The ultimate packing lists for travel with kids

Everything you need to pack when travelling with young children

What to pack for a trip with kids

To get ready for our recent vacation in Mexico, I knew I’d need a packing list. Ever the planner, I have travel packing lists saved on my phone from previous trips. This saves me the mental work of trying to think of everything I’d possibly need, every time we go away. It should already be on the list. I just need to go around and collect it all.

I scrolled through the notes on my phone back to 2008 when we travelled to the Dominican Republic with a nine-month-old baby. I found the packing list. And then I laughed and laughed. We travelled with everything, including the kitchen sink. I mean everything.

Seriously, we brought a kettle, a basin, dish soap, and dish cloths on vacation, just to be able to wash dishes, bottles, and parts of the breast pump, which we also toted along so Mama could have some downtime/drinks.

What to pack for a beach vacation with kids.jpg

What should be on a packing list?

All the items of clothing you’ll need
A list of shoes you are bringing
All the toiletries you want to bring
Medicines you may need (we bring children’s Advil, Tylenol, Pedialyte powder, Reactine, Kids Gravol, alcohol swabs, band-aids, anti-itch ointment)
Any accessories (hair brush, elastics, clips, headbands)
List of snack items you are taking
List of electronics/headphones
List of activities you want on hand (colouring books, crayons, stickers, cards)
Stuffies or toys you are bringing (books, dolls, sand toys, pool floaties)

The packing lists were intense. And I don’t think it was over the top - we needed all of those things. As first-time parents, we worried about hygiene around the resort. We worried about the water, which we knew we couldn’t drink. We didn’t know if the baby would eat the food they’d have at the resort. What if she got food poisoning from the buffet? We brought boxes of cereal and squeezy pouches and jars of baby food, all the familiar things we felt good about. Heavy things that take up a lot of precious space in a suitcase!

The sheer amount of equipment you need when travelling with young kids makes it impossible to pack light.

The good news is, it gets better! The packing list gets shorter, the load gets lighter. This time around, each kid (ages four and six) brought exactly the same amount of things in their own little kid-sized carry-on luggage, including pool floaties, and a backpack they could carry on their own. The only thing I had to tuck into my own suitcase were the sand toys - don’t forget the sand toys!

The evolution of the packing list

Here is what was on the packing list back then, when our children were babies. We travelled with young kids (at least one still in diapers) to Dominican Republic, California, Florida, Italy, and Ontario.

What to pack for a beach vacation when travelling with really young kids:

Vacation packing checklist then

Stroller (or a double stroller!)
Playpen
Lobster seat
Ergo baby carrier
Car seat(s) *for trips that involve a car rental
Diapers
Baby food: cereal, crackers, jars of food, squeezy packs
Dishes: bowls, spoons, plate, cups, bottles, water bottle
Kettle
Basin
Wash cloths
Baby Wipes
Disinfectant wipes
Diaper bag: with diapers, wipes, cream
Nursing cover
Breast pump
Baby medicines
Thermometer
Sunscreen
Bug spray
Baby monitor
Sleep sac
Swaddle blanket
Blanket
Books
Toys
Clothes
Shoes
Sun hats
Bathing suits

When packing for our most recent vacation, we were able to strike a ton of items off the list.

Here’s what to pack for a beach vacation when travelling with older young kids:

Vacation packing checklist now

Snacks: cereal, goldfish crackers, granola bars, rice krispy squares, smarties, licorice
Water bottles
Baby Wipes
Disinfectant wipes
Kid medicines
Thermometer
Accessories (hair brush, clips, headbands, elastics)
toothbrush & toothpaste
Sunscreen
Bug spray
Clothes (socks, underwear, tank tops, t-shirts, shorts, pants, long-sleeved top, sweater, dresses)
Shoes (flip flops, sandals, flats, sneakers, water shoes)
Sun hats
Bathing suits
Floaties
Sand toys
Stuffies
Bedtime stories
Activities: cards, crayons, colouring books, stickers
Headphones

We brought significantly less. Ditching the baby gear alone freed up a lot of hands and made physically travelling and navigating the airport and getting on and off the resort so much easier.

The snacks evolved (bonus, now you can bring snacks parents love too), threw in some hair accessories, and gold-ticket items to keep them busy on the flight (headphones!!), and some pool/beach gear (floaties and sand toys). Then really, kids just need what we need. Clothes, hats, shoes, bathing suits. I guess the next milestone will be when they pack their bags themselves!

Then, I always take it one step further and make a list of what we need with us when we leave the house: 2 black suitcases, 2 kid suitcases, 3 backpacks, mom’s carry on and her purse (including phone, charger, and passports). I throw ‘turn the lights off’ and ‘start the dishwasher’ on there for good measure.

Then you don’t need to think about anything in the rush out the door. You just check the list, tick everything off, and away you go!