the YOYO today, I’d still be travelling with that instead.
Mrs. O
More Family Travel Guides
As my daughter has grown, the way I approach family trips has naturally evolved. If you are planning your next getaway, you might also find these tested guides helpful:
→ Toddler Potty Training Essentials
→ Airplane Activities for Toddlers
→ Airplane Activities for 5–7 Year Olds
→ Long-Haul Flight Essentials
→ Kids’ Swimming Holiday Packing List
→ Travel Tech I Never Travel Without
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best travel stroller for a toddler?
For us, it was the Babyzen YOYO. We used it for years because it folded small enough for the cabin, was easy to push one-handed and was accepted on every airline we flew with. We only sold it when our daughter became too tall and her feet started dragging on the ground. If you’re buying one, I’d also budget for the drinks holder and footrest. They’re sold separately, but we used both constantly and I really think they should come as standard.
Is a travel cot worth buying?
Absolutely. A good travel cot gave us peace of mind on every trip because we always knew our daughter had a clean, familiar place to sleep, whether we were staying in a hotel, apartment or with friends and family. We used ours for around five years before selling it for €100, making it one of the best value purchases we made.
Can you take a Babyzen YOYO on a plane?
In our experience, yes. We travelled with our YOYO on countless flights and never had any problems taking it into the cabin. Cabin baggage policies can change, so it’s always worth checking with your airline before you travel, but one of the reasons we chose the YOYO was because it’s so widely recognised by airline staff.
What should I pack when travelling with a toddler?
Every family is different, but there are a few things that came on every trip with us: a compact stroller, reusable snack pots, water bottles, a small first aid kit, a travel pharmacy, spare clothes, snacks and a few activities for the journey. We always preferred taking fewer, well-used items rather than lots of gadgets we’d only use once.
What’s the difference between a travel cot and the Stokke CloudSleeper?
We used both, but at different stages. Our daughter slept in a travel cot until she was around three or four, after which we moved to the Stokke CloudSleeper. The travel cot was ideal for babies and toddlers who needed a secure sleeping space, while the CloudSleeper worked better for an older child and packed much smaller. We still use the CloudSleeper today for hotels, villas and sleepovers.
Which baby and toddler travel essentials do you still use today?
Quite a few of them! We still travel with our XL Longchamp, Sistema snack pots and bottles, our first aid kit, travel pharmacy, Skip Hop wet bag and the Stokke CloudSleeper. Some products were only useful for a particular stage, but many have stayed with us for years and still come on every family holiday.
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