Heading off on holiday with little people? You’ll need to prepare and pack properly, then. From items to make sure you have a great night’s sleep to medicine, here are a handful of items that every parent should be packing. Yep, you might need a bigger suitcase...

Prior research

Accessing the internet might be charged where you are headed, and very expensive too. Plus, language barriers might occur. Find out everything you need to go before you travel. So that’s stuff like where you can get currency, what the best places are for fun activities and what the weather will be like. 

First aid kit

Medicine can be very expensive to buy when you’re abroad. Plus, if they don’t stock the usual things you buy, you might have trouble understanding the labels. Spanish 101 doesn’t cover pharmaceutical ingredients!

Favourite snacks

This one is especially essential if your kids are picky eaters at the best of time. If you’re travelling away from home, what you eat will be at the mercy of others. If the kids don’t like the food, they’ll need to eat something. While you’re working on convincing them, or other options, you’ll be glad you packed a few things they like to eat.

Earplugs

Noisy neighbors, seagulls or unexpected building works? Lots of different sounds can affect us when we are sleeping away from home. Pack earplugs to sleep in, and you can then also use them on public transport or the beach, for example. Consider taking some smaller ones for the kids too, so they can get a restful night’s sleep as well. 

Arm bands

They’re such a small thing arm; bands can be easy to forget. However, if where you’re going has a pool or beach, you kids might want to swim. If you’re going somewhere remote, or to a villa, for example, you might not be able to buy arm bands there. So, be sure to pack yourself, and a replacement pair in case one gets a puncture.

Spare everything!

‘Do I have a spare?’ should be your mantra when packing for a holiday with kids. This goes for spare towels, underwear, clothing and footwear. It also means things like spare batteries and spare change. 

Eyes masks

If the curtains are thin where you’re going to be staying, having eye masks packed for everyone will be a godsend. 

Local area guide

If you’re headed on vacation, download local maps and print them out. Even better, buy a local guide book. Make sure you get it in your home country though. The ones abroad might be written in the country's native language.

Suncream

Just like medicine, suncream can be very expensive abroad. This is especially true for beach locations and places that are usually hot. Take a variety of factors to account for all scenarios.

Entertainment

Having items in your arsenal to keep the children quiet and/or entertained is obvious. However, with all the other stresses of preparing for a holiday, you might forget. So don’t!