Original post from Au Pairs Unite:
We are going on vacation with our twins (both of them and not 1 1/2, I meant to say they are year and a half old) first time... ever.. for 10 days... we flying(about 3 hours) and renting car with car seats, but I'm worried what else to take and how much... Any suggestions? Thanks

I wanted to thank you for all your great suggestions.

So far That is what I got:
Take extra clothes with us(not just for kids, but also for the adults)
Take all meds(Tylenol, Moytrin and so on)
Pack twice as much food as you need while you are traveling
Take extra sippy cups
Take some toys(new and old)
Stroller
Small cooler bag
Small "leashes" to strap cups to the stroller(from Walgreen's)
Take extra paper towel
And booster seats(thanks for the link lilgsmommy)

I posted to make sure you have toys and snacks in the carry on, just in case you get delayed or your luggage gets lost. They the kiddos won't be cranky, and/ or you won't be frazzled.

This is a very lengthy but useful list another mama sent me when we went on a 40 hour roudtrip flight and 10 day europe cruise last year. My little ones were ages 2 and 3 then. An entire carry on wheeled luggage piece was filled with books, new 99 cent store toys, snacks, and favorite toys. For the duration of the trip, a 5-hour layover in toronto, on the plane, on the ship and on the bus, people told us that our kids were very well behaved. The grandparents said that they regreted not asking their own grandkids to come along. This list was a tremendous help. I've used on other non-cruising trips that we've taken. I hope that this helps.

CRUISE PACKING FOR INFANTS/TODDLERS

Casual clothing:

Day 1 Shoes
_____ shirt with _____ shorts Tennis shoes

Day 2
_____ shirt with _____ shorts " "

Day 3
_____ shirt with _____ shorts " "

Day 4
_____ shirt with _____ shorts " "

Day 5
_____ shirt with _____ shorts Sandals

Day 6
_____ shirt with _____ shorts

Day 7
_____ shirt with _____ shorts

Extra
_____ shirt with _____ shorts

Extra
_____ shirt with _____ shorts


Dinner clothing: Shoes:
Day 1 _____ shirt with _____ slacks Black shoes

Day 2 _____ shirt with _____ slacks “ “

Day 3 _____ shirt with _____ slacks Brown shoes

Day 4 _____ shirt with _____ slacks “ “

Day 5 _____ shirt with _____ slacks “ “

Day 6 _____ shirt with _____ slacks “ “

Other clothing: Comments:
Sun hat Make sure it covers the ears!
In season, Old Navy sells great sun
hats with a velcro-closure strap.

Sunglasses If s/he’ll wear them…mine won’t.

Sweatsuit The lounges and other public areas are
usually very cool. On some evenings,
the wind temperature on the deck can
also be fairly chilly.


Light jacket


Pajamas I would STRONGLY encourage you to pack a
footed fleece sleeper even though you will be
traveling in a warm climate. Even when we
turned the air vent almost off (It’s too stuffy
when it’s completely closed), Benjamin would
wake up cold about 2 AM when wearing just his
long pajamas. Better to take it and not need it...

Fleece footed sleeper


Socks (casual)


Socks (dinner)


Change of clothes For the diaper bag…pack compactly into a ziploc
bag to keep them together in the bag and to
keep out moisture, dirt, sand.

Swimwear:

Swimwear


T-shirts/cover-ups for swimwear


Swim diapers Take at least 2 per anticipated swim.
Gallon-size Ziploc bags work well for packing
these if you don’t need to pack the entire
package.

Water shoes or sandals


Life jacket
The cruiseline supplies infant/toddler life jackets for use at the lifeboat drill, but you can’t take them off the ship. Taking your own offers extra peace of mind for ferry rides/water excursions.


Feeding (All ages):

Bottle brush w/ detergent OR Detergent Wipes
For washing bottles and/or sippy cups. No need to take a bottle drying rack. Just lay a fresh hand towel by the sink each time and let the items dry there.


Bottles/nipples/caps
Take enough so that you will only need to wash them once or twice a
day. Don’t want to spend your entire vacation doing dishes!

