stugglingmum - Strugglingmum

Now that you have kids, you might think twice before going on vacation, so when you finally decide take the leap and actually book your vacation…..because it is a leap of faith to travel with kids…..you start having second thoughts.

There is no turning back now, but if you get organized and relax everything will turn out fine. Don’t expect your kids, to remain seated for the duration of your flight, unless they are asleep or they are super quiet. It stands to reason that they will get cranky and tired, even we adults do on flights…..so make sure you keep them entertained.

My daughter was 4 years old, when we traveled for the first time with her. We did not have any issues or concerns, as she is a very quiet girl. However, we recently traveled with 18-month old my son and my 7 year old and despite the excitement of finally going on a family vacation, I had major concerns in particular his behavior.

He is very active so I was concerned about keeping him entertained for the duration of the flight. In my mind I had already depicted him going up and down the aisle and being a nuisance to other passengers. It was an early flight, so I had hoped that he would go to sleep during the flight, but he was too excited. A tip which I can give, but which would not necessarily work, is that if you are a family of 4 (and your child does not have a seat booked), when doing the web check-in to have one of the parents sit in an aisle seat, and the middle seat. Some single travelers would avoid taking the window seat therefore there is the probability that the window seat would remain vacant…..giving you some more space. During our flight, this did not work out as it was full.

I was pleasantly surprised with his behavior during the flight. I did get him some toys to play with and some activities for my daughter. He was particularly irritated during take off and landing though, as he hates being confined in the same place with a seat belt. Luckily we were traveling to Paris, so the flight had quite a number of families on their way to Disneyland. It made any of his noise camouflage with that of other kids. I must say that the passenger seated at the window seat, slept throughout the flight. During the vacation, he was well behaved (at times more than my daughter) but we were at Disneyland, Paris so he had a lot to see. Hereunder, are some tips for when travelling with small kids:

Preparing to travel

If your kids passports have to be done, get their passport photos taken by a professional photographer and make sure to form is filled in properly;
Make a list of what each member of you family needs to take and cross off as you are packing.

Luggage

Pack enough nappies and baby milk (remember on your way back you would have used the nappies so will gain luggage space);
Kids clothes – spread out the outfits and pack each in a plastic bag for each day of your stay or by type for example socks in a plastic bag, t-shirts in another etc ;
Pack a small box with medicine not just for the kids but for yourself too. I pack them in a small box to make sure if a liquid medicine is broken, it remains contained;
Extra toys to rotate especially if you have to commute from one place to another during your stay.
Save space in your luggage by packing your clothes in storage plastic bags ( those which you do not require a vacuum to take out air).

Hand Luggage

Make sure to check any hand luggage restrictions with your airline.
You will not be allowed to take any liquid through security, so if your child takes baby milk, just portion the powdered milk and then buy water after the security check point;
Pack small toys to keep your child entertained during the flight, try and avoid noisy toys (not to disturb other passengers).
If you need to take medicine in the hand luggage, keep the doctor’s prescription at hand.

Once everything is packed, it means that you are only a few hours away from your vacation. So just relax, and enjoy it because you deserve it.

Check out my travel checklist under the printables section.

Love

Strugglingmum