Budget Friendly Travel Essentials For A Toddler

Traveling with toddler? Hold on...it may be a bumpy ride, but these tips will surely help!


We have had two long trips the past five months. One to Jamaica (long flight, long shuttle) and one to Tennessee and North Carolina (extremely long car rides). Both trips were AMAZING and I thank it to being prepped and able to entertain and feed our raging toddler. I was so excited (and a little nervous) to go on these HUGE family adventures because the only real travel we had done before was when she younger and a 2 hour flight where we were staying with family who has a similar aged child, so all the toys, diapers, snacks, accessories they had readily available to us #lovepeoplewithbabies. But these trips, we had to think of EVERYTHING! How do we keep her happy, us sane, and the people around us happy??!!

After lots of blog reading I was ready to tackle these packing excursions. So here it is, the best budget friendly way to prepare for long travel with a toddler, but mainly it boils down to having lots of toys, lots of food, and LOTS of patience.

Tip 1: Go to a Dollar Store, thrift store, or discount market and get a bunch of small, new toys that your kid has never seen before. You can also create some fabulous DIY toys that will keep them just as entertained.

• Here are some great examples of what I purchased at the Dollar Store:
  • Stickers (lots of them!) for the plane I also found gel stickers that could go on the window and tray table, which were so cool!! If your Dollar Store doesn't have them, try these.
  • Crayons and coloring books
  • Little animal figurines
  • Matchbox cars
  • Play-Doh (not really car friendly, but this was great on plane tray table and at restaurants)
  • Slinky
  • Bouncy ball
  • Large lizard and mini pony that my daughter thought was amazing
• I also found a couple of  interactive booksat HomeGoods that were lifesavers and showed her noises for transportation, so helped her understand.
• Some DIY toys and engaging ideas that our little girl LOVES:
  • String and cheerios
  • Ice in a cup, totally free and weird, but this is the best (straw+cup+ice=toddler fascinated)
  • Take a old plastic container and make holes to be able to poke pipecleaners or pom-poms through
  • Peek-a-boo or iSpy with family or travel mates
  • Learn your nursery rhymes! Willie and I were a musicial choir on our car trips. Those songs are hidden in your memory somewhere...go ahead and tap into that brain!

Tip 2: My diaper bag included: diapers, wipes, gallon sized Ziplocs (for toys or if a clothing accident occured), band aids, change of clothes, snacks and plastic straws (more detail below), hand wipes/spray, toy/area wipes, waterproof bib, sunscreen, and snacks (more below).

Tip 3: Pack sippy cups and plastic straws. I carry plastic straws everywhere since I know she can have a drink anywhere I go without the hassle of cleaning/finding my sippy cup.

Tip 4: Pack lots of different kinds of snacks (familiar and new) in small zipper bags or containers. This saves you so much since you don't have to pay the upcharge within the airport or even at the hotels.

• A nifty trick for plane entertainment, grab a daily pill boxfrom the Dollar Store and hide snacks inside. You can also do this trick with plastic Easter eggs.
• For the car ride since we had more baggage ability, I bought lots of treats that she normally doesn't get from the Dollar Store as a disraction and reward for good behavior. This bag of goodies on the long car ride was essential. What the magic of a Cheetos and M&Ms will do :)

• For these longer trips I also brought a few easy meals in case of emergency.
  • Hartley loves granola bars and applesauce, have some in your diaper bag but also bring a box in your check-in for easy on-the-go meals.
  • These Annie'stravel pastas are wonderful to have for emergency meals. I put a few of these in our check-in bag to have at the hotel.

Tip 5: Make a plan with your partner and family (if traveling together) about the expectations for the flight and daily activities so everyone can enjoy the flight and vacation.

