Travel Essentials for a Toddler
Are you planning on travelling this summer with your toddler? As a mom of an almost 28 month old little girl, I know how daunting it can be preparing to travel with your little one. So, I am putting together a list of travel essentials for a toddler!
1. Ozark Trail Kid’s Flocked Air Bed
I recently purchased the Ozark Trail Kid’s Flocked Air Bed from Walmart Canada and I absolutely love this item. Ever since having my daughter, I always tend to stress about travelling with my daughter, not knowing where she will sleep or where we would set up her pack and play and now that she is older, there are a whole new set of challenges that come with travelling with a toddler; but with the Ozark Air Bed, I don’t have to worry about how we will set her up for bed time now. This air bed has raised sides all around it so the chances of a toddler falling out of bed is very slim! And even better, when it deflates, it is easy to pack and haul where ever you are travelling and its small enough when it is inflated that we don’t have to worry about having a ton of room for her bed. I am so excited to use this bed on our upcoming trips!
2. Toys
When we go on road trips, I always make sure to have a bag packed with a number of different toys to keep my daughter entertained through a long road trip. I like to pack her a few of her favourite toys, which include her LeapFrog 2-in-1 LeapTop Touch Tablet, and I also make sure to pack her some toys that are either new or ones that she hasn’t played with in a long time to help keep her entertained. I know that if we didn’t have some toys for her during our drive, we would have had some very long car rides.
3. Snacks
Snacks are a huge travel essential for a toddler. When you think of packing snacks for a trip, make sure you make them friendly for the method of travel. We will be making a 10-12 hour drive for our trip, so I am thinking of things such as grapes, carrot sticks, peppers, berries, and anything that can be put into little Rubbermaid containers and that can be easily packed into a cooler. These Rubbermaid containers are my favourite for packing snacks in. They are a nice size so you can easily pack several full of snacks and they fit nicely in my toddlers hands. You can find these containers at Superstore, Walmart, and I have even seen them at our local Dollarama.
4. Lovies
If your children are anything like my daughter, they’ll need to have their lovies with them. For my daughter, she has a few “lovies” and I know if we don’t have them within arms reach for her, then our road trip will be awful and we will be finding the closest convenience store to be finding a new lovie for our daughter (this has happened to us on occasion….#momfail). If we don’t have our lovies, there is no sleep happening.
5. Medication
This may seem like a silly travel essential for a toddler, but we have learned the hard way. If your child gets car sick like my daughter, then having some children’s Gravol is a must. I will also be sure to have a little bucket and some old towels and a couple of changes of clothes just in case. I have had first hand experience having recently done a 6 hour road trip with just me and my daughter and I was not prepared for her car sickness and I had to pull over on the side of Highway 2 south of Calgary to get her cleaned up. After that road trip, I now know to have Gravol with us! In addition to Gravol, I also like to make sure I have Advil or Tylenol. We don’t usually give our daughter pain medication like that, but with her top two 2 year molars not having cut yet, I need to be prepared for a teething toddler!
A Few Other Travel Essentials for a Toddler
While this isn’t a complete list of travel essentials for a toddler, these are just a few of my must haves that are easily accessible, but I wanted to share a couple of other things you may want to include.
My family LOVES music, so having age appropriate music on my playlist is a must. Something that is fun to sing along to or bob your head with the music. This is a way for us all to have a good time as a family. My daughter may not be able to sing the words to a song, but that doesn’t stop her from singing along, and it is one of my favourite sounds in this world.
We don’t love to give our toddler a tablet, but for road trip purposes, we will download a few shows or movies that may keep her entertained during our long drives. I will also make sure to have a few educational games downloaded for her. One of her favourite games is Kids Vehicles by 22Learn. This game allows her to build vehicles like a fire truck, digger, and others. After she’s done building the vehicles, there are tasks to do, like extinguish a fire with the fire truck.
I also have a little blanket for my daughter for when she is ready to have a nap. Make sure they are as cozy as possible while ensuring their safety.
One thing to remember when you are getting your travel essentials for a toddler ready, is to not overwhelm yourself. Keep it simple. But, make sure your child is comfortable and knows what is happening is okay. Some kids don’t like schedules to change, so just be calm and patient, this is a huge adjustment for some kids – especially on long drives. And don’t have any expectations on your drive and go with the flow. That will help make your road trip more bearable for you and your child.