5 Tips for Traveling With Children
Posted on | January 8, 2010 | 18 Comments
Family vacations are an essential part of living today, and can create wonderful memories that you can cherish for a lifetime. There are a few simple steps that parents can take to make sure everyone is safe and happy while traveling. Going on vacation with children can be a test of patience and attentiveness for parents, which many may find daunting. However, the good news is that just by taking these few simple tips, it can make everything much less stressful and leave you to relax and enjoy your family vacation.
Tip 1 – Pack Right
Depending on their age, children should pack or help pack some of their own things. You may however suggest them what type of clothes (preferably comfortable and loose) they should be carrying. Very useful for everyone in the family are pants that become shorts when the bottom parts zips off. You may think that you need everything but if you are really crunched for space, don’t pack anything that you can buy at your destination. Do bring some hand wipes, tissues, books, hard candies, paper and gum, markers, and a surprise toy for each child in a carry on bag.
Tip 2 – Protect Your Family’s Health
Bring along any medications your family requires, make sure they are well labeled and in their original containers. If you are traveling out of the country, check with the public health authorities if you need to get additional vaccines. They will recommend you the necessary vaccines, depending on where you are traveling to and for what duration. Make sure to get Travel Insurance, no one expects an accident to happen, what if your family is at the beach enjoying your Caribbean vacation and your child cuts his foot open on a rock or you suddenly have an appendicitis attack?
Tip 3 – Arrive Early at the Airport
Plan your arrival at the airport in such a way that you have plenty of check-in time. This will avoid last minute delays and take away a lot of stress, especially with today tighter security checks. Also, arriving early will allow your family to ensure you have seats together, allow time to purchase any last minute items, and give your little ones time to adjust to new surroundings.
Tip 4 – Select Seating Carefully
First row in the economy class are best coach seats to fly with children, as you get a lot of leg room. This is essential as you may need to stretch or walk around with the children if they get cranky during the travel. If you are unable to book seats in the first row, place the children between two responsible adults, away from the aisle. Young children should not sit in an aisle seat. The carts used for meals service take up almost the whole aisle, and a little could get hurt. Sitting near the galley and lavatory can also be convenient, especially if you want a bottle warmed or will be making frequent trips to the bathroom.
Tip 5 – Keep Them Occupied
Wondering how to keep kids busy on the flight? First off, pacifiers, gum, and bottles will decrease air pressure on the children’s ears. To keep a child interested during a long flight, bring his favorite toys and some new toys to spark their interest. Older children will love to have books, hand held game players or MP3 players to keep them busy.
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Tags: raw food diet > raw foodists > raw foods > raw travel > raw vacation > raw vegan > staying raw > traveling while raw
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18 Responses to “5 Tips for Traveling With Children”
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January 8th, 2010 @ 9:38 am
depending on the length of the flight…a portable dvd player, cd player, video games are good investments for longer flights. coloring and activity books, snacks…lots of snacks especially for the 5 year old unless they are totally not picky, my kids wont eat airline food most of the time and they get hungry when its not mealtime……fruit snacks, the little single serve containers of pringles, things that dont get smashed easily are great. make sure they have something chew off for take offs and landings (gum, taffy, tootsie rolls allwork ) also check your airlines website and look at the traveling with children section to see what services they have for your kids….and if its a long flight that has meals check the meal section also and see if they offer childrens meals, if they do you need to call them at least 24 hours in advance and request the special meals. these foods are usually more appealing to kids….most airlines that have them you can order them up to age 12. ive taken my kids at much younger than that on flights as long as 16 hours (chicago to tokyo) and they were just fine
January 8th, 2010 @ 9:46 am
lemme just say… you are my new hero.
January 8th, 2010 @ 9:59 am
With the age range it is going to be hard to please everyone all the time. Get some books or do some research online to review rides and such. Make it a family event and plan what you want to do and everyone can have say. I am sure that the older kids, especially the 15 year old, would love the water parks and Disney Quest, you may want to visit there as well. Magic Kingdom is going to be for a little bit younger crowd, but there are rides that I am sure the 15 year old would like.
