Weekend Trip Packing List: How to Pack for the Babies and Toddlers

weekend trip packing list

Are you wondering what should be on your weekend trip packing list?  What all do you need for your babies and toddlers on a getaway? Read about what you may need to pack for babies and toddlers.

Back when we had just one baby we would bring her everywhere with us: out to dinner, on vacation, and just running errands.  We loved having her with us, and thought it was good for her and ourselves to be out and about.  But fast forward about a year and a half through a pandemic and a subsequent set of Irish twins, we really haven’t gone away at all.  (Unless you count trips to the hospital to have babies!)

We spontaneously planned a weekend getaway with our cluster babies, ages 3, 1.5, and 0.5.

Cluster babies (kluhs-ter bey-bee)  noun  Siblings born within two years of each other. Synonyms: Irish twins, baby bunching, two under two, three under three, three under four, four under four, etc.

I had two main concerns: sleep and stuff.  We’ll focus on the stuff, for now.

As we planned our getaway, I made my weekend trip packing list of what to bring about two weeks ahead of time. (Yes, spontaneously planned two weeks out…#motherhood.)  I left my list on the kitchen counter so I could add to it as I thought of things. 

I separated the list into the following sections: toys, food supplies, food, kids clothes, big things, and other.

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Toys

We regularly play with open-ended toys.  Open-ended toys are ones which can be used in many ways.  They inspire imagination and creativity.  Open-ended toys typically hold the attention longer than toys that require buttons to be pressed and sounds and lights go off.  (Not to mention open-ended toys are usually just less annoying.)  So I selected some favorites as well as some that hadn’t been used recently, and I packed just about all of it into two large baskets.

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Big Things

Babies require a lot of stuff. This, we know. So what stuff is needed or nice to have?  I have three that are three and under, and this is supposed to be a little vacation. So I let myself bring all that would make the time just a little easier.  

Food Supplies

Where we went had a full kitchen.  And things would have been fine if I hadn’t brought most of this.  But again, it made life easier.  I didn’t feel like teaching my one year old how to use a real fork or risk broken plates on our mini vacay.  So I splurged by packing a little more.  (Yes, apparently bringing kid forks is now a splurge for me. The bar is wildly low these days.)

Food

We only went for two nights, so this was a short trip. And my older two don’t eat a whole lot. You can read here about how I usually avoid eating with them, for my own sanity. So I packed up some quick food for them for our little vacay.  

  • Formula
  • Bananas
  • Gallon bag of banana muffins made ahead of time
  • Pancake mix (the kind that just needs water)
  • PB&J sandwiches (made ahead of time and kept frozen until about an hour before lunch)
  • Cheddar cheese block
  • Peanut butter crackers
  • Breakfast bars
  • Yogurt in our reusable pouches
  • Hotdogs
  • Milk

Kids’ Clothes

We were headed to the mountains in the spring, so the temps were a little all over.  They ranged from 35-70 degrees each day.  We were lucky to have sunny weather each day.  I packed the following for each kid:

  • 3 Pants
  • 3 Socks
  • 1 Sweatshirt
  • 3 Short-sleeve shirts
  • 3 Long-sleeve shirts
  • 2 PJ sets
  • 3 Underwear for the oldest
  • 30 Diapers (total) for the younger two
  • Sneakers
  • Rubber boots
  • Light coat 

Other

This is the catch-all category, with all the actual necessities: binks, lovies, sound machines.  All the things we truly rely on!

Review of All the Stuff

I think overall, we had everything we needed, and we used just about all of it. 

What we didn’t use

We didn’t use the coats or boots.  But if the weather had been bad, we would’ve needed them.  I overpacked the amount of diapers, but I don’t regret that at all!

What I would bring next time

I should’ve brought an extra pair of pants for the older kids.  They just got dirty from playing outside.  

A few more toys may have been helpful when we were inside.  But maybe not.  Being in a new place is an exciting thing to explore…so I’m not sure exactly how helpful more toys would have been.

The kids might have appreciated a little more variety in their food, but they seemed fine with it.  I was trying to keep it as simple as possible.

I did forget to bring our large picnic blanket.  In fact, I didn’t even think to put it on the list.  But when we headed to the little lake beach with the stroller, it was thankfully left in the basket under the stroller.  

The most important thing to bring next time, is some sort of black-out shades for the bedrooms.  If I was able to have this, we all might have been a lot more rested.

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Conclusion

Looking over what I had brought along for our weekend getaway, it doesn’t seem that there is much I would’ve changed.  This weekend trip packing list was exactly what I needed with my baby and two toddlers. I was grateful that I splurged and brought the kid forks.

Related

The Best Car Ride Toys for Toddlers through Age 5: For a Screen-Free Road Trip

7 Tips: How to have Fun on Vacation with Baby & Toddler

6 Tips to Get in and out of Rest Stops (with happy babies & toddlers!)

weekend trip packing list

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