Tip 6: Take care of yourself or everyone will be miserable. If you are hungry, thirsty, or unhappy, everything your child does will be that much more annoying. I always pack snacks for us too. If your husband is anything like mine, they get HANGRY real fast and there is noooo turning back until they are satisfied. When I used to travel internationally for work with long flight times, my favorite essentials were protein bars, PB&J sandwiches, raw nuts, dried fruit, and a fresh banana or apple. I also always have an empty water bottle to fill once I pass security so I don’t have to pay the enormous upcharge for a water bottle at the airport stores.

Tip 7: If your child is soothed by a pacifier, make sure you have it. Hartley would be devastated if her “B” didn’t make the flight. We would be those parents running through the airport to find one or borrow one I’m sure. For the chance of further discomfort from a cold or earache, always pack a children’s pain/fever reducer.

Tip 8: Bring a baby carrier, wrap, or backpack. We brought our Ergobaby and a stroller for the trip. Hartley prefers the stroller, so that’s what we used most of the time and through the airport (along with chasing her around to get some energy out).

Tip 9: For the Jamaica flight, we checked our carseat at the boarding door, but if your child is small enough just make sure your car seat is flight compliant. Checking a carseat is free on almost all airlines, so it really is just more of a necessary hassle than anything.

Tip 10: Bring the iPad if your other distractions aren’t working. Hartley rarely watches TV but she is fascinated with "Elmo" aka the iPad and will watch him for hours.

Tip 11: For our Jamaica destination we packed some tropical essentials:

• Bathing suits (a lot we've found at the thrift store for CHEAP)
• Swim Shirt (these are bountiful at the thrift store)
• Sun Hats and/or waterproof hat (again these are bountiful at the thrift store)
• Puddle Jumper(found this at the thrift store, but we also saw at Costco for $15)
• Sunscreen (Oxybenzone free) For Hartley we use The Honest Company Mineral Based Sunscreen and Arbonne’s sunscreen
• Bug spray

Tip 12: The Jamaica hotel had a crib setup and most have an option for play-n-pack, so just make sure you have that confirmed before arrival (some may have applicable fees for this, so if you can carry a travel bed, that may be a good option). I also packed some crib stuffed animals, a nightlight, and her sleep sheep just to make sure she was comfortable. Anything you can bring to make sure they sleep on vacation is great!

Tip 13: We did not bring a travel highchair. She does not care for the small fabric seats and just ate her meals on our laps or next to the pool in a lounge chair (yes…already a diva). But if you are going a lot of places that wouldn’t have a chair option or you prefer sitting them in something, go ahead and pack it.

Tip 14: Find a way to exercise. When flying get to the airport a little early and find a non-crowded area to let your little one run and view the planes. Once safe in the air, you can also use the aisles to your advantage. As long as this isn't a red eye flight and everyone is trying to sleep, everyone will get a smile out of your curious baby. For the car rides, take breaks. Stop and use the restroom, scenic spots, coffee, etc. These little stops can help extend their patience and also get a little energy out.

Tip 15: Smile, laugh and enjoy your vacation!!!


Do you have any great tips to share?

How to transform a dresser to Media Console {Tutorial}

Another fabulous find from Habitat for Humanity! Our farmhouse media console turned out perfect! We looked for a few months debating on what type of media console we wanted and with most manufactured sets costing well over $500 we started adventuring to the Habitat on a weekly basis to try to find the perfect dresser to convert…and by luck we did! Although it isn’t very ornate, the selling point for this dresser was it’s perfect size (70 inches long exactly). We needed the size because we have a very long wall in our family room and with the hopes for a TV upgrade in the next year, we wanted to have the balance that would work with a bigger TV.

I'm super proud of the transformation and these quotes made me so much more excited to have something in my house that I repurposed while also supporting a great cause:

"Shopping at Habitat For Humanity ReStore does even more than assist Habitat's mission of eliminating poverty housing! Your purchases grant a second life to items and prolong the life of our landfills by reducing waste."

