Traveling with Young Kids

Our family has traveled a good share domestically, either to visit family in the Pacific Northwest or exploring areas in California and Colorado on our own. We also drive throughout our state to visit family. I wanted to share a few tips I have learned so far with traveling with young children. I am sure there are many more things that work for other families, but here is what has been helpful for us. I divided the post to "travel day" and "the rest of travel days", though they have similar themes. 

Travel Days 

1. Set Realistic Expectations 

Before kids, travel days, whether by plane or car, were relaxing and anticipated. I’d have books to read uninterrupted, plenty of time for deep conversation with my husband, and time to listen to music or audiobooks. But with kids, obviously this changed. I can begrudgingly wish for that same experience and be annoyed by interruptions, but it will suck all the fun out of the trip. I have to remember the days leading up and especially the day of traveling: this is going to be tough. It doesn’t have to be horrible, but it won't be the blissful reading escape of years gone by. My kids are out of their normal rhythm, maybe they missed a nap, they are used to running around and are instead strapped in, etc. Behavior and attitude (for kids and parents alike) can be more easily triggered, so you have to expect the day having challenges, but not fall into despair at the same time. The rest of my tips can help with it still being a somewhat enjoyable day amidst all the possible challenges.

2. Plan and Prepare 

I’m naturally a planner, but I think even the most spontaneous parent could benefit from a bit of preparation for travel days to help decrease or even avoid certain meltdowns or tough situations. I typically plan the following:

- Snacks: the more the better. For infants and toddlers, I’ll sometimes bring an empty medicine container that has the tiny boxes for different days, and put a small snack in each compartment so they have to work for their snack… it’s fun work for them and it slows down the snack consumption a bit. I try to add some fruit because all those carbs all day can be pretty constipating. One of my kids have food allergies, so I’ve always had to bring snacks on flights, so we are just in the habit of bringing a lot of snacks. If that’s not your child, then you can definitely bring less snacks if they’ll be eating whatever the flight attendants offer. 

- Toys/activities: I have a medium-sized storage bin at home with small toys and activities for traveling. Water WOW books, small coloring books, thin paperback picture books, dry erase activity books, window-clinging stickers and knock-off Squigz to stick to windows and airplane drop-down tables, small toys like trains, wooden people, cars, etc. I fill a gallon-size ziplock bag with a variety of toys. Since these are only brought out for travel days, they feel new and capture their attention for awhile. These are toys from Christmas stockings and Easter baskets from family and items found at Dollar Tree and the dollar section at Target. My son loves coloring, so I search online and print off free coloring sheets with movie characters he currently loves (our most recent long car ride included  Disney Cars and Kung Fu Panda sheets). I always bring a pencil pouch with coloring crayons or colored pencils. We are pretty strict with screen time at home, but give extra time during travel days, so that’s fun for my 4.5 year old son. We’ll download a movie he can watch offline during a plane ride. 

They both love Water WOW books

When my kids were babies and toddlers, I chose the toys depending on what I thought they’d enjoy. Once my son was around 3, I would pack some of the toys to surprise him, but I’d also let him pick out a few toys he’s want to play with. We count the toys and take a photo of the toys he selects because they’re usually toys he loves and would be very sad to lose. We refer to the photo if we are missing a toy. He carries his own small backpack and is responsible for it, though I remind him before leaving a plane or gate after a layover to check his stuff. 

- Naps: When possible, we try to factor in naps on travel days. Obviously, it’s not a normal day, so naps may be late or even totally skipped, but we still try to plan around them when we can. For short road trips, we usually leave around nap time so they can hopefully sleep part of the way. I give them a snack or full meal prior to leaving so they’re not starving, grumpy, and tired, because that won’t help. When flying, I packed a comfortable baby carrier to wear while walking around the airport during a layover for my baby to nap. Or I’d nurse them to sleep during take off or anytime during the flight they seemed tired. For my 4-year old, we don’t expect him to nap since it’s an exciting day, but he often looks tired, so we’ll let him cuddle on us and nap. 

very rare moment when they both napped

- Nursing on flights: I typically nurse my babies on take-off and landing to help with the middle-ear pressure that could cause pain to their tiny ear tubes. For older kids, having a lollipop, water, gum (if old enough), or something else to suck and swallow repeatedly can help with relieving that ear pressure.

