How to Travel With Little Ones So You Can Actually Enjoy Yourself
The kids are out of school and you’re ready for some much-needed vacation time. This time of year is perfect for family vacations and creating memories together, but we know traveling with kids can come with its challenges. Long days of travel, changes in routine and new experiences can leave your kiddos more exhausted than normal (not to mention making you just as tired). With a bit of planning and some of our tested tips, you can travel with your family with ease - making the journey enjoyable for everyone.
1. Plan Ahead
When researching destinations for your trip, look for places that have plenty of activities and accommodations fit for your children’s age. Once you know where you want to travel, map out all the different places you want to visit and their hours of operation. You can map out which activities you plan to do each day, so that there are no surprises or moments of uncertainty on what your family can do during the trip. Have plenty of options on-hand, so that you’re ready with any back-up ideas if needed.
2. Bring the right gear
It’s amazing how much easier it is to travel when you have the right bags and gear on-hand. Find a tote bag that will fit all of your child’s needs - diapers, spare toddler clothes or baby clothes, snacks, toys, even a changing pad. We love traveling with the Yuuma Diaper Bag or dropping the Totesavvy removable insert into one of our tote bags. For a road trip or a vacation where you’ll be on-the-go a lot, we love the ease of Kibou’s fanny pack. We also use the Totesavvy organizer in our suitcase to organize baby clothes. If you’re headed to the beach, be sure you bring a water-safe bag for all your sunscreen and travel-sized bottles.
3. See what gear you can rent
There are lots of options for renting baby gear once you’ve reached your destination. We love to look into this for bigger items that may be tougher to travel with - like car seats, strollers, playmats or pack-n-plays. Not having to pack these things and lug them around with you helps make travel a lot easier.
4. Keep your kiddos entertained (and full!)
Bring lots of toys and snacks for the long travel days to keep your kids entertained with full bullies. Those days can be the toughest, and having little things on-hand can help keep tantrums at bay. Look for toddler toys and baby toys that can easily fit in your bag and pack snacks that are more filling that they will love. Having a special treat or even a new toy can be a fun surprise as well.
5. Stick to their routine as best as you can
When you’re planning out your days, try to map them around your kids' typical schedule. Try to keep their regular nap time. Account for regular (maybe even earlier) bed times. Plan to eat at their normal times. Whatever you can do to make it feel like a regular routine helps avoid overtired babies and fussy kids.
6. Leave room for flexibility
With that said, we know that’s not always an easy feat on vacation. So be ready to adjust as unplanned things pop up. Maybe the weather ruins your plans or a place you were planning to visit ends up being closed for the day. Or maybe a new, fun idea comes up that your kids want to do instead. Have back-up plans in place and be flexible!
7. Have some fun yourself
Remember this is meant to be a vacation for you too! Add some things to the schedule that you’d love to do. Pack things for yourself - like a good book or iPad to watch your favorite show. Look into having a local babysitter watch the kids for a night, so you can go out and enjoy a nice meal. You could even plan the trip with your friends and their little ones - enjoy activities together during the day and then hang out once the kids go down each night.
We hope these tips help you navigate the ups and down of family travel, so that you can truly enjoy your time together. Here’s to trips full of adventure, flexibility and fun as a family.