Things to think about with luggage for kids
Luggage has evolved over the years and long gone are the days of mum and dad packing all the children’s clothes and holiday essentials into two large suitcases with their own. The range of travel accessories is vast but if you draw up a list of holiday essentials and give some thought to luggage for the kids you can make life easier for yourself and fun for them.
Baby’s luggage
Now we’re not suggesting that baby should be responsible for his or her own luggage but their very specific needs must be provided for. A light weight carry-on bag with nappies wipes baby formula and a suitable travel baby bottle warmer is essential. The bag should have just baby’s things in it to ensure that they are easy to find whilst you are travelling. Keep a few simple toys in this bag too and a sealable plastic bag for disposal of used wipes and tissues.
A separate toiletries bag for baby is a useful addition to the luggage allowing you to keep their tots-toothpaste toothbrush baby shampoo etc. safely together rather than mixed-up with your own. A baby passport cover is another useful item as it helps you to easily identify baby’s passport keep their European Health Insurance Card safely with it and protect their passport from spills and unexpected chewing incidents.
Toddlers’ luggage
Toddlers and young children have plenty of fun luggage designed just for them. Buying them their own suitcases will make them feel grown-up and will free-up some space in your own luggage. The award winning Trunki range of wheeled suitcases is bright and colourful strong enough for your little ones to sit on when they’re tired of waiting in airport queues and light enough for them to pull along themselves. The Trunki range is available at stores like John Lewis and House of Fraser and widely available from internet traders. Another range of suitcases that appeal to toddlers is the Skip-Hop Zoo range. These are more traditionally styled soft skinned pull-along cases but decorated with colourful entertaining animal designs. Skip-Hop Zoo luggage is available from Marks and Spencer Halfords and online from Amazon.
Kids toiletries bags are widely available but probably best to fill them for your kids to make sure that they have everything they need (rather than their secret stash of sweeties).
Luggage for older kids
Older kids and teenagers will naturally need larger luggage but their greater independence means that you will probably be able to downsize your own luggage as their cases can hold all they need. There is likely to be a fair bit of technology being carried around in teenagers’ luggage so hard skinned cases make sense for keeping all that expensive equipment safe from knocks and bumps. Samsonite and SuitSuit make some excellent hard wearing luggage with designs that will appeal to your older kids – check out in particular SuitSuit’s ‘Boombox’ luggage range (available on their own website and on Amazon).
Backpacks for all the family
We tend to think so much about the luggage we need for the journey we often forget about how much we actually carry about with us when we are out and about at our holiday destination. Take small lightweight backpacks for yourselves and for the kids that can easily be packed away flat in suitcases when not needed. These are excellent for keeping guidebooks tickets maps tissues sun-block bottled water etc. together and the kids can carry their own essentials (rather than continuously passing them backwards and forwards for you to look after). Backpacks allow everybody to have their hands free for taking photos and eating ice cream but don’t keep anything of real value in them as it could be taken easily by pickpockets.
