Tips for traveling with preschoolers
Tips for traveling with preschoolers
Disney paid for my family’s vacation to Walt Disney World. As always, all opinions are my own.
If you’re traveling with small children before you know it’s not easy. I have 5 children. Trust me – I know! đ Away from family and on vacation, our family has learned many tips and tricks for traveling with preschoolers. These tips have really helped make our trips more enjoyable and less stressful. Today I want to share some of those tips with you in case you’re traveling with young kids anytime soon.
Tips for traveling with preschoolers
- Choose a flight time that fits your child’s nap schedule.
- Start packing a few days before your trip.
- Keep a list of items to bring and place them in designated locations as you wish.
- Pack Snacks (and many more!)
- Bring a special treat or candy to reward your child for doing well.
- Pack familiar toys/coloring books for them to play with.
- Having familiar things in unfamiliar situations can help relieve tension.
- Consider buying and packing new small toys or books.
- Novelty can go a long way when your child is in a situation of boredom or anxiety. Getting up in the air can be scary, so anything that can distract them is good.
- Pack a blanket and an extra set of clothes.
- Pack the stickers!
- Kids love to play with stickers that provide tons of entertainment.
- Charge and preload your portable DVD player/tablet with their favorite shows.
- Downloading some games and apps will also help!
- Bring comfortable, kid-sized headphones.
- Consider bringing a headphone splitter if you want more than 1 child to use the tablet/DVD player.
- Pack all the basic baby items you might need.
- Diapers, pull-ups, wipes, diaper cream, diaper pads, formula, bottles/straw, pacifiers, medicines (packed in Ziploc bags).
- Pack baby wipes and antibacterials.
- Even if your child doesn’t have a diaper, wipes can help clean dirty face, hands or small dirt.
- When you arrive at the airport, keep all important documents/ID/birth certificates in a handy place.
- Before you arrive at the airport, tag and label your luggage.
- Get to the airport early! !
- Things always take longer when you have kids, so plan accordingly so you don’t miss your flight.
- Buy milk/drinks after security and before boarding.
- Make sure kids use the restroom before boarding and make sure babies/toddlers have new diapers.
- Once you’re at the airport, let your kids run around.
- It’s best to get rid of the wobble then because you won’t be able to be on the plane.
- Before getting on the plane, figure out your seating arrangement on the plane to prevent tantrums.
- If you know your child needs it, sit near the airplane bathroom.
- Give your child or baby something to chew on during takeoff and landing.
- Moving up and down in the air can cause ear pain, so give bottles to encourage sucking and swallowing, or even a small piece of candy to help your toddler’s ears.
- If driving, plan for parking, restrooms, and interactive game ideas.
- Stops, stories and simple games like My Spy can help break things up and keep kids entertained.
Transporting a few bags can be difficult, so we found it helpful to buy your own rolling luggage for the kids. They pulled it and gave us one less bag. đ
As you can see from the pictures below, we are all about providing kids with activities while traveling.
Coloring books are very convenient and can be used by people of all ages. The new coloring book and crayon set make it even more new and exciting.
Our best friend on the plane? tablet! ! Our kids love watching shows, so it’s always good entertainment to sit and enjoy their favorite movie or show. We also let them play games on the tablet, something they rarely do at home, so they love it!
We understand that everyone has different travel and family situations, so these tips may not be suitable for everyone, but they will definitely come in handy for most.
Hopefully these tips and tricks for traveling with preschoolers make your trip more enjoyable and less stressful.
Please enjoy!