What to Pack in Child’s Carry-On Bag for a Flight

What to Pack in Child’s Carry-On Bag for a Flight

When your children can carry their own stuff when travelling, you gain some freedom back as a parent. Around the time your children reach school age, they can definitely start carrying their on carry-on bag with all their in-flight essentials for travelling by aeroplane, but even toddlers enjoy having their own small bag with their playthings and snacks too.

Other than the fact that kids carrying their own stuff means you only have to carry your own stuff, it is also a great way to maximise your luggage allowance. Airlines are forever changing the allowances and charging for nearly everything these days. The airline that we fly with most frequently now only lets you have a small personal item, such as a regular backpack, for free – everything else costs extra. This means every little helps and if your children can carry their own stuff, you might be able to save some money too.

Our three children are aged between 5 and 10 and we’ve been flying since they were babies. In this article, I’m focusing on children who are old enough to carry all their own stuff for the flight and no longer need things like nappies, wipes, changing mats, and lots of spare clothes like you do when you are travelling with a baby or a toddler.

What kind of bag is good for a child’s carry on?

There are lots of fun suitcase style bags for children but having travelled with children for 10 years, I would recommend a backpack for a child’s carry on. Something that is within the airline’s size allowance, that fits your child well and that is comfortable for them to carry. I always look for bags with pockets for bottles on the side and a few compartments to helps keep things organised. Their regular school bag might work well – don’t feel like you need to buy a specific bag for air travel.

What to pack in your child’s carry on bag?

For children (and most adults), the two main categories for packing a carry-on bag are snacks and entertainment. How much of these your child will need will depend on the length of the flight and whether they get bored easily. We generally fly for around 2.5-3 hours which is quite manageable with children. Below are things that we pack for our kids in their carry-on bags:

• An activity book each + a few pens. I choose an age-appropriate activity book for each child to enjoy during the flight and there are usually plenty of activities left over to do during the rest of the trip or for the return flight. I would generally pack a few pens for each child and one small pencil case with a few more colouring pens/pencils for them all to share – there’s no need to double up on everything. Pens that don’t roll like these Stabilo Triangular Colouring Pencils or these Stabilo Fibre-Tip Pen with Cap-Ring so you don’t lose any lids are a good idea to keep things from disappearing under the seats! Sticker activities are always good for travelling too.
• Compact reading books. It’s always a good idea to have something to read and for travelling with children, I love packing fun but small books like the £1 World Book Day Books. I often pick up a few extra of these and save them for trips. They’re really compact and usually very good.
• Something to play with. We always pack a few small toys and games like fidget toys, a mini jigsaw puzzle, a deck of cards, an IQ game, or similar. If you have several children and they like the same kind of things, they can take turns and swap things with each other too.
• Technology. Our kids don’t have their own iPads but we usually download a few episodes of a show they like or a film on the Netflix app and have this on the family iPad to take turns with. We also take one pair of children’s headphones to not disturb any other travellers – we love Planet Buddies headphones for kids and also BuddyPhones kids headphones. My middle girl also takes her Yoto Mini Player and a few of her favourite Yoto cards.
• Snacks. Snacks are perhaps the most important thing to keep things happy when travelling (and at all other times too!). To avoid the kids getting hangry, be prepared with some snacks for them to enjoy on the flight. We have these Sistema Small Snack Pots which are quite tiny but perfect for shorter flights to fit some wraps with cheese, some chopped up veg, or other decanted snacks. The slightly larger, dual compartment ones are great too. As well the snacks in the mini lunch boxes, we always pack things like cereal bars, chocolate crêpes, raisin boxes, and a some sweets – things that will not get ruined if it gets squashed a bit.
• Water bottle. We always take an insulated reusable water bottle for each family member. These can be filled at the airport and are always useful for the rest of the trip too. We always choose our best, spill-proof bottles for travel – Hapi bottles are excellent for this.
• Hygiene etc. I always keep some anti-bacterial hand wipes in my bag for travelling and I usually put a mini pack in the kids’ backpacks too so that they can clean their hands and the table in front of them on the aeroplane too. Other little hygiene things that can be useful to include are a pack of tissues and a lip balm for each child’s bag.

That’s what we pack for our children – a manageable amount of stuff and plenty to keep the kids entertained and happy during a flight. Another thing to remember for flying with children is to dress them in comfortable clothing. I think all children’s clothing should be comfortable but it’s even more important when travelling. Joggers, a t-shirt, a hoodie/sweatshirt, and trainers that are easy to take off and put on make a great travelling outfit for children.