We recently took our first real trip as a family – and by “real” I mean international, time change, airplane, and Isabel sleeping somewhere else longer than two nights. I didn’t say it was a simple trip. And like anything else new with a kid, we learned a few things. So here are 6 easy* steps to traveling with a toddler.
STEP 1: Flight
You did everything right – set the air fare price alert, got cheap tickets, and secured non-stop flights perfectly around your toddler’s sleeping and eating schedule. And then the airline did an airline thing and changed the most perfect of the two flights. Your holy-toddler-trifecta trip** is now twice as long as it originally was and includes an Olympic sprint through a fairly large airport carrying a child, travel crib, and bag of crap. You finally arrive at your final destination hours after originally planned, hungry, and holding a child who is so tired they actually sleep in mama’s arms for the first time in over a year. Hey, but at least they gave you a slight upgrade on the extra flight they added.
STEP 2: Research
Mama is an internet research genius. Seriously, if you have anything you need planned, you should just hire her. She was thorough and meticulous. She broke Pinterest, scoured the blogs, and made multiple trips to Target to buy everything we needed to make sure we wouldn’t lost our minds our daughter would be happy. There is no doubt in my mind that this trip would not have been as successful as it was without her. The bottom line is as much as I hate the Internet for advice, sometimes it truly is a treasure trove – and mama found all the gold nuggets.
STEP 3: Rations
Mrs. FWL had more snacks prepared than I had ever seen in my life, and if I didn’t know better, I would have thought we were preparing for the apocalypse. I’m positive that without them, my suitcase would have been 10 pounds lighter, but I’m also certain that we would have had a pissed off child. We packed our bag everyday with more snacks than normal since you never know when food will be readily available when traveling, and given the unpredictable appetite of our little one, we increased our odds by having options, you’d be smart to do the same. We also learned that she is obsessed with raisins, so you can also learn a few things about your kid!
STEP 4: Distractions
We all know that kids, toddlers especially, have two things: A. lots of books and toys and B. short attention spans. So what happens when a trip like this comes along? They get new versions of A so as to try and mitigate B. The hope is they will be interested in one of the new toys or books for longer than 43 seconds, and then string enough of these spurts of focus together to survive the plane ride, downtime in unfamiliar surroundings, or restaurant. Mama had decals for the plane windows (a BIG hit), new flashcards, new coloring books, and these little wooden animals that became a rather amusing game one night. Another key addition to our trip, was that Isabel’s Tia was with us, and it would be an understatement to say she was helpful. She supplied toys, hugs, and another set of arms when we couldn’t. What amazed me the most, is that despite playing with the same five new toys, and reading the same three new books for close to a week, our daughter was as interested on the last day as she was on the first.
STEP 5: Flexibility
Traveling screws with everyone’s schedule. Time differences aside, there are always unforseen challenges that cause sleep patterns to change, meals to be missed, and routines to shift. And that’s just when you’re traveling with adults. Throw a kid into the mix and everything is multiplied exponentially. Every nap on this most recent trip was taken in the stroller or mama’s lap in the back of a cab (that never happens at home), I changed more diapers in the stroller than I ever have (I know this is old habit for mama), and normal meals were substituted for unlimited snacks until we figured out where lunch was going to be eaten. Rolling with the punches was an understatement, but what else can you do? Also, refer to Step 4, as having distraction at restaurants definitely came in handy.
STEP 6: Equipment
Some would argue that traveling light is best, and normally I would agree 100%. Using that logic, we would have brought a compact, light-weight, umbrella stroller, but it would have broken midway through the trip and there was no way in hell I was going to carry a toddler around, especially when she tries to squirm out of my arms to dart through an intersection on a walk around our normal neighborhood, and we were going to a country where cars have the right away. Knowing your destination always dictates the necessary equipment, regardless of inconvenience, and sometimes simple isn’t always best.
* This is a lie, nothing with a kid is easy.
** holy-toddler-trifecta (noun) – When you have a non-stop flight perfectly timed around your child’s wake-up, nap, and lunch schedule.
What are your toddler travel tips?
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