juliecanderson3 Traveling with your kids can be intimidating. Vacations are for resting and recovering, and how can you do that if you have little ones with you? I am here to calm your nerves so you can have a fantastic holiday with your young kids. Here are my top 10 family travel tips for a seamless vacation.
Why should you listen to me? My husband and I love to travel, and when we had our oldest, we did not let having a baby stop us from living our best life. It was a challenge, FOR SURE. We had some tough moments and some regrets. We learned A LOT about what to do and what not to do. So here are some things that we have learned from traveling with kids for the last 8 years, about 4-6 trips per year.
Family Travel Tip # 1 – Have A Packing List
It took me multiple trips to write this one out before I made a master copy (you can get a copy of mine in my Mom Planner here). Having a packing list not only saves you time when you are packing but also ensures you won’t forget anything, making you feel more organized and prepared.
Reasons you should have a master list
- It saves you time when you are packing
- You won’t forget anything
What’s great about a packing list is its versatility. It can be easily modified for the type of trip you are doing. For example, traveling by plane or car and going to the beach, the mountains, or the lake.
Family Travel Tip # 2 – Have a Home Prep List
If you haven’t noticed already, I love a good list. I like to have everything laid out for me so I can go through the list and handle it without having to remember to do ALL THE THINGS. Having a home prep list can relieve you of stress and make you feel more in control.
Things I would include on this home prep list are below:
- Do all the laundry (3 days before the trip)
- Pack luggage (2 days before)
- Prep the devices (1 day before)
- Clean the house (1 day before)
- Empty the trash (same day, before you leave)
- Check in to flights (24 hours before)
Family Travel Tip # 3 – Pack Snacks/Extra Clothes In Easy-Access (Carry-On)
I learned this the hard way. We quickly packed all our items when we flew back from NYC for Christmas. However, we accidentally packed all the extra diapers in our checked baggage, leaving only one in our diaper bag.
I will not point fingers here – it was a joint effort of messing up. Our first kid and we were those sad people in the airport looking for families with kids that looked to be close to the same size as our kid to see if they would let us have one of their diapers for the 6-hour flight back. We got lucky. (Bless those people)
But seriously, why don’t they have diaper vending machines at the airports? This is a million-dollar idea—for sure! Haha.
Besides diapers, ensure you have other essentials you can’t be without—for example, an extra change of clothes for the whole family, medications, and chargers. Flying is unpredictable, and preparing for the worst is better than being S.O.L. in an airport in a different city.
If you are driving – having these items in an easy-to-access location, so you don’t have to de-Tetris the back of the truck, is a lifesaver. You don’t want to be on the side of the road or in the gas station with all your belongings out on the road, so you can get that jacket out or get a spare change of pants for your toddler who peed through their diaper.
Family Travel Tip # 4 – Prep Devices
Prepping your devices is a game-changer, especially if you have tablets for your children. Ensuring they’re fully charged and loaded with movies and TV shows before your trip guarantees uninterrupted entertainment, making the journey more enjoyable for everyone.
Another AMAZING app I love and have used FOREVER is Movies Anywhere. This app allows you to access any movies purchased from Amazon, Apple, Fandango, Vudu, or any digital copy codes from buying the DVD, Blu-Ray, or digital Copy. It also allows you to download movies to save on your tablets.
Why should you do this? If you are taking a road trip, this allows you not to have to sync up onto your cell phone data and allows for no interruptions in areas with no signals. Also, if you are on an airplane, sometimes they have internet, and other times they don’t, or it is an additional fee. Now, you don’t have to buy internet for each of your kids, or you won’t be stuck entertaining them for a 6-hour flight to Hawaii, where their internet was down. (Our 6-hour flight to Hawaii had internet problems. They gave us all a $25 travel voucher for the inconvenience. I prepared, though, so my two daughters were able to watch movies and TV without the internet)
Bonus Family Travel Tip For Devices
Bring your own Roku/Amazon Fire Stick. We have found that most hotels have the chrome cast feature; however, sometimes, it doesn’t work very well. Other times, they don’t have any streaming – or you have to log in to your account on their TV (no thank you). So I like to bring my Fire Stick, plug it in, and connect to the internet, and you have all your streaming channels ready to go – no need to log in or remember your password. You’re welcome!
Family Travel Tip # 5 – Bring Your Stroller
Bring your stroller. We have a double stroller (even though my oldest is 8). With the toddler in the seat, we put all our carry-ons on it so we can easily navigate the airport. We are crazy and tend to be a carry-on-only family, so we walk around the airport with four carry-on bags. I know. I know. We are crazy because we would rather haul our bags around than wait 30 minutes at the airport to get our checked bags.
