Travelling with your toddler -- here's what you need to know

If you are planning to travel with a toddler in a tow, you need to plan a way in advance. Yes, yes. I know and understand that planning in advance doesn't come easy with the toddlers. However you can plan the basic things like – how do you plan to travel – by road, rail or flight, single with your child or as a family? All these things will ease out your initial worries and put you in a calm frame of mind. So let's tackle this one by one.

How Do You Plan To Travel With Your Toddler?

How you plan to travel will play an important role in planning a trip with your child/toddler in tow. For if you are planning to travel with your toddler in a car then are you planning to hire a car, or driving down to the destination. If you are planning to travel by railways or by flight then you need to book tickets in advance, to avoid last minute panic in getting preferred reservations and to avail the discounts in your flight travels.

Things To Be Kept In Mind While Travelling With Toddler In A Plane

When travelling with your toddler in a flight, you need to keep these few things in mind—

1. Flight schedules need to be checked and rechecked:Before you depart from home or even a day before just check and recheck your flight schedules. The timings in a hurry can be really confusing you may end up making a mistake. So be calm and check the schedule thoroughly
2. Boarding pass should be handy: Well, this is easy, as these days you get an e-boarding pass that you can get a print out from your local printer or print it at home. The idea is to save time from standing in the queue and get the check-ins done easily and quickly
3. Channelise the energy: If your toddler is running here and there around the departure lounge, let him or her do that running as he or she will be sitting for too long a time in one place during the flight. Sitting at one place for even 30 minutes straight is a huge task for toddlers hence let him or her run around. Just keep a close watch though and don't let them touch anything that has been lying unattended
4. Pack what you can carry: We Indian moms have the tendency to pack the stuff for just-in-case moment. Relax, unless you are going to a jungle, there will be shops at your destination to take care of the just-in-case moment so pack wisely
5. Pack finger foods: Yes, you definitely need to pack in those, as believe me as soon as you are seated your toddler will start getting hunger pangs and then he or she will get cranky. So pack in loads of finger foods like roasted makhanas, homemade potato fries, breadsticks, or even bite-size sandwiches that are handy to carry and eat as well
6. Candies for landing and take-off: You can give your toddler to something to chew on when the plane is taking off or when landing so that he or she doesn't feel the ear pain. So keeping a toffee or few nuts are a good idea.
7. Cotton for ears: You can also pack small buds of cotton ball to plug in the ears while landing and taking off as that too cuts the sound and your toddler will not feel the throbbing pain

Things To Be Kept In Mind While Travelling With Toddler In A Car

If you are planning to travel with your toddler in a car then remember these things, as they will make your travel a lot easy.

1. Prepare your car beforehand: When I say prepare your car, what I mean is – check the tyres (air pressure, no puncture to be repaired), petrol/diesel/CNG is full, battery is charged, Car AC is working fine, and pollution control is in order. All of this you need to divide into a week before the travel and a day before the travel for a successful road trip with your toddler
2. Don't over pack or under pack: Just because you are travelling by your car, doesn't mean that you can carry your entire home to your destination, so avoid packing stuff that can be easily available elsewhere. And don't under pack thinking that it will be easily available at the destination and you will not only end up with double things once you return, it will be an added expenditure during the travel
3. Pack in his or her favourite toy: Don't forget to pack in his or her favourite toy, as that will help them from getting bored. If your toddler loves to colour then do pack in some crayons and colouring sheets for him or her as well
4. Finger foods are a must: Your toddler is bound to get hungry the moment you embark on a journey. So don't forget to pack in some finger foods – it can be a banana, an apple, dry roasted makhanas or even homemade crackers
5. Hand sanitiser, and other knick-knacks: Oh yes, don't forget hand sanitisers to keep your toddler's hands clean, along with some hand towels, napkins, a change of clothes and if he or she wears diapers then some diapers handy
6. Make frequent stops: Since you are travelling by your car, take advantage and make frequent stops so that your toddler can expend some of his or her energy at the stop, finish his or her pee and potty routine and eat his fill and then you can continue your journey
7. Carry your own water: While adults can still bear to drink water from anywhere and everywhere, it is advisable that you carry your own water for your toddler for the entire journey

Mommy's Guide To Travelling With A Toddler

1. First rule is to appear at ease, don't run around screaming and shouting before the departure, this makes the kids more anxious (children have a great power of sensing if anything is wrong)
2. Make sure that they are wearing comfortable clothes. They should not feel too hot or cold
3. I remember I put on a new warm jumpsuit on my son in October in Delhi. We had come from Parwanoo to attend my cousin's wedding, foreseeing that he will feel cold in the banquet hall. He cried so much on the way and I could not understand what was going on (those days AC cars were only in dreams). Finally, my Aunt suggested changing his clothes. The moment the warm clothes were removed he was absolutely sugar and sweet
4. Don't over stuff them with food and avoid fizzy drinks if going on a long journey
5. Carry enough food which they enjoy. Some parents make the mistake of carrying certain items which their children don't like in the hope of making their child eat vegetables like gourd, bitter gourd and ridge gourd - the unthinkable. But that turns out to be a real disaster. Also carry airtight empty bottles and boxes to keep certain perishables
6. Prepare them for the journey in advance
7. Ensure that they have had enough sleep before commencing the journey
8. Try to do the packing while your baby is asleep so she does not get agitated as to what you are doing with her things
9. Remember to pack their favourite stuff toys, if going for longer time, carry their vaccination records and the usual over the counter medicines as well
10. Don't make the mistake of packing your child's toys or things in front of him or her as they will get worried and may end throwing all the stuff around I remember once we were going to Chandigarh (my mother's place). I had meticulously packed my son's clothes and other things; while I was in the kitchen he actually emptied the suitcase and threw all the things
11. If you have two children then be prepared for competition. They are both going to be demanding. I once went to Nainital with my two year and eleven year olds on a work cum pleasure trip hoping that the elder one would take care of the younger one while I 'work' but I ended up with Two 2-year-olds as the elder one too started behaving like a two-year-old

• Parentune Tip: Always be prepared for any eventuality. Neither can 'Parenting' be learnt from any book nor is your child 'tailor made' to suite your idea to be a perfect child.

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