Consult with your child’s Physician about your travel plans before booking your travel (especially international). Make sure your child’s standard immunizations are up to date and also ensure additional immunizations are not required for the country you are visiting (if traveling internationally).
If your children are old enough to understand, try to explain the trip to them and show them pictures/online videos (YouTube) of the activities that you plan to do prepare them for the trip and generate excitement for the journey.
Pack your kids favorite snacks for anytime in between meals when your children gets hungry. Flight and traffic delays that disrupt meal times can happen during travel so having snacks available can be crucial to keeping children happy.
Plan to keep your kids entertained on long flights, trains and car rides during travel. One idea that works well for us is to download their favorite videos, movies, games etc. onto their tablets so there is no reliance on having an Internet connection in flight/during transit.
Adults and especially children can get sick during travel. Pack a set of over the counter medications that are suitable for your children such as Tylenol, Benadryl, Pepto etc. Having these standard medications handy can save a lot of time and stress incase your child is showing common symptoms of illness.
Check weather forecasts before packing clothes. Some travel locations can have see drastic temperature swings within the same week so its important to be prepared.
Charge up all electronic devices that you will be using during travel (tablets, MP3 players, headphones etc.) Also, it is very useful to have a Portable Power Bank in case a recharge on a device is needed during travel, we take one with us on every trip. We recommend a battery pack such as Keymox Power Bank, it is light weight,compatible with many devices and reasonably priced on Amazon.
If your children use a stroller, be sure to get a very lightweight type that folds easily. We have done a lot of travel with strollers made by Chicoo and highly recommend this one: Chicoo Liteway Stroller
Keep your schedule flexible and allocate additional time to do activities that you were used to doing before having kids. Get to the airport at least 45 minutes more than you were used to before traveling with kids as the check in process, going through security etc. will likely take longer with children.
Book guided tours and look for opportunities to do planned/organized activities. The concierge at the hotel should be able to help identify guided tour and other activities that would be suitable for your family.
