Tips For Travelling With Kids

After writing my Family Holidays Wishlist earlier on this week, it really got me thinking about just how much I would love to go on a family holiday this year. A week away somewhere with Darcie before baby number two arrives, to have some really lovely quality time together, sounds absolutely perfect to me right now. Then the mum side of my brain kicked in and started thinking about how the reality of travelling with a toddler could be. How will we keep her entertained on the journey? Would she be a nightmare on an aeroplane? How will she sleep? What about the weather, will it be too hot? Will she eat the food? I’m sure these are thoughts that most parents have had when preparing to travel with a child for the first time. So, I thought I would ask some of my favourite bloggers for their best tips and I’ve collected them all here for you to read too.

Snacks are your saviour! Also I always pack a bag of cheap toys wrapped up, things from the pound shop etc. They love opening them! – Thrifty Yorkshire Mum

If we’re going on a long car journey we try to plan in plenty of stops for our toddler to be able to get out and have a bit of a run around. We take a good selection of nursery rhyme CDs which she seems to love, but only put them on when she starts to get tetchy – this saves our sanity from having to listen to them the entire time! – Pondering Parenthood

If flying long haul – aim for a night flight. Even if you have to put them down for a little nap before you head to the airport- it’s well worth doing. Every time we have done this, we have had a good solid 8 hours sleep from the kids and I’ve even managed to watch a movie! – Flying With a Baby

Pack spare changes of clothes in ziplock bags. This makes it so much easier to grab if you any accidents happen. Always have a good stash of wet wipes too. Have essential medicine packed also. –  Flying With a Baby

Snacks and download their favourite programmes and films and one or two new ones on an iPad or tablet from amazon movies, sky go or something similar.

Snacks! Mum hack – you know the boxes that hold days of the week sections (mostly used for medicine) but instead fill with mini snacks – raisins, skittles etc! A big hit with mine! Especially if Long haul they can open a box every half hour or hour! – The Willow Tree

Pack an activity bag for your little one. Full of new little surprises, activities, snacks and some favourite toys. I packed my son a “flight bag” and by the time he’d got through everything in it we were landing! Someone actually said they hadn’t realised we had a toddler with us! – Chic Geek Diary 

Make a packing list, with extra spaces to add things too. On the list, add columns to tick as you pack (at the beginning and end of your trip) to ensure that you are packing all your belongings and toys!
Another tip – when packing toys and books- lay them out on the floor and take a photograph on your phone/iPad (what ever you are taking with you) so that you can refer to it when packing up again at the end of the trip – so that you are not leaving any much loved toys behind. –
The Lupie Mummy

As well as a range of snacks, sticker books work wonders! Buy the books with different themes and reusable stickers and these can give hours of entertainment! My son also loves toy magazines. He’ll be fascinated with a new toy and story for hours which is very handy when travelling! – Our Seaside Baby

Buy a Crayola Mess Free Colouring Book Set – I picked one up from B&M Bargains and they’re perfect for travelling and on holiday because the pens won’t make a mess! The magic paper makes the colouring appear, but it wont get on the car, plane, holiday accommodation etc. – Treasure Every Moment

Let the ‘rules’ go out the window and do what you need to for an easy life on the airplane! Lots of snacks, screen time & new toys for the plane journey (they don’t have to be new or expensive, just things your toddler hasn’t seen before.) Also, if they’re old enough, child friendly headphones for a tablet are worth their weight in gold! – Yorkshire Tots

I’ll definitely be referring back to these tips if we do end up booking a holiday, and I hope they are helpful to some of you too! The main tip basically seems to be to take snacks! That’s an easy one for me to remember as we rarely leave the house without snacks anyway.

So, where would you recommend as a good family holiday destination?

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