- Clothes: I pack an extra outfit for each child (tightly rolled up) in my backpack with their other stuff (snacks, toys, diapers, wipes, etc) because accidents happen. Whether a baby blowout, a toddler who repeatedly said he didn’t have to pee until it was too late, food or drink spilled all over their clothes, or motion sickness, it’s always nice to be prepared with an outfit. Stuff a plastic bag in there too, because you don’t want the dirty clothes with your other clean things in your backpack. 

3. Find Time for Movement

We try to get to the airport with plenty of time to skate so we aren’t stressed or running to our gate. This typically provides at least 30-60 minutes before boarding for the kids to run around, watch planes take off, play with their toys, etc. We typically have at least an hour layover, so the kids go up and down escalators and moving walkways and run around where appropriate. I don’t want them to be annoying to other travelers, so we try to be respectful and quiet, but they need to get wiggles out, so we let them move as much as possible when they can. 

Before short  road trips, I try have all our bags mostly packed before the travel day so I can either take them to a nearby playground or go in our backyard to get a lot of movement before they’re strapped down for hours in the car seat. 

PDX has a van-plane play structure that is perfect before a flight

our kids love watching planes land and take off

4. Have Something Enjoyable for You

I started off by saying you can’t expect to get a ton of reading or entertainment time to yourself, but I still try to bring a small book and save an audiobook to listen to in case the kids nap or they’re really engaged with their activities. I expect I’ll be interrupted at some point, and that’s fine (trying to be realistic!) but I still try to read or hear something that’s relaxing for me, even if it’s just 15 minutes. On road trips, this can include a small embroidery project, a journal, Bible study material, books, etc., while on flights it’s more minimal. I also try to have quality conversations with my husband if there’s an opportunity (like the kids are sleeping in the backseat), but we are usually wiped from the day, so we usually prefer to save deep conversation for the days after we travel. 

The Rest of the Trip

1. Set Realistic Expectations

Again, traveling looks different with kids than when you were single or married without kids. Be realistic about how much you can all see and do. You can still do things you as parents enjoy, but find ways to make them enjoyable for your kids too. A full day of sight-seeing would be too much for my young kids, so we typically plan the morning for being out and about, then let them nap on the way to our Airbnb or relative’s house we are staying at. 

For example, my husband and I love easy-to-moderate hikes,  but with young kids, we have to limit the distance to around 2 miles or less, and it has to be pretty flat. We still get the beautiful views and time in nature, and our son would run around for a lot of the hikes.

This was a loop around Bear Lake in the Rocky National Park

Hiking Red Rocks, CO with our (then) two-year old, who walked most of the way

2. Plan and Prepare

-Accommodations: We love booking AirBnb homes or apartments with at least two rooms so we can sleep comfortably. If your kids can sleep in a room with you and you can all have a restful night of sleep, that’s awesome! We are all light sleepers and we have had rough nights when we are cramped together, so we try to find affordable options where we have multiple rooms or at least a large walk-in closet that fits a pack-n-play for some distance (don’t worry, we  crack the door once they’re asleep so there’s good air flow). 

- Activities: We try to find a middle-ground of things we want to see and things our kids would enjoy. Because we have local zoo, children’s museum, and botanical garden yearly passes, they all are part of associations that provide free entrances to other locations around the U.S. Before traveling, I find the list online for each association and look up the places that we can visit for free. For example, in every city we’ve traveled in the last few years, we’ve found a children’s museum we could visit for free. Zoos are usually half-off their  daily price, and botanical gardens usually are free. So, we can have a very affordable itinerary thanks to our memberships/passes we already have! And we enjoy those places as parents too, so it’s a win-win. If we want to go somewhere that’s not necessarily geared towards kids, we try to set a realistic time frame and bring some of the travel toys and activities  with them.

