A few weeks back I shared about our epic adventure to New Zealand and Australia which we are now on! Currently we a nestled into the Queenstown, NZ country side having a family picnic on Lake Hayes. I wanted to share a few things I learned from our recent travels. Granted, our travels were International and longer than most, but these 5 Tips for Traveling with Toddlers will change your travel experience for the better!
This is about the time when you might be contemplating or planning your summer vacation(s). Will you stay close to home? Travel to the family beach house? Explore a new state? Visit another country? All of these ideas sound good…right?! But you may find yourself holding back at the thought of hours on a plane or in a car with your toddler(s). Fear not! The vacation of your dreams is achievable with your little(s) as long as you have a plan! And I’m here to help! Hopefully some or all of these ideas will work for you too!
As we got closer to our departure date I did what most of us do … started reading blogs. In particular, I was looking for some travel ideas and advice for traveling with Kade, but was extremely disappointed in what I found. The suggestions were either obvious, not something I would do, or didn’t seem to apply to us. So, I tapped into my event planning, think three steps ahead, troubleshooting mind to think of, and attempt to problem solve all the scenarios that I thought could occur on our trip.
With numerous flights (very, very long flights) and roads trips, I needed to be able to overcome hunger, boredom, changing diapers, being tired, sleeping comfortably, ears popping and plain ole normal toddler meltdowns.
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LET’S BE REAL
Here is the most important thing to recognize when you decide to take a big trip with your kids! Know that it is NOT going to be 100% smooth sailing! Accept this, be okay with it and move on. The whole purpose of having a plan and a strategy is because you KNOW issues will occur. Our success in how we overcome the issues is in our demeanor, the tone we use to address our children and how we put our plan into action. Okay, here we go!
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TRAVEL AHEAD OF TIME
If you are truly concerned about your toddler on the road or in the air PRACTICE! Think of it this way… you wouldn’t just go perform in a dance recital without practicing… right? Or play in a football game without some previous practice. Or…you don’t just automatcially know the color blue without learning it. The same logic applies here. If we want our toddlers to be okay with traveling, then we need to introduce them to it. You could start gradually with a few hour drive to a nearby park or attraction. Take a weekend trip to see friends or family. Book a weekend getaway somewhere close and fly. This will not only help your toddler get used to traveling but it will help ease your mind too! And it gives you a chance to practice some of the below hacks too!
In our experience with Kade, introducing travel has seemed to work well. Kade was about 4 months old on his first road trip . Having family and friends who live in NC and MA certainly helps. He has also flown to Boston, Cancun, Los Angeles and now New Zealand. I truly believe familiarizing him with previous flights and longer road trips made a huge impact on the success of our trip to LA and NZ.
TRAVEL AT NIGHT
If at all possible, travel at night! It’s when our kids naturally sleep, and the evening darkness will help them slip into the sleep zone which should buy you a few hours of quiet time. The downfall is that it is also when we sleep. If you are able to drive with another adult create a driving plan taking turns staying awake at the wheel. And when it comes to flying, we are all at the mercy of the flight schedules. But if you plan ahead you can try to book an early morning or late evening flight.
When Kade was younger we could easily make a daytime 5-hour trip to Raleigh with no problem. But, as he has gotten older with more energy, curiosity and self-reliance, he wants to be on the go and active. Back in the fall we decided to try night travel and it worked out great! To/From both Raleigh and Boston departing when Kade normally goes to bed which is around 8pm. We popped him in the car with pjs on, his bottle and stuffed animal. Each time he fell asleep quickly and stayed asleep for most of the trip too!
SNACKS
Hangry is real! And the last thing we want to experience is a hangry toddler when we are confined to a car, plane or train! And the worst is if we are hangry too! Be sure to pack plenty of snacks for all the travelers in your group! It’s best to cover off on all the bases… sweet, salty, crunchy and chewy. Pretty sure packing snacks is a no brainer and another freebie. But it’s how to pack the snacks that can be very helpful! There are plenty of options available for each travel storage situation. When road tripping you have the most room and can be more inclined to grab the cereal boxes, bags of pretzels, candy jar, etc
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MOM HACK: Keep your snack bag and cooler bag in a centrally located spot for easy access from your seat in the car.
