Five Essential Items for Traveling With Young Children

What do you take on holiday? Gone are the days when packing for holidays means cramming a suitcase to the bursting point with a different swimsuit for every single day. Chances are you’re more focused on making sure you have enough changes of clothes for your little one than you are of taking more pairs of shoes than days away.

Book Mallorca recently got in touch with the results of their parent travel survey. They asked 1000 UK parents what is the number one item they couldn’t live without when travelling with children. The results are really eye-opening! How many of these do you have on your holiday or road trip check-list?

Tablet Device/ iPad

Keeping your little ones entertained when on a long road trip can be the most difficult task, which is why tablet devices are a great secret weapon. Small enough to slip into your bag, and hardy enough to withstand a tumble (providing you cover it with a protective case). Load it up with their favourite TV shows and a few games and they’ll be happy as a clam until you reach your destination. Just make sure you take an in-car charger or run the risk of the battery running out on the way home!

Snacks

Buying food on the go is always an expensive business, and if you want to avoid the brightly-coloured (but often less than nutritious offerings at service stations and fast food outlets) the best thing to do is to prepare food and snacks at home and keep them in a cooler. Homemade courgette muffins, carrot sticks and apple slices will go down a treat, just try to avoid anything crumbly or sticky.

Toys

Most children have a favourite toy they take everywhere, but if the thought of losing it while away from home fills you with dread, you might want to consider adding a Bluetooth tracking device. Tile make small tracker devices that can be tracked from your phone, so you’ll never lose track of Mr Snuggles ever again.

Wet Wipes

The most multi-tasking item of the bunch, wet wipes are essential for any outing. Keep a pack in the car to quickly deal with any sticky fingers before they end up on the windows. And if you’re heading somewhere hot on holiday and have access to a fridge in your hotel or apartment, keep a pack in there for quick and easy relief from the heat, particularly at night.

Music

Whether it’s nursery rhymes to keep the kids entertained, or your favourite radio station to break up the monotony of long drives, it’s difficult to imagine a road trip without some tunes. Build a family Spotify playlist before you leave so everyone gets something they enjoy, even if it means shuffling through a playlist of Taylor Swift, Peppa Pig and Muse.

You can see the top 10 responses in this infographic…

*Collaborative post