Toddler Travel Tips to Make Your Travel Hassle Free
It’s official, I travelled with a toddler and survived, and in this post I’m sharing my top toddler travel tips. Georgia, my mom and I have just returned from a 3 week trip to Naples, Florida. We enjoyed the pool, ate delicious meals, went on a day cruise and of course we shopped! Every night was a big slumber party watching girly television series and talking about our beloved skincare routines. We had the most fantastic time creating memories that I’ll cherish forever. Of course when I write it in a few sentences it seems like a relaxing trip, but in reality travelling with a toddler can seem daunting.
Saying I was anxious or stressed would be stretching the truth, but while planning our trip I definitely had concerns about travelling with a toddler. After these past three weeks, I could write endlessly about our experiences and toddler travel tips. To keep things organized, I won’t go into specifics, but rather I’ll focus on the broad keystrokes of travelling with a toddler. Here, I’m breaking it down into 5 quick sections, preparation, essential items, flying, daily expectations, and your toddlers schedule.
Hope for the best, prepare for the worst
This particular piece of advice is meant specifically for your travel to and from your destination, but can easily be applied to any part of your trip. Hope for the best possible scenario, but always plan for the worst case. Chances are there will be some bumps in the road so it’s best to prepare. Prior to leaving for our trip I researched travelling with a toddler and placed a specific focus on flying and airports. This was a first to me and I had questions! Can you bring milk, water, baby food, snacks? Maybe it’s just my Italian background, but yes 98% of my questions revolved around feeding my toddler.
I used two resources to help prepare us for our flight. The Toronto Pearson Airport website, and Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA). These sites review the dos and don’ts of flying and allowances of what you can bring through security. I packed a regular diaper bag for Georgia, and enough diapers, food and clothes for 3 days in our carry on luggage in the case that our checked bags be lost in transit. I also kept my sanity and peace of mind by investing in Apple Air Tags for our checked baggage.
Tiny humans have lots of things
Packing in general is something I like to consider akin to a game of Tetris. Instead of tiles you have packing cubes and in lieu of a computer screen it’s a box with wheels. Not only do you need to pack the usual necessities for toddlers as you would for an adult, but the question as to whether you need to bring a play yard, portable high chair, car seat, baby monitor and travel stroller need to be addressed. The decision on which items to bring while travelling will of course depend on your destination, length of stay and activities you have planned.
Here are some quick tips to get you started:
- Look for places to stay that come equipped with baby gear. Most hotels have cribs available. If, however, you’re looking to rent, there are filter options on apps like AirBnB and VRBO to look for availabilities with cribs and play yards.
- Most cities have stores that offer baby gear rentals. We chose to bring Georgia’s portable high chair, baby monitor and travel stroller, but opted to rent a carseat and crib. I was so happy with our decision to rent a full sized crib for Georgia as she slept peacefully throughout the night for the entire trip! Can we get a round of applause please? We used Twinkle Twinkle Little Store of Naples which provided a delivery and set up service, and I brought our own mattress cover and sheets although they do also offer those items as well. At the end of our trip, I simply left the crib and mattress outside of the front door of our condo (we stayed in a gated community) and they came to pick it up!
- For everything else that you pack in your checked luggage, keep organized with packing cubes. There are two types of people in this world, the kind that arrive at their destination and unpack immediately and the kind that live out of their suitcase. I’m sure you can guess which type I am. I loved how easy these packing cubes made settling in. You can literally just unzip them and leave them in the dresser drawers once you arrive. I also found them helpful for when we returned home as I knew exactly what I was unpacking and which room it needed to go in!
The dreaded journey
When I was young, quite literally starting at age 1, my parents used to pack up the car and drive to Florida every year with our family. How we survived for 2 days in a car is beyond me because a short 3 hour flight seems daunting enough and that’s not taking into consideration flight delays. Prior to our flight I looked to a lot of other internet mom bloggers to see what had worked for them while flying with a toddler. Of course I found endless results for toys and activities, but I won’t bore you with those suggestions. Instead, I’ll leave you with this, eating is an activity, there is no such thing as too much screen time, and cheerful strangers that smile and wave to your little one on a flight are a godsend.
Moms, the number one piece of advice I can pass along is to be patient. Be patient with yourself, with your child, and whoever else you might be travelling with. You’ll get there eventually, but it just might take a little longer than usual. Thankfully, when you’re travelling with children, you usually get to skip a lot of lines so there’s a silver lining.
There are 24 hours in a day, and you will only get to do 2 things during that time
Life with a toddler seems to move simultaneously slow and fast all at once. How does the saying go? The nights are long, but the years are short. Well, the same can be said for your holiday. The days will be long and the trip short. Know that you may not be able to do as much as you might like in a day, but that’s okay! Try to plan ahead by watching the weather and having an idea for what you would like accomplish that day and during your trip. Be flexible with your plans, you might need to change them on the fly. We liked to visit the pool in the morning, come back to our condo for lunch, and have an afternoon activity out which sometimes included dinner. We were always home in time for our bed and bath routine which kept all of us happy!
Schedule? What schedule?
You and your toddler are in a new environment. Quite literally, you are on vacation time and because of that your usual schedule might fly out the window. This alone should tell you to be prepared for some changes! If you were down to a 1 nap schedule, you may need an additional one throughout the day. Maybe you’ll have some good naps, maybe some short naps, and maybe some will be in the car. Don’t sweat it! Go with the flow and give your little one what they need when they need it, whether it be more naps, snacks or cuddles. Your regular schedule will be waiting for you when you return home.
This wraps up my toddler travel tips! I’ll end on this note: it seems as though it can become very easy to fall into a trap where you’re entire trip revolves around your little one. Just look at their cute little faces, how can you not want to make everything about them? Remember, you’re on this vacation too and everyone needs to enjoy themselves. All members of your family should be able to do things they’ll enjoy on your vacation, it’s not selfish. For me, it’s taking a bit of time each morning and night for my skincare routine and some outlet shopping during the trip. Take time for yourself, you deserve it!
Have you travelled with a baby or toddler this summer or are you planning to this year? Let me know your experiences in the comments, I’d love to hear from you. Looking for more? If you’d like more toddler travel tips like packing lists, travel guides or have any other questions feel free to reach out to me here.
