Travel Tips: Flying, Driving, and General Vacation Tips for Toddlers

One of the main reasons we moved back to Ohio was so that we could travel more. In Texas we were spending all of our travel money and PTO on trips to Ohio. Now that we’ve moved back to Ohio we’ve been traveling quite a bit, but we just this month did our first flight with the kids. I’m happy to say it went incredibly smooth! Especially since Jakob said if it didn’t go smoothly this would be the last trip we took with toddlers. Below is what we’ve found that works best for us, and may for you too! If you have other tips or things that have worked well for you, please share them below for us to use in the future!

Packing tips

• Do all the laundry right before you pack so everything’s clean

• Pack day before/morning of so all your laundry is clean and you don’t need anything you’ve already packed before you leave

• Pack new tooth brushes so you have your old ones to use before you leave

• Keep a running packing check list on your phone so you don’t have to make a new one every trip

• Split said list into categories so you’re packing methodically

• When on vacation if you don’t have something you need, add it to the packing list so you have it next time

• Pack essential food items like condiments, spices, protein powder, oats… so you don’t have to buy them while you’re there

• Just pack one giant suitcase for everyone so that you’re not haunting multiple bags everywhere

• Pack light on clothes and take laundry soap to do laundry while there, we always end up wearing the same 3 outfits anyway (powder laundry soap is easier travel with than liquid)

Driving tips

• Jakob always drivers so I can crawl into the back when the kids need me

• We delay screen time as long/much as possible so we have it in case of emergencies and the kids don’t get bored with it

• We leave a few hours before bed time then drive at night so that most of the driving is while they sleep

• We have a 6 hour radius rule for driving because that’s about the amount of driving we can do in the evening/night without us being totally exhausted the next day

• Make a stop right before you think they're going to fall asleep so that you don’t have to stop and risk waking them up

• Pack plenty of snacks and extra water so you don’t have to stop every time somebody’s hungry or thirsty

• We have Stella wear a diaper even though she’s fully potty trained so we don’t have to stop for her to go to the bathroom or worry about accidents in the car seat

• We try to bring toys/activities/books the kids haven’t played with in a while so that they’re more interested in them. We also try to prioritize Montessori activities that require focus and effort so it keeps them occupied longer. I’ve posted some pictures of our favorites we’ve used in the past

• We also prioritize interactive books like ones with touch and feel pages or with flaps to keep the kids entertained longer

Flying tips

• We attached our car seats to luggage carts and pulled the kids through the airport in their car seats so we didn’t have to worry about them running off or getting lost

• We took Elliot’s car seat on the airplane because we knew he wouldn’t sit still on the flight without it. In his car seat it was just like a car ride and he knew he couldn’t get up

• Coincidentally our flights were around nap time so Elliot just slept the whole time on both flights

• Bring a favorite snack (for us it was blueberries) for the kids to eat during take off and landing so their ears don’t pop

• Some airports have play areas set up you can hang out in to wait for your flight so look for those (Akron, Ohio does)

• Straight through flights whenever possible (Breeze Airway is known for straight though flights between smaller airports)

• Board last so kids are stuck in seats the least amount of time

• If traveling with both parents and two kids seat one kid in each row with one parent in front/behind each other so the kids aren’t fighting over toys and each child has a parents undivided attention

• Suck it up and pay to check a bag so you only have to carry bookbags with snack and toys, and car seats if applicable, and not a large carryon

• We had Stella wear a diaper so that we didn’t have to worry about her having to go/having accidents during take off or landing or when the seatbelt sign was on. We also didn’t want her to get up and go then have to fight her to sit back down

• Our kids like to listen to the same song over and over, so we let them and then when they get fussy or restless they get distracted and excited over a new song

Tips for while you’re there

• Order a grocery pickup to pickup when you get in/later that night/or first thing in the morning that way you have your food for the week without taking too much time out of your vacation

• Bring a programmable crockpot so you can put everything in in the morning, set it to cook, then dinners ready when you get back from your adventures!

• Don’t skip naps if it can be avoided… we’ve found that everyone has a more enjoyable vacation if you just stick to your routines as much as possible. Even if we skip one day for some activity, we never skip two days in a row.

• Let your kids have some say in what you’re doing when you can so they feel more control when their entire world has been changed

• Try to have extra patience and remember they’re completely out of their routine and element, two things toddlers need to stay regulated

• We bring the toys we brought for the car/flight inside and set them out so when we’re hanging out at the house the kids have something to keep them occupied

• When we first get there we go through and essentially toddler proof the house. We set out of reach anything breakable, dangerous, or that they could make a mess of like puzzles

• When we drove to the Poconos we brought a container of Lego’s and that usually kept them busy and they didn’t grow bored with it

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