Tips of a Traveling Mom!

We have been lucky enough lately to be able to take a few family vacations to visit our sailor. Each trip was international, and required a bit of preparation beforehand. I scoured the internet for different blogs and information on best travel tips with a toddler and have put together my most helpful list of tips from my experience and my lessons I have learned along the way! These are in addition to commonly recommended things you will read online, like a new toy they have never played with before.

Stroller, car seat, luggage, diaper bag & toddler: check!

My Motto:
When I am not traveling internationally, my motto is: Whatever you forget, you can buy there! But sometimes internationally, this is not always easy or convenient, especially with a toddler whose been traveling in tow.

Here are a few things not to forget:

•  A Pen, you will have forms along the way at customs and immigration to fill out and pens aren't always easily accessible.  
• Passports
• Printed flight itinerary, and hotel information
• Sunscreen, especially if you are picky about ingredients like me! 
• Stain removing sticks! If you won't be able to stain treat laundry during your trip, bring one, or be prepared to toss a few shirts from your trip! Those veggie pouches make the worst stains!!
• Medications, including over the counter. For a toddler this might be Children's Tylenol, or B.enadryl..
• Adult Tylenol, Tums, or Imodium because you never know someone in your family will get food poisoning in a foreign country. * I'll save that story from my blog, but lesson learned there as well! *

These should always go in your carry on luggage in a zip-lock bag. I learned my lesson with this one by forgetting my son's B.enadryl in our checked luggage and he broke out with a bad case of hives on a flight back from Sydney.

Start packing early, throw things in as you remember, and then organize later. 

In the week or two before traveling, I like to put a bin on the kitchen counter and fill it with all the things I'd like in my carry-on that I don't want to forget. Packing days ahead of time as you remember things helps forgetting things and avoids being rushed the night before. This also helps me when I am packing our diaper bag the night before so we can grab it and go the morning of our travels. I also do this with our suitcase, and then organize it prior as well.

-Don't forget to leave room for purchases you will make on the trip! With a toddler in tow, you are bound to add a few toys to your bags. We almost had to buy another suitcase leaving Sydney.

Airport/Travel:
If you are traveling alone with a toddler, it's always easier with as many free hands as possible! My "Ergo" Baby carrier has been a life saver. My toddler is under 40 lbs and therefore I can put him on my back and have two free hands for things like folding the stroller, carrying luggage and getting out our passports.

• Stroller: You'll read in many blogs these are the #1 damaged checked item, along with car seats so gate checking is highly recommended. I had no problems gate checking my stroller on all my international trips. One helpful tip I read was to bubble wrap, or duct tape the handle bar because that is what is commonly broken during travel.

• Car seat: There is lots of information about this all over the internet so I will keep this to exactly what helped for us. It's a known fact car seats are the safest place for all children on a airplane (during take off, landing and turbulence.) 

• For our long haul international flight, I brought a Eddie Bauer XRS which fit perfectly forward facing and rear facing on the plane. This provided the perfect spot for my son to sleep on our over night flight, and also for him to hang out with I needed a break. 

• For a shorter flight where you won't be needing a car seat at your destination, a "CARES" harness is a great solution. I used this for our two shorter flights recently and my son felt very secure as if he was in his car seat and fell asleep before we even took off.

Snacks: 
Before packing snacks, check customs regulations for your destination. Recently, when we traveled to Sydney, their customs regulations are very strict and you can't bring any fruits/vegetables (fresh, freeze dried, dried...) etc into the country. Therefore, I could not bring snacks for anything more then the trip over. But for our vacation to Hong Kong, I was able to pack enough snacks for a week. These prooved to be very helpful because I wasn't able to find a store that had snacks he was a costumed to.
*Quick tip: Use a old shoe box for the snacks, It keeps your snacks from getting squashed and you can toss it once you get there and have more room in your bag on the way back.*

These include:
-Organic Fruit/Veggie Pouches
-Apple Sauce pouches
-Freeze dried fruits
- Gerber Veggie Dip puffs

For the day of travel I packed a muffin for breakfast, multi-grain pasta without sauce, and blueberries.  I also like to recommend packing something for breakfast for first morning you arrive so if your toddler wakes up early and is hungry you don't have to worry about finding somewhere that is open right away. For this, I usually pack pre-packaged blueberry muffins or bagels.

Mommy Hook:
I am currently 2-2 on these having broke one on each vacation. The Munchkinz mommy hook lasted me about a week and my purse hit the ground because it was so low. I tried a Japanese version, and it lasted about 2 weeks. I am looking into getting the Think King Stroller Hook and will review that later!


Lastly, prepare for delays or set backs. Always bring more diapers and snacks then you think you'll need.
The following link is full of helpful information and explanations from a seasoned flight attendant. It covers more indepth discussions about some of the topics I covered.
Flying With Children

Comment to share YOUR helpful traveling tips and information!