Traveling with a toddler is not for the faint of heart, especially if circumstances require you to do it solo. May the force be with you. LOL.
I recently had to fly solo with our toddler and with some quick research I was able to find a couple of things that made our trip a lot easier. If you’re traveling soon for holidays or otherwise, maybe these items will come in handy for you as well.
In addition to the items found for our recent flying trip, I am sharing our ride-or-die travel items we have used since our son was a baby.
Child Airplane Travel Harness
If your toddler is anything like ours, they are much easier to control on a plane if they are in a car seat rather than riding in your lap. And lugging a car seat with you through the airport is quite the undertaking. Not to mention getting it fastened into the tiny airplane seats (it’s doable, we’ve done it. Just not easy.)
So when I found this child restraint for airplanes I was so relieved. It fastens your child into the airplane seat with a 5-point harness similar to a car seat. It was super easy to attach to the airplane seat and it fits inside any carry-on bag. So easy to pull out when you get to your seats and store inside a bag as you’re getting off the plane.
You can shop it on Amazon HERE, but if you’re in a rush like I was you can find it at Buy Buy Baby.
gb Pockit Ultra Compact Lightweight Travel Stroller
A stroller is an airport-must for a toddler who LOVES to walk but can’t quite keep up with the pace sometimes needed to make it where you need to go between gates and connecting flights. Our everyday stroller is pretty heavy and bulky. We love it for outings at home, but it’s just not practical for airport travel. I am in a Facebook group for traveling with littles and someone suggested this stroller. I was able to find it at Buy Buy Baby as well or you can get it at Amazon HERE.
I was soooo thankful to have this. It rolls really easily and folds up so small that it will fit under the seat in front of you or in the overhead bins so you don’t have to gate check it. I practiced folding and unfolding it prior to our flight, which I highly recommend. It’s not difficult, but no one wants to be trying to figure that out as you’re going through security. We were also required to run our stroller through the xray machine at security so it was nice to be able to fold it up nice and small to put on the conveyor belt.
Whether you’re flying or driving this would be a great stroller to have for travel because it takes up so little space.
SlumberPod
We LOVE our SlumberPod and have been using it since our son was a baby any time we travel. It allows us to basically recreate his sleep environment at home no matter where we go. We set it up in hotel rooms if we are staying in a hotel and in our guest room when staying with family. It allows us to sleep in the same room with him, but not disturb him if we go to bed later than he does (which is every night. Let’s be real, I’d love to go to bed at 8:00 some nights, but it’s not usually practical. LOL)
We can have a night light on outside this SlumberPod and even talk softly without disturbing his sleep. It’s a game-changer if you have to room share with your baby or toddler.
Get it on Amazon HERE.
Baby Bjorn Travel Crib
This travel crib is another item we’ve used for travel since our son was a baby. It fits great inside the SlumberPod and is super easy to set up and take down. It stores inside a travel case the size of a small suitcase and we check it when we fly as a piece of luggage.
Get it on Amazon HERE.
Hiccapop Tri-Fold Travel Mattress
As our son has grown older (and heavier) we added this mattress from Hiccapop to his travel crib for comfort. It has a firm side for babies and a softer side for toddlers. It comes in a carrying case and we check this when we are flying.
Get it HERE.
Hatch Sound Machine
We have this sound machine in our son’s room and we take it with us when we travel. It sits on the floor inside his SlumberPod to help recreate that sleep environment he is used to at home. It has different sounds you can choose from and you can program them for the hours you want them to come on or go off.
Get it HERE.
Infant Optics Monitor
We have used this monitor since our son was a baby in his nursery and we take it with us when we travel. The SlumberPod has a pocket where you can insert a monitor camera and this one fits and you can see great.
Get it HERE.
Packing Cubes
If you’ve never tried packing cubes to pack your suitcase, they will change your packing life. They make it so easy to keep your suitcase organized and find what you need. I have two sets and they come in several colors. Mine are all the same color, but you could totally get different colors for each family member to help further organize your packing. You can pack everything in one suitcase for a short trip and have everyone’s stuff separated into the packing cubes. Amazing.
Get packing cubes HERE.