Traveling with littles can make you excited for the memories ahead but also a little weary. There are so many unknown factors and changes that can happen. Not to mention the unknown of how your littles may react to traveling. I remember when we traveled to BANFF with my sister and her nine month old daughter, our flight was delayed a few hours and I walked my niece facing out around the airport for about a half hour to get her to fall asleep! As an aunt, I just loved that but now as a parent, travel stresses me out!! Every parent will find the things that work best for their kids and how to make traveling as smooth as possible. Technology can be a great tool in these situations but here are alternative options if you are looking for some!
SNACKS!!
These are going to be your best friend if you kids are of eating solids age. Pack any special or fun snacks that can keep them occupied and pack more than you think you will need. My son loves Cheez Its and they are our go to when traveling since he does not get them all the time. I would try to avoid any food that makes a big mess. I feel so bad leaving all kinds of crumbs for the flight attendants to clean up. Fruit snacks are another great option since they are low mess and kids usually just love them.
A good snack cup can help keep the mess somewhat contained. I love any silicone dishes so these are my top choice for snack cups:
Busy Babe Mat
A friend recommended this to me. This is perfect for smaller kids and what is so great, is that the toys are attached to bungees so you won’t be crawling on the ground to find toys or bothering the people around you asking for a missing toy. I love that for littles who are chewing, this will keep toys off the ground if they fall. This is another one that is great for just at home on a highchair as well. Our daughter loves to throw things off her high chair so this was a game changer for me at home and when we traveled. e live the blind texts. Separated they live in Bookmarksgrove right at the coast of the Semantics, a large language ocean.
Car Seat Travel Bag
The first time we traveled by plane with our son, we knew that we would gate check his carseat. Many people just use black plastic bags, which works great! I opted to buy these car seat bags because it is a little more durable and the nice thing is that it has a backpack strap so it makes it easier to carry through the airport. One of our biggest challenges is carrying everything we need. I love that this car seat cover gives a little extra protection.
Books
We are huge readers in our family and books are a great tool to use when traveling. If you have a tablet, using a website like Kindl is really great since you do not have to physically pack the books. We try to reduce screen time so we only have a few on there and try to keep them for “special” things so the books feel new when we read them again.
- Picture Books – I also try to stock up on some new books from the library. This is one of my favorite parenting tools. I love new books but utilizing the library is so great. I try to pack five to six library books that I know my kids will love. That way they are new to them and it’s not the same books we read each day. And I love that the library is free so I’m not spending extra money.
- Sticker Books – These have been a fun thing to have on the plane to keep our kids busy. It is fun to be able to get ones that coincide with their interests. For $10 it is a great deal. It promotes imagination and learning to be able to talk through the stickers and since they are reusable, kids can move and change the stickers.
- Coloring Book and Crayons – You can’t go wrong with a classic. And talk about versatility since you can basically get a coloring book about literally anything these days. I recommend hitting up your local Dollar Tree for the most economical choice for coloring books but any store pretty much has them. I think crayons are the best option for the plane because they are the easiest to clean up, you don’t have to worry about sharpening them (and I’m not sure you can even bring a pencil sharpened on the plane…?) and they are so inexpensive that if you lose one, you probably won’t be too worried about it.
Busy Board
We got one of these for our son the first time we flew when he was about one and a half and it kept him pretty busy. Anything that has a lot of parts that will take up time is great. The only downside is the risk of losing some of the pieces but I just loved that there was so much to do with this. The great thing about this one is that it can be used in the car as well or just a general toy.
Crayola Coloring Board
We just got this for my daughter’s birthday. I let her open it and then I immediately put it away because I wanted it to be new when we flew the next time. This board is really light, has fun features and the music can be turned off. I like that there are lights and it is more textile than just a board with a pen. My kids love to touch things and just the feeling of the gel was fun for them. It held their attention for a decent amount of time and allowed my husband and I to draw different things for them without having to go through a million sheets of paper.
Magnetic Puzzle Boards
These are truly one of my favorite things we have ever gotten for our kids. They are so fun and I love that there is a progression of difficulty and they are MAGNETIC! Such a game changer. My son loves puzzles and being able to have him do puzzles that stick to the board was so great. He loves to do these at home as well so we just put them away about a month before we travel so it seems new again. We are all for education materials and this has helped not only to keep him occupied but he has grown in confidence when he is able to do the puzzles by himself.
If you are traveling by plane, you most likely can gate check a stroller for free. When our son was about 2, we flew to Colorado and thought, we don’t need a stroller since the friends we were visiting had an extra one. I wish we would have brought one. I think having the basic umbrella stroller is just perfect to be able to push your kid or kids in. It was hard to carry our things and him when he needed to be carried or when we wanted him to walk faster and he was content just slowly walking. I would recommend that if you have kids under the age of probably 4, to gate check a stroller even if it is just to use in the airport. The umbrella strollers are a perfect option since they are small and light.
One of the biggest tips I have is to try and keep your travel toys or tools separate, especially for older kids because then they seem new when you take them out. Traveling can be really stressful but just remember that how your kids act when traveling is not a reflection of you as a parent. Traveling can be stressful for all so give yourself a ton of grace and your kids too. What matters is the memories you make at your destination and not how you get there!
Liz and Becca
