Traveling with kids
Vacationing with children changes the whole dynamic of travel. How many parents return from spring break declaring, “I need a vacation!”? Let’s talk about ways to make your vacation restorative for the whole family.
This week we’re sharing our favorite travel hints- from long car rides to navigating airports while keeping track of your kids- we’re going to discuss sanity savers for parents and children.
After the show, keep your eyes here, and we’ll post links and tips shared by our community of listeners. Prior to the show, feel free to help us prepare by sharing your favorite travel hints and links.
Talk to you Friday!
Lisa:
Great topic! I used to often drive back and forth from FL to Chicago (it’s around a 24-hour trip). I was almost always alone with three kids, all under 5 at the time, and I’ve got two pieces of advice:
1) If you’re traveling in a van, get a child-size potty to take along. Of course you’ll *never* let the kids use it while you’re driving, but it will be a lifesaver if you’re on a long stretch of road with nowhere to stop. Line the potty with a disposable plastic bag and then when the need strikes, just pull over into a parking lot or gas station, and let them to what they need to do. Drop a handful of paper towels into the bag, pull it out, tie it tightly, and dispose of the bag when you get the chance.
2) Rotate a bag or box of toys every few hours so the kids get “new” stuff to play with.
11 June 2008, 2:18 pmJess:
Long car rides, portable DVD players, lots of books, travel games, coloring books, word searches.
Airplane trips, make sure that you do the buddy system. Every child has a buddy. Either Mom or Dad or an older sibling. Travel in line. Either Mom or Dad at the head of the line, children in the middle and Mom or Dad at the end.
11 June 2008, 2:24 pmAngela:
Our travel tips: We use a movie as an incentive to get through the drive doing other things. (eg… after you have a snooze and we drive past the ______ then we’ll watch __________) Otherwise the demand for movies are overwhelming and lose their positive effect. The boys are currently into making “God’s Eye” things with yarn and popsicle sticks… as well as doing finger weaving with those little loops. We’ll have supplies for both for our long trips this summer. Lots of music is good. We also like games that involve looking outside the car window for things (travel bingo). Counting cars (everyone gets a different color to count).
On good weather drives we stop at rest stops for picnics and run-abouts. Having them move their bodies is key to everyone’s survival. We have gone so far as to stop at random restaurants connected to hotels so that we can run hallways while we wait for our food to arrive.
13 June 2008, 1:33 pmAntonia:
traveling with children….ha! i always overpack. as if we’re going on an expedition to one of the poles. i fill up the ipod with stories from itunes. storynory.com is a good podcast. check out books on cd from the library to download. mad libs. auto bingo (from my childhood!) of course there’s always the portable dvd player. never thought i’d be one of those mom’s — but turns out i am. i’m not opposed to cranking up a little “because of winn dixie” or “monsters, inc.” when the time is right. if i’m really on top of it, i’ll hoard the magazines that she gets in the mail and whip them out during the trip. new reading material! gum can be infinitely entertaining. especially if i let her play with it in a way that i’d never let her do at home. streeeeeeetch it out. wrap it around that grubby finger, put it back in your mouth. make shapes. very fun. sculpy. remember that the trip ends at some point. make dad read a chapter…
13 June 2008, 1:34 pmlstroyan:
April writes:
I’ve done many long road trips with my kids. ( 3 boys and 1800+ miles round trip! ) Here’s what has worked for us.
Activities: Every kid has a pencil box of colored pencils and markers, sticky notes, tape, etc.. and a notebook of paper. If I need to push on when I don’t think they’ll want to, I keep a stash of crafts or toys to dispense as a bribe to get back in the car and keep going for a while, dollar toys, modeling wax (LOVE IT!), WikiSticks, magic modeling clay (if you get white it’s cheaper and then they can color it with their markers.), sticky notepads (great for making flip books), pipe cleaners, etc.. I tried beads once, that was a mess!
Food: We pack lots of healthy snacks and water, that way we don’t eat junk and get grumpy and over-sugared because we were munchy when we stopped at the gas station. It also helps if there are allergies or food issues. We tend to stop at the rest stops for snacks, picnic lunch, and running around when someone needs the toilet, rather than a fast food place or gas station. (Tho’ of course we do use those too!
But we tend to feel like we really got a break when we play outside which we don’t get to do at commercial places. ) We’d rather eat McDonalds in the car and then have time to run and play when we find a park or rest stop.
I also really like books on tape. I know a lot of families swear these days by portable DVD players and hand held gaming systems, but we haven’t gone that route. What I really like about road trips is that we are all in one spot together sharing our experience for a good length of time. With DVD or electronic games, the driver isn’t involved, and the kids don’t interact with each other or the driver. With a book on tape we’re all listening at the same time, sharing the experience. We stop it and talk about it, which is very fun. Also, because I have to turn it off when I need to concentrate, the kids tend to notice our surroundings and the traffic patterns more. They are actually helpful, being extra sets of eyes.
Because I am the only adult, doing all the driving, we stop at night so I can sleep. I try to find hotels with swimming pools. The treat of swimming pools and cable TV makes the whole thing a great treat to them. On one leg of a journey Steve joined us, and so we didn’t need to stop as often. The kids really hated it! Taking a break every ~3 hrs and driving no more than 8hrs in a day really seem to work better for them.
19 June 2008, 12:54 pmJessica Egan:
These are my suggestions that stem from an international trip with our 14-month-old:
25 June 2008, 3:49 amBe flexible: You may have a beautiful and workable plan in place that would be perfect if you were traveling alone or with other adults…however, that plan my need to be altered, modified, or simply scrapped. That’s okay. You are where you are and you have paid lots of money and have spent lots of time to get there. Enjoy it in another way.
Remember that it is their trip too: I had to keep reminding myself that I was not alone on this grand venture across the ocean. I was dragging…bringing…my daughter along without having asked her permission. So even though I would have preferred an almost two hour trip to see a now-dead-artist’s house, I needed to respect the fact that she was done with the whole “travel time” thing by the time we had arrived in the heart of Paris. Instead we went to a park and a smaller museum.
Food: I saw some other posts about this, but I have to second and third it. Food is key, especially for the young ones. Maisy enjoyed baguette after crispy baguette on our outings. Whenever she would get fussy, I would hand her another piece of bread and she would wander around whatever museum, landmark, or architectural wonder, with newfound enthusiasm. So whatever your child’s gastronomical preferences, go with it. It will give you a few more moments doing whatever you went there to do.
Also second the books on tape/CD/MP3 player that is your phone: I loved my book on CD/uploaded onto my phone by my more technologically advanced husband. It offered good entertainment while Maisy was sleeping en route to more fun things. It was a little difficult with a little one to stop her from taking the earphones out of my ears…not sure what to suggest about that:)
That’s all the advice I can offer for now. Love the comments posted on this blog and will definitely check back for updates.
Jessica Egan