Traveling with a toddler can either be stressful OR slightly less stressful (haha). Let’s face it, there’s no magic beans that make long drives or airplane rides easy and smooth for a toddler everywhere you go, BUT there are a few things you can do to help make it easier on them and on you.
We have two Kidds, they’re 15 months apart and currently both under two, but we haven’t let that stop us from traveling and adventuring, we just go about it in different ways now.
Here are our tips and tricks to traveling with the Kidds:
Leave early. Some parents swear by the ’travel all night’ method, but we have found that with our younger toddler-aged children that they are much more irritable when they’re in the car in the evening and at night. They’re tired from the day before, they can’t get comfy in their car seat and take forever to fall asleep. So we’ve taken to sticking with the bed routine, and letting them get a couple hours of sleep and wake up early in the morning (time depends on the distance and hoped arrival time). We change diapers and leave them in their jammies for the first part of the journey and call ahead to request an early check in if needed.
Trash the travel schedule. We always have the expectation of breaks and stops but we never plan them. We know that when the Kidds wake up we’ll take a longer stop for breakfast, diaper changes and getting the babes dressed out of the jammies, but we never set a time limit or specific location on where that will be. Being able to stop when your toddlers need a break without the pressure of timed stops or breaks puts you more at ease and your kids will pick up on your emotions.
TOYS. You‘d think this would be a no brainer, but it‘s so easy to leave this one off this list. You forget to grab them as you leave, or maybe you don’t want to waste the space in the car, either way this one is super important. iPads and Disney+ will only get you so far; take your time and select toys for the car ride. Find toys your kids enjoy, but won’t be the end of the world if they get lost or left at a restaurant or in a hotel. Toys that are small enough that they can be held in a car seat and functional enough that they can incite imagination. The toys we always grab for our oldest: magnets in a metal lunchbox, a babydoll (of course) and some sort of puzzle, like rings that need to be unhooked. For our youngest: a noise making, handheld toy (we have a toy dumbbell and a toy coffeecup), a book, and something chewable (because teeth).
They‘re simple tricks but have worked absolute wonders in our travels with the Kidds. We’ve made all the errors and had all the things go wrong and array, from a kid screaming for hours on end, to changing massive diaper blowouts roadside. We‘ve changed our travel schedule (drive for as long as you can without stopping) so that it aligns more with the needs of our kids. We stick to basic meal and snack times, stopping for meals and traveling with snacks. And recognize that not everything will go perfectly, and your toddler or child will probably get cranky at some point; and you just need to figure out if it’s a simple switch out of toy or if it needs to be a 15-20 minute walk around a parking lot or nearby park. If they’re happy and you’re happy, it doesn’t take anything away from your trip; it only adds to the memories.
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