Vacationing with Pre-Schoolers

Here are our ten best tips for traveling with young children. We don't always do this stuff, but we try:

1) Get free lodging. This takes a network and a lot of luck or love, but so far we have managed to do it on every vacation. This is the first step.

2) Book tickets early, and try to get either low prices or frequent flier tickets.

3) Set modest expectations about what you will see or do. We usually have one planned activity each day.

4) Choose destinations where you know families with kids the same ages as yours. 

5) Try to take advantage of free museum days. We know our kids have only a limited attention span for most museums, and it is a lot less troubling if the admission is free.

6) Someone WILL get sick or have an accident. You will get lost. And it's okay!

7) Stick to the routines of home, as much as possible. We usually try to stay in the same spot the whole trip and take little day trips, rather than moving the gang from place to place.

8) Review high points of each day after dinner or at bedtime. Hearing the children's thoughts can help you plan the subsequent days of the trip. You can model this ritual for your kids to help them learn how it works.

9) Let each kid choose a souvenir of the trip to take home, preferably one that takes of a small amount of space in your luggage.

10) Spending money is not what makes the vacation fun. Your time together--playing, talking, laughing, connecting--these will make your travels memorable.

Please share your travel tips with us. Pretty please?

Comments

[Melissa]

We have a few different strategies. We usually don't know people where we travel, but we always stay at a Hampton Inn. It feels familiar b/c the rooms look the same and there's a big breakfast buffet, convenient. B & bs have been a nightmare w. Kids...never again!We buy a few new books and toys that we keep under wraps til we're traveling. We drive at night when we can so the kids sleep through most of the boring car time. We don't try to limit how much we do each day ( impossible w. a 2 yr old and 12 yr old) but we parents divide and conquer when we need to. And we bring all familiar nap time and bed time items incl blankets and pillows... Even stroller naps should be comfycozy. Have lots of wetwipes and paper towel rolls and plastic bags and big ziplock bags, bring a first aid kit, travel w. Second parent adoption documents in glove compartment, keep a camera with you all the time. Finally, on the sly, buy one or two more of your child's special snuggle doll or blanket and keep a backup hidden just in case. New parents, do not let your baby bond with that one of a kind handmade item cute as it may be...I had to hunt down a very hard to find dolly on eBay once while my daughter cried every night. Now we (secretly) have 3 identical of "baby" !!

[Laura]

My mom would find puzzles and history/legend books about the places we were visiting and where it was in relation to our home town.

[Dana]

Oh, excellent list, which I can back with my own experience from a recent trip. (Helen and I talk about it on our vlog this week, in fact, though it won't be up till Thursday.) A few additional tips: 1) Pack your own nightlight, if needed; 2) Bring a small roll of electric tape to cover outlets, if your kids are very young; 3) Kids' audiobooks rule, esp. free ones from the library. Particularly good for car trips if your kids get carsick when they read while in motion.

[Michelle]

how do you get free lodging?

[Robin Reagler]

from our family or friends

On Fri, Jul 17, 2009 at 10:10 PM, TypePad

[anniem]

I second the Hampton Inn advice. Back in our paycheck days, that was my favorite roadside home: They had me at high thread count linens and king-and-a-couch rooms.

I love your list, too--10 was my favorite point, and I only take exception with #s 2 and 3. I don't like planning on vacations. It feels too much like making my life vulnerable to the schedules of the non-vaca life. We're 3 weeks into our unplanned vacation and so far it's worked out very well. ;)

[Tari]

Great list! I completely agree with #7 - it helps us a lot to tell the boys where their "home" is for the vacation. This past week we drove up and back to CO, and Chris in particular was really happy to know where we were going. We even showed him pictures of it on the internet before we left, so he saw his bed, etc.

I agree with Dana on books on tape - the boys were almost silent all the way to CO and back, thanks to a stack of them and an old Walkman. Whew!

To add: (1) remember that whatever pushes your (or your child's) buttons at home will push them that much more in a strange place. If someone is afraid of heights, going up The Arch in STL will not be fun just because it happens on vacation, and can turn the rest of the day upside down. Have some adventures, sure, but vacations with little kids are not the time to conquer everyone's biggest fears. (2) everyone doesn't have to do everything. If 3 out of 4 of you love horseback riding, then the 3 of you should go for a short ride one day and let the 4th (assuming that 4th is a grown up!) choose something else. We did this in CO (Boyd really hates to ride) and it worked great. He had a relaxing walk by himself and the boys and I had a 2 hour trail ride. We then had the rest of the day together, and we were all happy.

Sounds like y'all are having a great summer!

[Birch]

She was just as happy in small public parks, with sticks and rocks and bugs, as the children's museum.

Slow down. We got to the airport 2 hours early for a regional flight, so we had time to explore, watch the planes taxi, see other people's luggage, meet other kids. When walking from point A to B, we stopped to look under the bridge or pet the trees. Seriously reduced melt downs.

Eat picnic lunches (or fast food) in parks so she can run when she's doine eating. Especially meals in the middle of long car trips.

Cheap inflatable ball fits nicely in the diaper bag and isn't a big deal to loose. Small magna-doodle type thing was good.

Talk about the trip beforehand. Including "there will be a lot of time in the car" and "you will meet lots of strangers, but we'll be with you." When prepping for plane rides, remember the checking in, *going through security*, and waiting at the gate.

She's fine moving all over during the day, but bedtime is much easier if we stay in the same place. If we can't do that, we expect an hour or more to go wild in the new place before it's boring enough to sleep.

(She's 20 months right now.)

[Robin Reagler]

Thanks, Birch, for all your excellent suggestions. Great ideas that all ring true for me.

[Robin Reagler]

Glad it's going well, Annie. Enjoy!

[Kris]

Here's my tip:
Don't forget that beloved stuffed animal/blankie! We had an emergency, mid-visit delivery of Hank's blankie last week by my very nice cousin. Also - limit the stuffed animal/blankie to one per child otherwise your suitcase will quickly get filled.

I totally agree about the free museum thing - makes it much easier to not stay so long. We belong to the Brooklyn Museum of Art and I try to find out which museums have reciprocal membership before we go anywhere.

[Robin Reagler]

Thanks for those great additions. I hadn't thought about reciprocal memberships before.