The Best Travel Toys for Babies – 100% Tried and Tested

The Best Travel Toys for Babies:

100% Baby-approved!

Traveling with a baby is definitely not as easy as it was pre-baby.  The very thought of it may even give you anxiety.  How do you entertain baby on the plane?  What if your baby cries and disturbs everyone?  Will baby get bored in the car?  These are all valid questions and we are here to assure you that traveling with a baby does not have to be as stressful as you think!  The trick is to pack light, keep baby happy and bring entertaining travel toys for babies!

Our baby was a very colicky baby, and now a very high-needs baby.  Before our first plane ride with her I was super nervous about how I was going to keep her happy and keep her from crying the entire flight.  I packed a bunch of travel toys and, much to my surprise, she barely made a peep the entire flight!

After a number of flights and road trips with our now 8 month old baby, we have narrowed down the top travel toys to keep baby entertained!  All of the toys we are recommending below are toys we actually own and use on our trips.  They are all the ones our baby girl loved and kept her happy during our travels!

The Best Travel Toys for Babies on the Airplane

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Considering you will already have your hands full with all the extra stuff traveling with a baby entails (ie. stroller, car seat, diaper bag, etc), you will want to pack wisely.  The best travel toys for babies on the airplane are ones that are small and don’t take up much room in your carry on bag.  Also, considering you will be in a small, enclosed space with many other people, it’s best to stick to travel toys for babies that are quiet.

Our favorite travel toys for the plane:

Disney Soft Baby Book

Our baby stays super entertained with this soft, crinkly book!  The front page is made of crinkle paper and she absolutely loves the sound of it.  There is also a squeak ball inside the back page which is another interesting sound to capture her attention.

It has a hard plastic teether as well, different textures of ribbons, tags and ruffles, and a ring to attach it to something so it doesn’t get dropped.  This book makes the perfect travel toy for babies on the plane as it is small, easily fits in the pocket of my bag and isn’t too loud!

Board Books

Board books are perfect for babies as the pages are thick and stand up to all their chewing and teething!  We have a number of small board books that easily fit into my diaper bag.  I always bring one when we travel and make sure to choose a colorful or interactive one.

The classic board book that our baby loves is Goodnight Moon.  She loves how colorful it is!  Board books make the perfect travel toy for babies because they are compact, quiet and can get them relaxed and ready for a nap.

Sophie the Giraffe Teething Ring

We all know Sophie is a hit with babies, no doubt.  For the airplane, I find that the smaller Sophie teething ring version makes a perfect travel toy for teething babies.  It is nice and compact, easy for baby to hold, and is quiet 🙂

Meiya and Alvin Soft Bunny Toy

We love this soft bunny toy!  It is the perfect travel toy for teething babies as the ears are made of rubber.  Our girl loves to gnaw away at the ears that are the perfect shape to rub on her sore gums.  The soft bunny is also comforting for her and easy to hold.  I love that I can just throw it in the wash – so easy to clean!

Baby Banana Toothbrush Teether

Another excellent travel toy for babies that are teething!  This small toy serves a few purposes: entertains baby while soothing sore gums AND cleans teeth and gums at the same time!

Our daughter loves it as it is easy for her to hold and the soft plastic bristles feel unique on her gums.  It also makes brushing her little teeth fun 🙂  The toothbrush comes in the classic yellow colour, too.

Rainmaker Toy

Saving the best for last – this rainmaker toy is amazing!  When nothing else works to calm our fussy baby, this rainmaker toy does it!  I bring it in my bag while traveling as a last resort toy when nothing else is entertaining her.  It is small enough to fit in my diaper bag and it isn’t obnoxiously loud!

The beads sound like soft rain and our baby is super fascinated with them.  She just stares in awe and loves to try to grab on and shake it.  The sound is super soothing for her.  If there is only one travel toy for babies you need to get, this is it!!

Pacifier Clip Silicone Teether

So this isn’t really a travel toy but we found it very helpful on the airplane!  Pacifiers can be quite helpful during takeoff and landing as sucking helps relieve pressure in babies’ ears.  To make sure baby doesn’t drop it and get it dirty we use this to clip to attach it onto her clothes.

