Taking a Holiday Trip with Young Children

Sometimes, taking children along on a vacation is a necessity. And, sometimes, parents choose to take their children along for a variety of reasons. Traveling with young children can be a fun family adventure, from start to finish, with these suggestions. Whether you're going to Grandma's house for the holidays, or going to Australia's Outback for a journey through time, use these tips for living through jet lag, strange beds, and stranger foods, to make your trip (and keeping your sanity) more successful.

Infants and young toddlers are probably the easiest age group of children to travel with via any mode of transportation. All babies really care about at this age are their 'normal' comforts - good food, a clean diaper, and hugging their teddy bear (or Elmo, Barney, whatever their cuddle toy happens to be). The younger the infant, the more they tend to sleep, when all their comfort needs have been met. My son was a very 'happy camper' at 14 days old, when his father and I took him traveling around Washington State on his first ever family trip. We stayed in a tent, had campfire cookout food (he was nursing and squalled like a banshee when he didn't get any s'mores!), and spent three wonderful weeks seeing new sights and visiting new places.

When my son was a bit older, around 4 years old, we took him on a trip to Mexico. That trip wasn't so 'wonderful', in fact, that trip made me wonder what I could possibly have been thinking, taking a kid along at all. I should mention here, that my son is an only child, a choice made shortly after that Mexican nightmare, er, vacation.

The foods were too 'icky', the beds were too 'bumpy', the spiders were scary (those are his words), and the plane trips down and then back 10 days later were HORRID (my word)! That was probably the longest 10 days of my life.

Today, many years later, and post-young children days, I can give advice on how to give yourself a head start on happiness, and how travel happily with young children:

DO

Start the time zone acclimation well before your trip, a week or so should do fine. Gradually, work your child's bedtimes and mealtimes into the vacation time zone. Even after your arrival, be aware of the time changes, and seriously consider taking a day, or even two days, at the beginning of your trip to allow your young child to get used to the changes.

Be sure to pack a few of your child's favorite books, toys, stuffed animals, etc. And if your baby uses a pacifier - remember to have several in different pieces of luggage and on your person, in case of emergencies. Reading 'Good Night Moon' in Spanish is great for giving your child a glimpse into another language, but it just doesn't work when he is tired and cranky and can't go to sleep without 'Night Night Moon, please mommy'!

Carry along a few essentials in a small backpack, and keep it with you at all times: a small bottle (plastic) of waterless hand sanitizer, a small coloring or game book, some surprise treats like McDonald's Happy Meal Toys, diaper wipes, (and here's a hint: NEVER call them diaper wipes to a four year old! He will throw an indignant fit!), a washcloth premoistened and sealed safely in a plastic sandwich bag, and snacks. For snacks, I suggest crackers, those little cookie bites in sealed bags, baby carrots (be careful about choking hazards), small child-sized fruit drinks or bottled waters, and a complete change of clothes. You would be surprised how often a child who has been potty trained for ages can have an accident, while on a trip in a new and strange place.

Always dress your child in hideously bright clothes. Yes, I said hideously bright! Kids can wander off in a crowd faster than you can blink, and if your child is dressed in neon lime green, you might have a better chance quickly picking him out from a crowd. Another suggestion is to tether your child to you by a short child leash through his belt loops. Some countries and some people really get freaked out by the leash idea, so be aware of the cultural idiosyncrasies you may encounter.

Always check beds and cribs for safety precautions, before settling your precious one into it for the night. Not all countries have the same standards of safety regulations that your child has at home, so be safe and check everything yourself. Speaking of bedtimes, be sure to keep bedtime rituals as close as possible to those at home. Having his favorite blanket along can smooth the way to a peaceful night's rest - for all of you!

Foods and Eating: Even children who eat everything in sight at home may become fussy eaters on a vacation. I prefer to called it 'selective dining'. My son ate cheese 'sammiches' for two weeks straight in Guatemala when he was five, but he seems to have grown up fairly normally, whatever that is. The truth is, no child is going to suffer horribly because they eat only cheese sandwiches for breakfast, lunch and dinner for a couple weeks, and who knows, you may be shocked one day, in Australia, when your seven year old asks if it is ok if he tries 'those neato fried grubs that Aborigine man is cooking 'over there'.

Another trick to encourage your child to try new and different foods is to re-name them with familiar names. A quesadilla become a cheese sandwich, sweet potato sticks become orange French fries, and Indian Fry Bread is (of course) Magical Puffy Bread, and so on. Unfortunately, I could never come up with a made-up familiar name for haggis or blood pudding. If your child sees you trying new things when you travel, he might broaden his own food horizons.

An extra tip - Have FUN! Hand your little traveler a disposable camera and see what he thinks is cool. You will get a whole new and different perspective of your fabulous trip! Once, when getting the film developed from our 2 week trip to Ecuador, both cameras my son had been using were filled with photos of hats. Yes, hats, the kind people wear on their heads. I asked him why he only took pictures of hats, and he said, "Well, cuz, mom!" Hard to argue with that! Include play time on the beach, or a fun day at the Zoo, even if the Zoo is in Quito, Ecuador and the beach is at Turtle Cay, in Belize. Allow plenty of time for cuddling and quiet activities. Not every moment of your trip has to be scheduled, you know. An hour or two of skimming rocks together on a beach or a cozy reading time together in a hammock set in the middle of a white sand beach can be almost as much fun as building castles in that sand.

Traveling with young children can be a challenge, but it can also be the trip of a lifetime, for them and for you! Enjoy the exploration and adventure of traveling with young children and you may be surprised how much fun it CAN be, with a little planning and care.