I love traveling with my family, but it wasn’t always that way. I used to get quite uptight and anxious about it. It was such a chore remembering everything. I have managed to control my anxiousness with lots of planning and some great tips. So in collaboration with Holidaysafe.co.uk, I am going to share them with you.
Remember that any trip is supposed to be a holiday for you too and anything that you can forget you can buy when you get there. Getting into that mindset really makes a huge difference. When my kids were babies I always over packed, but these are my top 5 products for traveling with a baby.
10 Tips for traveling with kids
- Plan. Before I even start packing I write a list of what we need for the trip. I break it down for each person, clothes, medication, toiletries, electronics, toys, etc
- Pack in outfits. I place the boys clothes into outfits, this makes it easier to work out what they need, but also enables the children to get themselves organised when we arrive.
- Pack a separate bag for swimming. Whenever we arrive at our destination the boys always want to go swimming. I make it simple by packing a bag with swim essentials, so swimwear, prescription goggles for Mini, towels, comb, body wash and shampoo. That way Maddad can take the boys swimming whilst I unpack and then I can join them.
- Give the kids ownership. Get your children to pack a small rucksack with toys for the trip.
- Pack small bags of snacks and drinks for the trip, that way you can dish them out at intervals during the journey. We freeze our drinks cartons or pouches to keep them cold.
- Make a copy of your important documentation. We take photo’s of our passports, travel insurance, travel documents, credit cards, flight details etc and keep a copy on both of our phones as well as a photocopy in our case.
- Make travel packs. We save small toys from Mcdonalds and comics and put them in to small packets for the kids to have on holiday.
- Take refillable water bottles. One of the ways we save on holiday is not buying lots of drinks, each of us has a water bottle and we get free tap water for it from cafes and restaurants. We love Klean Kanteen (UK Link/US Link) ones as they are metal so not worries about BPO.
- If you have travel sick kids make sure you have a pack for them including plastic tub with lid, mints, water, wipes and give them travel sickness tablets 20 minutes before travel.
- Pack travel games (We love Dobble UK link/US link) and print off some of our fab travel printables for the journey. Make sure you print some off for you too!
Travel printables for train journeys
Travel printables for kids
More travel printables
Mummy and me colouring pages
Adult colouring pages
More adult colouring pages
Minion Colouring pages
Paddington activity pages
My boys are gadget mad, so I have a whole post on what must have technology and gadgets you need when traveling with kids. We are never without our USB multi travel charger (UK Link/US Link) or the boys Safesports Kids ID Bracelets, but you could always make your own telephone number bracelets.
Great tips – we are always on the go so I am quite used to packing for kids. Recently though there always seems to be something I forget so I need to remember the list! x
Just needed this as we are off on hols next week 🙂 I pack my son’s clothes by outfits too, helps me work out what he needs. Most important item is the iPad charger!
Some good tips I tend not to panic now as know our routine but if your doing for the first time sure can be stressful.
Great tips – we always take refillable bottles with us too, it really does make things easier and cheaper!
I travel a lot with the kids, and my approach is to pack for one person at a time for the whole holiday, then I know I’ve done everyone and remembered everything! We also pack a swimming kit for when we arrive too!
No matter how organised I think I am we always forget something! Lots of great tips there!
I totally agree with every single one of these. Great tips
Great tips. Agree that food/snacks are always crucial and making sure the kids have enough to do!
Great post Jen – so many great tips here and thanks for the printables x
I love all the printables, they make travelling easier but we always take the ipad too
I always pack the children’s clothes in outfits too. Otherwise you never have enough pairs of clothes lol! Or a tshirt that doesn’t match shorts/skirts!
Great tips – we are flying with Pickle next week and have a three hour car journey to the airport. Kaz x
The swimming pool is usually our first port of call too 😉
I know that sometimes it is difficult to travel with kids, however I do strongly recommend a fun educational app called Cosmic Buddies available to download on #iOS http://ow.ly/PauAC or #Android http://ow.ly/PauAD which I am sure will keep your little ones occupied on your travels!
Cosmic Buddies Cosmic Buddies is the first chapter in a tale of our lovable characters from the planet Titius.
Cosmic Buddies is an Animated Educational series for children between 1 to 7 years old. It is a dive in a colourful life ecosystem in which our friendly characters work, eat, express, struggle and look for love in an energy swirl of constant motion.
http://www.cosmicbuddies.com
Fantastic advice here! Getting the kids to pack their own toys always helps.
great tips , even now mine is a teen I plan and make a list
A very comprehensive list.
I’m an over thinker and tend to pack for all eventualities,this makes packing light impossible