Hellobee

Since we had to take so many flights on our recent trip to the Philippines, I tried to pack light. We ended up doing laundry 3 times during our 2 1/2 week trip because I packed so few clothes. But even with packing light, we still ended up with two checked in suitcases and three carry-ons. Traveling with an infant and a toddler requires a lot of stuff! The checked in suitcases held our travel crib, clothes, and toiletries, and our three carry on bags held our electronics, toys, snacks and diaper bag.

This is a packing checklist spreadsheet I created for flying with kids, organized according to what I put in each checked or carry-on bag. I absolutely cannot pack for a trip without a checklist. You can download mine here and customize it for your own needs!

I also added a couple of items we didn’t take on our trip that I’ve marked with an asterisk (eg car seat, stroller), but that many people might take on theirs. I have separate posts on travel tips, infant and toddler travel toys, snacks, and apps coming up, so I’ve only included my packing checklist and product reviews below.

GO travel crib/sheet
inflatable tub
fabric high chair
clothes/underwear for whole family
swimming suits for mom & dad
rash guard and trunks/swim diaper
sun hats for kids
water shoes
sleep sack (2)
pjs for kids
sunglasses
sunblock
bug repellent wipes
After Bite
kids’ body wash/shampoo
kids’ body lotion
face lotion
shampoo/conditioner
Dove soap
makeup
razor
toothbrushes
kids’/adults’ toothpaste
deodorant
nail clippers
diapers, overnight diapers & wipes
nursing pads
copies of family passports
*baby monitor
*white noise (we have an app on our iphones)
*breastpump/pumping supplies
*dish soap/bottle brush

– GoCrib – I purchased the GoCrib specifically for this trip because we were headed to a remote island where there would be no crib. The GoCrib is pretty ingenious. It’s only 11 pounds and comes in its own compact backpack, so it’s awesome for travel. The reason it’s so small is because you inflate it with the included handpump. Set up and take down only takes a couple of minutes. It’s a very sturdy, high quality crib, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a travel crib (you could even take it as a carry on). We also purchased the GoCrib sheet, and it was so nice and plush. Olive slept wonderfully in the GoCrib throughout our trip.

– inflatable tub – We took our inflatable tub with us since we knew there would be no bathtub at Mr. Bee’s parents’ place. We used it every day we were in El Nido, often twice a day because it was so hot. We’ve traveled with this inflatable tub in the past, and it’s survived 2 kids. I don’t like using hotel bathtubs without bathmats because it’s too slippery for kids. So the inflatable tub is a good alternative if you don’t want to bathe or shower with your kids.

– fabric high chair – I knew there wouldn’t be high chairs in the Philippines, so I took this clever little fabric high chair that Mrs. Yo-yo gave me. Unfortunately they only had huge oversized chairs in El Nido so I wasn’t able to use it there, and it doesn’t work with high-backed chairs. But it’s great for using at the airport (we had a lot of connections and had to eat at many airports), and it rolls up pretty small.

– Natrapel Bug Repellent Wipes – We typically use Natrapel Repellent in spray form, and it does a good job of keeping most mosquitoes away (I’ve tried everything under the sun, and we still get some bites no matter what we use). When I posted my initial packing list, Nella suggested Natrapel wipes, which I didn’t even know existed! I thought they would be easier to use on the whole family than a spray or stick (we also took the Badger Balm Anti Bug Stick). We weren’t super diligent about using them since we only got bites at certain times of day, and we were ok as long as we were near the ocean. Olive also loves to put her mouth on me and I hated the thought of her eating repellent, so I didn’t really use any. Charlie got the most bites (30+), but they didn’t seem to bother him because he was having so much fun. Olive just got a couple of bites on her legs throughout the whole trip. Overall I liked the wipes for their ease of use.

– Baby Monitor – We’ve taken our video monitor with us on every trip we’ve ever taken except this one since we were packing light. We actually downloaded this baby monitor app which you can use via wifi or bluetooth if you have two iphones. But the connection was spotty in the hotel we were staying at in Manila and at Mr. Bee’s parent’s place, so we weren’t able to use it. I think the app will come in handy on future trips though!

