Travelling with young children

With summer here and the promise of holidays beckoning, there’s every reason to be excited. But travelling with young children isn’t always easy. I asked my clients and other local mums if they had any top tips for travelling they could share and they didn’t disappoint! Here are what they (and I) advise.

In general

Planning is key! Think ahead about the amount of clothes, nappies and entertainment you’ll need for your children, then pack more. I always say to my husband that they have shops abroad too but some things are just more expensive.

Many parents talked about having plenty of snacks on hand but do make sure they’re not all sugar or your little ones will be bouncing off the walls, not ideal!

One mum remembered “When I was growing up my mom had a bag of little surprises for us…snacks, little toys etc. Now I’m a mom and I think about it, must have taken her weeks of planning to get them.”

Bags of surprises are a great way of keeping children entertained. Monotonous journeys make travelling with young children a bit of a minefield. Use it as a reward for good behaviour, something new to look at when everything is getting just a little boring.

Most of all, don’t forget yourself on these journeys, it’s easy to do. More than one parent recommended spare clothes in your hand luggage are always handy in case they vomit all over you!

This is also a great piece of advice “As a parent, don’t forget to put on your sun protection before you leave the house – you won’t have time to apply it properly when you’re looking after little ones as you’ll be so focused on what they are doing”

Travelling by car

I remember many car journeys with my boys when they were young. We would raid the library for audio books to listen to. Not only did it serve as entertainment but it was something we could do together and talk and laugh about later.

If you can, travel close to bedtime after you’ve done tea, bath and pyjamas. Fingers crossed you can transfer them to bed when you arrive.

If you can’t travel at night, here’s great tips from a local mum.
“we get up in the morning and do breakfast in the car, we love a car breakfast picnic. Or if we really have to travel during the day time it with nap time, and have plenty of snacks, also have car toys and restaurant toys/books and kinetic sand.”

Travelling by bus or train

I find having lots of people to watch keeps children interested for a while and there’s lots to talk about. One mum had some great tips for travelling on public transport
“Snacks! A new magazine. Travel games (we have connect four, top trumps). Getting them to “help” find the platform etc. We also count buses.
We get the train regularly. He’s 5 now, but we’ve been doing it since he was a baby. He doesn’t have an iPad yet. I try to time it so we’re on a train at a meal time and can add a picnic in as well as all the snacks!”

On the subject of travel games, there’s a great selection here
https://www.thetoyshop.com/c/games-jigsaws/travel-games

If you’re looking for something small to take along, pack some dice. I wrote a blog about games to play with dice here
https://hushabye-photography.co.uk/dice-games/

Travelling by air

So many of you had lots of amazing tips for air travel. For long plane rides where there’s not a lot going on, many parents suggested using a surprise bag.

When travelling by air it’s definitely worth dressing in layers. Even if you’re on the way somewhere hot, the air conditioning on planes can make it quite chilly. And don’t forget the return journey. One mum advised “Dresses over leggings, t-shirts with hoodie with zip in front, slip on shoes for children and adults”

Here’s more great advice for travelling with young children directly from the parents themselves. I wish I’d known these wise people when my boys were little!

“Take carriers for babies and toddlers rather than buggies, which can easily get broken in the hold.”

“Avoid the row with the basinets as they tend to put all the babies there and it can be a nightmare if one wakes the other up!! Aim for a quieter row, three seater. Sling and boob!”

“If they are old enough take a chupa chups lolly for take off and landing to help with the ear popping.”

“Get baby supplies ordered to boots on the airside and it doesn’t count towards luggage allowance. But check with airport you’re using because they have different rules.”

“Have bottles ready for take off and landing. I printed a4 pics of people we were going to visit. We discussed who they were and I then let him scribble and play with them then threw them out. Last but not least CBeebies games downloaded to app were magic but keep in reserve until really needed. When he was young he loved the bubble burst and paint apps.”

“If travelling in own, other parents were great when I needed the loo as trying to manoeuvre with a baby in those tiny cubicles is very entertaining.”

“Bring an adapter so you can plug their headphones in. The plane ones don’t fit a child.”

Life is an adventure

I hope you’ve found some gems here to help travelling with young children go more smoothly. Most of all, remember that it will be worth it when you arrive. I’m going to leave the last word to this mum who had an amazing insight on the subject.

“On a positive, I read advice that they pick up on a positive attitude. I treated it like an adventure and didn’t stress when things didn’t always go to plan”