Travelling With Kids at Christmas: The Packing List and the Departure Rule That Hold the Journey Together

You get through it by packing into three bags instead of one — the boot bag you will not open until you arrive, the cabin or overnight bag, and the small bag that stays within arm's reach of the child the whole way — and by leaving on a schedule that already has the stops written into it. For a drive, that means at least 15 minutes of break after every two hours of driving, as the Highway Code advises, and no long journey between midnight and 6am. For a flight, it means building the delay into the plan rather than being ambushed by it.

That is the method. The rest is detail.

The departure rule: plan the stops, then work backwards

What breaks a Christmas journey is a timetable with no slack. Four hours of driving is not four hours of journey.

The Highway Code's Rule 91 tells drivers to get sufficient sleep before a long journey, to avoid undertaking long journeys between midnight and 6am, and to plan in "at least 15 minutes after every two hours of driving". RoSPA's driver fatigue factsheet gives the same minimum, and notes that tiredness may be a contributory factor in up to 20 per cent of road collisions and up to a quarter of fatal and serious ones. Sleep-related crashes, it says, cluster between midnight and 6am and again between 2pm and 4pm.

So the rule is arithmetic, not willpower:

1. Write down the driving time your map app gives you.

2. Add 15 minutes for every two hours. A four-hour drive becomes four and a half; a six-hour drive becomes six and three-quarters, before anyone has needed the toilet.

3. Add another 15–20 minutes if a child is in nappies, because one stop will run long.

4. Work backwards from the time you want to arrive, not the time you leave.

Do not fix a late start by driving through the night. And if the driver starts yawning, Rule 91 is clear: stop somewhere safe, not on the hard shoulder or in an emergency area.

The packing list, split by bag

Print this. The split is the point: one huge bag means unpacking it all on a verge in the dark to find the spare trousers.

Bag one: the boot bag (not opened until you arrive)

- Clothes for everyone, for the number of nights plus one

- Pyjamas each; Christmas Day outfits kept separate so they aren't worn on day one

- Wellies and a spare pair of shoes each

- Coats, hats, scarves — and second gloves, because one always goes

- Toiletries and toothbrushes

- The presents, wrapped before you leave, in one labelled box

- Travel cot or bed guard; the sleeping bag or duvet they actually sleep under

- A roll of bin bags — wet clothes, the journey home, everything

- Chargers, plus a spare cable

Bag two: the cabin bag or overnight bag

The one that comes into the house first, or onto the plane: the first four hours after we arrive, plus anything irreplaceable.

- Nappies, wipes, nappy sacks — the journey plus a full day

- Formula, bottles, sterilising kit, or whatever your feeding setup is

- Medicines in original packaging, enough for the trip plus spare days

- Comforter, dummy, the spare dummy, one familiar bedtime book

- A change of clothes per child, and one for the adult sitting next to them

- Passports and travel documents, if flying

- Snacks that survive being sat on

Bag three: the bag that stays within reach

Small, soft, in the footwell or under the seat in front. Nothing in it needs digging for.

- Wipes. More wipes than you think.

- Two nappies and a fold-out changing mat

- A full change of clothes for the youngest, sealed in a bag, and a muslin

- Water in a spill-proof cup, and one for you

- Snacks in small portions rather than one big packet — they last longer that way

- A sick bag or two, even if nobody in your family gets travel sick

- Tissues, hand gel, painkillers, infant paracetamol if that is what you use

- Two screen-free things: stickers, a notebook and pencils, a lift-the-flap book

- Headphones, if there is a screen — it is a long journey, of course there might be

- A plastic bag for rubbish

Car seats and winter coats: the bit worth getting right

The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration puts it plainly: "Cold months require heavier coats, but too much bulk can create extra room in the harness causing a loose fit, and putting the child at risk for injury in the event of a crash." Their advice: "choose lightweight fleece layers instead of puffy materials," and for warmth, "cover your child with a blanket, or put a coat on backwards over the properly fitted harness."

Good Egg Car Safety, the UK child car seat charity, says the same: remove coats and jackets, strap them in properly, then tuck a blanket around them. For babies, a cosy toes approved by the seat manufacturer, or a thin blanket folded in half and tucked tightly over the harness. Their harness check: pull it tight enough that you can just get two fingers between child and straps.

On a December morning: coats off at the car door, children in, harness tightened, coat back on over the top like a blanket. Ninety extra seconds, every time.

If you are not sure your seat is fitted correctly — plenty of us aren't — Good Egg run free checking events, and many retailers will check one.

If you are flying: what you can actually take

Rules vary by airport, airline and country, so check yours before you travel. What follows is the UK government's position for departures from UK airports — a baseline, not the whole answer.

Baby milk and baby food. GOV.UK says you are "allowed to take enough baby food, baby milk and sterilised water for the journey" and that "there is no legal limit to how much you can take" — while still telling you to check with your airport first. Containers of breast milk must hold no more than 2,000ml. Everything is screened, and the baby has to be with you.