Disposable sippy cups


Small collapsible cooler
For keeping milk/juice on ice in your cabin if you don’t have a refrigerator. The cabin steward will happily keep it filled with ice if you ask. The collapsible cooler seems to work better than just the ice bucket in the cabin. The one I use was $4.96 in the sporting goods section at Wal-Mart and folds up very compactly. It can also be used for carrying the child’s food and/or drinks for island excursions, just loop the shoulder strap over the handles on the stroller and off you go!

Feeding (Table food for toddlers):

Gerber Graduates Pasta Pick-ups or Lil Entrees Meals


Bibs (disposable)

Pre-packaged toddler food (lil' entrees) are perfect for traveling. Keep one in your diaper bag in case you don’t get back to the ship in time for a regular meal. I usually pack one meal in a Ziploc bag with a disposable bib (Bibsters by Pampers) and disposable spoon so that I have everything ready (and clean) when I need it.


Juice boxes

Take care when packing baby food, juices, or formula to prevent breakage.

TableToppers
These disposable placemats have peel-off adhesive strips at the top and bottom to affix to the surface of a table, creating a clean surface for babies who feed themselves but can’t use a plate yet. Check out to find a local or online merchant. Our local Dollar Tree stores have recently begun carrying a similar product.

Snacks
A few crackers or other favorite munchies for snacking on the islands. Make sure the snack is factory sealed in its original packaging. Some islands will confiscate any food items that are not factory sealed.

Child’s own fork/spoon
The ship only has adult-sized utensils. Take along a set of your child’s own utensils so that s/he doesn’t have to struggle at meal time. The First Years has new disposable toddler forks and spoons in packs of 12 for $3 or so. Very convenient!

Feeding (Formula and/or Baby food for infants):

Baby food:
Dinners
Fruits

Before we left home, I prepared "meal baggies" so that we could just grab one and run if we were in a hurry. Each breakfast meal bag was a quart-sized Ziploc bag containing a small plastic spoon, a small plastic (disposable) bowl, a packet of cereal (one-serving samples obtained from our pediatrician or can purchase a box of 6 at Wal-Mart), a 4-oz jar of fruit, and a disposable bib. The lunch/dinner meal bags had a bib, spoon, 6-oz dinner and 4-oz fruit. There were times when we were headed out the door when we knew that mealtime was approaching, so we just grabbed a bag instead of having to gather everything and make sure that we hadn't forgotten a spoon/bib/etc. Everything was thrown away after the meal, so there were no spoons or bowls to wash. I once took plastic bibs, but those didn't soak up the food so we had to be careful not to smear it everywhere. Bibsters by Pampers are ideal. The First Years also makes some great disposable infant spoons that are ideal for travel (12 for $2.99 at Target, Wal-Mart).

Whenever possible, we tried to feed him in our cabin so that we could enjoy our own meals in the dining room. Be sure to take some small toys to dinner so that he will have something with which to amuse himself.

Take care when packing baby food, juices, or formula to prevent breakage. When packing these items, I first sealed them in gallon-size Ziploc bags. Then, I packed them in the insulated diaper bags given to new moms at the hospital by the infant formula manufacturers. These not only give an added line of defense against spills, but they’re well padded for extra protection.

One cruiser has stated that Princess Cruises provides a limited selection of baby foods and juices if ordered directly from a cruise line representative (NOT the travel agent) before sailing. However, you might take along some food just in case they don’t deliver, as you cannot buy these things on most ships.


Infant cereal


Disposable bowls


Plastic spoons



Disposable bibs


4 oz Juice bottles
I took my own 4-oz jars of juice to carry onto the islands so that we didn’t have to worry about the ship’s juice spoiling in the heat ashore. Gerber’s 4 oz plastic bottles of juice work well for this. If you’re taking the bottles of juice rather than the boxes, don’t forget to take nipples / sport cup lids for them.


RTF Formula (8-oz)
Many cabins do not have refrigerators for keeping formula cold nor any good means for heating cold formula. The 8-oz ready-to-feed formula canisters don’t need refrigeration and therefore don’t need to be heated before serving. You can also take the unopened cans onto the islands without worrying that it will spoil. I wouldn’t suggest taking powdered formula, unless you want to pack water or buy it ($$$$) on board. Babies are usually very sensitive to changes in their formula and may not drink the formula if they don’t like the taste of the ship’s water.



