toddler travel must haves

Last week our family enjoyed a little vacay.  We traveled to New York to drop Liam off with the in-laws while Matt and I continued our vacation to Prague.  I'll be sharing some Prague related posts later this week, but today we're talking about the most important thing about our trip - traveling with a toddler.  This wasn't Liam's first rodeo and he's done quite well on past flights, but he's a little older, a tad bigger and MUCH louder, which required some new essentials to make traveling as comfortable as possible.

When traveling, Matt and I try to be as considerate as possible about all the other travelers that surround us.  We put aside all the  things we said we would never allow and make an exception for the comfort of everyone else traveling with us on the plane.

So yes that means an iPad fully charged with movies/games, junk food to keep the kid quiet, but some other essentials that make traveling more comfortable for us and our friends on the plane.  This go round we discovered some new travel must haves that are perfect for toddlers:

• RefresH2Go Water Bottle:  Airport food and drinks are just as expensive as concession stands at the movie theater.  While I always pay for the overpriced drinks and tasteless food whenever I travel, this water bottle makes it so easy for us to save a few bucks - especially since Liam drinks water like crazy.  These water bottles come with a replaceable filter and are completely spill proof.  Liam loves this bottle because of its design and I love it because it offers clean, filtered water that's easy to carry on the plane.
• Kids Fly Safe Seat Harness:  In the past we traveled with Liam's carseat on a plane, but it can be really bulky and getting it set up in the plane can take some time.  Since Liam wasn't going to need his car seat for our trip, I wanted to minimize the excess baggage.  This harness was the best travel accessory we've purchased in awhile.  It weighs nothing, takes no time to install (literally you won't have to pre-board), is FAA approved and makes it more comfortable for your little one.  Not to mention the person sitting in front of your kid will thank you for not having their feet so close to the back of their seat for them to kick.
• Kidz Gear Headphones:  Unless your entire plane wants to hear "Let It Go" on repeat (which I highly doubt), these headphones are a must.  They cancel out sound, but also let your kids control the volume - to a certain extent.  You set the volume on the device the headphones are plugged into, but they can make it louder or softer with the volume control on the headset based on the highest level you set it at on the device.  They're super compact and durable enough to tolerate all the banging, stretching and throwing that toddlers do.
• Mess Free Coloring Books:  Let's be honest you will pack a TON of stuff in a carry-on for your kids when you travel.  I'm not even mentioning the diapers, wipes, clothes, etc., but you also need to pack activities to keep your little one busy.  The mess free coloring books are my absolute favorite thing to pack because it only requires packing the magic marker (which has no color and doesn't stain hands, clothes, etc), but they're super compact making it much easier than packing a 20 color box of crayons and larger coloring pages.
• Dramamine for Kids: Unfortunately we learned the hard way that we should always carry Dramamine for Kids - even if your kid doesn't have a history of experiencing motion sickness, I would recommend having these handy.  On our flight to NY we didn't have one, but two, cases of motion sickness.  Luckily for us, our flight to NY was way below capacity and our neighbors weren't bothered by our little one projectile vomiting on the seat, but we learned on the way back that maybe these handy pills might work...and that they did.

Based on the picture above, which was taken right after we got off our flight in NYC, it goes without saying that you should also pack those necessary things like an extra set of clothes because even if it's a short flight, you can't predict the messy things that could happen.  Traveling with toddlers isn't easy and requires an extra set of hands, but some of the items above really saved us on this last trip and made flying a whole lot easier!