Today I will be sharing my personal experience with traveling with a toddler! We’ve been away for 15 of the last 40 days, divided over 3 trips so I find it safe to say I’m an experienced traveling-with-a-toddler mom now. We’ve been to Munich first, then off to Italy and last was a weekend away in The Netherlands. All of them required different approaches, so I’m gonna do my best to gather all sorts of trips into these tips. Our daughter Mia is 19 months now and it’s definitely different traveling with a toddler than with a baby. So let’s cut this intro short and get those tips rolling in!
1. Fly from a small airport
For our trip to Munich we flew from Schiphol and it was one of the most stressful times of my life. Trying to get through the airport with a walking toddler is hard work. Schiphol is big, crowded, security have long lines, etcetera. All you do is try not to loose your child in-between all those people. Then for our trip to Italy we flew from Eindhoven. What a breeze! No big line for security check, staff members that take their time because you are traveling with a toddler, and you don’t have to walk for 30 minutes to the gate. Perfect! So if you get the chance, try out a smaller airport.
2. Babywearing
Those who follow me on Instagram know that I am a huge fan of babywearing. And while of course those moments get more rare since Mia prefers to walk, we still babywear and if any opportunity is perfect for it, it’s traveling/holidaying. Can you imagine having to push a stroller over a forest path, or during a mountain walk? Not to mention having to lift a stroller through airport, etcetera. Nope, babywearing it is. Hands free, they can sleep in it, and almost take no space in your luggage. This carrier is by my favourite brand Artipoppe.
3. Accept that things take more time
I used to be one of those people that would arrive at the airport as late as possible. But with a toddler I want to have more time. You want to have time for them to walk around before entering the plane, change a diaper when necessary, all in a relaxed modus. So now I’m perfectly happy arriving 2 hours before the plane leaves, and try to enjoy the fact we don’t have to rush now. And if you feel relaxed, your toddler will as well!
4. Bring food
Same as above: I always hated bringing food for on-the-go and preferred buying snacks on location. But with a toddler – especially traveling by car or plane – it’s great to have some food with you to keep them entertained and in good sport. And of course take advantage of the fact you can bring more fluids when you are flying with kids :)
5. Think wisely which toys to bring
When traveling by plane, you don’t have much space to bring toys. In my personal experience kids don’t need that much toys on holiday, since you are keeping them busy most of the day but of course you wanna bring some. We thought long and hard which toys she would play most with and out of those picked the toys that would take up the least amount of space. Think about what toy will you the most hours of playtime.
6. Bring enough clothes
A little in contrary of what I said above about packing light, but for a good reason: while on holiday you usually don’t have a possibility to do laundry, so bring enough clothes. Kids get dirty and that’s just the way it is. And especially when traveling outside of summer season you want to bring clothes for all sorts of weather: for colder mornings or evenings, but also for the sunny afternoons. Luckily those kids’ clothes don’t take up that much space!
7. Look into possibilities to rent stuff on location
A stroller, a travel crib or cat seat; a lot of them can be rented on location and it will save you a lot of lifting while traveling. Might be worth a look into!
So, I hoped this will tackle the most important stuff and will help you in organizing your upcoming holiday! Please feel free to ask me any questions if you have, happy to answer them. Make sure to follow me on Instagram, to see more of my life with a toddler <3