Pointing to Multnomah Falls in Goodnight, Oregon while we are visiting it

my son loves trains, so this train ride near Denver was so great for all of us

free admission to Discovery Cube (Orange County) due to our local children's museum membership

San Diego Zoo has an awesome kids playground

Houston Children's Museum was awesome.. and free to us due to our local membership

Portland, Oregon's OMSI is free because of our local children's museum membership

- Food: I try to scope out restaurants using Google Maps prior to traveling to see the options. Again, we have multiple family members with food allergies, so this is a necessity for us, but it can still be helpful even if you don’t deal with food allergies. We look for restaurants with a play area, preferably. I’ll typically  bring a box of Mac n cheese that I can make for one meal since all I need is in the box plus water and a pot. I’ll have that for a meal at our rental or to bring as a meal if we choose a restaurant where there won’t be a lot of options my kids would like.  I love finding restaurants that have a playground for kids to get energy out before or after they enjoy the meal, so that is always a fun thing to look for. 

This iconic gelato place in Laguna Beach gave out free ice cream to moms on Mother's Day!

- Naps: We try to stick with our nap schedule while on vacation, but are realistic that it doesn’t always work out. The kids often fall asleep on the way back to the Airbnb, for example. But we try to schedule our vacation so we have at least a few days that have a lighter schedule of events so we can be near the rental and have the kids in their beds to nap. This helps them get rest they need to enjoy their vacation, but, as I’ll explain later, it also helps us as parents. 

snoozing during a church service while visiting family

- Meds: In addition to medications one of my kids takes daily, I usually bring Tylenol in case of  new fevers or teething pain, a nasal syringe (or Nose Freida) and saline spray in case of nasal congestion from environmental allergies or new cold symptoms, Benadryl in case they touch a plant or something that irritates their skin or ears something they’re sensitive to,  bandaids, and sunscreen if it’ll be sunny.

3. Make time for Movement 

This overlaps with the planning section, but I plan ahead by searching what playground and parks are within a few mile radius of our rental. Bonus points if they’re in walking distance! I like to have at least one place that looks safe and fun for the kids to run around and get wiggles out, especially if we know we’ll be at an event like a wedding or other sit-down atmosphere. When we visited San Diego last year, we had three playgrounds in walking distance, which wasn’t planned by me; it just happened to be the perfect little spot where we could walk to a few different parks on different days. Walking paths, nature reserves, or forests are great options too. Some state parks and nature reserves will even have backpacks kids can borrow for two hours with binoculars, maps, bird and tree guides, scavenger hunts, and other fun activities to help them engage with nature, so look that up if interested! 

If we are staying with family, we usually know the parks around us, so it’s fun for the kids to revisit playgrounds they remember from previous trips. 

Speaking of movement, since we know we’ll be walking around, exploring the area we are visiting, I bring our double-stroller so my 4.5 year old can sit on his little bench when he’s tired. 

One of three playgrounds in walking distance at our rental in San Diego

a fun playground in Newport Beach, Ca right by the ocean

Hoyt Arboretum (Oregon)

playground in Boulder, CO

4. Have Something Enjoyable for You

Again, it’s a balancing game of finding things you, your spouse (or other adults joining you), and your kids will enjoy. But try to find pockets of time to relax and enjoy your surroundings. For us, we try trading days where one of us can slip away for a few hours while the kids nap so we can have alone time. The other person at home also has time to relax (usually read, watch something, journal, etc). I’ve found coffee shops and parks in walking distance where I can read and enjoy the sights and sounds around me. Other times I went swimming by myself at the rental's pool since pool time with kids doesn’t usually provide time for me to swim in my own. We have a rhythm of gifting each other alone times on weekends, so we carry this over to traveling and it’s so rejuvenating for us as introverted parents. After the kids wake from naps, we as the parents are relaxed and ready to do the next thing, which usually means playing with the kids and then heading to dinner. 

If we can't schedule solo time away or we don't have family to watch the kids so we can sneak away for a little date, then we do the best with what we've got. Going to places that are enjoyable for all of us, like the beach, can be a little respite because we can all relax and enjoy the scenery together. 

started an embroidery project at a cafe during my solo time in San Diego 

the kids happily played at Magnolia Silos in Waco w/ their dad while I roamed the shops

after-dinner stroll on the beach in Orange County, California

solo coffee time at Estes Park, CO

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I hope these tips were helpful! We have some traveling ahead of us, so it was good to think about these tips for myself, but I definitely hope they can be useful for others too! Please share some of your favorite traveling hacks with kids below!