Everything else liquid. At most UK airports, nothing larger than 100ml through security, in one transparent resealable bag of no more than a litre, roughly 20cm x 20cm. Some airports now allow up to 2 litres. GOV.UK is explicit that "the rules for carrying liquids in your hand luggage depend on the airport" — so check where you fly from and anywhere you change. The way home may not match the way out.

Car seats on the plane. The FAA does not require a child restraint system on commercial flights but "strongly recommends" one, saying "the safest place on an airplane for children under 2 years is in an approved child car seat or device based on the child's weight." Look for one labelled "certified for use in motor vehicles and aircraft"; the AmSafe CARES harness is FAA-certified for children up to 40 inches tall weighing 22–44 pounds. Seats generally go in a window seat, never an exit row. Airlines set their own policies on accepted devices — ask yours.

Timing at the airport. GOV.UK's air travel checklist adds one thing worth knowing: "Don't arrive earlier than the earliest time advised by your airline, as this can cause congestion and delays."

Average delay per flight at six major UK airports, December 2025. Source: UK Civil Aviation Authority, Punctuality Statistics, December 2025.*

The delay kit

A delay is not a disaster; an unprepared delay is. An average of twenty-odd minutes sounds small, but averages hide a long tail. Plan for the average, pack for the tail. The delay kit lives inside bag three, sealed until things go wrong:

- One never-seen-before small toy or sticker book per child, still in its packaging

- A second round of snacks, different from the first, and a spare top for you

- A film already downloaded, not streaming, and a charged battery pack

- A printed booking reference and the grandparents' address and phone number

- Two empty water bottles to fill after security

- Something for you: a book, a queued podcast, chocolate

A parent who has eaten is a considerably better parent at hour five.

The timing plan for a long drive, step by step

1. The night before. Load the boot — presents first, boot bag on top, bag two on the back seat, bag three in the footwell. Fuel and tyres tonight.

2. Leave after breakfast. A fed child travels better, and the first hour stops being about food.

3. Stop at two hours and again at four, fifteen minutes each, whether or not anyone has asked. Everyone gets out; everyone walks. The four-hour stop is the one people skip and the one that matters.

4. Swap drivers at a stop, never on the move, and arrive in daylight if you can.

And decide out loud, at the start, that one thing will go wrong. It reframes the moment from "this is falling apart" to "ah, there it is."

Which kind of Christmas traveller are you?

Some families come unstuck on timing, some on packing, some only on the last hour. The two-minute quiz below finds your weak point and gives you three or four things to change before you go.

Frequently asked questions

How early should we leave for a long Christmas drive with a toddler?

Work backwards from arrival, not forwards from departure. Take the driving time, add 15 minutes for every two hours as the Highway Code advises, then another 15–20 minutes if a child is in nappies. Leaving after breakfast usually beats leaving at dawn. Avoid a long drive between midnight and 6am — the Highway Code advises against it, and RoSPA notes sleep-related crashes cluster then.

Can my child wear their winter coat in the car seat?

Road safety bodies advise against a bulky coat under the harness. NHTSA says too much bulk "can create extra room in the harness causing a loose fit," and recommends lightweight fleece layers instead, with a blanket over the top or the coat put on backwards over the fastened harness. Good Egg Car Safety says the same, and suggests checking you can just get two fingers between child and straps.

How much baby milk can I take through airport security in the UK?

GOV.UK says you can take enough baby food, baby milk and sterilised water for the journey, with no legal limit, though containers of breast milk must be no more than 2,000ml and your baby must be with you. Everything is screened and staff may ask to open it, so leave extra time. Rules differ by airport and country — check where you fly from, where you return, and anywhere you change.

Should I buy a seat for my baby on the plane, or hold them on my lap?

Both are permitted by many airlines, and it is your call. The FAA does not require a child restraint system but strongly recommends one, saying the safest place for children under two is an approved car seat or device based on the child's weight, and suggesting you buy a seat so you can use one. Airline policies vary, so confirm before booking.

Where do the presents go, and is Christmas Eve travel a bad idea?

Presents go in the boot, wrapped before you leave, in one labelled box, so you can see at a glance they all made it. If you are flying, wrapped presents can be opened at security. Christmas Eve is fine on a short hop and hard on a long route — at Happy Parents Today we'd rather you travelled a day earlier and bought an hour you can afford to lose.

Before you go: the free planner

If the days around the journey are the part you dread, the Weekly Kids Activity Planner gives you a one-page week to fill in before you go — arrival day, the days at the grandparents', the journey home — so nobody is inventing each morning from scratch. It is free.

Get the Weekly Kids Activity Planner https://happyparentstoday.com/weekly-kids-activity-planner

If you would rather solve the travel side of family life once, 50 Tips for a Stress-Free Family Vacation collects the packing, timing, airport and long-drive tactics into one guide. It is €9.99.

Read about 50 Tips for a Stress-Free Family Vacation https://happyparentstoday.com/50-tips-for-a-stress-free-family-vacation

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