Baby care:

Diapers and/or Pull-Ups

Take at least 10 per day. You’ll probably never use that many, but you don’t want to run out. The ship and most island stores don’t sell them. Don’t pack all of your diapers in one suitcase. If your luggage was lost, you can do without most things, but NOT diapers! Gallon-size Ziploc bags work great for packing diapers if you need to split a package.

Before leaving home, I made several “diaper baggies.” Like the meal baggies, this is just another step to simplify things by ensuring that you have everything you need for a diaper change outside of your cabin. A diaper baggy is a quart-size Ziploc bag holding one diaper (folded in half) and one disposable changing pad. When needed, simply remove the contents of the baggy (and the travel-size wipes), change the baby’s diaper, put the soiled diaper into the Ziploc & discard. This also keeps the diapers and changing pads from getting smashed out of shape in the diaper bag. I would suggest taking 2 baggies per day ashore.


Disp changing pads


Ziploc bags (quart size)
For disposing of stinky diapers.

Baby wipes
Take one box and several travel size packs. Pack the travel sizes in a separate suitcase from the large box of wipes in case some of your luggage is lost. Again, make sure you take plenty…you can’t count on being able to buy more.

Hand sanitizing gel
Travel-size bottle to keep in diaper bag. Great for diaper changes on the islands when washing your hands afterwards is not always an option.

Air freshener
To freshen the cabin after changing a stinky diaper.  I found trial sizes of Lysol at our local Wal-Mart.


Baby wash, baby lotion, diaper rash ointment
Trial sizes are ideal.

Baby sunscreen
If you can find them, the new baby sunscreen wipes work great!

Crib blanket
Carnival provides a Cosco port-a-crib with a 4" mattress. Our cabin stewardess provided a top sheet and a blanket for him, but these were adult-sized. If your baby is accustomed to sleeping with a blanket, you should probably pack a child-sized one. Benjamin liked to sleep with his head pressed against the corner of the crib and appeared to be a bit uncomfortable with his head pressed against the small, round bars on this crib. I folded his blanket and used it as a bumper pad after the first night.

Collapsible bed rail
(toddlers taller than 36”)
For a child taller than 36 inches, the cribs will probably be too small. A collapsible bed rail (we have the Safety 1st Portable Bed Rail) can be slipped under the mattress on the cabin’s sofa bed to ensure that your little one doesn’t roll off. The rail collapses small enough to be stored inside a large piece of luggage for transport.


Pacifiers
With a clip-on pacifier retainer to keep baby from dropping it on the ground.


Special blankets or dolls
Those things that you dare not leave home without!

Toys and books

Remember to take a few small toys for dinnertime amusement.

Nursery monitor
If you have a balcony or friends/family in a cabin next door, consider taking a nursery monitor for naptime.


Nightlight and/or
Small flashlight for checking on them during the night without turning on the brighter lights/lamps. I bought some small touch lights (2 for $1.00) at our local Dollar Tree that are perfect for this. Just remember not to put batteries in BEFORE you put them in the suitcase—trust me! 

Over-the-door shoe organizer
We had never needed one of these before, but I decided to take one for our recent cruise (our first with TWO children). It was such a wonderful way to organize everything. I hung it over the back of the bathroom door and filled the pockets with sippy cups, bottles, pacifiers, sunscreens, travel-size wipes packets, disposable cameras, camera battery chargers, the baby monitor (when not in use)…you get the picture. Mine was clear plastic, so it was great for keeping all of this stuff organized and easily accessible while not taking up valuable vanity or counter space. In my opinion, this is a MUST HAVE for traveling with small children and all of their extra gear!


On The Go:
Car safety device
(Car seat, Sit N Stroll, or Tote N Go)
A Sit N Stroll carseat/stroller combination is an excellent option. It is a 14-pound forward- or rear-facing car seat with stroller wheels/handle that collapse into the seat. It was pretty expensive (the best deal I found online was $169 with no shipping charges), but it was much better than lugging around both the large carseat and a stroller. A more economical option is the Tote N Go ($20 at Wal-Mart), a small padded backboard that converts a regular seat belt to a five-point harness. It would fit easily into a backpack or the basket on an umbrella stroller, but it can only be used forward-facing (therefore, for children 20+ pounds and 12 months or older).