*Stroller/Cover
*Car Seat/Cover
*GoGo Babyz Kidz Travelmate

– We didn’t take a car seat or stroller with us on this trip, but we have taken both on a previous trip. The GoGo Kidz Travelmate converts your car seat into a stroller so you can wheel around the airport, and then either gate check it or use the car seat on the plane.

camera/recharger/usb cable
ipad/recharger/mophie external battery
iphone/recharger/olloclip lens
laptop
*electricity adapter
headphones & headphone splitter
earbuds x 2
*kindle
notebook + pen
lip balm
guide book/books/magazines

Documents
family passports
tickets/copy of itinerary
packing checklist
children birth certificates copies
*written authorization to travel letter if traveling with one parent
*copy of reservations

– Mophie – We purchased a Mophie External Battery Pack to recharge our ipad and iphones during this trip. The Mophie can recharge an iphone 4s 4 times, an ipad3 to a half charge, and an ipad 1 or 2 one time. The ipad3’s battery life is supposed to be 9 hours, but I found that it drained faster than that when streaming video nonstop. If we could only have one toy on this trip, it definitely would have been the ipad because kept Charlie occupied during all of our flights, at the airport during connections, and in the car. Let’s say that Charlie watched a lot of videos on this trip, so the Mophie was definitely well worth it.

– Olloclip iPhone Lens – Since I knew I would be taking a lot of pictures with my iphone, I purchased an Olloclip iPhone lens. It’s a small 3-in-1 lens that slips over an iphone4 or 4s, and allows you to take wide-angle, fisheye, and macro shots. I loved it! You can check out a wide-angle shot that I took here, and a macro shot here. I actually decided to leave my dslr at home since I would have had to put it in my carry-on bag, and we already had so many things we had to carry on. I took a small point and shoot camera with me, but ended up using my iphone for 99% of all the pictures I took!

– Kidz Gear Headphones – These headphones are specifically made for children. They worked great until Charlie decided to chew through the wires and break them. After he broke the headphones, he hated using earbuds or the airline headphones (and threw some tantrums about them), so he just watched videos on the ipad with the volume on. The noise of the plane actually drowned out the sound well. We also got a headphone splitter so that we could listen to the ipad while Charlie was using it in case he needed help playing any of the games, but we didn’t get to use them since Charlie ate the headphones early on in the trip.

toys
toy leash
books
kids’ change of clothes (2)
family sweaters
mom extra shirt

baby carrier
changing pad
diapers
Aquaphor
hand wipes
wipes
2 aden & anais blankets
waterproof bib
*burp cloths
infant ibuprofen & acetaminophen
Benadryl (in case of an allergic reaction)
kids’ lovey
travel Boppy
Ziploc bags
disposable place mats (to use on airplane tray tables)
waterproof bib
hemp milk
Packit Freezable lunch bag for milk
bottles
sippy cup/water bottle cap adapter
utensils
dish soap/toothbrush (to wash bottles at airport during flight connections)
snacks & food
*no-spill snack container
for adults: acetaminophen, Dramamine
*CARES Child Aviation Restraint System

– Travel Boppy – We use a Boppy at home, but I didn’t know there was a travel boppy until Hellobee member Irene suggested it to me. I had been planning on taking my big Boppy with me so that Olive could sleep in my lap without me having to hold her the entire time. The travel boppy is slightly smaller than the regular Boppy, and it zips up and folds in half. I was on the fence about buying one, but when it went on sale, I took it as a sign. I’m so glad I purchased it because Olive slept great on it, and it kept my arms free. On our flight back home, she actually slept 8 hours straight on the boppy! That alone made the purchase worth it, but I actually used it every single day on the trip!

– Packit Freezable Lunch Bag – This was another item recommended to me by Hellobee community members. Charlie drinks hemp milk, and I knew he wouldn’t be able to sleep on the planes without it, so traveling without milk was not an option. You freeze the entire packit lunchbag to eliminate the need for icepacks. There’s absolutely no way that it keeps food cold for 10 hours like they claim, but it was great for the couple of hours we needed to keep the milk cold when in transit. Once we got on the plane, we were able to keep the milk in the plane’s fridge, or the flight attendants gave us dry ice.

– Water bottle cap adapter – I bought this little adapter that turns any standard size water bottle into a sippy cup. We didn’t really use it since we just let Olive drink straight from a cup (which she’s always liked to do), but I think this is a nifty little gadget that takes up less room than a sippy cup in your diaper bag.

We pretty much used everything we took, and I didn’t feel like we were missing anything while traveling, so I don’t really have any packing regrets. Is there anything we should add to this list?