Suitcases when travelling with children

[Lauren83]

What does everyone tend to do? We are about to invest in some new cases and don't want to make a bad decision, we have a 1 year old and a newborn due and I'm not sure what's best to do with regards to luggage when flying abroad, I know every airline is different so will need to check this out but do you tend to find it's better to combine their luggage allowance into your cases (in this case we would get a bigger size case however I'm aware whilst you can pool luggage allowance each bag has a limit) or do you take 2 adult cases for the hold and then the kids a case each in the hold with their allowance in?

They don't get an allowance till they are two I think - under 2 they can have their baby equipment and a changing bag.

We just chuck all our stuff in one big case and put that in the hold.

Thanks for the reply, we did get 10kg for DS last year when we flew Thomas cook and TUI with him 5 and 8 months, I think the rules were you could choose so many things from a list of items included a 10kg hold bag, a travel cot, pram, car seat etc, we chose to take the hold bag and the pram. We want to buy some decent cases that we are hoping will last but the size we get will depend on if we bother with separate bags for the kids, just can't decide what to do for the best

I've got a 4 year old and a 6 week old. We have 3 large cases and just mix all our clothes in together. We are going abroad next week...

I never have a suitcase per person. My biggest fear is one of the suitcases will be lost and someone won't have any clothes! By mixing them all in together I'm guaranteed at least a few outfits per person 😊

Not all airlines allow you to pool your luggage allowance. Also, baggage handlers don't like very heavy cases and they get thrown around more.

I would get a mixture of sizes (but not a huge one - too easy to overpack). I've just got the tape measure out. Our most used cases are 55-65cm on the longest side. One slightly smaller one for short trips.

We generally travel with one less case than person (so, all 4 of us is 3 cases. Just me and 2 kids, 2 cases), and yes, I mix everything up, so everyone has a couple of sets of clothes in each case.

I dont worry about matching cases - we just buy the most distinctive colour in the shop when we need a new case - ours were getting old when we started doing a LOT of flights 4 years ago, so we've just replaced over time.

Thankyou, yes will definitely be sure to do that, especially after spending £9 on a mini pack of pampers in skiathos last year when we ran out on the last day, I think we might do that take 3 cases and spread the weight allowance out across all 3. The debate between me and DP was he felt we should get a smaller size case as the kids would have their own but I felt we should get the biggest size case and put their weight allowance in with ours

Thanks Tapas, will definitely check if we can pool with the airlines we are most likely to fly with, they do state a capped max limit for 1 bag so I do need to consider pooling may mean we end up taking less by way of weight

Yes to mixing clothes between cases. We always do that on the journey out.

That's great sunshine really appreciate you checking thanks, we won't be getting really expensive ones just hard bodied IT ones around £60-£70 each as our old ones are falling apart, we found them on offer on Sunday but we couldn't decide on the size to get so left it for now, definitely swaying towards doing the same and taking 3.

Those IT cases are fab but I would avoid the hard case versions. They weigh more before you've even put anything in and because they have less 'give' tend to break more in my experience when chucked about by the handlers. I've never had a hard case last more than 2 years!

Showmethegin I didn't really consider that thankyou, will have to check out the weight online for them as I'm the type who goes right up to the limit so don't want to waste it, it's stressing me out more than it should this I have just been tasked to make a decision on which I want and it's proving much more difficult than it should be

It entirely depends where you’re flying and for how long. Long haul, two massive suitcases are easier (because who can wheel 4 smaller ones?). Short haul to Europe we always use big rucksacks and then small carry ons with just essentials for the flight.

We have a couple of medium sized ones for the hold which when fully packed are around 20kg and enough cabin sized bags for us all for short trips when we won't want to pay to check in bags. I always mix up clothes for everyone across the bags we take in case a bag goes missing (even cabin bags as they can sometimes get taken off you to be put in the hold). I use packing cubes to separate out everyone's stuff within the bags.

A rucksack is great if you might be by yourself with a child in a buggy, especially with an extra child.

Get the standard max size that the big carriers state and go from there. Simples

I travel between where we live & uk regularly with 3dc (all teens or nearly so now). We travel a lot & have probably experienced every suitcase disaster imaginable...

Top tips would be: hard shell cases with good wheels. A small child can propel one of these easily. Go medium size so you can't overload it. These are also great for school residentials etc. Get a distinctive colour/print/let the kids put stickers on it so you can find the damn thing on the conveyor!

We regularly break all these rules for U.K. trips - big cheap suitcases with smaller ones inside on the way to Heathrow so we can max out our U.K. shopping sprees, all manner of crappy cases or cardboard boxes on way back! - but for hols it's a sturdy case with good wheels per person, every time.

& yep absolutely mix up the contents. Learned that a couple of years ago when my case got left on the tarmac & I had to borrow teenage ds's clothes for 24 hours 😁

Purple I didnt think our criteria of "one must fit inside the other for trips to UK" was appropriate in this case, but it sounds like you do similar travel (and shopping!) to us!
I'd also vote for a hard case, with 4 good wheels. Our fabric cases tend to have the handles pulled off!

My record is 40kg in one case. Luckily that was just shifting from one house to the next, and I could redistribute it before we flew. Bigger is not always best!

Think what's feasible when you'll be juggling a buggy or two. I'd look to get 2 larger cases with wheels. Between the 2 of you you only have 4 hands!

This is all really really helpful thank you everyone! We have plenty of suitable cabin bags for shorter breaks etc it's just big cases we need to replace ours, the ones we used last year were cheap crap ones from B&M as we had to go the Greece with 24 hours notice (IVF cycle abroad) and it was the closest place to me, it was touch and go if they made the flight back they were a falling apart before we left Manchester

Yes to making sure the cases have four wheels, not two.