Traveling with Your kids: The do’s and don’ts

Traveling with kids can be a hassle, especially with our younger babies. You want to just sleep on the plan or fully immerse yourself into the culture of the city or country you’re in, but your little one refuses to stop fussing on the plan and your toddler screams that their tired of walking.

Whether you have one or multiple, bigs or littles, there are always tips to share with parents about the best ways to travel with our babies. From my own personal experiences these are the lessons I learned and the ideas I keep on using.

THE DO’S:

• Make sure everyone gets a good nights sleep before catching a flight- A good nights rest keeps the crankiness away and gives the kids the energy to run through the airport without you having to carry them!
• Always Keep Chargers & battery packs on hand- My kids have their own iPads so waiting to board a flight or flying in general can be easy to through when their iPads can be charged at anytime.
• The first day should be a rest day- After a long flight (for the babies) you want to give them a chance to rest and just take in the new place before immersing yourself. I find it makes it easier to enjoy the city without all the extra fussing and extreme temper tantrums.
• Travel w/ a stroller & car seat attachment- you a small baby that needs a carseat? I find it easy to purchase a stroller with a detached carseat that way it feels like your only dealing with one extra carry on instead of two!
• Plan around nap time- a lesson learned when I took my babies to San Juan, it sucks to be in the middle of a tour and your kid starts fussing because they are sleep. I find easier to go out into town in the morning and coming back to the room at nap time. That after nap time, you can grab lunch and finish off the rest of day without lugging a sleepy child around.
• Find activities centered around kids- plan one activity a day that is focused on the kids. I find this keeps them interested in what your doing and eager to do more. whether it’s a children’s museum or an amusement part keeping the kids entertained while on vacation is a key to having a great time!

The Don’ts:

• Focus so much on scheduling- when with your kids nothing goes according to planned, not even at home. Be easy on yourself and your kiddos and just create enough time to do everything at your own speed.
• Don’t get frustrated- I know this is a hard one. One starts to cry then both are screaming and all you want to do is scream. Relax! you’re on vacation, round up the screaming kids and take them to the calming beach or get them to the hotel room and let them pass out while you sip a glass of wine.
• Let them have fun at the airport- In my experience people love talking to kids. let your kids talk to random people they are sitting next in the airport ( as long as your monitoring) it keeps them busy, interested and off the iPads for a little while.
• Don’t ignore them- children are curious. explore with them and talk to them about what they see. the phone can wait till later.
• Let them have their own carry on- My kids loved having their own carry on suitcase. They had their clothes and electronics and it took the weight of me having to carry everything myself.