"At Habitat for Humanity, we build. We build because we believe that everyone, everywhere, should have a healthy, affordable place to call home. More than building homes, we build communities, we build hope and we build the opportunity for families to help themselves. Your donation will help families break the cycle of poverty and build long-term financial security. With an affordable, stable home, families have more to spend on food, medicine, child care, education and other essentials. Your support can help us do more in all the many ways that Habitat builds."

What we used and cost:
Cost of Dresser = $42.40 (with tax)
Total Materials Cost = $119.51
*The material cost will go down significantly if you want to paint the top or your dresser has a real wood top that you can sand down and re-stain. Ours was not, which made us buy lumber and create a stained rustic farmhouse top to tie in our other furniture. 

• (2) 1-2-6 select pine = $7.24
• (1) 1-4-6 select pine = $6.96
• (2) 1-6-6 select pine = $23.52
• Valspar Chalky Finish Paint (color - Cathedral Stone), Quart = $29.99 (lasted the whole project) *again they warned not going with the "tinatable colors" but the paint color ended up exactly like the swatch so I was pleased
• Valspar Clear Wax = $16.99 (you do not need all of this at all, but good to keep to more projects)
• (2) Paint Brushes(one for paint and one for wax) *I cleaned my paint brush with water after every coat and reused it (own already...we have about 50, guess I'm a little bit of a paint brush hoarder)
• Minwax Wood Stain, Red Oak, Quart = $7.99 (you do not need a quart can for this project, but I got the bigger one to make something else with)
• Staining Rags= I had leftovers from another project
• (6) 3-in Cabinet Pulls= $26.82
• Miter Saw (own already)
• Nail Gun(own already)
• Screwdriveror Electric Screwdriver 2-Inch Hole Saw(own already)
• 2-Inch Hole Saw(own already)
• Cabinet Door and Drawer Template(own already)
• Sanding Sponge(own already)
  
  

2 Wicker Baskets Cost (HomeGoods) = $40

Total Media Console Cost = $201.91 (3 days of drying and labor time)

How we did it:

1. Removed the 2 bottom drawers and drawer rail sliders on each end
2. Dissembled drawer fronts from base and used to build the bottom of each side so baskets could sit inside
3. Cut the holes in the center area for the wires using a 2” hole saw
   
4. Used the wood from the dissembled drawers to cut a small block as the anchor for the drawer fronts to sit on – attached with nail gun
5. Once the base was secured, the drawer doors were cut to size to fit perfectly on the bottom and were attached with a nail gun
6. Used the wood from the disassembled drawer sides on each side of the dresser to add a little character and cover up some damage it had from transportation (cut to width)

7. Used the cabinet drawer template to pre-drill the holes for our new hardware
8. Wiped the entire dresser down with a damp rag and let dry for 20 minutes
9. Painted the entire dresser (minus the top as we added the wood pieces) with one coat of paint and let dry overnight
10. While the dresser was drying, we cut all our lumber for the new farmhouse top to fit the length of 70” and roughly sanded both ends
11. Applied one coat of stain to all of the wood and let dry overnight
12. 24 hours later, apply one more coat of paint to dresser and one more coat of stain to wood
13. 24 hours later, check for missed areas on paint and apply one more spot coat if needed to dresser. I also ended up applying 3 coats of stain to my pine wood. The 3^rd coat of stain was in the AM and when I didn’t like the way the stain took to 2 of the larger pieces I dry brushed the Valspar paint on in a very rustic manner to cover the botched stain. I actually like this method and glad I did it even if the stain came out, it gives it so much character!
    
14. Liberlly applied Valspar wax sealant with a paint brush to the painted dresser
15. Once everything is dry, we arranged the wood on the top and secured with the nail gun and attached the new drawer hardware
16. Finally, we placed the baskets in to complete the rustic farmhouse look
17. In order to keep the cable box hidden behind the doors, you can buy an Infrared Receiver Extender Cable which will allow transmission from the remote to the box...heck yes, no ugly box!
18. All done!