Savannah Packing List: What We Liked & What We’d Skip

When we visited Savannah in May, it was our first time flying with two small kids. I’ll admit that I was freaking NERVOUS about packing all the right things. I’m usually kind of a last-minute packer, but this time I had our bags all set like 3 days ahead of time.

That said, if you’re new to traveling with kids and beginning to plan your pack, the list below may be a good start!

1. One big suitcase

We opted to put stuff for all four of us in one big suitcase that we checked. Since we have the United MileagePlus card, it was free to check the one bag on both flights. We knew we’d be bogged down with strollers, car seats, and the personal items we were bringing on the plane, so we wanted to have just one bag that we could ditch right at check-in.

Verdict: Worked perfectly! It didn’t cost us anything, and was super easy.

2. Double stroller & travel bag

I’m a big fan of our double stroller, the Zoe Twin+. It’s super lightweight, seems comfy for the kids, and lets each of them recline individually, which is perfect since naps never seem to match up for us!

For this trip, we got the travel bag to go with it. It gave me peace of mind that our stroller was safe and sound while it was stowed away under the plane. We used the stroller throughout the airport and gate-checked it right as we boarded.

Verdict – Stroller: It worked pretty well. I do wonder how we’d do with two single strollers or a stroller and a toddler carrier, since the width of a double stroller can be a pain sometimes.

Verdict – Travel Bag: Worked great! It kept our stroller safe and was fairly easy to use. Definitely suggest practicing it once before your trip, so you’re not struggling to figure it out right before boarding your flight.

3. Car seats & travel bags

My pre-travel research led me to the Cosco Scenera Next carseat and a friend of mine recommended these car seat travel bags.

We ended up gate checking one of the bags instead of just checking it in as soon as we got to the airport, since I thought my son might want to use it on the plane. Both options were free (on United at least), so it’s all preference. But if you gate check, you should first take a moment to shove anything into the bag that you don’t actually want to bring on the plane (bulky jackets, for example, if you’re heading from somewhere cold to somewhere warm!)

Verdict – Car Seat: Really not a fan! They were super lightweight, which was great, but they’re annoying to adjust and install. I’ll fiddle with it between now and our next trip and hopefully like it more.

Verdict – Travel Bags: Worked well – it would’ve been nice if they had wheels too, but otherwise no complaints.

4. Kid Carry-Ons

For each of our kids, I packed a small ‘personal item’ sized bag for them to bring on the plane. It included: crayons, a couple of tiny Play-Doh tubs, a book, a blanket, a lovey, a refillable water bottle, some toys they haven’t seen in a while, a sweater, and spare diapers/undies.

Verdict: As far as entertainment, my 3 year old just wanted the iPad, and my 1 year old just wanted to escape…but I’d pack these bags again – it was overall helpful and good just in case!

5. Snacks

This deserves its own section: Pack snacks in your carry-on. A lot of snacks. More than you think, decent variety too. Why? Becauseeee you could end up with a weather delay at night, when airport restaurants are all closed up (like we did). Since a weather delay sucks enough, you don’t want to be end up with hungry kids too! And in general, fun snacks help pass the time on a flight.

Also, since we can’t carry-on liquids, I made sure to buy some drinks (milk / juice) for the kids right away once we got through security, so they could drink them during take-off if their ears were popping!

Verdict: Thankfully my tendency to go overboard worked well here. Next trip will certainly be a snackstravaganza as well.

6. White noise machine

Our kids have always slept with white noise of some kind, either an actual white noise machine or a box fan. After going back and forth on it quite a bit, I decided to pack one of our white noise machines in the suitcase.

When we got to our Airbnb late at night (due to our flight delay), I was dismayed to learn that our place was located above a noisy bar and the baby was struggling to fall asleep because of it. Once I pulled out the white noise and got it cranking, she finally passed out – yay!

Verdict: I was SO thankful I packed this, and I will for our future trips too. If you can’t fit one of these in your suitcase, there’s lots of phone apps available!

7. Inflatable Bed Rails

Our youngest was just under a year and a half when we took our trip, which is peak ‘self-destruct’ mode around here, so I worried about her rolling out of the bed (there was no crib at the Airbnb).

Ahead of our trip, I purchased these inflatable bedrails to keep her safe if I was ever not laying down with her. I ended up not using them, though! I was happy to see that our Airbnb’s beds were loaded with pillows, so I just built little pillow walls around her at bedtime.

Verdict: I may pack these in the future, if we’re going to an Airbnb and I’m not sure what to expect; at a hotel, I’d just request extra pillows and make another pillow fort.

We learned a lot from our first family packing experience – if you have any suggests for our future trips, comment them below!