Get Organized: Easy Tips for Packing When Traveling With Kids

Traveling with children could be a big challenge if you are not well prepared and organized. It could be really messy too.  Today I am pleased to welcome guest poster, Kathleen Crane.  She will share her easy packing tips. 

When packing for a trip with your kids a lot of questions may come to mind.  How many clothes do you need?  What stuff should you pack?  To make things easy for you, we have provided a few easy packing tips.  Hope you enjoy them.  Get ready.

Items You Should Bring From Home

There are certain items you should bring from home, such as some of your kids' favorite items.  Don't carry it too far.  Your children may be busy enjoying the new place and can completely forget about playing with their toys. Therefore you don't want to bring too much stuff.  Here is what you can take: a book or two for your kid to enjoy while traveling; figures for your small one to play with in the car or in the airplane; a couple of stuffed toys.  As we mentioned above, you want to limit the amount of items you bring from home.

How Much To Take

When it comes to diapers, consider bringing enough to last you during the trip. Don't forget that you can purchase diapers in any other city you are visiting.  The same goes for toys.  However, remember to take your small one's favorite toys. They can help you comfort your offspring.  Besides, what kind of a parent are you if you forget the Princess Elsa doll your little girl is in love with or the LEGO set your boy never parts with?!  (refer to point 1)

As for clothes, you might want to estimate the amount of clothes you would like to take for yourself and double it for your youngster.  The reason you want to do this is that kids and especially toddlers get dirty really fast. Let's say you plan to take four T-shirts for yourself.  This means that you need to take eight T-shirts for your child.  This will make it easy to determine just how much clothing you will need.

Roll Your Clothes

You will be able to fit more clothes if you roll them into tube shapes rather than folding them like you normally do.  This packing method can help you keep your clothes organized and neat, not to mention there will hardly be any wrinkles.  Besides your children can pitch in with packing as well. It's that easy.

Keep it Organized

Stick with packing bags and cubes. They will keep your stuff organized and clean.  The advantage of using packing bags and cubes is that both packing and unpacking is easier.  Not to mention, you will protect your clothes from getting soaked with water in case of a flood accident (accidents happen, trust me).

Have a Toiletry Bag

A toiletry bag is a must-have for every trip you make, no matter if you plan to spend a few days away from home or just a few hours out in the open.  Things you need to include in your toiletry bag include a toothbrush, body wash, deodorant, shampoo, lotion, contact lens solution and hair brush, disinfectant wipes, etc. There are special travel size kits offered at stores for your convenience.  It may also be a good idea to add an all-purpose cleaner or at least a stain remover.

Pack Light

Although you might be tempted to take a lot of things with you, you should resist the urge to take more than what you really need.  After all, you will be too busy looking after your kids.  Once you stack your clothes into a suitcase, take them out and consider parting with half of them. This will make your luggage lighter and easier to carry.

So basically these are all the packing tips we have for you.  Have a safe trip and enjoy every second of it.

Kathleen is an owner of a cleaning business that offers End of Lease Cleaning Stockwell.  She has one small child and organization and time management are very important for her.  She lives in London, UK.  You can get in touch with her via G+.