25 Toddler Travel Essentials: Ultimate Packing List for Toddlers

Last Updated on February 25, 2026 by Tori Pines

Packing smart is essential when traveling with kids, no matter where you go. Every trip will require a basic list of important things to bring along. Between diapers, snacks, extra outfits, and all the “just in case” items, it’s easy to overpack or forget something important. In this packing list for toddlers, I’m sharing exactly what to pack when traveling with children so you can feel organized, prepared, and ready to actually enjoy your trip. Whether you’re flying, road tripping, or heading off on a big vacation, this complete packing list for traveling with kids and babies will make family travel so much smoother!

This list isn’t created to remind you of the obvious things. I’m going to assume you know to pack clothes, shoes, toothbrushes, etc. Instead, I’m listing the less obvious things I have learned to be incredibly helpful when traveling with toddlers!

Why trust me?

I have been on over 30 trips with my toddlers at this point including long haul flights and multi-day road trips. I have tested each and every product out and love them all for one reason or another. Over time, I have learned to condense my packing list and bring only the essentials while not forgetting anything crucial! I have tested it all out for you so that you can learn from my experience.

A few of the places I’ve been with my toddlers:

• Southern California – San Diego, Palm Springs, Disneyland
• Disney World many times
• Las Vegas
• Grand Canyon
• Texas – Austin, Waco, San Antonio
• Washington D.C.
• Savannah, GA
• Milwaukee, WI
• Atlanta, GA
• Helen, GA
• Nashville, TN

Looking into a travel credit card? I swear by the Southwest Credit Card for earning free flights around the US and the ability to earn the companion pass where you can take anyone on a flight with you for FREE!

Essentials for your Packing List for Toddlers

1. Baby Carrier

First thing’s first, if you’ll have a baby or small toddler along for the ride then I can’t recommend enough that you invest in a great baby carrier. I used a lower quality, hand-me-down carrier for our first trips and regretted it, so I have since upgraded to the Mabē Monarch carrier and I could not be happier. I even use it for my older toddler during hikes on my back! This carrier is so comfortable for both baby and mom, and allows you to be on the go during your trip with toddlers. With the Mabē carrier I can wear her for hours and I don’t feel like I’m carrying anything, it’s the most comfortable carrier! Baby wearing is the best option for being able to do everything you want to during your trip!

Use my link for the Mabē Monarch carrier to get 10% off your purchase!

2. Toddler Carrier

For toddlers who are older, walk most of the time but want to be carried here and there, I swear by the Tushbaby. This is such a great way to carry your toddler off and on throughout the day without killing your shoulders and arm. Pop them up on the seat on your hip and set them down when they’re ready to run around on their own. Plus there’s tons of storage space in the Tushbaby, so you can throw all of your diaper bag essentials in there for one less thing to carry when you’re on the go!

3. Travel Stroller

If you’re traveling with small children, a stroller is also probably a must for your packing list. We bring some sort of stroller on every trip we take. If you want the stroller to be super small and lightweight, then the Pockit+ is for you. It’s by far the most compact travel stroller on the market. If you don’t care about it folding up tiny, and maybe want something that has more storage and can lay back for naps (my top priorities), then I recommend the Mompush!

4. First Aid Kit

I have learned the hard way how important it is to travel with a small first aid kit when traveling with toddlers! A few things I recommend you include are children’s pain reliever, band-aids, children’s benadryl, children’s cough medicine, small thermometer and vitamins all in a cute little bag. This is also a great starter kit, but doesn’t include everything I recommend you bring.

5. Teema Towel

I bring my Teema Towel everywhere with me and highly recommend you get some for your family as well! They’re super soft, dry quickly and pack down super small! They’re the perfect towel for traveling. Why do you need a towel for traveling with toddlers? Because not only can you use it at the pool, but you can use it as a blanket for plane rides, or up on the mountain after riding the aerial tramway. You can use it as a picnic blanket for casual lunches around your resort. You can use it to cover the stroller for shade at the zoo. Literally every day on your trip you will find a reason you need this Teema Towel, it’s my best travel companion, and has been for 5 years now.

6. Water Bottle

If space is tight, I love this Hydaway waterbottle for traveling!! Open it up when you need water, and when it’s empty you can close it up and throw it in your bag. They even have a family bundle with 2 large bottles and 2 small bottles, perfect for the whole family!

