My wife and my two year old son are leaving for germany on thursday- any advice to make the trip go smoothly. Do they need a document with my consent to leave the country? If so what needs to be in the letter? Thanks all!!!

You should provide a notarized consent for your wife to carry with her.

Include in the letter that: you are the father, your wife has your authorization to travel abroad with your son (name), dates of travel, countries to visit, and a contact phone number for you. I'm not sure how much of the above is actually required, but it's what we have always done and have never had a problem.

Brando,

I have a word document for a Special Power of Attorney that we use for travel with our son. I'd be happy to send it to you (or anyone else that needs it) if you contact me at [email protected] This was taken word for word from the SPOA that the military made for us except that I've removed the references to living overseas with the military. I'm not an attorney and can't advise that this is a perfect document, but we've used it many times crossing borders and had no problem. The one thing that I will tell you is that for the last seven years, we've been asked for a letter from the absent parent every time we've crossed. The last time we had to renew the POA we just printed out this one and went to Kinko's and had someone notorize it.

What do single parents do in these cases???????

children on single parents usualy have mother and father. This is a law of nature and doesn't change with marital status.

Dukey, this is actually a problem if a divorce or separation. The parent who is traveling with the child should have a copy of the custody agreement and if possible (a must if joint custody) a letter from the other parent giving permission ect. The authorities are very aware of the only too real problems of "domestic" kidnapping.

Travelbunny: thanks for that information..makes sense to me.

Lobo, believe me I know all about the "laws of nature" and how people who have children routinely circumvent them.

>...I know all about the "laws of nature" and how people who have children routinely circumvent them.<

I would think that it is the people who have children who don't circumvent them.

Thanks for the advice everyone

Here's a sample travel consent form.
http://www.voyage.gc.ca/main/before/..._letter-en.asp

Aside from that, make sure your wife carries a spare set of clothing, extra underwears or nappies. This should cover for unforseen things like motion sickness, flight delays, missing luggage.

Carry some snacks--I usually take grapes, a banana and rice crackers in ziplock snack bags. Other things we found useful when we fly with our toddlers are their favourite blankets, one or two toys (no balls, nothing that makes sound or with small parts that get lost, please). Let him drink something at take-off to ease pressure on the ears.

Bring a folding stroller, have it stored in the hold (don't check it in).

Again thanks for the advice, I wrote a letter which was stamped, so that base was covered. My wife and boy made it fine, she never needed to take the letter out, but hey, you never know. My son was a rock star on the flight, plenty of snacks, a toy tractor, and a little nursing goes a long way I guess. It changes my perspective on things, I say travel away with young kids my new found confidence may lead to a family trip to europe in the upcoming year, yes!!!!!