Traveling with children can be difficult. I say can because I have seen many a child melt down on a plane, in a restaurant or ______ (you fill in the blank with you own location). As we have traveled with our 14 month old son, Aaron, we have learned the hard way what works and doesn't work for us as a family. And despite how good any child is, they can have their moments when you take them out of their routine, place them in unfamiliar surroundings and ask them to "be good".There is a great article over at BootsnAll about travel tips that every parent should know. I would highly recommend that you take a moment to read it before your next family trip. It may just save your sanity.
There are a few other items that I would like to add to the list:
Think about the sleeping arrangements - Not all hotels are equally conducive to putting the kids to bed early while you stay up. I recommend staying in a hotel with all suites, like Embassy Suites or Residence Inn. We have found that with our son, we can't stay up and watch tv or do anything in the room if we can't separate him from us. He is too sensitive to sound or light when sleeping. Sometimes, you are lucky enough to have larger room where you can move them further away from the stimulus, but you can't always count on that. Additionally, not all cribs in hotel rooms are created equally. Some hotels use play pens while others use an actual crib. You may want to bring along your own bedding, and definitely bring along your little girl's favorite blanket to help her sleep at night.
Plan your day based on your child's schedule - This is the best advice I can give. We all know when our children are at the best and worst during the day. Try to plan on being near the hotel or a friend's house when they are going to want to go down for a nap. Go out for a museum visit after they have awoken and are refreshed. Plan your airplane ride for when your child usually sleeps. This one really helps us.
Use your car seat bag for extra luggage space - Now that airlines are charging extra money for all the luggage, make sure that you use the extra space around your car seat back to hold things like diapers, coats, etc. This gives you the extra space you need in your own luggage and allows you to easily grab much needed items when you get the bag from luggage claim. Of course this one only works if you check the car seat and don't take it on the plane. You can also by the great airplane seat harness to eliminate the need to carry that car seat on the plane with you.
Here are some other resources to help you plan your next family trip:
- Traveling with Kids - Family friendly travel gear
- TravelWithYourKids - Tips from parents for parents on a variety of travel related topics
- Flight Attendant's Travel Tips for Children
- MomsMinivan101 - Travel games and road trip ideas
Great links and after checking them out, I found an excellent website on the momsminivan link for another site at www.familytravelgear.com
I chose them for all our gear, and they got it to me in record time. Thought I would pass on the word.