Travelling Terrors!
By Tamara Higgins
Parents love to think that their children will travel well but, when actually planning the trips realize that this may not be as easy as they think! Here are a few tips to help parents travel with their little ones without having to stress or worry about how well it all may go.
When travelling by plane keep the following in mind to keep you and your little one comfortable.
-Bring some of their favourite toys along (keep in mind these should be smaller items that can fit comfortably into your carry- on luggage)
–Ensure that you have a small variety of snacks for the flight as well as two drink options (ie – milk and juice, or milk and water, etc.).
–Bring along your ipad, tablet, iphone, or laptop with a few movies on them.
-Ensure that you bring padded head phones (NOT Ear buds) for the little ones.
–Dress them comfortably – avoid jeans and button up shirts and have them wear-some joggers or even a sleeper!
When packing clothing for baby on a trip like this I always use one cardinal rule:
Two outfits per day and an extra. While following this rule I have never been left without something clean for my trips! Also, be mindful of how many diapers and wipes you will actually need. Do you have to pack a bag of diapers to make this trip? It’s pretty likely most places you are going you will be able to get these items. Make sure that your plan includes enough diaper wear for travel and ensure a pit stop once you have landed to stock up for the duration of your trip.
I know some of this information may seem as if it is a given however, you would be shocked the number of parents who don’t have any clue what to pack simply because it is their first time flying with a pint size person.
For parents to stay comfortable ensure that you have done the following:
-Make sure that you gate check your stroller and care seat. Gate checking means that you bring these items to the door of the plane where they are stored there. When the plane lands you have immediate access to these items making for easier sailing through the airport with your little ones. If you need to gate check, your car seat as well as stroller, use the stroller to carry the car seat to make hauling it easier.
–Dress comfortably for yourself. We are far too often thinking of what baby needs and never what we need!
-Ensure you have a blanket and travel pillow accessible in your carry on. If you are travelling with your little one on your lap, this will make it much more comfortable for you both.
-It is never easy trying to pack up yourself as well as our little people. Travel is important in many people’s lives and having children shouldn’t change that.
-Don’t scare yourself away from travelling simply because it might mean a little more work than usual. Ensure that you have packed yourself as you normally would, and take the length of flights, nap time, meal times, and comfort needs into consideration for baby.
In the past I have typically looked for flights that lined up as closely to nap time as I could find. We would head to the airport and get through security checks, then give our little one his snack and by the time we were boarding the plane, he was ready for la-la land. It worked out perfectly nearly every flight we have taken. Once seated on the plane he would glady grab his bottle or cup of milk, lay back and drift off. The more we travel now a days the more and more he is in tune with the process.
He is now old enough to be sitting in his own seat, and the routine is essentially the same as it had been when he was an infant.
I wish you all the best of luck in travelling together as a family!
ABOUT TAMARA:
Hello Parents! It is a pleasure to be joining this blog site after a long hiatus from writing! I would like to take a moment and say that I have throughly enjoyed reading many of the blogs on this site and I’m very excited to get to be a part of some of this wonderful writing! I am a 28 year old mom of a beautiful 2 year old boy. Coming from a music and poetry writing background, blogging is a bit different for me. I’m very excited to dive into a new world of sharing my experiences, some knowledge, and just simply being able to write my guts out! I currently plan to write blogs about travel, miscarriage and baby loss, struggles of raising children without your parents, services for Children with Developmental Disabilities and many more topics I’m sure. I look so very forward to allowing you all to get to know me as I write my stories and I hope that you are all able to get something from each of your reads!
Kind Regards,
T. Higgins