Not only does it prevent her pacifier from dropping on the ground, but she also loves chewing on the silicone beads!  It is a great teething toy as well and keeps her entertained when she is not in the mood for the pacifier itself.

Melissa & Doug First Bead Maze

Our baby is obsessed with bead mazes!  They hold her attention for so long so it’s the perfect toy for the airplane.  We love the Melissa & Doug First Bead Maze because it is small enough to fit in a backpack and it has suction cops on the bottom!  It’s the perfect size to use on the seat back tray on the plane 🙂

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Flying with baby soon?  Check out our tips: Flying with a 4 Month Old Baby and Flying with a 6 Month Old Baby

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The Best Travel Toys for Babies on a Road Trip

On a road trip, you are a bit more limited than on the airplane since baby will be strapped into a car seat.  However, since you are in the privacy of a car, you can consider louder and more entertaining travel toys.

Skip Hop Bandana Buddies Baby Activity Chime & Teether Stroller Toy

Our baby used to HATE the car and would scream for an hour straight.  This obviously made traveling with baby on a road trip no fun at all.  However, we kept trying and trying to get her used to the car and finally we discovered something that majorly helped: this elephant chime and teether toy!

It attaches onto the car seat handle and dangles in front of her.  She loves hitting it and hearing the chime.  It is also made of crinkle paper so she loves the sound when she squeezes it.  The bottom is a teething toy which she loves to chew on as well.

Now, our road trips are a lot quieter 😉  This entertains her for a good 30 minutes at least.

Nuby Linkables Baby Teething Toys

These are so simple but babies find them very entertaining!  They are great as a baby travel toy for the car as you can hang them from the car seat handle.  You can also use them to attach other toys.  Our baby loves shaking them around to hear the noise they make and loves chewing on them.  Each ring has different textures and bright colours.

A very affordable travel toy!

Sophie the Giraffe

The classic Sophie!  This full size Sophie is great in the car as baby can squeeze it and hear her squeak as much as she wants.  Sophie is easy to hold onto and fun to chew on with all her different ears, legs, etc!

Bright Starts Grab and Spin Rattle

Another super simple and affordable travel toy!  I keep this in my diaper bag everywhere we go.  It was literally the only thing that would calm our baby down when she was having a meltdown.  We found it perfect for the car when we needed to calm her down but couldn’t stop and take her out of the car seat.

I just shake it for her, even if I’m sitting in the front seat, and the sound calms her down.  If I am sitting next to her I hold it out for her and she loves to hit it and see it spin.  The bright colours and sounds are very fascinating to her.  She loves chewing on it as well.

Leo and Ella Car Seat Protector with iPad Holder

Now this is not a travel toy for babies but it can be super handy for road trips!  We have this is in our car to protect our leather seats, but haven’t used the iPad holder yet as our baby is still pretty young.  However, if you have an older baby and don’t mind them having some screen time, or are just desperate to keep them entertained in the car, this is useful!

The iPad or tablet sits in the pouch against the back of the seat so it only works while babies are rear-facing.

Best Travel Toys for Babies at the Hotel

We find that we don’t usually need to pack extra toys to entertain baby at the hotel/Airbnb.  Usually traveling and seeing all the new sights and sounds is entertaining enough for our little one.  However, if you have a bit of extra room in your checked luggage, you may consider packing the following which make excellent travel toys for babies.

Jolly Jumper

Babies LOVE the Jolly Jumper!  Ours always has the biggest smile when she is in it and it’s a great way to burn off extra energy.  She always sleeps really well after playing in it.

We have the Jolly Jumper with the door frame attachment and it’s easy enough to pack in our checked luggage.  It’s especially great as a travel toy for babies if you have an extended stay somewhere and may be spending a little more time in the hotel room than usual.

Animated Flappy the Elephant Stuffed Animal

This elephant stuffy is quite entertaining for our little girl!  It sings, dances, and its ears cover its eyes to play Peek-A-Boo – so fun!  Babies love Peek-A-Boo so this toy is perfect for this age.  It’s a bit heavier than the average stuffed animal due to the battery pack, but if you have room in your luggage it makes a fun travel toy for babies. 🙂

We hope these travel toys for babies work just as well to entertain your little one as they did for our little girl!  If you have any others to add to the list let us know in the comments below!

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