Travel Lite, but Heavy - What Items to Keep when Traveling with Children

Even before they began packing the van, the children were all arguing and creating drama. Mom knew it was going to be a long ride, and that's why she was sure to pack the games, some books, puzzle books and plenty of movies for the DVD player in the back of the vehicle. She was grateful that the rental agency offered the vans with amenities such as a Passenger DVD player, separate controls for the radio, thermostat and was equipped with two rear sliding doors. She thought she was all prepared for the trip, until the little one got sick.

You can do everything possible to make sure you are going to have a comfortable trip when traveling with children, but do we ever expect for any of them to get sick? I'm sure we don't and this is why it's necessary for you to pack lightly with only the necessary items, but also pack heavily on medical emergency items. It's never enough band-aids, peroxide, rubbing alcohol or even Vaseline in stock when you are traveling. Of course we must have the first aid kit handy, but there are a few things that may also be very essential to having a calm, relaxing, and drama-free trip. And this will also help in preventing you from making unnecessary stops at convenient stores to purchase these items. Just think if the children were playing in the back, and we all know how children can make a situation/emergency within the blink of an eye, right..? Right. Now, they're in the back, just passing licks, and then one gets a bloody nose; If you have a brown paper bag handy, you can use this to help stop the bleeding. Take a small piece of the bag, roll/fold and place between the top lip and gum, and have the child to hold their head back. This usually works within minutes, but if the bleeding persists, or the nose begins to swell, someone has been hitting a bit too hard, and you may need to seek professional medical attention-and a note: Go back for disciplinary actions after everyone is safe and sound. (Smile)

I'm not saying to keep brown bags from every store you stop at, but there are some advantages to keeping helpful items around for unexpected emergencies. There are many everyday items that can be very helpful in a variety of ways. Another instance, say one of the children gets a paper cut, and you don't have any band-aids, you can use ordinary tape and a piece of napkin. I know this may sound like what many of us call "ghetto" (be gentle, now)...but it helps when you have nothing, and don't want your little one bleeding all over the place.

I'm sure that we all take our own necessary precautions, and have our planning down to a 'tee' when it comes to traveling with children, but we must keep in special mind that accidents do happen, and it wouldn't be a fun trip if you had to end up in the hospital for three hours for something simple like a finger that was stuck in the window....WOW!