A few suggestions. With that many kids it is going to be hard to keep track of them. Also, it is very busy, so it is easy to get caught in a crowd and get seperated a little bit. Make sure the younger ones know what the cast members look like so they know where to go if they get lost. A cast member will help them get back to you. Also, buy some neck wallets to put tickets and things in for each kid. They can put their own little goodies in there, but this is good for other reasons as well. Put a business card or a piece of paper with information about the child. Your cell number or a way to contact you, where you are staying, etc. Then stick it inside the pouch. Also include their name. This way if someone finds them they can look at the card and know how to find you. But don't put the paper on the outside where someone could read it. A stranger could look at this and act as though they know you or your child and kidnap them. I know it is something you don't want to hear going to Disney, but not everyone has good intentions. Just make sure your children know who to go to for information.
Also, I don't know how responsible your 15 year old is. But if you trust them enough, they could take some of the older kids and go their own way. You may want to have a Walkie-Talkie for each child, or cell phone. This way they are always able to contact you. Then tell them where they can and cannot go, times to meet up, etc.
I think that the older kids would really like EPCOT and MGM the most. The younger ones will probably like Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom the most. But they will all enjoy them all. MGM also has playschool Disney with the characters from the morning shows, great place for the little ones.
But again, I think the best way to figure this out is to sit down with your family. Create a little plan of what you want to do. See if there is a way that you can get everyone happy most of the time. Perhaps Disney Quest or a Water Park could be an incentive for the older kids. If everyone cooperates then you could take them somewhere they want to go.
Hope this helps. Have a great trip!
January 8th, 2010 @ 10:25 am
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January 8th, 2010 @ 10:37 am
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January 8th, 2010 @ 5:32 pm
#1 plot your route and let family or friends know what it is.
#2 drive no more than 300 miles or 8 hours in one day
#3 have your vehicle "trip safed", fix any mechanical problems you know of and pull any routine maintenance due
#5 have a cell phone handy
#6 get plenty of sleep in a hotel room enroute, don't sleep in your car, especially with 3 kids
#7 check your spare tire, keep a road map available, check the weather report bring a credit card
#8 safety kit should include: set of booster cables, flashlight, first-aid kit, reflective vest, fleece travel blanket, emergency blanket, poncho, gloves, duct tape, shop cloths, towelettes.
Lastly drive the speed limit!!!!!
Lots of OTR experience……Good luck
January 8th, 2010 @ 7:26 pm
we did a long drive with our 4 kids the last two summers.
i make a binder for each kid with a pencil holder in the binder that holds crayons, pencils, and stickers. besides blank paper for drawing, i include age-appropriate other things that i download for the computer — for the 3-and 4-year-old, try coloring pages and maybe some very simple dot-to-dots or mazes; for the 5-year-olds, you can include harder mazes, easy sudoku puzzles, color-by-number, easy crosswords, word searches, etc. If your 5-year-olds are reading yet, you can also include a list of the states and they can cross things off as they find license plates from those states. Depending on your kids, some 5-year-olds can also play battleship (print out two grids on one piece of paper, one for their ships and one for yours, and call out coordinates to each other). oh, and roadside bingo … print out a bingo grid with pictures of things you might find along the road and let them look for them and cross them out. or have the kids try to find all the letters of the alphabet (in order) in signs or license plates.
i also give each kid a knapsack they can reach with their binder, lots of books, a little package of snacks they can ration over the course of the drive, a couple little animals or dolls who can play with each other, and occasionally another small toy like magnetic checkers (you can also get magnetic chutes and ladders, etc.).
also lots of I-spy, singing games, guess who i am, etc.
most importantly, lots of stops. do some research ahead of time and plan the best places to stop for a couple hours. preferably at kid-friendly venues like a children's museum or playground or at least a mcdonald's with a playspace.
i expected disaster with my kids (for our longest roadtrip over 4 days my kids were 7, 5, 3, and 1), but it was a blast for all of us. hope you have fun.
January 9th, 2010 @ 12:37 am
Bring their car-seats onboard the plane. It is a much safer way to fly for little ones; airlines do not require it (although your kids are old enough that they do require their own seats) but the seatbelts in planes don't properly restrain kids.
January 9th, 2010 @ 7:25 am
Isn't that about a 16-18 hour drive? Driving while kids sleeping is a good idea, but it's nice if they see some of the scenery too.
