If you think group travel is a bit of a hassle, wait till you have to travel with a toddler in tow. Not that they are a burden but knowing toddlers, they don’t stand for boredom, they don’t stand for patience, and they don’t stand for discomfort. But can you blame them? Therefore, in order to travel peacefully with toddlers in tow, here are a couple of things to remember. List down everything that your toddler needs when traveling and let’s get ticking on that checklist of yours.

Away from home. Kids thrive in a familiar environment and the reason why some kids have security objects like pacifier, bolsters, dolls, or blankets. These are objects that they form an intense attachment too. Because traveling takes them out of their own comfort zone, they might need these objects even more, so, if your toddler has a security object, don’t forget to bring it along. If you can’t find it or it gets lost during your travel, bring a back-up or a replacement. However, it is to be noted that most kids will have a difficult time adjusting or accepting a replacement but when push comes to shove, they WILL learn how to love the replacement the same way they love the original. There is no other choice, you see.

There’s no washing machine, so bring some extra change of clothes. For the adults, we can survive on bare minimal clothing. With toddlers, you can say the same thing. You’ll never know with spills and accidents. So, when you pack for your travel, be sure to stuff a few more extra clothing in there. The younger the child is, the more clothes you will need. Otherwise, be prepared to run around in search of laundrettes.

When kids are bored, they get mean. With minimal patience, it is common to have toddlers be on their worst behavior when traveling. Especially when they are bored. So, be smart. Bring along tons of distractions for them and be ready to reel in your temper too. Try bringing paper, books, notepads, storybooks, market pens, crayons, small toys and some other little surprises. Kids will spend more time with the ‘little surprises’ because it is something new to them. It doesn’t even have to be anything elaborate. You should see how toddlers learn the magic of a normal deck of cards – just be mindful about them chewing off parts of the cards.

Tags: Family Travel, Group Travel, Traveling

This entry was posted on April 10, 2010 at 2:58 am and is filed under Family Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.