Do512 Family Featured Babymaker, Catherine Prystup from LiveMom, is sharing her Top 10 Tips for Traveling with Kids with us today. If you have a big Spring Break planned, be sure to read this first!
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With spring break and summer right around the corner, I thought it might be a good time to talk about some travel tips that I have acquired over the course of my parenting career. Some tips have come to me by learning the hard way while others have been much researched. We travel as often as we can with our kids to enhance their worldview and offer a change of scenery. While “vacation” is just a technical term that I use (because no parent of a small child who is traveling with that small child will ever admit to a vacation being relaxing unless there is a full-time nanny along), it is a term that at least implies that a little bit of fun is to be had while traveling. To ensure that it’s not all stressful, my first tip would be: BE PREPARED FOR ANY TYPE OF DISASTER.
That means you should pack with the expectation that your child will get sick on your trip. Your child will have to go potty on the plane right at take off resulting in an accident. Did I mention that it can be fun? Let’s talk about packing for disasters.
*Tip: Carry-on suitcase
Smaller carry-ons were made perfectly to suit the little ones in our lives. Since their clothes are smaller, I’ve found that I can easily accommodate clothing for both my toddler and my school-aged child in addition to stuffing it with diapers and wipes. The reason I like to pack the kids’ clothing in a carry-on is so that I have a change of clothes handy for any uh-oh accidents. Carrying the spare clothes in the suitcase that is stowed overhead frees up space in your handbag/ diaperbag for other essentials that will be covered below.
∗ Tip: For diapers, bring enough to get you through the first 2-3 days of your trip and then buy a pack at your destination.
Same goes for wipes. I typically pack one large container of wipes in the child’s suitcase with a smaller case in my handbag for use while in the airport/ airplane.
∗ Tip: Pack one change of clothing for yourself and your travel partner in the child’s suitcase.
There’s a double benefit to doing this: you have an extra set of clothing should your suitcase get lost AND you have a spare change of clothing should any uh-oh accidents happen while the child is sitting on your lap. Spilled milk, vomit (yes, not pleasant while traveling or really, any time, but it can happen), pee, poop….. not nice to wear while on a long flight. Now that we have the clothing taken care of, let’s talk about entertaining your child(ren) on the plane and in the airport.
