Vacation with Toddler
To ensure a top vacation with toddler in tow, in addition to a healthy dose of good humour for those 'precious' moments, there are a few bases worth covering before you set off. Whether you're driving with toddler or flying with toddler, simply considering the following in advance puts you in the super-parent category for preparation, that can only be a good thing! As with most of us, toddlers are happiest (and least troublesome) when they are getting what they want. Understanding what they might need and matching this up with what your toddler wants at the time will hopefully result in a stressfree journey, and subsequently an enjoyable vacation with toddler!
So, what are a toddlers basic needs on a long journey away?
The table below explains the key basic needs of your average toddler including ideas for what to pack in your essential vacation with toddler travel bag. | Food | Hungry toddlers can be the most irritable kind! Loads of yummy snacks packed away in individual bags. Top tip is to not have them all visible – once they’ve been seen your toddler will harass you nonstop until they are either all open or all gone. Try to avoid acidic or over sweet foods which may lead to tummy ache. Naturally, what goes in must come out, so check out our favourite travel potty. | | Drink | Always have a squeeze bottle of water at a minimum and your toddlers favourite drinking vessel. Buying some juice along the way is a novelty for your toddler, worth the distraction. | | Attention Span | A couple of favourite books along with a couple of odd toys can go a long way. If possible, don’t bring them all out at once. Since they are happiest when being stimulated, try to think about what it is they are learning as they play. When they get bored it’s usually because they have mastered something, so set a new challenge. For example – counting the colours on each page of their favourite book. | | Attention Span (again!) | When toys and books run their course put them out of sight so they can be brought out like new later, and resort to mind games. Singing (not always appropriate or very pleasant!) is often a favourite. Anything involving interaction goes down well. Examples include pop goes the weasel – toddler says pop. Stealing noses with your thumb, teaching your toddler to do it back to you. If you have food individually packaged away, just the process of opening up lunchboxes, tubs and packets is a huge time waster and loved by toddlers. Moving grapes from one tub to another for example (just have to keep a watchful eye that it doesn’t all go on the floor by helping out a bit). | Sleep | Trying to figure out how and when your toddler might sleep on a long journey is a good idea to do in advance. Tailoring what sleep items you take can really aid the situation. For example, our toddler has a small pillow that is more like a soft toy than pillow. It’s very useful when she needs to sleep on our laps, using it to wedge where ever needed. Be prepared for a tired grumpy toddler who won’t sleep due to the stimulation of the journey itself. Just do your best to keep your cool if your toddler looses theirs – it happens. |
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