How do people travel with young kids?

[Anonymous]

OP, my kids were the same way when they were little. People whose kids aren’t like this can’t imagine the lengths others of us go to to ensure the sleep and food happen to avoid pandemonium. We did travel when our kids were little, but we did ridiculous stuff like drive around for 2 hrs in the rental car for nap time because they wouldn’t nap in the hotel room. My kids are tweens now and it became much easier once everyone was age 7+.

[Anonymous]

My kids are big pains at home when their schedule is disrupted and things stray from the expected routine. However, when we are traveling and everything is unpredictable, they surprisingly go with the flow. We do our best to provide comfort and predictability around bedtime and mealtime, meaning food is always available during expected times and there's a comfortable place to sleep when needed. Distractions are also available, and there's a plan B in case you need to bail.

The types of vacations we have done are things like Acadia, white mountains in NH/Santa's Village, lake champlain in VT, northern california/SF, San Diego/Legoland, Arizona, beach house in NC. We will usually rent airbnbs and combine outdoor activities like hiking, biking, kayaking, sailing, with sightseeing, dining out, local attractions, maybe a day at home if the house has a pool. Obviously a little different for a week at the beach, which we do with extended family every other year.

Again - we don't have easy kids. They are now 9, 7, and 5. They are stubborn, whiny, picky eaters, prone to tantrums. But they have surprised us by being easy travelers. We have combined activities that we the parents enjoy and did pre-kids (active outdoors, sightseeing) with the kid-friendly attractions (typical vacation kid things like go karts, small amusement parks). The key is to pick locations and itineraries that are flexible enough to pivot if a rotten mood threatens to ruin anything.

[Anonymous]

Bring your Nanny, kids under 2 are free

[Anonymous]

With three kids that young, you find a cool AirBnB someplace and keep it simple.

Or, you bring your nanny and let her handle the meltdowns.

[Anonymous]

3 kids. We took a grandparent with us to Europe so she could stay behind with the three year old for naptimes. We started doing trips on our own when the youngest was five. We tend to do airbnb apartments so everyone can spread out and go to sleep at different times.

I actually found it easier to travel when they were young compared to now when my two oldest kids are teens and whiny, want to sleep in, less adaptable to time changes.

[Anonymous]

We have 3 kids and traveled all the time. We did short driving or flying trips to kid oriented places. At destination, we would go out for morning outing and come back to nap/rest. We always ate on schedule just like at home. My kids are older now and we still eat on schedule and often go back to the hotel to rest before dinner.

We did a lot of Florida, Caribbean and PA trips when kids were little.

[Anonymous]

My kids went with the flow, so that was not an issue.

However, one of them has an anaphylactic allergy to peanuts and tree nuts, so travel of any kind, solely due to that, particularly long-haul flights with no possibility of specialized medical assistance, has always been a little tense.

[Anonymous]

Our kids are 5y and 18 months. We have been on 1-3 week trips to Spain, Ireland, Germany, Chicago, North Carolina, and Florida.

We mostly travel for free and the kids do great. Here's the secret to our success (and I totally realize it won't be for everyone).

-We do home exchanges. We always find a family with similarly aged kiddos so they have a stroller, high chair, monitor, crib, toys, and everything we could imagine. Toddler gets a fever at 2am? There's a medicine cabinet. Beach day? There's a wagon, sun shade, and sand toys. Going on a hike? They have a toddler carrier. Also, it's free.

-Staying in homes, we can do laundry. I pack 3-4 days worth of clothes for each person and do laundry as needed. This lets us travel with carryons only and avoid waiting forever for luggage to come out or losing our bags.

-We keep our toddler on her nap schedule. We usually do a morning outing and an afternoon/evening outing. During nap time, toddler sleeps and 5yo is ENTHRALLED with playing with a whole house of different toys.

-We have full kitchens with the ability to cook. We usually visit local markets/farmers markets and cook 2 meals per day and go out for 1. I think going to restaurants multiple times per day is unrealistic for most little kids.

-We have swapped cars several times so usually the family has the car seats we need, we can go wherever, and don't pay for a rental. The times we haven't swapped cars, we been walkable to great public transportation (in Barcelona and Chicago).

-My DH travels for work so we get miles which is why our flights are mostly free. We typically use miles for international travel and drive for domestic travel. We leave at bedtime and drive through the night with DH and I switching drivers half way through.

-We have go to spots that are kid friendly to break up the day as needed. We ALWAYS check out the public library wherever we are. We've attended story times in many different languages. Every library we've been in is free, has toys, clean bathrooms, and has AC. If you are sightseeing around a downtown area there's almost always one walkable for a break. In Germany and Ireland, we chit chatted with the libraries and each let my children choose a book to take home as a souvenir. I wrote the date and location and a little note about our trip in them and they're great free keepsakes.

-Most cities have coffee shops with kids books and toys. We do a quick google search and will usually pop into one to break up sightseeing as needed. Barcelona has FANTASTIC ones. Really, really cool.

-We often travel with our best friends who have kids the same age. For a week trip, each couple gets 2 date nights out and the moms go out one night and the dads one night. Our rule is you can leave after the kids are asleep. It's worked great and really given us some moments where we feel like we are traveling kid free. DH and I can enjoy some exciting date nights and know our kids are with our best friends. We have also taken both of our moms on trips and then we do something similar- grandma will give us a date night, my mom and I will get a night out together, etc.

