Toddler Travel Tips: Keeping Your Journey Fun and Easy

Traveling with toddlers is a wild ride—we've been there, done that, and got the messy t-shirt.

Sure, it's unpredictable, but some of our best family memories come from those crazy adventures.

To help you out, we've rounded up a bunch of tips and tricks. These aren’t just from our own trial and error, but also from chatting with other parent-travelers. Let’s be real, we’re all just winging it sometimes, but a little prep goes a long way.

Creating an amazing vacation with your toddlers in mind helps keep everyone sane. For flights, it takes a little preparation. From choosing the right flight to packing the perfect carry-on.

Prior to departure, sleeping schedules, and strategies for keeping your little traveler engaged can make all the difference.

While on the move, having a loose schedule of the day, but being willing to adapt, especially around mealtime as this is where we often run into our biggest challenges or need to navigate unexpected tantrums.

Planning Your Trip

Choosing Toddler-Friendly Destinations

Now, often when we decide where we are going and what we are doing we want to consider our toddlers, and the first time we do that is where we are going.

This doesn’t have to just mean the location, but places where kids can be kids with open spaces for them to run around and play — maybe some parks or beaches?

We also try to think about places with family-friendly attractions; interactive museums or themed parks.

A bit of research has helped us make sure that we are visiting places that are not only enjoyable for the entire family. And to be completely honest… some trips, you may have it all planned out and still need a drink when you arrive. It is what it is, but it always gets better!

Booking Accommodations

This is key! Whether flying or driving, we make it a point to book hotels that provide amenities aimed at children.

Looking for hotels that have a pool, playground, or a kids' club. We've also learned that booking a hotel with a kitchenette helped immensely with being able to make a quick meal or snack that we know the kids will eat.

For long flights, we always try consider booking flights with longer layovers to reduce stress, rush, and this will allow our toddlers the time they need to get that bottled up energy out.

Packing Essentials

When it comes to packing, we create a checklist to ensures (we still often forget those small little items) my toddlers have everything they need.

Here's a simple breakdown:

• Clothing: Enough outfits for each day, plus extras for messes

• Comfort items: A favorite blanket or toy to help them feel secure

• Snacks: A variety of healthy snacks and no-so-healthy to bargain- IFYKYK

• Entertainment: Books, games, and some downloaded shows

• Health items: First aid kit, children's pain reliever, and any daily medications

And definitely try to never forget items for ear pressure relief during flights, like pacifiers or chewable snacks. Phew, what a trip that was…

Navigating Airports

As a mom of three, there are days we show up late. But this no brainer tip is to always arrive early to avoid rushing with toddlers or any young child.

Then, we look out for play areas to let our little one burn off a little energy before boarding. GAME. CHANGER!

Road Trip Strategies

For road trips, we keep a bag of toys and books within easy reach, snacks close by (definitely have some special treats lined up), and we always try to play a game finding motorcycles, trash trucks or Tesla’s to keep our little one entertained.

Definitely plan for regular stops to stretch your legs! Think about a realistic timeframe that your kids can go without absolutely losing it. Keeping a change of clothes accessible for spills or accidents has also been *chef’s kiss*. Not a must-have but we’ve found that using a lightweight stroller is invaluable when navigating the buses, trains, and planes. So bring your own or plan to rent one.

Interactive Travel Games

The biggest struggle that we seem to have is trying to keep our kids entertained. Lets face it - a lot of times this is new to them, and they have a lot of energy to get out with no place to go. We always try to turn to interactive travel games, educational apps, and try to maintain routines.

We've found that travel-specific games can capture a toddler’s attention for long stretches.

At the hotel and kids getting getting antsy? A couple of games we’ve tried recently have been magnetic board games and portable puzzles. From our experience these are relatively easy to pack and don't create to much mess. We have a small basket in the car filled with toys or games for them!

Another fun one is lining up hotel toiletries as an improvised bowling game, which is surprising a hit for all of us! It’s the different, fun ways to giving your toddler attention is what works best for us.

Educational Apps and Resources

Tablets and smartphones can be lifesavers, we try to be conscious of the time that we allow our toddlers to spend on them, but sometimes it’s got to happen. Try preloading it with some language learning apps, puzzles, and drawing games first. A lot of times, they’re engaged and it suffices. But if all else fails, give them the game you’ve tried to steer away from- you deserve to enjoy your trip, too!

Maintaining Routines

Even on the road, we try to keep my toddler's home routine as intact as possible.

This includes naptimes, snack times, and playtimes. This is where picking the right flight or drive times is key!

Doing so adds a sense of normalcy and familiarity - nothing can be crazy than trying to throw your toddler into a new environment with a new routine and expect them to be perfect angels. We try our best to help set them up for success.

