My family was stuck in Beijing for quite some time, but now I have made two big trips with a toddler in a short amount of time. Let’s be clear: I am a big over-packer, I take all I need and some extra. But I have gained some insight on what to take in your hand luggage to keep your kid (sort of) happy.

Blanket
Airplanes get cold, I get cold. So the airplane blanket is not enough. Make sure to dress warm and take your cozy blanket.

Snacks
I have found out that flight attendants are glad to feed ice cream to my child. She now thinks all airplanes have ice cream. My toddler’s sugar rush resulted in her climbing around the plane and running wild. I take my own sugar-free snacks now to keep her busy.

Earphones
The earphones they give out on long flights are poor quality. One broke in my daughter’s ear and we had to pry the piece out. Lesson learned: we take our own now, especially for kids.

Trunkie
I had never traveled with a trunkie before, but after surgery, I wanted to have an easy way to move my child around various airports, so I borrowed a trunkie. Lifesaver – I wish I got one way before. I throw her toys inside and pull her along when she is too tired to walk.

Clean clothes
For both parent and child, have clean clothes on hand. Spills happen easily, and long flights make you stinky. Clean clothes to the rescue. What do you take in your hand luggage?

Don’t forget about your luggage tags. Many people forget аbоut them аltоgеthеr аnd орt fоr thе рареr tags at thе аіrlіnе сhесk-іn, hastily scribbling dоwn their addresses and рhоnе numbеrѕ bеfоrе gоіng thrоugh ѕесurіtу. But thіѕ humblе tаg can make or brеаk the mоѕt mеtісulоuѕlу рlаnnеd trір. While mоѕt реорlе rarely think аbоut luggаgе tаgѕ, thеу can tell оthеrѕ mоrе than you wаnt them tо know.

When we were 17, my friend and I celebrated the completion of high school by going on a trip to the UK and France. We spent days putting together cute outfits and jammed them into huge, rolling suitcases – only to find that Paris’ metro stations didn’t have escalators. Chastened by the experience, I’ve used backpacks ever since and regularly re-assess how I can pack lighter. But what happens when there’s a kid (or two, or three) in tow? It’s not as simple as rolling your clothes instead of folding them. Here’s what I came up with after scouring parent blogs.

From Thrifty Travel Mama:

• Limit the number of shirts per person. Thrifty Travel Mama usually packs four shirts per person and varies up the type depending on season (e.g. two short sleeve shirts and two tank tops in summer). Babies are an exception; double their clothing allowance, especially if they’re still in “poop-explosion phase.”
• Stick with a subtle color scheme. The author likes black, blue, or gray for her sons and makes sure that each item can be matched with any other. Don’t pick colors like red or white so you don’t have to worry about washing them separately.
• Prioritize shoes by activity. Do you really need a pair of Jimmy Choo slingback mules, hiking boots, and flip-flops? Probably not. The more you can minimize on these bulky items, the better; comfort first, style second.
• Pare down the toiletries. Thrifty Travel Mama recommends using castile soap, an all-in-one liquid that can clean bodies, clothes, and teeth (no really, she says). For camping in Canada, I used to buy solid shampoo from places like the Great Canadian Soap Company. You can even make your own all-in-one soap. Wet wipes are also great for cleaning up messes, washing your hands in a pinch, and as a replacement for facial cleansers in a pinch; my boyfriend always raises his eyebrow at the jumbo pack I bring on each trip.

From The Art of Simple:

• Bring lots of Ziploc-type bags. Apart from the obvious uses (e.g. dividing out snacks for different kids, containing easy-to-swallow pieces), the author of this post has an unexpected use for re-sealable plastic bags: “Since a lot of kids don’t like taking showers, and because many hotels don’t make it possible to take baths, a ziploc bag makes a great drain plug. Fill it with a little bit of water, and it becomes an instant weight that snuggles nicely in the drain.”
• Limit the number of toys you bring. Traveling to a new place is such a novel experience that your baby or toddler is likely to find ordinary objects and activities entertaining (e.g. a shoe horn). You can also make this a chance to give them a special toy just for the trip; the author has an artistic kid, so a fresh notebook and a set of markers usually do the trick.
• Call ahead to see if businesses can accommodate your family’s needs. You’d be surprised by how equipped they are these days. This goes for child seats with car rentals, pack n’ plays at hotels, and milk-warming facilities on some flights.

