4 Family Travel Tips

When you’re traveling with children, your attitude is everything!  You can’t stress over every detail or expect it all to go flawlessly.  If you’re stressed over driving around a town you’ve never been in and scared you’ll never find your hotel, your children will pick up on it and act out.  Here are four tips that can help give you an enjoyable family trip:

1. Bring important stuff! Bring any medications your children take all the time, and even those they only take once in awhile.  You don’t want to be seeking out a drugstore in the middle of the night because junior has a fever.  Also, if you are taking a flight, you might consider air sickness medication or Benadryl if it helps your child sleep better.  In addition to medication, baby wipes are a must have- no matter what age your children are!  They can be used for more than diaper changes- think about dirty hands, faces, toilet seats, spilled juice, etc.  They are the miracle travel cleaner.
2. Pre-plan when flying. Longer flights really take a toll on families with young children.  It’s hard for them to sit still for long periods of time.  Try to pick your seats accordingly.  If you have young children, seating yourselves closer to the bathroom can be useful.  If you travel with more than one child, you may want to seat yourselfs in more than one row, so you can put some space between arguing children and avoid the glares of the near by passengers.  Traveling around nap time might allow children to fall asleep naturally – or may turn into a disaster if overtired children are unable to fall asleep on the plane.
3. Consider schedules when scheduling trip. If you’re taking a long road trip, you might want to leave two hours before bedtime.  Children can often entertain themselves for about that length of time – and if they’re getting tired, the motion of the car might help them fall to sleep and give you a peaceful ride.  If flying, you might try the red-eye flight, but keep in mind if they don’t go to sleep you will have an entire family of unhappy campers the following day when you arrive at your destination!
4. When all else fails, use bribery. If your child is forced to stay seated for a long period of time (in the car, train or plane) you might want to have some new toys as backup.  Whip them out when the child is about to have a melt down and buy yourself a little more time.  Also, you can bring along toys that your child entertains him or herself with at home and they should be able to do the same on the ride, as well.