When it's time for a nap, we have their favorite blanket and their favorite book or toy handy to make sleep in unfamiliar places easier. Remember, this won’t go perfect and it may take longer than usually. Just don’t get frustrated.

Mealtime Strategies

One of the things that we often overlooked when we first started traveling with our toddlers for the first time was food. For us, we were excited to try new things, but doing that for our kids was not smart.

Snack Packing Tips

Plan ahead: we always pack a variety of snacks.

We try to go for a mix of proteins, fruits, and veggies. We’ve done some pre-cut apple slices and cheese sticks are a hit, and they're easy to carry. Key is to just think your toddlers favorites that are easy to pack up and carry on the go. But bring those bribery snacks! You will probably need them and I promise you, life will be okay.

Eating Out With Toddlers

We like to look for some family-friendly restaurants that have kid-friendly menus and a relaxed atmosphere where other children are screaming, Just kidding- but still kind of serious. One of our favorite things is finding places with a patio to sit and eat.

Definitely look into places with entertainment extras and food options. There’s nothing worse than showing up somewhere and you kids not liking anything. I imply this more towards our super picky eater twelve your old!

Nap and Bedtime

Sleep Gear to Bring

For our toddler's naps and bedtime while on the go, we always pack a few essentials:

• Portable Travel Crib: Great for toddlers to have a safe and familiar place to sleep.

• Sleep Sack: Again, back to keeping that routine as familiar as possible.

• Travel blackout curtains or a SlumberPod: These are great to make sure that the room is dark - our kids sleep much better this way!

• White Noise Machine: A portable noise machine or a YouTube video on my phone helps drown out the noise.

Creating a Sleep Environment

Transforming a new space into a sleep-friendly environment is key:

1. Darkness: We blackout curtains - must for us.

2. Temperature: We try to keep around the same temperature as home - this often gets overlooked though.

3. Familiarity: Remember that favorite blanket or toy - just like at home.

4. Quiet: Remember that sound machine to drown out any unwanted, outside noise.

Managing Tantrums and Meltdowns

When we’re traveling with little ones, we've found that its very easy to forget that this is all new to your toddler and keeping a level head is so important. Our goal is to manage those tantrums and meltdowns while managing ours- kidding. Patience is our motto, as from experience, our kids often become overwhelmed and that's when tantrums and meltdowns happen.

• Distract and Redirect: Our goal is to try to stop them before they begin. Keeping an eye out for signs, then findings way to keep them entertained is a great way to deal with them in the beginning.

• Routine Snacks: We all get a little hangry, and so do our little ones. With all the hustling around we are probably doing remember those snacks and water to prevent dehydration.

• Soothing Voice: We always want to speak calmly and softly. A reassuring voice can work wonders.

• Take a Break: Sometimes a quick break of breathing and stepping away from the situation is all you need to reset to be able to enjoy again.

Memories and Keepsakes/Souvenirs

This may be our favorite thing to do. For us, we always find a new ornament and/or magnet from where every we go. Think about the traditions and memories that you can start and the fun ways you can involve your kids in the adventure.

Capturing Moments

We never leave without our cameras (or phones). It's my wife’s trusted tool for capturing moments that we experience together. We've learned that the best photos are often the candid ones, where our child is simply enjoying the moment, whether that's laughing on a park swing or marveling at a street performer.

Collecting Souvenirs

For souvenirs, we keep it simple and meaningful. A small local craft or a patch for our travel blanket or an ornament- that’s our go-to items because they're easy to carry and become part of a growing collection that tells the story of where we've been. We always like to try and include or toddlers in that decision. We don’t always pick that one, but picking it together just adds that little extra something special to it. Although we have ended up with two because my wife likes to make everyone happy.

Frequently Asked Questions

How can I ensure a smooth car trip with my toddler?

We make sure to time car trips with my toddler's nap time, so they're more likely to sleep through the journey. Having their favorite toys and snacks can also be a lifesaver when it comes to keeping them content and quiet.

What identification does my toddler need when we're flying?

If we’re flying domestically with our toddler within the United States, we usually don't need any identification for them, but it's best to check with the airline. For international flights, our toddlers need a valid passport.

What are the TSA guidelines for traveling with a young child?

The TSA guidelines for traveling with a young child allow for medications, formula, and breast milk in reasonable quantities exceeding 3.4 ounces, and they also provide a more screening process for children under 12 years old.

Does my two-year-old require a car seat on an airplane?

Most airlines recommend and some even require that a two-year-old should be in a car seat during a flight for safety.

It's important to check that the car seat is FAA-approved for use on an airplane.