Getting to your Destination with a Kiddo!
Traveling with kids is an adventure in it of itself. And you feel like you need a million more items to bring…. Here are some of the key essentials we had getting to the airport and back that made the travel bearable! These are also the main items we used during our vacation too. I’m all about the convivence factor, light weight and versatility! See other blogs for entertaining your kid on the flight.
Mountain Buggy Stroller: The key item! I researched a lot of travel strollers and decided on this one and was thrilled. We love it! There are several websites out there with a lot of options, with pros and cons of each. This stroller is light weight, great storage, great functionality, and add on items for a sun or rain shade. It is great with a car seat when your child is really little. We then transitioned to just the stroller and were just as happy. It has the ability to lay down for your kid to take a nap while you continue experiencing your trip. We used the shade often and it worked great, especially when nap time hit and you’re out and about. I can’t recommend this travel stroller enough.
Bag with Pouch and Luggage Tag: When they’re little you’ll need a ton of items. What I found worked best for us is using this car seat holder/backpack. When you’re in the airport we had the car seat in the bag that my husband would carry around like a backpack. This bag is great and keeps your hands free to juggle every else! Then once you get to the gate, we took the car seat to take onto the plane and put our stroller (or wagon) and other things as needed in the bag for a free gate check. It has a luggage tag with all the crucial information on it. Then once you get to your destination, you bag will be waiting for you at the gate check to put your car seat back in and pull out your stroller.
Travel Car seat - I’m sure the car seat you have at home, you researched for hours and has all the bells and whistles. Well for the airplane I almost recommend the exact opposite (except super safe, of course!). You’ll be carrying this thing around the airport and down the aisle of the airplane, so the lighter, the better. You also don’t want it too big so that it doesn’t take up too much room in the seat. That way mom or dad can fit comfortably next to it. Here’s what we found. Only downside is it does not have a cup holder, but we manage perfectly without one thus far!!
Now that our son is a bit older, we’ve traded out the stroller for a wagon. We’ve gone through a few… and our favorite is the Costco version. Cheap and extremely durable. It’s idea to carry everything around in the airport with. Again, we pull out the wagon in the car seat backpack/holder as shown above and gate check it. Super convenient!! One trip we were stuck waiting hours for our rental and this wagon was our life saver. Easy to put them in with some snacks and activities while we waited. So many uses. It’s also great once on vacation as well; zoo, sea world, beach…. wherever your adventure takes you, this is wagon is handy to have! Costco also has an extended wagon version. For families with a few kids I cannot imagine traveling any other way!
Sleep pillow - I tried this out since we had an 8 hour flight overnight…. I have seen my son’s head flop forward. Not a big deal for a quick nap, but I still ache. I was hopeful he’d sleep on the redeye, but could not imagine him with his head forward…. I had a pillow for me! This worked great. He was comfortable and didn’t mind it at all!
