Travelling with toddler
 

Looking for any "must-haves", tips, suggestions, and ideas for travelling with a toddler. What to bring on the plane for entertainment, and what to have for our stay.

We have a lightweight umbrella stroller, and I'll probably bring my sling for carrying her around on days she doesn't want to be in the stroller.

We're also bringing a small cd player that plays her favorite CDs plus nature sounds to help her sleep.

I'm going to bring a handful of favorite toys and books for the flight.

Any words of advice from those of you who have traveled with babies?

Thanks,
Kat

I don't know where you are going or how long you intend to stay in each place. That said, the best piece of advice I can offer is to consider staying in apt's instead of hotels (as your schedule allows). Small children tend to do better in apts than hotels & will tend to eat better. It is also less stressful for all inviolved not to have to eat every meal out. My children are all older now, but we still prefer apts if we are in one place for more than a few days.

I don't know where you plan on going, but wherever it should be, you should schedule time in playgrounds and parks for your child to run around and play. When my kids were little, I'd always buy some 'gift' (book, toy, activity) to give them on the plane. If it's new, it always seems that much more interesting. If you daughter likes to draw and color, bring paper and crayons. Also lots of snacks and drinks.

Since I've been posting so much about my trip I inadvertently omitted all the information that said where we're staying, etc. We're going to London & Paris... staying in apts both places... and are pretty much planning in plenty of park time, and don't have high aspirations about tourist stuff. And Paris I've been to many times before so I don't feel the need to race around, which would be impossible anyway with a toddler.

What I guess I was looking for was specific tips on flying with a toddler, or other ideas for dealing with jetlag, good things to pack, etc.

Thanks,
Kat

When mine were small, I never left home without Shout Wipes, a complete change of clothes including socks, and zip lock bags. Mine are almost all teens now, and when we travel, they still carry the above items in their day pack. I've also added disposable dish towels (handiwipes brand in the US) and hand sanitizer.

Our favorite airplane toy: Playdough. Our favorite hotel toy: Lego's.

One more note, I made small stickers for my kids to wear while traveling. They read "If I get lost, call 555-555-5555." Thankfully, we always found the kids before things got that far!

I have travelled a tons with both of my kids since they were only a couple of months old going as far as Turkey (from Canada) to see relatives. I always head to the dollar store for toys on the plane and after as I don't worry about them getting lost, broken, etc. I also found the newness factor a help on the plane. Lots of snacks on the plane that can fill the hunger gap and keep little hands busy. I found slippers a good idea on the plane - softer when hitting the seat in front - always try to avoid this but never possible to completely avoid. Change of clothes on the plane is good - I even brought pjs for overnight flights. Don't try to keep them in the seat - they will want to move around and it can keep them more entertained than sitting in the seat.

If your toddler is still on the bottle that is good to help with loss of air pressure and the effect on little ears. Otherwise chewing (i.e. on a cookie) when taking off and landing does help.

I always bring our travel bed/playpen, which my kids slept in at home, so that the switch to the new place had a familar bed to sleep in (actually made the mistake of not bringing it to Cuba in April - most painful trip in terms of getting my son to sleep - he hated the hotel's crib).

Jat-lag I have found a difficult one just because you can't "reason" with them, i.e. you should sleep now never worked! That was one that we always need to ease into - whoever can stay up with them does, try to put them to bed when it is dark out, wake them up when it is light.

I hope this helps - I'll post again if I think of anything else.

We have travelled many times with our children, now 4 and 2 y.o. After our second trip to Europe, we broke down and bought a portable DVD player. It was great for the flights and for entertaining the kids in the places we stayed.

Sticker books are also excellent diversions, crayons, markers (washable), etc. I bought my kids small rolling backpacks to carry on all of their books, art supplies, toys, etc. It worked out very well (even though I was the one carrying the bag!)

Also, please don't forget to pack extra sets of clothes and diapers to carry on. You never know what might happen (lost luggage, air sickness, etc.)

Enjoy!!