Even if you aren’t crazy like us, you can always gate-check your stroller. Bringing the stroller will help you navigate the airport efficiently and safely with a toddler and make your life easier wherever you are going.
If you are going to Disney World and you have a small child, like a 4-year-old, you can opt not to bring the stroller on the drive or the flight and then rent one to have delivered to your hotel. That way, you can enjoy the benefits of the stroller without having to buy one to accommodate your child or have it take up valuable trunk space if you are going on a road trip.
Family Travel Tip # 6 – Ship Snacks/Food to Hotel Via Amazon
We learned this one from another traveling family. It is amazing. You will need to research to determine how soon you need to order it, but you can have bread, jam, snack packs, baby items, etc., shipped directly to your hotel.
Another great hack if you are flying or have limited vehicle space is using Amazon to deliver items to your hotel. Your items can be waiting for you at the hotel. You can also have snacks and water ready, so you don’t have to stop at the grocery store or take up space packing 60 diapers in your suitcase.
Family Travel Tip # 7 – Bring Toys
Bring toys that are open-ended, fun, compact, and quiet. For smaller kids, there are little fidget toys you can suction to the tray table in the plane, and your kid can play with them. You can have quiet books, crayons, coloring books, trucks, dolls, magnetic tiles, etc.
Pack some for the traveling part and some for the hotel. Bringing toys with you will make your life easier, trust me. When we forgot to pack toys, we noticed it BIG TIME.
Family Travel Tip # 8 – Bring First Aid + Medicine & Thermometer
Another lesson learned the hard way. Pack your first aid kit, but besides the usuals, add a thermometer, Tylenol, Motrin, Benadryl, Zyrtec, and saline spray – whatever your children need. The worst thing to happen is for your child to get sick on vacation – but even worse is not having the tools you need to make them comfortable. You don’t want to be stuck in a hotel room with no mode of transportation and need Motrin. Or you need something in the middle of the night, and there are no 24-hour pharmacies near you. TRUST, it is the WORST. Don’t do it.
Instead, I would pack it and not need it. There have been many times when I never needed to get into that bag, but there have also been two or three times when I was SO GRATEFUL that we had it, especially on a plane. You want to keep this on your person at all times. Flights get delayed, airplanes get stuffy—you want to keep your little ones comfy.
Family Travel Tip # 9 – Have 2 of your bathroom essentials
I am not one for over-consumption (I am a recovering shopaholic). However, this will save you a headache time and time again. Even if you aren’t doing multiple trips a year.
You will need your bathroom bag (my favorite one here), and you will keep it stocked all the time. It will contain your travel-size shampoo and conditioner if you need to use your special shampoo, as well as your detangler, face cream, cleanser, contact solution, pads, panty liners, Q-tips, toothpaste, and toothbrush.
If you want to be extra, you can have a little set of makeup you bring with you or some travel perfume samples, so you are good to go.
That way, you can be FULLY PACKED even the night before you leave. Ideally, you do not have to pack anything on the day of, or as little as possible.
Family Travel Tip # 10 – Research Hotel/Rental Car Company Child Care Items
A lot of hotels offer childcare items. At a minimum, they should provide a pack-n-play or a roll-away crib, roll-away bed, etc. I would find out what your hotel offers so you don’t have to pack unnecessary items. I will be the first to tell you that we OVERPACKED on our first family trip with my oldest to Hawaii. I loaded the stroller, the car seat, the car seat base, the carried, the baby monitor, sound machine, and ALMOST would have brought my pack-n-play, but we did know to ask the hotel for one.
Most car rental companies will provide a car seat with your rental. Uber used to offer the option to request a car seat, but I haven’t used it since 2018, so I don’t know if that feature is still available.
Use These Top 10 Family Travel Tips
Traveling with young kids is not easy, but it is worth it. You will deal with missed naps, tantrums, and early wake-ups at home. So why not do it in a beautiful new city, on the beach, at Disneyland or Disneyworld, while they get in free and are free lap babies? Take advantage.
Just because your child will not remember everything about their vacation when they were 1 or 2 years old doesn’t mean you won’t recognize it or that they won’t remember that feeling of family time.
The more you take your child on trips, the better they become at traveling. Same with taking them out to dinner. It is a little rough at the beginning, helping them learn how to act and what to do in the situation, but before you know it, they are little masters – and now you can live your life to the fullest and make those lifelong memories. With these top 10 family travel tips, I am sure that you will have more seamless vacations with your kids.
Life experiences are everything. You have one childhood – make it the best one ever. It will go by quickly, and you will miss having these little kids in your life 24/7, so make it memorable. That’s what we are doing anyway. It is 10000% worth it.
If you are looking for an amazing couples trip or anniversary trip, be sure to check out one of my favorite 5-star adults only resort in Cancun.
