The Travelling Toddler

At age 13, I was one of those kids who'd never left the country. Heck, I'd never even been on a PLANE - and I was fine with that, really! In fact, in my mind I'd have been happy marrying a local boy, settling down and moving into the house next door to my parents, where I would live happily forever more.

Alas, that's not quite how my life panned out. I took my first plane trip that very year and was literally sick with fear the entire time. Fifteen years on I STILL have mild anxiety boarding a plane, despite having flown on many, MANY planes. You see, I ended up marrying a German who lists "Travelling" at the top of his list of interests. Thus began a life of being pushed out of my comfort zone time and time again.

So it is that my dear little daughter is about to travel to her SIXTH international destination in less than two years. Come September, three days after her second birthday, we'll make that seven. And that's if my husband doesn't manage to convince me to meet his family in Thailand next month (second mortgage, anyone?).

I never would have thought I'd be the type of Mum who could consider herself an expert on travelling with babies and toddlers, yet here I am. Kind of an expert! Well, not really. I'm not all that good at it. I forget things. I stress. I worry. I fight with my husband. But we have fun.

I'm planning to spend the better part of the day packing for six days in New Zealand, in winter. I'm shivering just thinking about it. Anyway, what better way to prepare than to share my top ten tips for travelling with a toddler?

Here they are:

1) You can never be too prepared - Write a list. Get your husband to write a list. Get your Mum and your neighbour to write lists. Cross-check all lists. Wait three days. Write another list. Now you're getting there.

2) You can also never be too unprepared - At the end of the day, if you forget seven items on your list you can always buy them there*. Breathe.

3) A well stocked carry on/carry around bag is ESSENTIAL - I truly believe that this is the most important ingredient for travelling. Once your other luggage is stowed away, or back at your hotel room when you're on a tour hours away, there are NO MORE NAPPIES. There are NO MORE SNACKS (particularly if you're in Asia and can't for the life of you find toddler appropriate food). It's good to have a list of carry bag essentials (nappies, wipes, water, snacks, toys etc.) and cross check the list every time you leave the house on your holiday. Trust me - just trust me.

4) IPAD - Just iPad. You know what I'm sayin'. Here is a pretty great list of the best iPad apps for toddlers, but I find an abundance of Peppa Pig and In The Night Garden to be particularly useful.

5) You can never be too pushy - You know back before you had kids, those parents who were just PAINFUL because they always had to get to the front of the line, had to ask if you could swap seats with them, just HAD to get to the bathroom before you? Be that parent. When you're travelling, little things like an extra seat on the plane or pre-boarding can make the WORLD of difference to your stress levels and, in turn, everyone's enjoyment of the holiday. It doesn't hurt to ask.

6) Get in early - When you're travelling, it's often a case of "first in, best dressed". This applies to seats on planes and buses, bassinet access, placement at shows and events and so on. If you have a 10 month old who would sleep the night on the plane in a bassinet, you need to do EVERYTHING you can to get that bassinet! I'm talking rocking up a good three hours early. It is worth every minute of your time. 

7) Consider Qantas Club Membership - You can pay for membership to the Qantas club, which can also be achieved by Frequent Flyer status. If you're looking at a good 2-3 hours in an airport with kids, there's no better place to spend it than in Qantas Club. There's tons of healthy food free for the picking, computers for playing, lounges for sleeping, Wifi and even Xbox. There's always a family zone where kids can just run wild, and in the Platinum/First lounge (where we will be going for the first time this Friday - hooray nomadic husband!) there are even SHOWERS. I've been telling everyone for weeks how I plan to shower H and put her in her PJ's before our 7pm flight. I hope I'm not going to be underwhelmed...

8) Think about buying a baby backpack - These are fantastic for travelling, particularly if you're in places that aren't great for prams. Ours is the "Tatonka" brand, but I've heard the "Ergo Baby Carriers" are better on the back - I'm hoping to borrow one from a friend for this trip.

9) Don't forget your pram!!! - When we went to Fiji over new years, we forgot our pram!!! Admittedly we dashed off early in the morning after arriving home from Christmas at my parents the night before - we weren't prepared (see points one and two). Luckily for us, many of the larger chain hotels and resorts lend prams, and ours did. Still, we really missed it at the airport, particularly as H was very much at that hard to tame age of 15 months (or, I should say, she was a particularly hard to tame 15 month old). My recommendation is to buy a cheap little fold out stroller just for travelling - it's $20-100 you won't regret spending, and if you don't have one you may find it handier for a toddler in general anyway (I love my MacLaren!). 

10) RELAX - Take lots of pictures. Or don't. Have lots of cuddles. Skip the museum for a run in the park. Eat sugar. Feed your child sugar. Embrace muddy clothes. Don't make the bed. Commit every second to memory, because these times are precious, these moments are fleeting, and life is short.

Happy travels!

Z xx