7. Power Bank

I cannot go on a vacation without my power bank. As you are out exploring, you’ll want to take tons of photos, use your phone for directions, or maybe even for digital tickets at each place you visit. So you’ll need power for your phone. I swear by the Fuelrod since it’s so small, includes all the charging cords you’ll need, charges quickly and you can swap them out at more than 500 kiosks across the country. I also use it to charge my handheld fan, sound machine and other toddler items I take with me!

8. Baby Monitor

Depending on where we are staying, we will sometimes bring a baby monitor. If we will be in a basic hotel room, then I don’t bother bringing one, since we will always be in the hotel room with them when they sleep. However if we have a suite, or a vacation rental with multiple rooms, then I always bring this small and easy to use monitor with us!

9. Travel High Chair

Another thing that we bring on a lot of our trips is a travel high chair. This is especially great for babies 6 months through 2 years. Once they hit 2 or 3, they usually will be fine just sitting in a chair or using high chairs at restaurants. This is our favorite travel high chair because it does not require a table like the clip-on ones do, and we would use it on hotel room beds when necessary! However, it does take up a good amount of space in your luggage, so I am selective on which trips I take this on.

10. Wet Bag

If you’re traveling with toddlers or a baby, a wet bag is one of those small things that makes a huge difference. Whether it’s a blowout on the plane, a soaked swimsuit after the pool, spit-up on an extra outfit, or muddy clothes from an adventurous afternoon, you need somewhere to stash damp or messy items without ruining everything else in your diaper bag or suitcase. A reusable wet bag keeps smells contained, separates clean from dirty, and saves you from scrambling for plastic grocery bags. It takes up almost no space, but I promise you’ll be so glad you packed it! We use ours every single trip.

11. Snacks, Snacks and more Snacks

Yep, it’s true, I bring tons of snacks. It’s by far the thing that makes my kiddo the happiest haha! And on vacation, a happy kid is a happy mom. So I have a large toiletry style bag that I use to fill with little packs of her favorite snacks. A few of her favorites that are healthy include these 100% fruit gummies (no sugar added), superfood smoothie pouches, chicken sticks, and these no sugar added soft baked bars.

Things You need for Flying with Toddlers

12. Airplane Bed

Yet another must-have item for small children is the toddler airplane bed. If you have a long flight to get to your destination like we often do, then you’ll be so glad you brought one. After take off, blow this bed up and your kiddo can rest (and hopefully sleep like mine did!) the whole flight. It made the long flight so much less stressful and enjoyable! But here’s the pro tip, ditch the included pump cause it takes manual labor and a lot of space in your bag. Instead, buy this TINY and cheap electric pump. It is insane how powerful it is and is literally the size of a golf ball.

13. Car Seat and Bag

Since you’ll usually need a car on your vacation, then you’ll probably want to bring a car seat along with you. You could rent one from the car rental company, but I personally don’t like relying on what they offer if I don’t have to. For infants, I cannot recommend the Doona car seat/stroller enough. It is so incredibly convenient for traveling and adds so much less stress to travel days. You can bring this on the plane if you have a seat for your baby, but I recommend getting this padded bag for it in case you have to gate check it. I have this padded bag and it works great! I also love this diaper bag that hooks onto the Doona for extra space to pack.

For my older daughter we use this travel Graco car seat. It’s light, only 15 pounds, without being super thin like some travel car seats. This is the travel bag we use for her seat when checking it at the airport. I also recommend using this strap for lugging it around the airport so it can attach to the suitcase!

Toiletries for Toddlers

You’ll know to pack toiletries for your toddlers, but a few things you might not think to include.

14. Baby Nail File

A baby nail file is so important for any trip longer than a weekend with a baby or toddler! I still use it for my 3 year old, and definitely see myself using on her for a lot longer. Most babies’ nails grow super fast and need to be filed often, but you don’t think about it until it’s too late (been there, done that). So don’t forget to pack it in your bag!

15. Sunscreen

Of course you’ll need a bottle of travel sunscreen to bring along on your travels! I like this brand since the ingredients are clean, and it’s 3oz so it can go in your carryon! And my daughter is much happier with this sunscreen stick used on her face than the liquid.

16. Stain Spray

With kiddos you’re bound to have messes and I hate ruining clothes while on vacation just because I can’t wash them right away. I highly recommend you bring a travel sized bottle of Miss Mouth’s Messy Eater Spray since it is by far the best stain remover I have ever used. This one is small and perfect to take when traveling with kids!

Bedtime Items for Traveling with Toddlers

17. Nightlight

This is something that no one thinks about when making their toddler’s packing list, but comes in SO handy throughout your trip. A nightlight is necessary when you are getting up in the night with your toddler, but still need the room dark for sleeping. Almost everywhere you stay, they will not have any nightlights, so bring this cheap and super small night light with you along on your trips.

