Travelling with My Baby and Toddler: A Lesson in Patience

I recently took a two week vacation with Charlie who was one month at the time, and Ayla at the very trying age of 19 months. Along for the ride was my husband, and my two parents who fulfilled their roles as doting grandparents. Our destination? Hawaii. Namely the Big Island and Maui. Although the mere mention of Hawaii conjures up images of a tropical paradise, our vacation was anything but. 

Was our vacation horrible? No, but it definitely was not paradise. Let’s just say that on the long flight from our wintry home in Canada, a very kind stewardess slipped my husband a complimentary bottle of vodka to go with his orange juice. She said, “Here, I think you’ll need this.” Boy, did he ever. 

The long flight was punctured with screams and wails of unhappy infants and toddlers (I was glad to see that our kids were not the only grumpy ones on the plane). It seemed as though the airline had grouped together all the families with young ones in a little corner which was fine, except I felt sorry for the poor souls who were within earshot of us. 

Ayla went crazy whenever the “Fasten seatbelt” signs flashed on while the aircraft was experiencing turbulence. For safety reasons, the stewardesses insisted that we hold Ayla on our laps with our arms clutched around her until it was safe to do otherwise. This made our rambunctious toddler go berserk; she squirmed and thrashed about like a fish out of water. 

Once we landed in Hawaii, the worst part was over. But every time I think about boarding an airplane with my toddler, I feel a little ill. Infants for the most part are easy-peasy to travel with. 

Don’t get me wrong; I love my kids to pieces and I still had a good vacation for the most part. It’s just that travelling with my two little ones, especially my toddler, was more challenging than I anticipated. 

So here are a few things that worked well with us when travelling with a toddler and things I would do differently for the next trip. 

Do’s: 

• Pack a small bag full of new toys or objects to distract your toddler and keep her occupied. We visited the dollar store to pick up a few things and also scoured our house for little things. The best “toys” are ones that aren’t really toys at all—things are always much more exciting when you know you’re not supposed to play with them. So random household objects and of course your cell phone will work wonders.
• Pack lots of snacks. The only thing worse than a fussy toddler is a hungry fussy toddler. Luckily grandma was smart and packed lots of healthy snacks like grapes and cheese. An unexpected bonus when travelling with babies is that you are allowed to bring onboard food and beverages you normally wouldn’t be allowed so long as they are “for the baby.” So you might as well take advantage of the fact that you can bring along that extra water bottle or beverage
•  Try to make sure your toddler is well rested for the flight. Ayla did not sleep well at all the night before our trip, but we thought that this would help her pass out on the plane – WRONG. The new environment, the crowded seats, and the noises kept her up all flight (and night).
• Remember to bring her favourite blanket or toy. Sometimes, the only thing that can get your toddler to sleep is cuddling with her blankie or baby.
• Forget about pre-boarding the flight to get settled in. When you have an energetic toddler, we found it best to let one person settle in with all the carry-ons, and another person run around the airport with the little one for as long as possible to burn up some energy.

Don’ts: 

• Don’t pack too many activities during the day. Remember to account for frequent breaks and naps. One of the worst days of our trip was when we planned a sight-seeing day with a long car ride and not enough stops. It was exhausting, and there wasn’t enough time for Ayla to stretch her legs and run around which made her and the rest of us miserable.
• Don’t forget the necessities and remember to pack for emergencies. Extra diapers, wipes, clothes, bottles and snacks will be your best friend in case your afternoon out turns into an unexpected day-long excursion if you get lost or get caught in a bad traffic jam.
• Don’t assume there will be nice change room facilities or child-friendly restaurants at the next stop. It’s best to play it safe and take advantage of things in the moment. There were many times when I deeply regretted not changing a diaper earlier when there were nice change rooms—changing a dirty diaper when the child is perched precariously on a toilet seat is not fun.
• Don’t have unrealistic expectations. You won’t be able to see everything and do all the things you’d like to do with little ones along for the ride, so adjust your expectations accordingly.

But with all the extra work that comes with bringing along young kids on vacation, they also bring about some of the best moments on the trip. One fond memory was when Ayla met a little boyfriend at a local beach park and they happily frolicked together for the afternoon. They even tried running away together, hand-in-hand. 

With a toddler along for the ride, we learned to appreciate all the little things grown-ups don’t give a second glance. The world is a new and wonderful place through the eyes of a little one and all things big or small are ravished up with delight – a truly infectious feeling.