Travelling With Babies & Children – 5 Tips For A Less Stressful Holiday
Guest blogger Kelly Winder shares her tips on how to travel with kids, just in time for those jetting off over the upcoming school holiday break.
Planning a holiday can be very exciting for parents and children alike, but it has the potential to be quite stressful if you don’t plan and think ahead. Here are my top tips for having the most enjoyable family holiday as possible.
Organisation is key: Its an obvious one, but an important one. There are so many distractions when you have babies and children, the more prepared and organised you are, the better. Have copies of all your travel plans, have lists for everything you need to pack, and tick them off as you go.
Be mindful of the places you choose to stay: Check out everything available for children – do they have kids clubs, childcare (in case you’d like a romantic dinner or lunch alone) and plenty of equipment to borrow or hire to help entertain the children? Some places are a haven for children, and while they aren’t the most exciting place for parents sometimes, it can be a very relaxing break when the kids are happy and mum and dad can relax.
Actively look for ways to make the holiday more enjoyable: Always ask friends for advice on what places they have been and what they did to help make their holiday with children easier. My best, most recent travel discovery is that the Holiday Inn offer a Park, Stay & Go package, so instead of hauling a heap of luggage from long term parking as well as wrangling the kids and baby, we park right out the front and have a quick and easy shuttle to our flight. Staying a night before an early flight helped us all feel rested, less stressed and that our holiday was off to a truly great start.
Prepare well for the flight: Even on short flights, babies and children can quickly become restless. If you have a bub, pack a comfy change of clothes for you in case of any messes, take a baby carrier like a Hugabub, Ergo or Manduca so you can walk the isle if needed to help settle baby, as well as a change of clothes for him or her. Make sure you have a checklist for the nappy bag, and activities for the kids. Many flights now offer entertainment on ipads and other devices which are always a winner.
Give yourself plenty of time: No matter if you’re travelling to the airport, to your hotel room or to do some fun activities, make sure you have plenty of padding. Nothing is more stressful than running late for a flight or a booking, and it’s almost guaranteed that everything else will go wrong! Extra time will allow for hiccups like travel sickness, urgent toilet stops, nappy leaks, food and drink breaks and anything else that families are well used to on normal days!
To read more from Kelly, visit her website BellyBelly.
To book Holiday Inn Melbourne Airport’s Park, Stay & Go package and start planning your next family holiday click here.
