How to pack the perfect kids carry on bag for a long flight.

We’ve made it! After 24 hours of travel between Australia and Canada, we are here, and we survived. Patience, perseverance and positivity got us here without too many dramas. 

I also think we nailed it with carry on bags this trip, which helped a lot. {Special thanks to my mother in law who organised the boys bags for early Christmas presents and texted back and forth with me as I tried to plan everything they needed}. 

Here’s what we did. 

• Each kid (Travis, Jett and Felix) had their own carry on back pack (which were big enough to hold things but small enough that they could carry it themselves on and off the plane and through the airports. They sat under the seats in front of them and they could access them when needed. 
• Wayne had his own bag, and he carried all our travel documents plus his few essentials. 
• I had my huge bag and shared it with Charli (the baby). 
• We had an extra carry on devoted solely to nappies, wipes and snacks. 

The boys were each in charge of their own bag to carry. Wayne carried his bag and the extra bag and I carried my bag and Charli. 

Back packs are great because they leave your hands free. But I prefer a shoulder bag, especially because I often had Charli in the Ergo. 

This is how we packed the kidsbags. 

  
The boys each had: 

• Over the ear headphones. 
• An activity book and a book to read. 
• A pencil case with coloured pencils. 
• A camera. 
• A monster truck. (Or any fun, non noisey, non small parts toy will do). 
• One change of clothes that they changed into on the last flight (they were long sleeve shirts and track pants since we were headed to colder weather) 
• Pajamas that they changed into on the second flight (the longest one where we attempted to get the most sleep). 
• Extra undies. Always important. 
• A no drip water bottle (bring it empty and fill up once at your gate to avoide issues with security and liquids). These were so much better than trying to get the kids not to spill those tiny plastic cups, and stay hydrated because they always had them handy. 
• Toothbrushes and paste, which were together in one bag since the toothpaste had to be in a small bag. 

They wore clothes that suited our first short flight and had socks and shoes on. I bought cheap light weight slip on shoes for the trip so they could get them on and off easy. (It’s nice to have no shoes on the plane, that is until you need to use the toilet). 

The activity book and camera got used the least. They really loved the endless supply of movies and having their own TV. However if we had got delayed, those two items would have been a godsend. Although our messes were a minimum this flight, I’ve had others where changes of clothes were a necessity. It was nice though breaking the journey up and changing outfits. It also kills time. 

For Charli I packed:

• A change of clothes
• Pyjamas 
• An extra shirt
• One toy
• Her blanket (which really she carried most of the time). 

Our extra bag had all the extras, obviously: 

• Nappies for Charli
• Nappies for Felix 
• Pull ups for Jett, for when he slept, just in case. 
• A whole pack of wipes plus more. 
• A small lunch box with snacks. 
• A bottle for Charli (that she never used) 
• Extra dummies (soothers) just in case. 

Considering we travelled with four kids, two of which are in diapers and all of them under 6, I think we packed very little. This made our travelling easier and we didn’t lose anything. 

You don’t need to bring lots for the kids to do. They are amazed being on the plane. Plus thank goodness for movies and tv’s. And if you’re lucky they will doze off to the whirl of the engines and air con.  Also extra blankets, extra essentials and extra food is all available on most long haul flights, just ask, although when they see you travelling with kids, they usually ask you first. 

What do you pack when you take long flights? Any must haves? Anything we missed? 

~Megan.