The baby carriers are such a good idea for travel. What a sanity-saver while flying! Glad you didn’t recommend those front packs like Bjorns which suspend the baby by its crotch. I used a sling and a wrap but some parents can’t deal with the learning curve. Ring slings are great for breastfeeding moms. It also covers the blanket, sunshade, baby changer as well as discreet breastfeeding cover.

The GogoKidz is very expensive and honestly, a foldable metal luggage cart works JUST AS WELL. They’re cheaper, last longer and are easier to take the car seat on and off. Save your money! I’ve done countless transatlantics with mine. Use an extra bungee cord and/or the LATCH hooks to get it secure. My toddlers preferred to walk but would ride in it when tired. No need to bring a stroller!

True about the ear buds. Instead of overpriced “baby” headphones, I buy multiple cheapies. Kids break these all the time but I always have one… Also extra splitters for multiple children. Splitters get lost easily and you don’t want one or more kids left out of the action on the screen!

True about the toys. Too easy to over do.

Another tip for baby beds (I too leave that item at home) is to order the crib and remove the mattress, throw it on the ground and voila! Baby bed on the floor. Bring your own sheets though because they often don’t have them. The hotel maids fold up a full-sized sheet, which can be dodgy.

Take-and-Toss sippy cups work well, as do plastic spoons that can either be washed or thrown away. I used a baby bib which was also a smock. This worked great as the wrists had elastic and it went all the way up to the neck. No messing clothes! I could rinse it easily and it dried quickly.

I totally agree on the diapers. Another reason for doing this; wasting time. I spent a whole morning trying to find my baby’s sized diapers in a small Italian village. I did succeed but they only had a pack of 40. I only had three days left to our trip! I managed to stuff them in our suitcase and use them.

I was smarter on our Med cruise. There were absolutely none on board the ship. When you do find diapers on cruise ships and resorts, they are often insanely expensive. My kids were very prone to skin rashes so I had to be careful with which brands I used. I also cloth-diapered at home so I think too, they weren’t used to sposies on all the time.

Also, thanks for mentioning the high chair. When I propose to parents to leave this item at home, they look at me as is I’m crazy.

I will admit that I did take one foldable high chair IF we were staying in one place, especially if we took the car. I had the kind that attached to the seat, not the table (definitely not recommended! I got a used one and hardly used it myself). I could fold it up and shove it in a corner. These chairs are also only useful for a very short time.

I’m also very careful with plastic bags at home but when traveling, I break out the ziplocks! I’m their best customer! It also helps me organize the bags and I can see what’s where.

Good tips!

You knew you were going on a trip, right? So of course your kid can! You cared enough about the kid and its needs to know that there might be emergencies when the bag of its own gear was lost. So you made sure it didn’t absolutely have to have its own special sippy cup, but could manage with an ordinary cup or unbreakable glass (thin glass, maybe not). You cared enough about your kid to make it welcome in any eatery or family home by teaching it not to throw things on the floor. You cared enough about your kid to spend a little while teaching it to cope with unusual circumstances, fractured routines and strange faces.

You don’t need to be going on a trip to see the need to make sure you kid can cope in unusual circumstances. What family disaster can’t be made worse by a kid howling its head off because it is used to everything being just so?