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I had already been traveling long before my sons were born and as much as I loved the idea of having a family I didn’t want to sacrifice travel just because of kids. When my first son was born, at first it was a bit stressful but my husband and I made it work. By the time my second one was born we already had some experience.

Since my kids have been raised on the road, I have had enough time to make all of the mistakes that I can imagine. This has taught me a couple of useful things about packing for ever family member.

5 Packing Tips for Traveling With Kids

Enquire about Luggage Regulations
Most airlines are fine with you taking baby food and formula but there is also a limit. Also, most won’t charge you for car seats, cribs and strollers but you don’t want to risk having to leave it at the airport so don’t take it with you before you ask. All of these things are also important if you are traveling by land. Some borders might not allow food or certain items.

I would recommend doing your inquiries at least a couple of weeks before you travel. Or even better, as soon as you book.

All Essentials Should be in the Same Bag
At first, I made the huge mistake of leaving some of the stuff for my boys separate. Thinking that they would need them at different times. Or that it was a good idea to keep a bag for each of them. But I soon learned that when you are going through the madness of the airport, border crossings, bus stations, etc having to figure out where I put what was not very practical.

Make a List
This one might sound so obvious but I know that a lot of us tend to think that we know what we need for our kids and don’t need to be checking off things from a list. But when you are thinking about taxis, hotels, car rentals, reservations, plane tickets and more, chances are, you will forget something. I can’t tell you how many times I forgot stuff for not having a list.

Prepare Enough Clothes and Then Throw in Some More
Kids get dirty and love to run around ruining their clothes. That’s a fact we all know. But I hate having to keep constantly stopping them from enjoying the trip and running around while exploring new places. That is exactly what allows them to learn and grow.

Instead, I do three things, pack more outfits than the ones I think they might need, go to sites where I can find, durable clothes like young Versace and get versatile pieces that can be used on more than one occasion.

Final touches
Now that all of the essentials are on one carry on, you made sure you prepared everything from your list including extra outfits and are certain that you won’t have trouble checking in stuff at the airport it is time to organize everything you won’t need until you arrive on the checked luggage.

Bonus: Get the kids involved when packing that way in no time they will learn how to do it themselves and you will be able to just check on what they did to make sure they have everything.

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