Traveling with children is always very interesting, you will either enjoy it or be neurotic and end up missing the fun. Here are a number of tips some of our parents on how they handle traveling with their children.
Planning
Always have a well planned list on you that you will use whenever the time to travel arises. It’s even better when you have it saved on your computer or phone and edit it for the different trips then print it. This list helps you remember what you need for the event, what will not be necessary on the new trip and of course what children will need. It helps you stay organized and not lose your mind.
Medication
This is quite important that always makes sure you carry all the necessary medicine for you children especially if you are going to a rural area, away from pharmacies and hospitals. Children are usually allergic to several different forms of medication so carrying the ones you are used with an emergency kit will be very useful even if you went to have fun.
Hotel Booking
With the emergence of technology, you do not have to wait when you arrive at the hotel to confirm your bookings. You can use sites like Jovago.com to make your reservations and the travel advisor will confirm the booking for you to take one load off of your plate as you plan for your travels. Make sure to get hotels that are suitable for children with planned activities and play areas for them.
Packing
If you have teenagers, it is better you let them pack their own holiday outfits and after they are done you double check just to make sure everything is weather appropriate for the destination. Just in case you are going to fly, separate all the luggage in different bags because at times the airlines lose bags and you do not want to be stranded in another country wearing only your travel clothes as you wait.
Kid Time
When you get to your destination, do not just plan activites that only suit adults; plan for children too. Keep them busy and help them learn about their new surroundings, children love seeing new things and this helps them make new memories along the way. They will make friends easily when they meet other children in a child friendly environment on their vacation.
Toys
For the little one and those in the terrible two stage, carry toys for them to keep them busy on the journey to your vacation, Children do not like being in one place for long that is why they become fussy and irritable. The toys help them focus on something else other than the fact they are cooped up in one place for hours.
Forget The Rules
Its vacation after all, why do you have to tell the kids to maintain their bed and dinner time? Let them have fun because it helps you to enjoy too, break the rules for the length of the vacation. Supervise them, but do not be in their faces every time especially the teenagers, they resent that and end up being more rebellious. You do not want to have a rebellious teen fueled by hormones driving you nuts on your vacation.
Mummy and Daddytime
Do not forget why you went for the vacation in the first place, to relax and get away from everything. So stop worrying about children or the planning of other activities for the vacation, ask the hotel if they can get you a babysitter or have your older kids babysit for you and go enjoy yourself. Use the times you take the kids for sightseeing and enjoy it, live in the moment and create memories with the children