Best Gear for Babies and Toddlers

With my little girl about to turn one, I’ve been reflecting on the last year and feel proud of how my husband and I managed to travel with her. We visited the mountains of Colorado and the beaches of Hawaii, family in Washington, D.C., and, most recently, took a trip to Sarasota.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned about traveling with a baby, it’s that it isn’t easy, and they sure come with a lot of stuff. However, it’s doable with a lot of patience and some planning.

There are many products on the market that help when traveling with babies and toddlers. My mom is constantly amazed by the clever items I pull out, often saying, “We never had these kinds of things when you were little!”

While I believe patience and flexibility are the most important things to have when traveling with little ones, here are a few of my favorite products that have helped us over the past year:

On our first flight with my daughter at two months old, we brought our Uppa Baby Vista 2, thinking the car seat feature would be handy. I was wrong. While it’s an incredible stroller, it’s just too big for airports, and removing the wheels to pass through security made things even more stressful.

For the next few trips, we used a carrier, which worked well. However, once she was older and able to sit upright at six months, we tried the Delta Children Icon Ultra Travel Stroller, and it was a game changer.

It’s light, compact, fits through security, and stows in the overhead bin. It also has storage under the seat and a sunshade. Not only did it make airport navigation easier, but it also held up for touring once we arrived. We love this stroller!

When my daughter was too small for the stroller, we opted for a carrier, and the Aerial Carrier by WildBird is one of the best. It’s ergonomically designed, lightweight, and offers great back support. It also worked well for naps on the go, as she could snuggle right in and sleep.

I never thought I could love a carry-on bag this much. Initially skeptical, I thought it wouldn’t be different from a regular diaper bag, but this bag is much more. Created by a couple who value family travel, this duffel bag has built-in storage compartments and many pockets, making it easy to stay organized.

When flying, I swapped out my traditional diaper bag for this duffel, which comfortably fit everything I needed. It can be carried like a duffel, as a backpack, or slipped onto a suitcase handle.

Although it doesn’t fit under the seat, I used their Sidekick Hip Pack for essentials like diapers, wipes, toys, and snacks. The hip pack was convenient when changing diapers in the small plane bathroom.

Whether taking a road trip or a plane ride, snacks are essential when traveling with an older infant or toddler. Snacks help when waiting for food at restaurants, take up some time on a plane ride and can help keep your baby/toddler occupied for 10 minutes.

I recently got the Snackle Box from Melli for bringing snacks; these little containers are so helpful. These food-safe plastic containers have removable dividers, creating up to 12 customizable sections to separate snacks. The slim design makes them easy to fit into any bag.  

If your little one is still drinking formula or bottled breast milk, the Baby’s Brew Bottle Warmer is essential if your baby is anything like mine and requires milk at a certain temperature.

It’s compact, battery-powered, and comes with several adapters to fit any bottle. We use Como Tomo bottles, and the adapter worked perfectly. I’ve used it on planes, in cars, at the beach, and even on hikes.

This food mat, which I impulsively bought from an Instagram ad, has become one of our most-used items. It rolls up and fits easily in our diaper bag. The mat fits on most tables and prevents me from putting my daughter’s food directly on the surface. It’s easy to wipe down after meals and rolls up for convenient storage.

When my daughter was younger, we used the Guava Lotus Travel crib and loved its compact design, but as she got older (and bigger), it started to feel too small for her. We switched to the 4Moms Breeze Go Playard, which has been great as she ages.

While it’s a bit bulkier to travel in, she is much more comfortable in it. One of the best features about it is how easy it is to set up. With just one push of a button, it slides down into place. It also folds up easily when packing up by pulling up on one strap.

The ease of this playard is convenient if you arrive somewhere late and need to quickly set up to put your baby to sleep.

If you have to share a hotel room with your baby or toddler, or even if they are in a separate room in a vacation rental house, the SlumberPod is helpful for blocking out the sun and creating a little space just for your little one.

Many places do not have blackout shades, making nap time difficult. It folds up compactly and is easy to travel with. It easily fits over a pack-and-play and has slots for a monitor and sound machine, so you can have everything you need for a night of sleep.

Maybe it’s because I’m a first-time mom, but whenever my baby sleeps in a different room, I always have a monitor. I have struggled with traveling with monitors because they are bulky, and it’s always hard to get the camera right to see your little one with what you have to work within the room.

The Nanit is just a compact camera (with a travel case) that connects to an app on your phone, so there’s no need to pack a big monitor. The camera is fantastic and offers a comprehensive view of the room, making it so much easier to see your baby when you don’t have much to work with.

I always try my best to ensure the products I’m putting on my daughter don’t have harsh ingredients and are suitable for her skin, so when traveling, I don’t love to bathe her with any hotel products and prefer to bring my own.

The Earth Mama Organics, “A Little Something for Baby” kit, has everything you need for bathing a baby, including baby wash, lotion, baby oil, diaper balm, and face, nose, and cheek balm, all in travel size. Everything is organic and contains no harmful ingredients. A bonus is that the baby wash and lotion smell incredible, even without artificial fragrance.

This was another product I didn’t know I needed, but I’ve used it a lot since I got it. It folds up easily and has a strap attached to throw it over your shoulder. It’s water resistant, comes in three different sizes, and could be used at a park, the beach, or anywhere you need to put the baby down in a clean, safe space.

For more of our favorite baby products for travel, check out our Amazon storefront

Author Bio: Kirstin is a Denver-based writer who has traveled internationally since childhood. She looks forward to sharing the world with her daughter and inspiring families to venture out on trips of their own through her writing.

Go World Travel Magazine is a digital magazine for world travelers. Our editorial content is produced by a dedicated team of travel journalists who know the regions they cover. We cover travel in more than 90 countries.

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