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On a plane this is a different story… no one is rolling up with their cooler and actually expecting to board. We have less storage and less options of what we can actually bring on the plane. What I found to work well is to designate one bag for the main snacks. However, I also recommend stashing a few pretzel packs and pouches in every bag you are carrying. You never know when you could be in a pinch and another bag is easier to access than the snack pack. I prefer to pack items that are pre-packaged in serving sizes or creating my own with ziplocks. That way they are small, compact and easier to handle.
Kade’s favorite snacks are constantly changing and he gets bored of the same thing over and over again. So naturally I packed a variety. It was also important for me to pack items that we could all eat…pretzel sticks, fruit snacks, cookies, gummy bears, chips, chocolate candies, and protein bars. Specifically for Kade I did add a couple yogurt and apple sauce pouches. We also packed a water cup, milk cup, snack bowl and plastic utensils for Kade.
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MOM HACK: Take your water bottles/cups to a restaurant in the airport and they will fill them with water and ice for free. They may charge for milk, but it is less expensive than buying at the airport shops.
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ENTERTAINMENT
You probably have a good idea of your child’s attention span. If your little has out of the home care you could also ask their teacher/caregiver about their attention habits. This will be helpful in gauging how often you will need to introduce a new form of entertainment on the trip. Entertainment can be in the form of a watching a movie/tv show, coloring, reading books, playing games, playing with toys or even eating. The goal should be to have a variety available and switching things up for your kiddo(s) before they even know they are over what they were doing.
I can’t stress enough how the DOLLAR TREE can be your best friend here! Personally, I did not want to pack many of Kade’s favorite toys incase something happened to them. He was allowed to bring one friend (stuffed animal) along on our trip.
Our first flight was to Los Angeles… a 5.5 hour flight. Up until this point Kade’s longest flight was 3.5 hours to Cancun. We had 8 items packed for entertainment. Six actual objects and tv shows/movies on the tablet. I was hoping I wouldn’t need all the items but we had them just incase. We took off mid morning, Kade usually naps from 1pm-3pm and I wasn’t expecting that to happen. Sure enough I was right! He was up the entire flight! Around 4.5 hours into the flight Kade started to get a bit restless but all in all, the toys and movies worked well.
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MOM HACK: Gift wrap Dollar Store items for your kids. Not only is it exciting to get a present but the unwrapping helps to take up time!
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PACK THE RIGHT GEAR
Your family’s gear needs should be based on your family, the type of travel and your destination. Assuming you are still reading this because you have little ones… you will most likely be thinking about a stroller, car seat(s), possibly a pack-n-play and more. That gear plus your luggage really adds up! When traveling by vehicle it is a bit more manageable but on a plane… yikes!
Here is what we found to work for us and how we used some of the packing to our advantage!
- Umbrella Stroller with Travel Bag – A stroller is an absolute must for trips with a toddler and it was great to have going through the airport. Of course I wanted to bring our Bob so we could run on our trip. But I had to be more practical with space and size on the plane, in the rental cars and storing at our rental homes.
- Car Seat – If traveling by your own car, you are most likely set here. But if you’re renting a car, you are going to need a car seat. It is also a great idea for your littles to fly in a car seat. They are already familiar with the feeling and can be strapped in safely. In order to use a car seat on the plane you need to have a FAA approved carseat. They are reasonably priced and can be used for your entire trip!
- Car Seat Travel Bag – If you choose to fly and check a car seat you need this travel bag! The material is highly durable, has backpack straps and folds up into a small pocket for storage when not needed. You can also add extra items into this bag for packing.
- Child Carrier – If taking an adventure vacation you may want to consider a child carrier. When Kade was smaller we used an Ergo Baby which was great. But with Kade getting bigger and the hiking we planned to do we needed to upgrade. We checked the carrier in the yellow travel bag listed above and added in our hiking boots and jackets. Bulky items that would have been tough to fit in our suitcase.
Having kids does not mean you have to stop traveling. It just means you have to take a little more time to plan and prepare. And the memories you will make on your trip will all be worth the extra effort! Hopefully you found these travel tips helpful and give them a try! I would love to know what you think or if you have any suggestions to share! `12
Thank you to Jade for helping me capture these cute pictures!
