Travelling can be a headache, especially when it’s done with kids. Long plane rides or car rides can make any child restless, thereby making your trip miserable. It doesn’t have to be.
Here are some tips to use to try to make travelling with tots a bit better:
Tip #1 – Plan ahead
Last minute, spontaneous car rides don’t work when there’s children involved. Plan your route and plan for frequent stops, too. Children need to get out and run around at least once an hour to stretch out their legs. If your child isn’t old enough to walk yet, get them out of the car seat for a little bit anyway.
Tip #2 – Prepare yourself
Children have smaller bladders than you do, so they need to go ‘wee wee’ more often. They also tend to ask a lot of questions and noise is inevitable for them. Don’t act surprised when you have to answer a lot of questions and make more stops than you anticipated. Keep your sanity by preparing yourself for these things before the trip.
Tip#3 – Bring along some new toys
For long trips in a car or plane, bring along some new toys for them to play with. Handheld video games are good time killers for the older children and some travel games are good for the younger ones. Avoid books and coloring books because they can cause car-sickness. Infants aren’t immune to boredom either, so make sure they have new squishy things to hold or a rattle to shake.
Tip #4 – Don’t forget the snacks
Children get bored on long trips and tend to get hungry quite often. Have some good, healthy snacks handy to dole out at these times to save you from having to make yet another stop and spending a lot more money for snacks at a gas station.
Tip #5 – Recruit reinforcements if you can
Invite friends or other family members along on your trip. They may be able to keep your kids busy while you get a few moments here and there for yourself, so you can recuperate and refresh your mind.
Tip #6 – Space out your activities
If you’re traveling with young children, don’t try to jam a day’s worth of activities for them in only a few hours. This will only exhaust them and cause them to be irritable and grumpy. Give them time to do what they want as well, even if that means some time at a video arcade.
Tip #7 – Keep most of their normal routine
Try to keep as much of their normal routine as possible. There’s nothing wrong with letting your kids stay up a little later while you’re on vacation, but don’t let them stay up for hours longer every night. This will only cause more trouble when you get back home.
Traveling with children can be a very exhausting task for your mind and body, but try to keep these tips in mind to help ease the process. Think of the trip through the eyes of your children and don’t expect them to act and react the same as you. It will only make your trip miserable.
