How to plan a vacation with young children

First off - take any idea you have in your head of traveling with children being hard and throw it out! Trips are what you make of them, so if you start out thinking it’s going to be hard, it will be. Will there be differences to how you might normally travel? Yes. Might you have to make some sacrifices in terms of what you see and do? Yes. Must your vacation be any less magical? That is a resounding NO!

Adjust your time table

If you’re anything like me on vacation, you like to go, go, go, and see all the sights you can. Or maybe you’re more like my husband, and prefer a lazy week drinking cocktails next to the pool or ocean at an all-inclusive. Either way, traveling with kids is going to require an adjustment to your time tables.

Jet lag is a real downer for everyone, and while we as adults can anticipate it and take steps to prevent it, kids are not always so prepared. Depending on the direction you travel, you may find your children experiencing symptoms of jet lag the first few days of your vacation, the first few days after you return home, or, if you’re really “lucky,” both. This will require you to plan differently in order to try to prevent an armageddon of meltdowns.

If you find yourself traveling west, you will typically have an easier time of jet lag. You lose less hours going west, so your arrival tends to be close-ish to what time your body thinks it is. When you travel eastward, experts say your jet lag will likely be worse. Some tips to overcome this is to plan your eastward travel to coincide with nap time or bedtime. Our flight to Europe was at 7:30pm, which was a half hour past normal bedtime for the little guy. He slept most of the way to Amsterdam, and was still able to go to bed around his normal bedtime of 7pm in the timezone that Czech Republic is in.

On our westward return flight, we left at 10:15am and Malcolm stayed mostly awake for the flights, taking normal naps here and there, and was again able to fall asleep at his normal 7pm bedtime in Minnesota. He did experience a couple more extra tired days afterwards, but to be honest that could’ve been because we did full day touring the two previous days and he may just have been exhausted from that.

Consider the bedding options with your children in mind

My children are 4 and coming up upon a year old. Neither of them are comfortable sleeping alone in a new place. Due to that, when we travel, it is not feasible for us to have 2 separate rooms for sleeping unless one parent sleeps with each child. We found that out the hard way when we stayed in a family suite in Mexico. Our 4 year old refused the pull out couch that was just a sliding door away from our room. Good thing we had a king bed, as it became the family bed that trip.

Similarly, depending on where you go and in what type of accommodations you stay, cribs may not be available. For our recent trip to Europe, my infant son and I shared double beds. It worked out fine, but had I not anticipated this need, we may have been assigned to rooms with 2 twin beds that were separated apart from each other. Pillows are your friend if you have a roller baby.

Plan child friendly activities

Depending on the age of your children, you will need to add in more time for them to just play. Whether it is park visits or trips to the local children’s museums or theaters, make sure you are adding in time where the kids feel that their interests are being considered. If you are traveling with an infant, add in time at places where the child can be out of the carrier and can crawl or toddle, as appropriate.

In many ways, this can be a great blessing in disguise. It gives the kids opportunity to meet other kids and interact. They learn about the culture in their own way, at their own level. It also provides an opportunity for you to relax and really take in the sights you’ve seen thus far. Once, when I was traveling with my mom as a child, she enrolled me in a local day camp. This was an amazing opportunity for both of us - she was able to have several hours to go sightsee the things she wanted to see, and I was able to meet and befriend local children while playing and having fun.

Pack light - no, lighter than that!

Traveling with kids can be stressful, so you don’t want to add on the stress of a bunch of bags and things that you don’t need. Layering clothing, as few shoes as you can survive with, and the bare essentials. If you have a certain diaper brand or style that you must use, then of course bring those, but if you aren’t particular about them, think about if you will have access to a store to purchase them at your destination. One thing that I found very helpful in my most recent trip solo with my infant was buying a small chair with a tray that can be strapped to any chair. It acted as a high chair at meal times, and also as a place I could put my son while I showered, knowing he would stay safe (even if he hated being stuck in the chair). Also, some of the smaller restaurants (see: not touristy) don’t always have high chairs available.

Buy some travel detergent if you won’t be in a position to launder your clothes with an actual washer/dryer, and wash your skivvies, socks, and whatever else needs washing in the sink. Be aware, dryers tend to be a luxury, not a staple appliance, so consider planning out the best time to do laundry on the trip where you can have enough time for the articles of clothing to hang dry.

If you can’t lift your suitcase yourself, it’s time to purge things from it. You must be able to maneuver all the luggage you bring easily enough that you can still watch out for your kid(s). If you are traveling with an infant and wearing the child, this means you must be able to hoist your carry on up over your head while wearing him! Also, consider that you may need to use public transit so even though you don’t have to hoist your checked bag up, you should be able to lift it enough to get on a bus, train, or tram, and should be able to carry it up or down a flight (or two) of stairs. Many places outside the US don’t have guaranteed elevators.

Don’t forget naps when needed

If your child is still on a nap schedule, make sure you plan that in. The beauty of traveling with infants is that typically they can nap anywhere - in a carrier or in a stroller. But if for some reason they can’t, or you have older kids that have FOMO (fear of missing out for those not hip to the jive), plan in time to retire back to the hotel for a relaxing nap.

Malcolm having a nice nap near Charles Bridge in Prague.

Whatever your destination, traveling with kids can be such a delight - taking in the world from the eyes of a child. Don’t let your family travel stress you out! Ask us to help you plan your next family trip!