Traveling or Backpacking with a Baby or Infant: What Toy(s) to Bring (or Not!)

Our son Akiva with Sophie, his toy giraffe. Notice the dummy or pacifier chain attached to her, which can easily be attached to clothing or to his stroller, pram, or carrier.

If you are planning to go backpacking or traveling with your baby or infant, you might be wondering what to pack.  One of the most obvious things you’re going to be wondering about packing are your baby’s toys.  After all, your baby plays with them all the time at home! What if she is attached to one (or more) of her toys?  And anyhow, how will you entertain her on long flights, waits in airports, or bus rides? You obviously need to bring toys with you!

Ok, so the next question is: How many toys to bring? I suggest only bringing one or two. Yes, only one or two.  Toys don’t serve any other purpose except for your baby to play with.  They are extra weight to carry, they take up valuable packing space, and they are easily lost.  So it’s better to bring as few as possible with you when you travel – if you bring any at all!

What toys should I bring? Well, this is the harder part: deciding which one or two toys are going to come with you.  Rule number one for choosing a toy to bring is: how easily can it be replaced?  This is especially true if your child is very attached to the toy.  Babies will often toss toys out of strollers, or they can easily be left behind on a bus or plane.  Don’t count on holding onto any toy through your whole trip.  If it’s still with you at the end, count it as a bonus, not as something to be expected.

How big is it and how much does it weigh? My goal when packing is always to keep weight to the bare minimum.  It doesn’t matter whether I’m backpacking or traveling with a suitcase – either way, it’s easier to transport something light than to lug along something weighing as much as a baby elephant.  I also find it easier to transport something smaller.  Just because I can get an enormous suitcase doesn’t mean I should! Carrying a smaller bag is always easier to manage and manoeuvre.  So perhaps don’t decide to pack that big set or blocks.

How expensive is it & does it look expensive? Bought for your baby’s entertainment or not, bringing an iPad along when you travel makes you an instant target for thieves.  They know an iPad is expensive and you’re already distracted fussing over your child, so half the work is done for them.  If you do decide to bring something obviously expensive along for your child’s enjoyment, make sure you take out travel insurance to cover it.

Akiva with a little Burmese friend. Because Sophie was clipped to his pram, his little friend could also enjoy playing with her, without any worry that she might "run away."

For our backpacking purposes, we chose to bring with us a rubber toy giraffe named Sophie.  She’s small enough to be unobtrusive, large enough not to be so easily misplaced, and available just about everywhere.  She’s also very lightweight, as she is made of hollow rubber.  Fortunately, a friend had given us a duplicate Sophie at some point, so we even had our backup waiting for us at home.

Once you’ve decided what toy to bring with you, you have to come up with a way not to lose it.  At least you want to hold onto it as long as possible! We tied a string around Sophie’s neck and superglued the knots so they wouldn’t slip.  Then we used an old dummy (or pacifier) chain.  Our baby won’t take a pacifier, but we had an extra chain around that my parents had gotten us back when we were trying to get him to use it.  So we attached it, not to a dummy, but to Sophie, and were then able to clip her onto just about anything without losing her!

I hope you have found these tips useful in your packing.  Traveling or backpacking with a baby or infant is not as difficult as it seems if only you know where to start!

Happy travels!