Traveling with Kids: the Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Memorial Day signals the beginning of summer and beginning of travel season.

According to AAA, an estimated 35 million people will travel 50 miles or more this coming holiday weekend. And whether it is by car or by air, traveling can be particularly trying for those of us with kids. We all start out with the fantasy of joyous times, smiles and memories to last a lifetime, but reality is soon ushered in by the delayed flights, meltdowns and endless chants of “are we there yet."

The stakes get even higher when you travel alone with a child.

Out of desperation and fear of shear boredom, I once traveled alone to my in-laws with my toddler while my husband was on business. I was ready for the challenge and put my organizational skills to work. I starting surfing the Web to find information and helpful hints, but there was little to be found. I asked friends and though out scenarios. In the end, it was confidence and pre-planning that made the trip a complete success. Don’t get me wrong, I am not thrilled about doing it again but now I know I can do it.

Air travel tips:

1. Go to the airline website and see what they say about traveling with kids. The last thing you want is to be surprised, so make sure you know their rules about carry on food, formula, checked-bag fees and lap children.
2. Try to get a seat in the first row. This way, you have the attention of the flight attendant and the room of the bulkhead. I found that, when enlisted correctly, flight attendants can be real life-savers (in more ways than the obvious).
3. Call the airline once your ticket is booked and tell them you are traveling alone with a child and will need an escort from ticketing, through security to the gate and again from the arrival gate to baggage claim. This is key and saved me many grey hairs. With the airline escort, I was able to bypass the usual security line and go through the employee line. They helped with my car seat, amused my daughter and generally kept things light and easy. I offered a tip, which was taken at one end and refused at the other.
4. By all means, if you are taking your car seat on the plane (or even if you are checking it at the gate) buy a wheeled car seat attachment. I used the Go-Go kids travel mate. It’s easy to use and fits all car seats. I even kept in on the car seat on the plane (you might want to take it off in the car for maximum safety and to minimize seat damage). Your child can sit right in the car seat while you are towing them.
5. Finally, think the day through in your head. I arranged a ride to the airport so I didn’t have to deal with the parking scenario, checked in the night before and held my breath.

Car travel tips:

1. If the ride is more than 2 to 3 hours, I suggest a DVD. I am not a huge fan of popping them on for every ride, but they can really help on the long ones. Enlist you child’s help in picking them and be clear if they will only be watching it once so there are no tears.
2. Plan out the time when you will be driving. If you have very young kids, try to leave at nap time. This was always very successful for us. I would get the kids in the car, give them their special blanket and they would soon drift off to sleep. When they woke, we would stop for a quick potty break and snack and then back on the road.
3. Have a few tricks up your sleeve. This works for all forms of travel. I always bought a few special toys and coloring books for the trip and would bring them out when the kids started fussing a bit.
4. Revive the age-old car games. My brothers and I had a ton of fun making up games for our long car rides. We all picked trucking companies and whenever we passed one of them we would get a point. We also marked milestones, played travel board games and slept.
5. Be realistic. I would never expect my now 3- and 5-year olds to sit for 10 hours as we drove to the in-laws. I would, however, stop half-way there at a friend’s and make a trip out of the trip. See who lives along your route and rekindle some old relationships. It’s one night and often the limit when you have kids.   
6. Finally, and I say this about a lot of things, be honest with your kids. Tell them that this will be a long day. Go through the events of the day and remind them of the reason for the trip.

In the end, the hardest part about traveling with children seems to be the unpredictability of it all. Will the flight be delayed? Will there be hours of traffic? Will Nick and Sally throw up in the car? And will Mommy lose her mind?

But, just like child birth, once it is all over, we seem to forget about the 10 hours of mindless torture and embrace the moment -- at least until next time.

Happy traveling!