Traveling With Children Part 1
When my daughter was born, I knew I wanted her to be a world traveler. For me, travel opened up my eyes to the wonders of the world and I wanted her to experience this as well. There is something magical when you travel “through the eyes of a child”. While I understand traveling with small children may seem daunting, working with a travel consultant who has experience planning trips around the little ones makes a big difference.
Through travel, I have seen my daughter smile ear to ear collecting seashells, dance on the deck of a catamaran, and light up interacting with people from other cultural backgrounds. I truly believe that travel, of any sort, can enrich and broaden the horizon of children in an amazing way.
As a single mom myself, I get that traveling may be the last thing on your mind between work, childcare, family time and everything else you may be juggling. But think about what a well planned trip could mean for you as well. Yes, you are still on “parent duty” but sometimes just being outside of your “routine” can be rejuvenating in itself.
My daughter’s first trip was at 9 months old. We left NYC and travelled to Italy (via plane) and Greece (via cruise). For our first installment in this series of posts, I want to share with you a few of my top airport and plane tips:
Airports are busy places for babies/ toddlers with lots of stimuli. If you have ever been to New York, think of how you felt standing in Times Square for the first time…yeah, an airport can be that stimulating for a child (depending upon age of course). Tip #1: I brought a black out shade made for strollers to use in the airport during naps or when she needed to calm down. It is breathable mesh-type material that attaches to the top and bottom of the stroller. There is also a zipper that allows you to let in air or check on the little one. I ended up using this a lot! A lifesaver.
About 4-6 weeks before we left, I started playing airport noises for my daughter. Seriously, there are tons of videos with airport noises. Not the white noise on airplanes videos, those put you to sleep. I am talking about the actual airport noises (i.e. overhead announcements, footsteps, planes taking off, conversations). I cannot take full credit for this idea, my mom came up with it, but it was so helpful in acclimating her to the new sounds she would be exposed to. By the time we actually went to the airport for the trip, she was acoustically acclimated :-)
What I did not do (but wish I did) was buy a car seat that turns into a stroller, genius. If you can do this, it will minimize the amount of items you have to carry/ gate check.
If you can, buy a bassinet seat on the plane. Not only can your little on be out of your lap for awhile (after awhile even a 7lb infant feels like a small elephant) but you get to sit in a seat that has a bit more legroom (depending on the airline of course). Babies rapidly grow out of bassinet seats so use them while you can!
If you are thinking about traveling with children (of any age) let’s talk and plan something that will be a blast for everyone! See you in the next post :-)
Yours in Travel,
Sincere