Taking your younger children away on holiday can for some parents, feel a little daunting, especially if your children are a bit like mine in that they don't particularly like the idea of being stuck on a plane in their seat for hours whilst you travel to your destination. But going away is something that we really enjoy as a family - the memories that we make during our family time on holiday are always priceless and I know when I'm old and the boys are all grown up with families of their own, that those memories are going to be some of the ones I cherish the most.
Today I thought I would share some of the things that I've learnt that can help things go as smoothly as possible when it comes to travelling with young children, from the planning stage and the journey to the accommodation and the holiday itself. I hope if you've got any holidays/travelling booked yourself with your young family that you'll find these tips helpful.
1. Research and plan ahead of your holiday
It obviously depends on the sort of holiday you're going on. If you're visiting a resort where you'll be spending most of your time around the pool for example then you won't really need to over plan your days. But if you're going somewhere where you are going to be visiting several places whilst you're away then my best advice is to go with a really good idea of what you'll be doing and when. It's so much easier not to have to work out your days in the morning on holiday when you're busy with other things like getting your little ones ready for the day.
2. Make sure you're organised practically too
Do you or your children need a visa? Does anyone need any jabs? Have you got travel insurance covered? Don't forget if you're going to be driving in another country, you might need additional things in your car and you'll need the relevant insurance too.
3. Take a medicine bag with you
I always find for peace of mind that I like to take a medicine bag with us when we go away as well as a first aid kit in case of any illnesses or emergencies.
4. Don't over pack
Whilst you will need to take extra clothes for younger children incase of any accidents or spillages, remember that you can buy most other things abroad. Consider also leaving room in your suitcases for anything that you might purchase whilst travelling that you'll want to bring home.
5. Find somewhere that's truly family friendly
Do lots of research on potential destinations and accommodation before you commit to somewhere. When you go on holiday it's to relax, you don't want to have to constantly worry that your excited children might be disturbing others or that the accommodation that you're staying in isn't particularly safe for smaller children.
When it comes to staying in a villa with young children, places like Villa Finder are really helpful in that they'll have one of their travel consultants call you after you've requested one of their villas online, to ask about whether you intend to travel with children, how old they are and if you will require things like a pool fence, pool toys, a car seat etc. We are actually considering staying with them for a trip to Bali in the future, their villas look absolutely gorgeous and we'd love to stay in one of their villas for a family trip to Canggu. Plus I love the fact that they plant a tree in Indonesia for every booking that they get.
6. Take lots of activities
Whenever we go away I always like to take some entertainment for the boys with us not only for the journey but also for when we are there too. It's especially handy to have things like small colouring books, stickers, small puzzles and things like that if you intend to go out for dinner somewhere as these sorts of things will keep your little ones entertained at the table. Another thing we like to do is to take a few new. inexpensive things with us that the boys haven't seen before just to keep them occupied for longer.
7. Encourage your children who are old enough to start up a travel journal
This is something that we're starting from now with Ethan as he's just old enough to be interested in doing this sort of thing. But the idea is that he'll have his own scrapbook journal where he can record things he's done whilst away on holiday, he can draw pictures and also collect things like postcards. The hope is that it'll be something to keep him entertained when we're having some downtime and also that it'll be a great keepsake for him to look back on when he's older.
8. And my last tip is... don't forget the baby wipes!
Even though my boys are no longer in nappies, we still use baby wipes for so many different things like cleaning up mucky faces, wiping down restaurant tables, keeping the boy's hands clean and more! We never, ever go anywhere without a pack of good old baby wipes.
I hope these tips for travelling with younger children have been helpful. Please do let me know if you've got any travel plans for this year? I'd love to know where you are planning on visiting!
Thank you for reading.
Alex xo
**This post was sponsored by Villa Finder but all words are entirely my own.
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