Travelling Tips With Toddlers

Travelling with toddlers can be both exciting and challenging. Whether you’re a parent, aunt, uncle, etc... i’m sure you’ve gotten asked the famous question - “are we there yet?”. A short trip of even 10 minutes could feel like an hour or even a full day to our toddlers. My little toddlers say it best - “mom this is going to take a century before we get there”. G iven very little patience and short attention span, the question is - what is the best way to travel with toddlers to keep them engaged? Here are some tips that have worked for us as we have travelled with our toddlers. 

  1. Childsize Carry-ons: Whether we are flying or driving on a road trip, we have found that packing their own special carryon makes a difference and creates a sense of independence. In the carryon, we include items such as lovies (teddy bear), snacks, books, tablet, headphones, extra clothes, pull-ups and wipes. In our case, wipes always save the day :). From cleaning up soiled surfaces to wiping off food stains on fingers, etc...our travel is never complete without wipes.
  1. Clothes: What they wear to travel makes a big difference. Almost always, kids need to wear loose comfortable clothing when travelling. In our case, our toddlers typically travel in pyjamas or our adjustable playsuit. Also, an extra set or more of clothes always comes in handy just in the event of any unplanned accidents :)  
  2. Miscellaneous Items: This section is interesting. Have you ever found yourself on a road trip with your kids and you’re on a stretch of 128 miles until the next rest stop and your kids need to go to the bathroom? This is a constant with my little ones. Most of the time, it seems sketchy to pull over and most of the time it just is not convenient. That’s where packing an empty bottle or having ziplocs rescues my toddler from having an accident in the car.  
  3. Games: Not just games for them to play with, but games that you as the parent can get engaged with. Some of the things we do besides games like “I spy” is telling jokes or riddles. I have found that googling kids jokes or riddles and then playing a guessing game is quite engaging. Recently, we went on a quick 2 hour trip and I was not looking forward to how many times I will get asked the famous question of “are we there yet”. We started we jokes and riddles and before I knew it, we had such a good time guessing and laughing that we burnt through the first hour and thirty minutes before we got to hear “are we there yet?” 

Last but not the least, we all know that when our kids are happy, everyone is happy. So if you have kids that are old enough, involve them in the planning and packing process. They’ll tell you what works for them. At the end of the day, wherever you’re headed focus on making sure your kids are comfortable.  Happy Travel and enjoy your time away with your little ones!!