Baby & Toddler International Travel Essentials: Tips, Tricks & What you’ll really need.
If you've been keeping up with our journey, you'll know we've just returned from an exhilarating two-week escapade in Japan with our one-year-old in tow. Before we set off, the mere thought of planning this trip had me in a state of mini-panic. I set my expectations low. The trip? Sure, once we were there I would be ok… but 14 hours during the day time with my 1 year old on an international flight? I’d rather sit in a bed of fire ants.
I’m happy to report that while yes, it was exhausting, it wasn’t nearly as bad as I built it up in my head to be. I’m happy to report back the following facts and myths:
Yes, you will spend most of the trip making sure your child isn’t whacking the screen or chair in front of you hard enough to warrant somebody turning around.
Yes, If you want any beverage or food service you’ll need to figure out a crafty way to keep your cup/plate over a seat away from toddler hands.
No, its not likely your child will scream the entire flight. I’m not saying that it is impossible, but you should ask yourself realistically if they have ever cried for 14 hours straight at home.
Yes, your child WILL likely be more entertained by the random plane supplies (silverware, headphones, crinkle plastic for the blankets, barf bags etc.) than their actual toys.
Our Lifesaving Tips
1. Backpacking Luggage for the Win
My husband and I chose to carry our backpacking luggage. This meant one of us could push the stroller while the other toted our son's smaller luggage. I’m so happy we were hand’s free. This really made the frequent moving between cities and jumping on trains much more managable.
2. Formula Over Milk
Our son old enough for milk, but we brought formula instead – around 4-5 days' worth. Why? It's a breeze to mix on planes and a lifesaver for those just-in-case moments. Plus, let's face it, lugging around milk is no joke! Milk and liquids in general are heavy for a plane or day trip. Once settled, we bought milk for regular use, but those pre-measured formula packs were gold for on-the-go days.
3. Diaper Strategy
We packed enough diapers for the first few days and bought the rest in Japan. Diapers might be light, but they hog space like nobody's business and it didn’t make sense to bring 2 weeks worth and take up a whole suitcase.
The Gear We Packed
✔️ Highly Recommended
Asher playing with his Montessori Board
Travel Stroller: Essential for navigating stairs at subways and shrines. We needed something lightweight yet sturdy. I love our stroller at home for its durability and all terrain ability. It’s an amazing stroller but we needed something we could haul easily up 3 flights of stairs.
Airplane Cot: This transformed the airplane seat into a cozy bed, ensuring safer and more comfortable sleep. More importantly it filled the gap so that our son didn’t fall out of the chair while attempting to touch the screen in front of him on the back of the chair. When we didn’t have that setup, keeping him in the chair without falling out consumed literally every second of the flight.
Montessori Busy Board & Silicon Spinners: Perfect for quiet engagement. These items were a hit on both planes and trains!
🚫 Not-So-Useful Purchases
Kids Tablet with Handles: Aimed to be a shiny new distraction, it ended up being more of a 'power-button' fascination for our son. I think this could still work for others, but our son is just too young to understand it yet and has no interest in headphones.
Flight Harness: More of an escape challenge than a restraint for our little Houdini. If I had been willing to fight him a little more past the struggle I think this would have been helpful but given I needed to take him out of it to sleep, getting him back into it was simply not an option (IYKYK)
Final Thoughts
We decided against bringing a car seat, and it was absolutely the right call. The extra weight and hassle of lugging that around would have been awful.
I'd love to hear your thoughts or answer any questions. I’ll continue to update this blog with more insights and tips from our travel adventures!
