Preparing for a family trip can be complicated to budget and prepare for, especially when travelling with young children. A recent study on travel reported by Study Finds found that parents with kids under ten years of age can start getting overwhelmed as early as five hours into their road trip with their children. Nearly 60% of parents reported having difficulty cleaning up messes on the go, with 41% experiencing child bathroom accidents and 36% noting that drink spills are the hardest clean-up. However, despite these travel challenges, most parents say that travelling with their children is a great way to bond and have a fun vacation.
To make the most of your holiday, you must prepare your child’s things for the trip. Toddlers are especially prone to getting their things lost or damaged, so packing extra clothes, toys, toiletries, and snacks are a must.
How you’re going to travel will also affect the types of things you need to take. If you’re travelling by hire car, or perhaps if there’s a bigger group by minibus or coach, you’ll need to do some research about car seats and the requirements for these.
Hiring a minibus is a great option if you’re travelling with extended family and taking a road trip. Make sure you do your research first to get the best deal for your area such as minibus hire in St Helens.
However you’re planning to get there, if you’re planning to travel soon, listed below are some things you should consider bringing when travelling with toddlers.
Spill-proof travel cups
While toddlers have moved away from using feeding bottles, they may still spill their drink when drinking on a bumpy ride. To save yourself the stress of cleaning up, choose spill-proof travel cups for anything, from water to smoothies. You can even choose insulated options like Pura Kiki insulated stainless steel cups when travelling in warmer weather, keeping your child’s drink cool and refreshing. If you’re travelling by car, you can also invest in a car seat snack tray with a cup holder and a small plate where toddlers can place their treats or toys so these remain easy to reach even if seated in a car seat.
Toddler pushchairs and carriers
Young children seem to have a boundless amount of energy, but they also get tired and sleepy at the end of the day. Rather than carrying them in your arms and tiring yourself out, iCandy’s pushchairs and carrycots demonstrate how travel can be much more convenient and hassle-free. These come with a complete travel system with multi-use functionality, enabling parents to easily adjust the pushchair for walking or attach it as a car seat for maximum comfort and safety. While pushchairs are perfect for travelling in areas with flat surfaces like malls and amusement parks, you can opt to use toddler carriers for rougher terrains for activities like hiking.
Travel toys
Our post “Parenting a Threenager” notes how tough it can be to handle toddlers when they are so prone to temper tantrums. It may be difficult to avoid these meltdowns while travelling, especially when your child has to face an unfamiliar environment or stay cooped up in a plane or car seat. To deal with potential tantrums, you must bring your toddler travel toys to play with and entertain themselves. Some options that won’t disrupt other passengers include finger puppet sets, felt memory games, pipe cleaners, and colouring books. You can also bring one of their favourite toys to make the journey more bearable.
Toddler-sized headphones
As mentioned earlier, keeping your little one entertained during travel is key. Aside from toys, you can bring a tablet with downloaded TV shows and music for them to watch or listen to. It’s crucial that you minimise noise levels, especially when you’re travelling by plane, so durable, toddler-sized headphones such as the Onanoff corded headphones are an excellent investment. These headphones are designed to be comfortable, even for kids prone to sensory overstimulation, and have maximum volumes within safe hearing limits. Moreover, headphones can also minimise loud external noises from the plane engine to keep your toddler’s ears from hurting during a flight.
