What Is The Best Luggage For Kids? 5 Things You Need To Know

Wouldn’t it be great if you could make your holiday experience easier and less stressful just by knowing what is the best luggage for kids and especially your kid? As you may know from your own experience, traveling with children can get challenging at times. There are too many queues to wait in and not enough entertainment and distraction for the little ones.

Add lack of sleep, airplane noise and food and just too many people everywhere and you’ve got one cranky kid. Wouldn’t it be great if you had a little carry-on suitcase especially for your kid, filled with lots of different things to entertain your child while in transfer or on the plane?

Or a ride-on suitcase junior can sit on when he gets tired? Or maybe you just need a little backpack your child can be responsible for? Let’s look at all the options that are available to see which one is most suitable for you and your child.

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Quality Is Key

This is going to be the most important thing to consider when buying luggage for your child. You want it to be sturdy so it’ll survive the whole trip (and hopefully quite a few more after that) and you definitely don’t want the wheels to break off so you have something extra to carry (plus the upset child).

Not only do you want sturdy wheels, but also a strong case, especially if you are looking to buy a ride-on suitcase. You don’t want the little one to be sitting on the ride-on and all of a sudden the whole thing collapses (apparently this has happened).

Another thing to consider would be the material itself; if it’s a hard side it should be easy to clean and just wipe it down when something gets spilled on it (make sure the zip is covered so liquid doesn’t seep through); a hard side is more prone to denting though. If it’s a soft side it might stain more easily and tear more easily, but it would be more flexible.

Ride On Luggage For The Little Ones

This is a pretty good solution for anyone with little kids, as the possibilities are many with a ride-on suitcase; it allows children to just sit on the luggage and rest their little legs after a long flight or while waiting in a long queue. If there’s plenty of room and not too many people, it can be fun to race around the airport on it.

If that gets boring, the luggage can be pulled along for a walk, and if someone’s legs are too tired to walk, the parents can tug the ride-on luggage around with the little one on it. As long as you choose good quality, the materials are tough and durable to support a small child (usually up to 50kg), they are hand luggage size and many of them don’t weigh much either, along with giving a good capacity to store things in.

Now, the downside… You might not feel like pulling a child along, or your kid might go off racing around without paying much attention to other passengers.

Another thing to remember is that this is really only for smaller children when it comes to the ride-on option, but as it is possible to be used similar to a little carry-on, it can still last for a few years, even after the child has grown too tall to ride-on. Keep in mind that the ride-on might be a bit bigger than normal cabin sized luggage.

Check out our review on the Trunki ride on suitcase. 

Scooters And Other Carry-On

For a fun alternative for older kids, there are also scooter style suitcases; literally consisting of a scooter (which can be folded back up, turning the scooter back into a carry-on) with a small luggage compartment on the front. (These are also available for grown-ups!) Doesn’t that sound fun!

As with everything else, make sure to choose good quality for a lasting fun experience. You don’t want something breaking off while scooting around the airport.

And of course, there are downsides or at least precautions to take into consideration as well. Where there are many people, the scooter part might not come into much use, as it is too dangerous to run into other passengers, but at least you can then just fold it back into a carry-on case. Of course the scooter works the best indoors on flat surfaces, they are not made for cobble streets.

If you don’t like the idea of a scooter, then a normal kid-sized wheeled carry-on might be best for you. They come in all colours and shapes, so it shouldn’t be hard to find one that is perfect for your child.

Backpacks

Backpacks are great when you are travelling mostly at nighttime and/or have a few stopovers, which means your child might be sleeping through most of it, but if there are some awake times, you’ll have some things handy to entertain and keep busy.

They also mean you don’t have to pull around an extra piece of luggage, but can just hang it off your shoulder, should your little one be fast asleep. Backpacks also come in many great designs, with lots of kids’ favourites to choose from.

Which one to choose?

As with choosing other luggage, it just depends on your needs. How old is your child? Do you have a young child that would love the ride-on luggage it can sit on when tired and pull along just like a big child? Or do you have kid that’s scooting everywhere already and knows how to avoid running into people?

Other questions to consider are also where are you travelling to and what will you get the most use out of? Are you just traveling from one airport to the next? What time are you travelling?

If your child is mostly asleep, a backpack might be the best choice, if the trip is during daytime, a carry-on or ride-on might be the better idea, as your child has something to pull around as well. Always keep in mind that you might be the one ending up carrying your kids’ luggage as well.

Let me know if you’ve found the perfect solution for your child.

Happy, safe and relaxed travels!