Traveling With A Toddler

Traveling with a toddler doesn’t have to be difficult.

Yes, I meant what I said. I’m not saying it’s going to be smooth sailing the entire trip – temper tantrums are no joke. But it is possible to make traveling with a toddler a little bit easier. Typically I’m the type of person who gets anxious about traveling. But as I prepare for our mini-vacation with family this weekend, I’m finding myself fairly relaxed about the whole ordeal.

If you’re like me, a lot of the stress of traveling comes from packing for the trip.

Trying to remember every little thing can stress anyone out, especially a parent who is traveling with a toddler and has a lot of extra things to pack. But I discovered something over the past year of frequent travel with Elsie: parents of toddlers tend to over pack! Maybe it’s because we got used to needing to bring everything with us when our LOs were infants. (Did we really need to bring dish soap and bottle racks back then, though?) As toddlers, our kids honestly don’t need as much as we think.

I spent a little bit of time looking at checklists on Pinterest before packing for our trip to Tennessee this weekend. And honestly, I was pretty overwhelmed with the “essentials” everyone claimed I needed. Does a toddler honestly need a baby monitor, humidifier, and sound machine? If you’re staying in a hotel or sharing a room with your child, I highly doubt these bulky items are necessary.

Instead of rounding up her entire bedroom, I narrowed it down to less than 30 items that were necessary for traveling with a toddler.

Check out the list below and tell me what you think in the comments! Did I forget any other must-haves? What do you always make sure to pack when traveling with a toddler?