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Have kids, will travel: 8 tips for family trips

Kids should learn how to travel, and parents should learn how to support kids to make travel fun and adventurous. I polled a number of friends and family who have traveled with their kids, asking them for their favorite travel tips. Here are eight favorites relating specifically to airplane and road trips, but I am sure these same lessons apply to most every form of transportation.

6. Food on the go

Andy Nelson / The Christian Science Monitor, File
Unfazed by the beginning of an overnight train trip, 10-week-old Kiran waits as he waits for his mother and brother to finish the ticketing process at the Amtrak counter at Union Station in Washington, DC.

Honestly, there is something about the sterile surroundings of an airport that make me crave Cinnabon and Burger King. And drive thru while on a road trip? Why sure! 

I do not advocate stuffing your kid’s face for the duration of a cross country flight. We have found it helpful to stick with normal meal and snack times if possible. That doesn’t mean that a couple additional treats won’t help.

Food packets with screw top lids are invaluable when traveling, as they can be attached to portable spoons that screw directly onto the packet for direct serving, or they can be handed directly to an older kid for self-slurping.

Also remember that treats can help with relieving ear pressure on plane trips during take off and landing. Lollipops and other hard candy treats or gum can give bigger kids something to suck or chew on while pressure changes, and for nursing infants, keep a bottle or mom at the ready. 

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Mark Sappenfield
Editor

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