Travel with Kids
- Stefanie
- Jan 16, 2023
- 4 min read
Updated: Jul 26, 2024
Walking through tips of traveling the skies with children under 10 and how to make more memories with less complaining from your littles. When in doubt, bring them! With some advanced planning you can enjoy your travels and make memories to last a lifetime!
Have you ever had a wild hair and actually decided to act upon it? Those moments don't come often for this family of 4 but last Sunday around 12:30 EST we had one. We decided to pull the trigger on buying 4 tickets to the College Football National Championship game #cfpnationalchampionship in Los Angeles, California to cheer on our beloved #GeorgiaBulldogs who were playing TCU in the title game.
With 1 hour to pack and make our way to one of the busiest airports in the world in Atlanta, we started a 7 hour cross country trek. After 2 flights landing in San Diego, an hour and a half drive, hotel stop in Anaheim, and another hour drive the next day, we made it to LA a few hours before the big game at #SofiStadium.
While it's no secret that we love to travel, were we crazy to bring our kids on this one?! Absolutely! But after years of wandering with the children in tow we had our travel plans down to a science that allowed this extremely impulsive very spontaneous trip to become a reality. #yolo We got to see confetti rain down on our team as we won the National Championship and we returned home with priceless memories that will undoubtedly last us a lifetime! #onceinalifetime
“there will always be challenges when... littles [are] in tow... anticipate them so you can enjoy smoother sailing.”
Rule 1 - Anticipate Challenges for Long Travel with Kids
For starters anyone who says traveling with kids is easy, is lying. It can be more comfortable if you adhere to certain rules but there will always be challenges when children are in tow. You just need to anticipate them so you can enjoy smoother sailing.
I'm sharing 4 tips below on how to make any air travel with kids fly by with less turbulence.
What to Pack when Traveling with Little Kids
It should come as no surprise that when children are involved on the road, rigid rules of home might need to be relaxed a smidge. My mantra for peaceful travel - if you need a snack, then you can have one, within sugary moderation of course.
I always try to keep my bag stocked like Mary Poppins with an assortment of kid favorites like #oreos #goldfish #chexmix #granolabars and water in case they get thirsty, or worse - in case there is turbulence and the flight staff can't serve us!
And of course, you never want to experience the hopeless feeling of watching your kid cry as the altitude levels change on take off and landing so I always stock my travel bag with plenty of gum.
As for limited #screentime? Again, if an iPad or movie on a chrome book will keep them entertained so I can close my eyes until landing, then the word from this mom is SURE! #pickyourbattles
Noise cancelling headphones seem to work best for my kids to avoid the common scenario of them fussing when the earbuds slip out of their tiny ears. Linking some great affordable options from Amazon below.
As for toys? I try to keep them at a minimum and opt for portable travel games like this great 2 in 1 magnetic Chess/Checkers set from Amazon.
Making Hotel Room Comfortable
For night time we make sure to bring our kids' lovies and teddy even without a spare! Living on the wild side I know, but since a spare never existed #momfail, we just make sure to triple check that they safely make it back in their bags before leaving any hotel room.
To make sure our kids feel safe in dark hotel rooms they love bringing their #olight LED Night Light Orbs that pop easily into any carry on and charge with magnetic bottoms via USB ports for up to 40 hours of bright light. The kids always love pushing the orbs to change their colors each night and some come with fun accessories like this OBuddy portable stand that travels well and also sits easily on my son's nightstand at home when we aren't on the road.
Rule 2 - Expect the Unexpected and Laugh as you Make Memories
Ultimately traveling with your children is going to be a wild ride no matter how good you are at anticipating common challenges. Weather delays, missed connections, unexpected illnesses and losing items on the road are going to happen. But keeping the right attitude and appreciating the moments in between the chaos are what traveling with kids are all about.
My husband and I often joke that when we travel together as a couple we are actually vacationing but when we travel with our kids, we are making memories! I couldn't agree more!
Bon voyage!
Stefanie
Disclaimer: I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program and am eligible for commissions by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
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