From My Little Nomads:

• Pack enough in your carry-on for the first two days of your trip. If your check-in bags get lost or delayed, this will give you some peace of mind.
• Use online storage for photos. Many travelers are worried about losing their hard-won photos when traveling; mitigate that possibility by diligently uploading them to services like Adrive or Skydrive. And while we’re on the subject, the author recommends just taking a small digital camera since it’s the portraits of your family, not the artistic shots of tourist attractions, that you’ll cherish down the road.

In addition, here are some packing lists for babies and kids and a tip sheet with more parent stories. Have a safe trip!

Photo: Molly.Low (Flickr)

Next week, we fly back to the UK for the summer. This time ‘round, however, I’m flying sans husband. So it’ll be me, my 5-year-old son, and 2-year-old daughter on a ten-hour flight followed by two hours in a car. Knowing what to pack in our suitcases is easy; it’s what to take on the plane that I stress about.

My youngest is now toilet-trained, so thankfully I don’t have to pack diapers, a change mat, and nappy sacks. Accidents do still happen though – not only the toilet kind, but also travel sickness, which affects my son most of the time we travel. So I’ll still need a couple of changes of clothes for both kids (and for me). I once had to endure the last two hours a flight with the smell of vomit on my t-shirt.

Baby wipes are one of the best inventions ever for parents. Granted, they’re not ideal from an environmental point of view, but there really is nothing else that can properly clean noses, hands, bottoms, and back to vomit again. Plastic bags are a must for soiled clothes, and you can’t beat the zip-lock type – guaranteed no holes and therefore no leaks.

Aside from what to pack for cleanup time, there’s also the task of keeping them fed and watered. Empty drinking bottles of the non-spill variety are essential. Although my kids are more than capable of drinking out of a proper cup, they still have the wonderful knack of knocking things flying from the tray table.

Drinking during take-off and landing is a good idea, as it helps ease the pressure on their ears. However, for a travel sickness-prone child, milk isn’t always the best choice of drink. Water or juice – diluted of course – is ideal.

When you fly with British Airways, it’s a bit hit-or-miss as to whether you actually get the kids’ meals. So I tend to go for the pasta, rice, or noodle dish and share with my youngest. My eldest will get an adult’s meal and manage to eat some of it.

So for the other nine hours of the flight (it’s a daytime one unfortunately), it’ll be snacks. Dried fruit is good, although they find raisins a bit boring now. So I give them dried apricots, bananas, and apples.

Crackers and breadsticks are always a big hit, and I try to go for plain ones without any salt or sugar.

For treats, I’ll have small tubs of mini digestive biscuits, ginger biscuits, and some sugar- and additive-free jelly sweets. If all else fails and one of them has a meltdown, out comes the Pocky sticks.

What to do in amongst all this snacking? We have a fabulous book by Usborne called Look Inside an Airport packed with pop-ups and picture reveal flaps detailing everything that happens at the airport and on the plane.

It’s a great way for kids to understand why it takes a long time to get through security, encourages them to put on their seatbelts, and helps explain why it’s not just mommy being awkward, you really do need to put your tray table upright during take-off and landing.

I also take plenty of coloring books and crayons, reusable sticker books, and of course reading books. My youngest loves finger puppets, so we have The Puppet Company range of nursery rhymes and fairy tales. With each story book, you get puppets of all of the characters in the book so she can act out the whole thing.

This year, I will probably be taking loom bands too. I realize this will result in the flight attendants having to hoover up hundreds of elastic bands after we’ve disembarked, but as my son doesn’t really know how to make the bracelets on his own, I’m hoping he’ll spend at least a few hours trying.

When it comes to long-haul flights, screen time restrictions are lifted for my own sanity and out of respect for fellow passengers. I have already downloaded tons of stuff from the BBC children’s channel CBeebies, including Charlie & Lola, Shaun the Sheep, Andy’s Dinosaur Adventures, and Peter Rabbit.

For films, we have all their favorites: The Gruffalo, Peter Pan, Bambi, Rango, and of course…Frozen. I’m just hoping they don’t burst into song.

For games and apps, we try to stick with educational ones like Toca Builder, Curious George, Little Writer, and Learn Chinese. Let’s face it – there will be other times during the holiday when the iPad will make a reappearance, so it’s good to have apps that will help support their learning.

As for me, I’m taking a magazine, have downloaded a few e-books, and would love to see what new film releases will be playing in the on-air entertainment. Wishful thinking, but I’m also praying for an upgrade.

Photos: Sally Wilson, Michael Ocampo (Flickr)