Traveling with babies or very young children may seem like a challenge, but with a little preparation and some helpful(I hope)advice, you may be able to make things a bit easier on yourself. I have had lots of experience traveling with my children- from one infant to my growing family of 5 children- from the airplane flight to the road trip- and traveling alone with my children and with the help of my husband. Since I have here various situations I will try to list some helpful tips. I shall start with tips for road trips with the very young, and conclude with air travel tips.
Road trips are such great ways for building special family memories. At the same time, parents may dread those long rides with fears about wining children, frequent bathroom stops and sibling rivalry in the cramped quarters of an automobile. Our family's greatest road trip challenge was a cross country trip with our then 18 month old daughter, our 6 and 7 year old daughters, and our 9 and 11 year old sons. Fortunately, the shorter day trips and just knowing our kids helped us strategize our plans.
Depending on the size of your car, and the size of your family, you may be able to bring extra baggage in comparison to air travel, but I would highly recommend that you do not over-pack. Besides your basic clothing and toiletries, here are a few handy items to bring along:
A portable potty chair- especially if you have girls. I found out from those shorter trips that public restrooms are not always close enough, and little girls would rather sit down if you get my point. I began to just leave a portable potty chair in my car for these situations.
A small cooler with water and healthy snacks- especially for longer trips when frequent stopping at convenience stores and fast food restaurants get tiresome and expensive after a while. When we took our cross country trip, we all quickly got tired of burgers and fries and craved salad and fresh fruit.
A small first aid kit, or at least bandages and antibiotic ointment.
Pre-recorded stories on cds/mp3s/tapes-whatever you have in your car. I realize many people now have dvd players in their cars- we did not have this luxury when my children were young, and I am actually glad we didn't. When we needed some down time we put on our story tapes. I suppose dvd's are good to help create a quiet time in the car, but try not to overuse them. Remember the lost art of the road trip games like how many blue cars can you count between here and the next exit, or the I'm thinking of an animal guessing game- or just looking out the window at the scenery.
Consider taking a road trip off season when attractions are less crowded and lines are shorter since little ones get tired quickly waiting in long lines.
If you have a larger car with more seating options strategically seat your children where they can be the most helpful and have the least conflicts, like an older sibling next to baby's car seat to help reach for those dropped toys or hold a baby bottle in place.
Whenever I traveled by air with my children, from a very young age I prepared them well in advance what to expect. Perhaps this is more out of necessity since my husband works in the travel industry and most of our air travel has been space available travel. This means if the flight is full, we need to wait for another, sometimes coming back to the airport the next day or so before one is available. Sometimes it means we won't have seats together- believe me this is torture for a 3 year old sitting across the row from mother and not next to her. Therefore, the best thing I could do was to prepare them. Before our trip we would get them coloring books, small toys or games, and snacks for the flight. We prepared them for staying in their seats instructing them that the only time to get out of the seat was to use the rest room and that meant only if the fasten seat belt sign was off and there were no food or beverage carts in the aisle. For our preschool aged children, we had them wear a pull up just in case the light wouldn't come on and they couldn't wait- for emergencies. They were told ahead of time that if our seats were not together that mom or dad would come to their seat right after the seat belt sign was turned off to check on them and we would continue to check throughout the flight. We told them the rules on the plane about storing their bags, and when they could take something out. They were told ahead that the food and drinks were served at a certain time during the flight and they needed to wait for that time. If they wanted something before that time, they had their own snacks. I am a big fan of traveling light, and when it comes to air travel we pack only what fits into a carry-on. Each of my children have always had a carry-on wheel bag proportional to the size they could pull. I also had gum for my children to give them for the descent. This helps with the pressure changes in the ear. Wake up children when the flight descends so they can focus on relieving the pressure in their ears. Children are usually more sensitive than adults to the pressure changes. If you have an infant who is riding on your lap, nursing or giving a bottle during descent is helpful. My husband and I spent a lot of time preparing our children for air travel, and it really paid off. If you have seen my profile, you know we are from Hawaii, which means the flights we go on are long flights. Children can and do behave on a long flight- sometimes even better than adults I have seen! Just prepare, prepare, prepare!
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