Traveling With a Baby or Toddler: How to Stay Sane
Whether you’re visiting New York City or travelling abroad, vacations with a baby or toddler in tow can be quite an adventure. While pre-teens and teenagers present their own challenges, littles are a whole different breed of “fun.” Luckily, there are quite a few tips out there, from other parents, that will help you get from A to B without losing your sanity before you get there. Those tips will be revealed in this blog, so keep on reading.
Book Your Hotel Ahead of Time
Trust that the last thing you want is to arrive at your destination, then have to spend time finding a hotel. Your baby is going to be tired, cranky, hungry, and not very happy by this point.
If you’re travelling to California for example, there are several good Carlsbad hotels you can book in advance and are child-friendly. This will help you keep your sanity and have a happy baby when you get to your vacation spot as well.
After all, you will not have a fun vacation if you have to search for hotel accommodations with a baby on your hip or a cranky toddler in tow. Do the best thing for you and your children is book your hotel early.
Never Forget the Snacks and Fluids
Whether you’re headed to your destination by plane, train, bus, or a car, you want to have plenty of healthy snacks and drinks for your toddler. It goes without saying that you need to have bottles for the baby.
If you’re travelling by plane, it’s a good idea to also bring a sippy cup, as takeoff and landing can bother a little one’s ears, and the sucking motion will help that.
Just be sure to follow the TSA guidelines for liquids when going through the security checkpoint. There are plenty of healthy snacks out there, nonperishable ones, to take on a trip to help keep your children healthy, not hungry, and less grouchy during the trip.
Try to Plan Travel Around Nap Times
While this may be easier said than done, planning your travel schedule around your toddler’s sleep time can be a major lifesaver.
If you can put your toddler in their pyjamas and get on the plane or in the car just before naptime or bedtime, then you stand a greater chance of them sleeping for most of the trip. Keep your fingers crossed, it might work, and give you a little peace on the trip at the same time.
Pack Everything You Need
It’s important to note that travelling with a baby or toddler is not the same as traveling alone. You need to pack everything from diapers to snacks and from PJ’s to their favourite sleep toy.
Forgetting any of these items can make for a very tiring trip, especially if you forget the favourite stuffed animal that your baby is used to sleeping with.
The best way to prevent forgetting anything is to pack ahead of time, make a list, and check it constantly until you walk out the door to start your vacation.
Have Patience
One of the biggest things to take away from this blog on travelling with a baby or toddler is that you need to have patience. Remember, these are just little people who don’t understand what’s going on.
Have patience, sit close to them, and give them extra attention on the trip. After all, you are their comfort, their rock, and what they cling to when things are strange to them.
