Kids Corner: Travelling with Kids- What to Pack?

Once you decide to start packing, there comes the question of what should go in your bag specially for kids? No single checklist can work for everyone as every child has his or her needs and mothers tend to know them the best. But just to work out general checklist, I would suggest to include the following-

1. Clothes- How much is too less? With kids, often we cannot decide how many outfits to take along. If I am not sure of the laundry facility at my destination, for holidays lasting a week or less, I follow a general rule to take as many outfits as the number of days and two extra. If the vacation is longer than a week, we prefer to stay in some place with reliable laundry service. Then comes the night wear, which is like number of night divided by two and one extra so that one set can be used for two nights. Count few more outfits if you have an infant or a crawler. Keep a change of clothes in carry on bag.

2. Toiletries- Make sure to pack travel sized packs of body wash, body lotion, baby powder, q-tips, kid's sunscreen, kid's toothpaste and toothbrush and other things that seem necessary to you but do not overstuff.

3. Food and milk supply for as many days if your child is not yet eating outside food but some snacks and food jars otherwise as well. Always keep a couple of extra bottles and nipples handy.

4. Diapers and Wipes if not yet toilet trained. Also plastic bags to dispose off dirty diaper and also keep rash cream in the same bag.

5. Things to entertain them during travel. These may include small toys, books, crayons and a notepad and even gadgets.

6. Disposables like bibs, tissue (regular and wet) etc.

7. Sunglasses, hats, rain cover if you are taking stroller, or winter wear if required at your destination.

8. Emergency Medication and your pediatrician's number handy.

Well, these were the basic necessities, you may like to add on anything else to the list, please do leave a comment!

Hope you now enjoy travelling with your li'l one... and I'll enjoy mine... off on vacation for a month so will be irregular in posting... but will be back soon and share my experience!

Till then, Take care

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Kids Corner: Travelling with Kids- When to pack?

When you travel with a baby or a toddler, you often feel the need to take your whole house along so that whatever you need is at its right place. But, thanks to the Baggage allowance or the space constraint, we are often left with the task of packing the essential stuff and also not to go overboard with that and at the same time not to leave out anything important. Hmmmm... some task that is!

When to start Packing?
Even after travelling so much with my Champ, still I start packing atleast a week before departure so that everything is there with me and also it gives some room for last minute shopping and packing. So, I would recommend that if you don't like suitcases or airbags lying around in your house waiting to be filled, it would be a good idea to atleast start collecting and assembling all the stuff in one section of your wardrobe, so that in the end you are only left with stuffing your bags rather than collecting and thinking what to take. 

This will also make sure that you have all the required things (and most important in working condition) with you and if not you still have time to run for that pacifier or the rash cream or any other thing which you realise is not working or is not there at all. Although with everything becoming global, there are high chances that you will find whatever you missed in one store or the other at your destination but it will also lead to wasting some precious hours after your arrival in first of all thinking and trying to remember whether you actually forgot to keep it or has been kept in some other bag and then you go on searching frenzy often disturbing a lot of other things that are kept well, then after it is confirmed it's not there, you check with the locals to find a store that sells the 'missing object'. So a good amount of time will go in all this and regaining your cool.
So play safe and start early.

But even starting early cannot guarantee that everything is there but atleast you will work in a cooler frame of mind. Being known as the most efficient 'packer' in my house, the disaster for me took place while leaving for  Kaula Lumpur. Everything was packed in its proper place and the bags were ready and kept near the door. We called for the cab and took our bags and left our house and started our journey to the bus station, from where we were to take the bus to KL. Halfway through, I realized that one of our small back pack is missing and then came the realization that we left it at home and then started the process of thinking what all was there in that and what all we can do without and what not. We realised that since it was packed as cabin bag it had our ipad to entertain our Champ during the long bus ride, our camera so that we can take some pictures on the way, some medicines for emergency and few snacks. So nothing great, but yes, we really missed the ipad and camera, both of us are amature photographers and love to take lots of pics using our DSLR camera and throughout the trip, we had to satisfy ourselves taking pics using our smartphones! And not only that, every time I remembered that, I couldn't help but talk about the whole incident over and over again...
So you see, when things have to go the other way, they will go no matter what. But that should not stop us from trying to get everything  the way we want! 

Do you have any interesting incident to share... please leave a comment and also let us know how you plan your packing... Keep reading for what to pack and other travel tips!


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High 5- Toddler Bag Essentials

So, we graduated from Diaper Bag/ Mother's Bag to Toddler Bag. As our kids reach this stage, they want to be independent and my Champ loves to carry his own bag as well. We go out more often; most of the time for play-dates, usually for a couple of hours. So in this bag of his, I tend to pack a few things making sure that he has something to eat and drink and most important, something to keep him occupied while travelling. So let me share with you all a list of essentials for a Toddler's bag.

First of all select a light weight bag which your child also likes. My Champ's favorite is this soft bag with a stuffed teddy.

THE BAG

THE CONTENTS

1. Water Bottle

2. Tissues, Wet Tissues and Cloth Towel

3. Cars and Book to keep him busy while travelling. You may like to keep any of his/her favorite toys. And yes Mumma's or Papa's phone is also a part of this category.

4. A tetra pack or your kid's favorite drink

5. A snack box with some finger food or snacks

Apart from these, you may like to pack a couple of diapers and baby wipes if your child is not yet toilet-trained. This small bag is enough if you are out for about 2-3 hours. 

What are the essentials that go into your toddler's bag? Do leave a comment and share...

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