Stroller
An umbrella stroller was ideal for the smaller spaces on the ship and on the island. Of course, if you choose to use a Sit N Stroll, an additional stroller will not be needed.

Disposable ponchos
Adult-size disposable plastic ponchos work great for keeping baby and stroller dry in the rain. Just slip the child’s head though the hood opening and drape the remainder of the poncho over the stroller, taking care to tuck the excess away from the wheels.

Birth certificate or passport
Babies don’t need a photo ID, although if the child’s last name is not the same as the parent or if traveling with only one parent, check to see if you will need additional documentation or authorizations!


Laundry items:

Laundry detergent
Those detergent samples you get in the mail from time to time pack perfectly for cruising, and you know how messy infants can be! If you don’t have samples, the tablet-type detergents are individually wrapped and travel well. Even if you pack extra clothes, you may find yourself needing to wash something. 

Dryer sheets


Shout wipes



First Aid:

Motion sickness meds

Benjamin has never needed anything for motion sickness on the ship even though he gets horribly carsick on long trips. For ages 12-24 months, we took Children’s Benadryl. After age 2, he can take chewable Dramamine. CHECK WITH YOUR PEDIATRICIAN TO FIND OUT WHAT IS BEST FOR YOUR CHILD.


Infant Tylenol
Don’t forget to pack the dosing cup and/or dosing syringe

Infant Decongestant


Infant gas drops


Syrup of ipecac



Underarm thermometer


Neosporin


Band aids


Prescription eye/ear drops
Without fail, someone at his childcare center would have “pinkeye” shortly before each cruise. Although we never needed them, we took along prescription eye drops just in case. For children with tubes in their ears, take along prescription ear drops in case of an infection.

holy moses that was an awesome list!

just remember for plane travel to have them eat or drink when the plan takes off and lands..otherwise take PLENTY of extra diapers cause finding them in an airport is really hard!!!

This is great thanks!

I'll do that! Thanks

Thanks! But please not lost luggage...

Hi, I have 4 kids under 4. My twins are just 10 months younger than their older sister and 13 months older than their baby sister. I think you have some great tips so far but I wanted to suggest some activities for the plane trip and car rides for the kiddos.If you have a portable dvd player, i reccomend it.My girls always loved the coloring book and crayons. I prefer the Crayola no mess kits for traveling and at that young age too.Maybe some books for you to read to them would be helpful too. I know my girls did not like to sit still for long periods at that age.Have a good trip!!!

Update!
We are two weeks away from our grand vacation, and I have two suitcases full already... and I did not pack anything for me and my hubby yet, and nothing from kids clothing! My bedroom looks like storage room filled with suitcases, bags, toys and other stuff. I'm putting everything in my bedroom as soon as I think we can use it, so right now it's big, big, I mean BIG mess. I'm sure some stuff will stay home, but I would like to be prepared as much as I can. I really would not want to search for the stores near where we staying(however I heard Orlando CVS pretty good and have scanners). I figure to put everything together and next week I'll probably will start sorting, what I would put in the diaper bag, what toys we can use in the plane(I don't think I can use anything with remote controls and batteries inside the plane, does anyone know?). I figure I will take couple of baggies for each, filled with new toys and some snacks with us to the plane to keep them busy, and just hope and pray they would be tired and sleep.

We took our kids to Orlando when they were 10 mo, 20 mo and 4...and trave pretty often now (they are 8, 6 & 4 now)
Is there a laundry facility where you are staying? It would cut down on what you had to bring with you. Ours was a condo type, it was great. I brought stuff on the plane for snacks & sippy cups. We rented car seats with the rental car. It was a huge saver! Traveling with all that stuff, plus having the kids...try to consolidate as much as possible. My opinion, I think you will find you will use about 1/2 of what you think you will. Take some toys to occupy them on the plane but in the hotel too. The portable DVD player works great. HTH

Oh, and I forgot.....our Dr said it would be OK, for our youngest one, to give him a little Benadryl, for the ear pressure. You might want to check with your DR for an OK on that, but he slept most of the way there....

Thanks! I would check with my Dr! And we are taking my laptop, it can play DVDs, ohh.. let me put some DVDs to my mess before I forgot