Bring along earplugs for the take-off and landings. There are child sized available.

kat, the potential ear problem on take off and landing seems to be one of the bigest problems. Avoid laying her down too flat and make sure she has something to drink (which helps with the ear pressure). Hopefully you're travelling over night so she might sleep most of the time. Pack lots of ziplock bags. Good for wet things, loose toys, food etc. Handi-wipes.

If she has any particular physical vulnerablitiy (ie she always gets sore throats, ear infections etc.) assume it will happen on this trip and come prepared.

Have fun!

kat, you never mentioned how old your toddler is, but having travelled to europe twice with 2 kids I will share what we have learned. On our first trip the youngest was 10 months and the other was 3. On our next trip the youngest was 1 1/2 and the other was 4.

Portable dvd player will really save your sanity - if your kid is at the age where they are watching videos at home then this is a must! It is worth the expense - we bought one at costco and also got the headset for it. Don't forget a travel adapter. If you are going to be renting a car don't forget the car charger. Charge it up every night so it will be available on battery for the next day for the train or whatever.

As far as the flight is concerned, A dose of motrin maybe an hour before landing will do wonders at stopping the discomfort. I always found landing to be worse on their ears than takeoff. Of course if they are using a bottle or sippy cup make sure it is full and make sure you have backup to refill at the crucial point when you start descending. Our oldest used to scream every time we descended till we tried the motrin trick which really works.

Expect to spend a small fortune at every merry go round that you see - we did but it is worth it and slows the pace down for them. In Paris some of the restaurants have kids meals steak, fries, ice cream.

Always sit outside at restaurants so that if the toddler is making a mess/noise it will be less bothersome than inside. Also, sometimes there will be space for them to play.

Every time you think you are going to lose it, remember - better to change diapers in paris than at home - almost forgot don't forget those little scented bags for the diapers. bring your motrin, benadryl, tylenol, ear thermometer, etc. so you are prepared if he/she is not feeling well. bring some toys for the bath!

Have a good trip!

When we travelled with our 2 yr. old we found that the mini-Etch-A-Sketch was indispensible. He loved drawing with it and even more having someone draw his requests. (There were 4 adults travelling with him so someone always was available.) We did a lot of driving through Germany and he loved that we made up stories as we drove.

I also recommend the portable DVD player. My boys have always traveled with a small backpack. At the toddler stage, it contained a couple of their favorite books, a walkman with music, paper, crayons, lots of stickers, play dough, a small stuffed animal, and a couple of new, small inexpensive toys. Also, pack lots of her favorite snacks for the plane flight.

I know that "a change of clothes" was mentioned before, but what I think it's vital is to bring a set for the babe AND a set for YOU.

I second the "small new toys" ideea; wrap them and take out only one at a time.

Wow... all very great ideas... thank you.

My toddler is only going to be 17 months old and she has yet to really get interested in movies/videos... so I wasn't going to invest in a DVD player just yet. Hmmm... wonder if I should rethink that? We are flying Virgin with the individual video in the seats. And we're not going to be driving anywhere, just one longish train ride on Eurostar London to Paris.

We want to travel light so we're skipping the pack n play since both our apartments are providing them. I do think I'll bring her familiar smelling sheet and pillow to aid her sleep, but frankly she doesn't sleep in her packnplay at home anyway. More than likely she'll end up in bed with us in the beginning till she settles down.

And I LOVE the idea of giving her her own backpack... she has just discovered my purse so anything that has a strap or handle she totes around like her "purse." The only glitch is she's flying as an infant, not entitled to a seat or any carryon, per se. Maybe if it's small enough, they'll allow us on with it. (See my previoius post about carryons and you'll see I'm obsessed about not checking luggage. :) Sadly, I confirmed yesterday that since she's flying on an infant ticket, she doesn't get a carryon piece. Only a small diaper bag.

Thanks again for the great ideas... if you think of more please keep 'em coming!

~kat

If you travel overnight your toddler will sleep well.Someting about that engine noise .It put them to sleep.I always have trouble coming back.Longer flight.Stickers book is a must. Maybe vidio now.?Even my 9 years old liked it on the train ride.Old mcdonald toys are handy(small).Someting to chew on for take off and landing(bottle if still taking one)