I also love this portable sound machine night light combo!!

18. Portable Sound Machine

Which segways me perfectly into the next item, a sound machine! When I had my first daughter I swore I would never get one of these because I didn’t want her to need a sound machine to sleep, but I learned very quickly that this was for us, not her! A sound machine allows the parents to make a little more noise without it waking up the baby, and it really does help so much. We use this sound machine, and it’s great, but if I were to buy one again then I would get the one with the nightlight!

19. Bed Bumpers

If your toddler is old enough to be sleeping in a regular bed (not a pack n play) but still young enough to potentially fall off the bed in the middle of the night, then you might want to consider bringing these inflatable bed bumpers with you! I love these things so much, they’re such a brilliant product! Inflate them quickly with the electric pump I mentioned earlier and pop it under the bed sheet. This is what we use with my daughter and love it.

But, I do want to mention, if you are going to Disney World, and staying at a Disney property, then you DON’T need this! Disney has bumpers that you can use, so just give housekeeping a call when you get to the room and they’ll bring them over!

Packing List for Entertaining your Toddlers

20. New Toy

One of my biggest tips for flying with small kids is to bring them a brand new toy to play with. Toys are so much more interesting and exciting when they’ve never played with them before. Pick something out that they can’t have until the flight. My baby personally loves this toy to chew on and this little toy remote, and my toddler loves these sticker books and these Dot It sets hold her attention for a very long time!

21. Snackle Box

Toys are great, but by far the biggest thing that keeps my baby’s attention are snacks. Especially when she has a bunch to choose from. This snackle box is my #1 thing I bring on flights with my toddler. Fill it with things like mini m&ms, goldfish, cookies, granola, etc. and it will keep them so entertained!

Items for Mom

22. Travel Credit Card

I cannot recommend travel credit cards enough. Every year we get at LEAST 15 free flights using points, and honestly it’s usually way more than that. With our Southwest credit card we not only get tons of free domestic flights each year with points, but we also earn the companion pass where you can take anyone with you on a flight for free. Well, you way the $5.60 in taxes and fees, but basically free.

Having a travel credit card is also super important for helping pay for the trip, since it is a great way to earn free flights, hotels and more for our trips. We love having a generic travel card that can be used for all different airlines and hotel brands, plus earns points for everything that you purchase. The Chase Sapphire card is perfect for this!!

This summer we will be flying to and from Rome, for FREE for a family of 4. Not to mention all the other free flights we have this year! The point is, if used wisely, travel credit cards can save you SO much money in the long run. If you want to learn more, here’s a full list of some of the best travel credit cards out there!

23. A Good Quality Suitcase

I have seriously learned the hard way how important it is to invest a few extra bucks into a high-quality suitcase. The last thing you want is your suitcase wheel to break on day one of your vacation with kids. It happened to me, and I promise it was awful. So now I use my Level 8 suitcase and it has been a game changer for me! It is high quality and durable, plus super spacious, and has a wet bag in it which is a game changer when traveling with kids! For more info on this brand, check out my review of my Level 8 suitcase.

Kids Items for Summer Vacation

If you’ll be visiting any hot destinations like Hawaii, Florida, Disney or really anywhere in the summer months, here’s a few things you might want to consider.

24. Handheld Fan

If the weather will be hot, I highly recommend bringing this handheld fan. It’s perfect to hook onto your stroller or diaper bag and keep cool during the hot hours of the day. It’s especially important to keep babies cool when they can’t drink cold water to cool off.

25. Pool Float/Floaties

Depending on the age of your kids, you might want to bring a baby pool float, or floaties for toddlers/younger kids!

What NOT to Pack for Toddlers

Pack ‘n Play

I learned very quickly that you should not travel with a pack ‘n play unless absolutely necessary. Instead we pick hotels and vacation rentals that have cribs or pack n plays for you to use. They are a lot of work to fly with, and take up a lot of space in the car for road trips! Make your life easier and just use the one there.

Multiple Bags

Whenever possible, use a large bag to pack everything in instead of multiple smaller bags. It makes it so much easier to move things around when you have just one large bag to wrangle while also dealing with kids.

Too much stuff

This is obvious, but try your best to not over pack. Figure out what the essentials are for you and your family, and leave the rest at home. I have gotten very good about remembering, if we need something while we are on vacation, we can buy it if we absolutely have to.