Tips for traveling by plane and ideas for fun destinations!

Air travel makes me queasy. No, I don’t suffer from motion sickness, I’m the mother of two toddlers and the prospect of flying with them literally makes my stomach churn. Boarding the plane with my two sweeties, I see the wide-eyed stares of the other passengers and can only imagine what is going through their minds. Thoughts such as, “Please don’t let them sit next to me,” or “I wonder if I can get my seat assignment changed.” I know all of this and still, I travel with my children! But, I have begun to learn a few tricks of travel that have made our trips as a family more enjoyable for us and have reduced my dosage of Rolaids significantly! When you are a parent, keep several things in mind when planning family vacations. Plan ahead, plan ahead, and plan ahead!

Explaining to your child about what to expect will help defray any fear they may have and inform them of the type of behavior that will be expected of them during the flight. Be sure to explain that during the flight, there will be times when they must sit in their seats with their seat belts fastened so they will want to use the bathroom before the flight. If your child is still in diapers, change him just before boarding.

Get to the airport in plenty of time before the flight. If you will have a connecting flight, book your flights with plenty of time between them. Extra time will allow your children to work off some excess energy, use the bathroom, and watch the planes land and take off. If your children are pre-schoolers or younger, bring your stroller. It can be invaluable in transporting the family between gates which can sometimes be very far apart. When you board the plane, simply stroll your children to the door of the plane and the personnel will tag it and put it in the luggage compartment. When you arrive at your destination, they will bring it back to the entrance of the plane an you’re off!

Choose Your Ice Water Wisely While traveling in countries where the water is questionable, most travelers bypass the tap water in exchange for bottled water or canned beverages. However, even the brightest traveler often overlooks ice cubes. Unless the ice is imported, and it never is, ice cubes contain the same bacteria found in local tap water. So when in doubt, do yourself a favor and stay away from all forms of water! Tip courtesy of CyberTip4theDay

My stroller proved invaluable to me when I was stuck alone with my sixteen month-old in a very crowded airport in Washington, D.C. What was originally supposed to be a thirty minute layover turned into five hours! Weather had caused our flight to be delayed and thankfully I was able to keep my daughter occupied by strolling her around the airport looking at all of the wondrous new sights.

Be sure to sit between your child and other passengers. I learned this lesson when I allowed my daughter, then not quite two, to sit between me and the nice Jewish man beside us. In a fit of uncontrollable excitement she kicked the bottom of his tray table and knocked his specially prepared kosher lunch right into his lap!

Purchase a seat for your child if your budget will allow. Holding your small child on your lap is uncomfortable for everyone. If you can’t afford the extra ticket, be sure to book your family on a low-occupancy flight to increase the odds that there will be an extra seat for your child.

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Bring finger foods that don’t crumble or make a sticky mess. Be sure to bring drinks in non-spill cups, and don’t drink anything yourself if your child is especially active. Thinking ahead will avert accidental messes that can really make the flight uncomfortable.

Nurse a baby or have an older child drink something during take-off and landing to help their ears adjust to the change in air pressure. Be sure that you pack a bag specifically with things for the flight and be sure that it is small enough to fit under the seat in front of you.

Bring plenty of toys and games to keep your child busy. Bear in mind that toys that play music or make other such irritating noises will not be readily accepted by the other passengers. In fact, bringing quiet toys may keep the other passengers from displaying the air equivalent of “road rage!” If you need some ideas for some things to keep your child occupied during the flight, consult the list below:

Fun Things For Children To Do While Flying

Pick It, Name It, Keep It - This game is good for toddlers and pre-schoolers. Bring a bag of small toys or other items. Put one of them in your hand without your child seeing. Close your hand and have him pick which hand it is in. Once he guesses the correct hand and you open your hand to expose the object, he must name it. When he names it correctly then he can have it! You could vary this game a bit for older children and have them spell the name of the object.

Magazine Stories - Cut out some interesting pictures from a magazine. Have your child make up a story that goes with the picture or he could make up one story using all of the pictures in a sequence. This could keep him busy the entire flight!

The Coin Game - Take out a certain number of coins. 10 is usually enough. Hide a certain number of coins in your hand and let your child guess how many you are holding. If he guesses correctly, then he wins a point and then he can hide the coins in his hand until you guess correctly. If he guesses incorrectly, then you can change the number of coins and let him guess again until he gets it right. You can play until you reach a previously agreed upon number of points.

Coloring or Reading - Coloring pictures or reading a book is always fun but you may want to bring some new books just to make it more exciting.

For a fun destination, try a cruise or an all-inclusive family resort!

There are few vacations that can be taken with children that are completely stress-free for the parents, but a cruise or an all-inclusive family resort can come close. These destinations can provide lots of new things for your children to see and do and they also include, you guessed it - baby-sitting! Well, actually it’s much better than baby-sitting.

They provide activities for children starting at the toddler age and going all the way through to the teens. It’s exciting for your kids to meet new friends and try new things. Some of the activities for children include crafts, singing and dancing, water sports such as swimming and snorkeling, hiking, horseback riding, and more. The opportunities abound and this allows for Mom and Dad to have a nice break and take some time for relaxation themselves.

One of the very best things about cruises and all-inclusive resorts is the prepayment. When all of your meals are included in the price of the trip, it’s so much easier to stay relaxed when one of your little darlings insists that they want to order the steamed oysters for dinner and you know that after the first bite the plate will be shoved away and traded for a hamburger and fries. Never having to think about how much you’ve charged on your credit card is one of the most relaxing ways to vacation. Some of the all -inclusive resorts even include excursions and golf in their pricing.

Again, before leaving on a cruise or heading to a resort, plan ahead. Let everyone have a say in how their time will be spent and make sure everyone gets to pick at least one of the activities. You may want to plan for a day to rest a bit in between all of the fun, we all know how children can behave when they are over-stimulated and overtired.

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Most resorts and cruises will require you to reserve your seats for meals. This usually means choosing between the early and late seating. When children are along, the early seating is the best idea, otherwise you’ll be finishing dinner at about 10:00 p.m. and after a big day of activities, that may be more than your child can handle. Of course this means the early seating for breakfast as well, but there are so many snacks provided during the day that if you sleep in and miss breakfast, you definitely won’t starve.

Family vacations can be some of the most wonderful memories that your child carries with him to adulthood. Try to make them special and a time to reconnect with your family while you’re taking a break from your hectic schedules. And one last piece of advice. Plan a trip with your spouse alone shortly after your family trip, believe me, you’ll need the rest!