January 9th, 2010 @ 9:08 am
Let me start by saying You wont regret it! Some things to consider.. With five children, You will probably find Irish Housing quite expensive, particularly close to Dublin or the other Major cities, in the Dublin suburbs, or further out don't expect much change from 1Million or so to get a decent house for (+1500 sq ft) check http://www.daft.ie or http://www.myhome.ie for property prices for sale or rent.. You will find better value further out, but the traffic can be horrendous, particularly to Dublin and Galway.
I would say IT is stronger in Dublin area followed then by Limerick/Shannon or Cork or Galway. If You are working in regular R&D or IT infra mgt then salaries will not vary much down the country compared to dublin. It can be easy to fit in anywhere, You fill find many migrants like Yourself all over the country – indeed there is probably a movement away from the cities anyhow in recent years.
It jobs are available, but really consider Your skills and market your CV correctly so that you can get the high end of close to 75-90K if Your skills match well or just 45k if You have to retrain. http://www.monster.ie, http://www.cpl.ie and http://www.jobserve.com are good websites. I would say salaries have remained quite flat in recent years.
Congrats on having them homeschooled, however in Ireland I think You will probably find the free-(ish) primary schools are pretty much all of a good equal quality. That said You should do some research, Ireland has a kid and immigrant boom at the moment, so even after finding the ideal home the school may be full! Post-Primary schooling is also free. That said, best of luck in maintaining the home schooling,some irish families do it. but eventually the kids will need to pass state examinations if they wish to attend the Irish universities. They will find lots of social contact there too. If You and the kids get stuck into local communities and V-IMPORTANT get to know and be a good neighbour, the social opportunities will be fine without the school contact.
If You could arrange it, come for a long holiday first – rent a house in a regular community and see how You like it. How are You fixed with Visas – do You have an Irish grandparent which I think entitles You to irish passport?
Ireland has quarantine and passport scheme for pets see
http://www.agriculture.gov.ie/index.jsp?file=pets/index.xml
I will try and answer more, if I log on again
Kev
January 9th, 2010 @ 2:33 pm
Beautiful video!
January 9th, 2010 @ 3:32 pm
I always love your art. Now I love your music
January 10th, 2010 @ 12:36 am
Omfg, it just looks like a picture
January 10th, 2010 @ 3:18 am
You are amazing!
January 10th, 2010 @ 1:10 pm
I am in the same position…we have a 10 year old with autism and a 10 month old…I am thinking games, books, music, and toys they have never seen before to keep them occupied on the trip.
I'll watch this to see what others come up with. I have never been in an RV and though camping before, not with a baby- or a dog for that matter!
January 10th, 2010 @ 7:58 pm
superb!!
January 10th, 2010 @ 10:12 pm
wow!
January 11th, 2010 @ 11:41 am
The price is about right for where you are staying and the tickets and car, but you need to ask yourself the following questions……….
1 – Do you really need a rental car if you are going to stay at the Universal Studios property most of the time and in the parks all day.
2 – Why not stay in Disney property for a couple of days with the same options (hotel & tickets & free transportation on property)and a few days at Universal?
3 – Why are you getting a 7 day pass to Universal (you really only need 2 to 3 days TOPS to see EVERYTHING there).
4 – I sugest staying in Disney property (better deal on airfare, rental car, hotel, tickets & transportation on property), and visiting Universal Studios, Islands of Adventures and City Walk.
By the way the BEST Disney park for a 9 year old is the Magic Kingdom, them MGM Studios, then EPCOT and last Amimal Kingdom.
Because you are limited with your time I suggest the following itinerary:
Day 1 – Arrival to Hotel and then go to Downtown Disney or City Walk for shopping.
Day 2 – Magic Kingdom.
Day 3 – MGM Studios or Universal Studios.
Day 4 – EPCOT CENTER (dont forget to see Illuminations Laser Show and Fireworks at 9 pm).
Day 5 – Islands of Adventures.
Day 6 – Water Park (Wet & Wild or Typhoon Lagoon).
Day 7 – Shoping in the morning, then fly home in the afternoon.
Check out http://www.waltdisneyworld.com for hotel / tickets at disney.
Check out http://www.universalorlando.com for hotel / tickets at Universal.
As far as spending money is concerned for food, souvenirs and incidentals for one week – minimum $75 per person / per day.
If you have any questions you can contact me at abnertours@yahoo.com
Hope this helps………………………..