-For longer trips, I try to find local kid activities to join. We were in Spain for 3 weeks and the park district put on a water day. I signed my kids up. It was 2 Euros each for 3 hours. It was this big shady field with hoses, buckets, slip n slides, a blob, kiddie pools with little slides, sprinklers. They had a BLAST (parents stayed too). Then a few days later there was a block party in the neighborhood we were staying and the neighbor invited us to join. There was a neighborhood wide water fight. They gave our kids squirt guns and water balloons and little war paint on their faces. Our oldest was 4yo and IN HEAVEN. It was a great memory for all of us.

-We have met some amazing families through home exchanging. Such genuine, fun and travel loving, kind hearted people. In NC, the wife left us a warm loaf of sourdough she just made with local butter. In Germany, the home owners mom stopped by to grab the mail and brought my kids little German cookies she baked. In Ireland, the person living next door owned a pub and invited us in and gave DH and I a round of Guiness on the house. Just people you can sit and shoot the sh*t with and make genuine, heart warming connections.

I know most of DCUM won't travel like us but it has been such a wonderful experience. We are a solidly MC family and we've gotten travel opportunities I couldn't have dreamed of. None of my parents or grandparents had ever left the US and I feel so fortunate to give my kids a different experience.

[Anonymous]

There are lots of ways to do it but it really comes down to A.) their kid is more go with the flow and doesn't need naps as much as yours does or B.) they have childcare (brought their own nanny, grandparent, childcare offered through a resort, etc.).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have 3 kids and traveled all the time. We did short driving or flying trips to kid oriented places. At destination, we would go out for morning outing and come back to nap/rest. We always ate on schedule just like at home. My kids are older now and we still eat on schedule and often go back to the hotel to rest before dinner.

We did a lot of Florida, Caribbean and PA trips when kids were little.

I don’t think OP is seeing pics of an “amazing” vacation to Lancaster or grandma’s condo in Boca and getting envious. I think she meant something more ambitious.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have 3 kids and traveled all the time. We did short driving or flying trips to kid oriented places. At destination, we would go out for morning outing and come back to nap/rest. We always ate on schedule just like at home. My kids are older now and we still eat on schedule and often go back to the hotel to rest before dinner.

We did a lot of Florida, Caribbean and PA trips when kids were little.

Me again. Some specific favorite places were Beaches Turks and Caicos, Legoland Florida, Dutch wonderland, AZ (flight wasn’t so pleasant with a toddler but once we got there, we had an amazing time).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:3 kids. We took a grandparent with us to Europe so she could stay behind with the three year old for naptimes. We started doing trips on our own when the youngest was five. We tend to do airbnb apartments so everyone can spread out and go to sleep at different times.

I actually found it easier to travel when they were young compared to now when my two oldest kids are teens and whiny, want to sleep in, less adaptable to time changes.

Well it’s really easy to travel when you treat your mother like the help.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have 3 kids and traveled all the time. We did short driving or flying trips to kid oriented places. At destination, we would go out for morning outing and come back to nap/rest. We always ate on schedule just like at home. My kids are older now and we still eat on schedule and often go back to the hotel to rest before dinner.

We did a lot of Florida, Caribbean and PA trips when kids were little.

I don’t think OP is seeing pics of an “amazing” vacation to Lancaster or grandma’s condo in Boca and getting envious. I think she meant something more ambitious.

Pp here. My youngest is now 5 and we just did Europe with her this past summer. We did Hawaii last year.

When she was a toddler and before Covid, I took two older kids to Asia and Europe while leaving toddler home with dad.

Disney cruise was probably our best vacation with a toddler and two elementary kids. That was our last trip before Covid.

A 2 year old is the worst though because they are mobile and hard to keep still. It should get better at age 3 or 4. My 4.5yo did great on the flight to Hawaii.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:3 kids. We took a grandparent with us to Europe so she could stay behind with the three year old for naptimes. We started doing trips on our own when the youngest was five. We tend to do airbnb apartments so everyone can spread out and go to sleep at different times.

I actually found it easier to travel when they were young compared to now when my two oldest kids are teens and whiny, want to sleep in, less adaptable to time changes.

Well it’s really easy to travel when you treat your mother like the help.

LOL are you kidding me? She practically kicks us out the door wanting alone time with a grandkid! We loved making family memories through travel and of course she got time to herself as well. I can’t wait to do the same for my kids when I have grandchildren.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have 3 kids and traveled all the time. We did short driving or flying trips to kid oriented places. At destination, we would go out for morning outing and come back to nap/rest. We always ate on schedule just like at home. My kids are older now and we still eat on schedule and often go back to the hotel to rest before dinner.

We did a lot of Florida, Caribbean and PA trips when kids were little.

I don’t think OP is seeing pics of an “amazing” vacation to Lancaster or grandma’s condo in Boca and getting envious. I think she meant something more ambitious.

Pp here. My youngest is now 5 and we just did Europe with her this past summer. We did Hawaii last year.

When she was a toddler and before Covid, I took two older kids to Asia and Europe while leaving toddler home with dad.

Disney cruise was probably our best vacation with a toddler and two elementary kids. That was our last trip before Covid.

A 2 year old is the worst though because they are mobile and hard to keep still. It should get better at age 3 or 4. My 4.5yo did great on the flight to Hawaii.

I have three.
I’ve also done trips where we divided and conquered, for example doing a mommy and me trip to France while our younger two stayed behind with dad.