I just came back from a wonderfully relaxing weekend WITHOUT MY KIDS!!!!
While staying with friends, I had the unique pleasure of ignoring the little voice yelling “mommy!!!” and if a baby cried, it was optional for me to pick it up! Ah good times!
But it got me thinking about the special torture of traveling with little ones. We tend to drive a lot for camping and vacations and so I offer these little blurbs for you that might help alleviate the stress of travel just a little bit!
Tips for travel: In the car, camping, in planes and on trains!
- Be flexible, organized and drink heavily… 🙂 Well, maybe just be flexible and organized; if you expect everything to go perfectly and get all bent out of shape when it doesn’t, then you won’t have a very good time. We all know s**t happens folks, especially with kids!
- If you are driving, be prepared to stop more often than you would if you weren’t traveling with the child. About every 3 hours to stretch and change a diaper works for us but it depends on the kid.
- I like to start the trip around naptime so that the kids are asleep for a while, and usually wake up in a good mood.
- I made a master list of things to take with me and I update it after every trip with things I may have forgotten or would have like to have with me. I am also ridiculously controlling when it comes to being prepared so I found this appeals to my inner control freak, while allowing my husband to pack things without my constant nagging…
- I take lots of finger foods for the road, because when kid’s mouths are full, they can’t whine!
- I also like to take a bag of toys and books that I know keep them occupied for more than 2 minutes, or that they haven’t seen before and are still a novelty.
- And if all else fails, ELECTRONICS! A portable DVD player, tablet or smartphone has saved many a parent’s sanity, so I am totally for it. You can now get a ‘power strip’ for the 12-volt connection in the vehicle, so you can plug in the DVD, satellite radio, iPad, GPS, and multiple cell phones…
- Dress them in comfortable, layered separates so it is easier to deal with a diaper overflow, drink spills, vomit or if they get too hot/too cold etc. I usually make sure that the top at least has a collar because the car seat belt can dig into their neck.
- And for goodness sake, don’t forget the favourite blanky and snugly toy! Otherwise, no matter how great the trip may be, it will always stand out in your kid’s memory as the time mommy forgot bankie…
