The activity you should always include in a toddler-friendly itinerary

I believe a lot in rhythms and schedules. Even though my toddler has been taking naps (send help!), we still follow almost the same rhythms as when he arrived: Meals—>Play—>Rest.

One of the reasons travel can be so difficult is that it naturally throws us off balance. I can usually eliminate grumpy or hungry moments in favor of exploring a new place or trying something new, but my toddler? This is what prepares you for a crisis.

This is why I always plan a vacation rhythm. It may take a few days to get used to it, but the more I can mimic our usual rhythm (okay, schedule), the more likely we are to enjoy our time together. This adds the structure my toddler needs without making it feel like every day is exactly the same, since novelty is one of my favorite parts of traveling.

Part of this is planning a really smart route. That’s why I’m so excited to bring in Kathryn Beard today from The Moms Know Best, which is one of my FAVORITE newsletters.

Kathryn Beard on traveling with toddlers

Kathryn Beard with her little one.

Her newsletter is so helpful because it hits the nail on the head with me: Parenting two kids (8 months, 3.5 years) in Alexandria, Virginia, a suburb of Washington, DC. Whatever the subject, I manage to learn something new – and I find that with toddlers, sometimes the smallest “hacks” like a quick script to avoid a meltdown or a quiet and easy craft setup pay off the most.

This is how Kathryn travels with her two little ones:1

Do you travel often? What is your travel “style” before and after children?

Before kids, my husband and I had the Southwest Companion Pass and frequently flew away for quick weekend getaways. My travel style was to research and plan absolutely everything. My family made fun of me for my elaborate Google Docs and Powerpoint presentations for each vacation. (Editor’s note: My love language!!) I was also “Team Carry On Only” and am very proud to have packed my two-week Italian honeymoon in the small Away suitcase.

No more! After having children, we travel a lot less. Maybe one trip per season and I’m “the team prepares everything”. My days as a light packer are over. I prefer to overpack and check a bag so the kids have some home comforts to make sleeping, eating, and playing easier.

What’s your best tip for traveling with kids?

My #1 travel tip for families with kids is: find the playgrounds. It sounds simple, but we saved many long travel days by finding a playground for my toddler to burn off some energy. I love the app Playground Buddy. This is a free app that allows you to search around your home where all the playgrounds are located nearby. It also lists the amenities each has so you can find one with a bathroom if you need one. On our four-hour drive to the beach last summer with a newborn and a 3-year-old, we discovered this amazing playground through the app that we never would have found otherwise, where my toddler ran around for an hour while I fed and changed the baby.

I found that a toddler would tolerate a more “boring” activity if a trip to a playground was promised in the future. In Portland, Oregon, last year, the Rose garden didn’t interest him, but there was this big playground nearby where we then spent an hour. Plus, I constantly wonder why highway rest areas don’t have playgrounds! This would make road trips much easier.

We’re told babies are more portable, but it’s not as simple as that. What’s your baby travel tip?

Four to five months is a great time to travel and I wish we took advantage of it more. We took a trip with my second child during this time to visit friends in Naples, Florida and it was so easy with the baby. It made me wish I had planned something else during this magical window.

At this age, they begin to follow a stricter schedule and sleep longer, but they are not yet crawling and have not yet started eating solid foods. So you can just carry them around and they will mostly nap in a carrier or in the stroller. When we say babies are more portable, this is the age we’re really talking about.

And for toddlers?

My travel mantra is that the juice is always worth it. Long days of traveling with toddlers can be difficult. We took a big trip last summer to Oregon to visit family. The day’s travel to get there involved a 3 a.m. wake-up call, two flights, a long layover in Chicago, and then a two-hour drive once we arrived in Oregon. It was one of the longest days of my life trying to keep a cranky and tired two year old entertained and entertained. But we survived and made it to Astoria, Oregon, where my toddler had the most magical week. Give yourself plenty of grace on travel days, use screens if you need to, throw most of your parenting rules out the window, and survive. The final destination is usually worth it.

And this one I learned the hard way, but never forget to pack some toddler-approved snacks in your suitcase for the way home. It’s great to have tons of snack options for the flight or car ride to your destination, but everyone always forgets about the return trip. I always pack a Ziploc bag of prepackaged non-melty bars and crackers in my suitcase for the ride home.

The best place to travel with babies and young children is…

We spend a week every summer Cape Charles, Virginia which is a little-known beach destination four hours from Washington, DC, on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. It’s an amazing place for families. The beach is beautiful and the water is shallow for small children. Everyone drives golf carts around town which is so much fun. And the town is this historic, quaint town with cafes, ice cream parlors, and boutiques, but doesn’t have the crowds of many East Coast beaches.

The best hotel for babies and toddlers is…

It seems cliché to name a hotel at Disney World, which is a very kid-oriented place, but we had a wonderful time last fall when we stayed at Yacht club. All Disney hotels are kid-friendly, but the Yacht Club’s incredible pool with a sandy bottom and shallow “beach” make it an especially good choice for families with young children. It’s also nice to be within walking distance of two parks (this made it easy for someone to go home with the toddler for naptime) and my toddler thought riding the nearby Skyliner was more fun than any walk in the parks.

(Editor’s note: I think what the Disney haters don’t understand is that there is so much psychological safety for parents, like you know there won’t be some stupid logistical problem at this hotel that will create a meltdown, and that’s worth it to me!)

The high-end pieces of gear Kathryn doesn’t leave the house with without…

Ensuring my kids sleep well while on vacation has always been a top priority. Even though it’s annoying to pack them, we’ve always traveled with all our own sleeping gear, rather than renting anything or using a hotel’s pack and playing to make sure they can sleep in something they’re used to.

We’re big fans of the Guava travel crib with a Slumberpod on it for little kids. And now my toddler uses the Hiccapop air mattress.

We also always travel with strollers. They make traveling through airports much easier. When we had just one child, we used the Nuna Trvl stroller and loved it. Now that we have two children, we have switched to the UppaBaby Minu Double stroller and are huge fans of it. We splurged on the travel suitcase and it gives me peace of mind when we check it out.

What is your best travel memory so far?

Traveling with young children can be difficult and yes, sometimes you feel like you’re a parent in another place, without your routine and all your stuff. I asked my husband for a travel tip he would share for these questions and he said, “Wait until they are older.” » 🤦🏼‍♀️ BUT despite this, some of my best parenting memories are seeing my daughters experimenting with new things.

On our Disney trip, the pure joy she felt as we rode on a Disney bus with Elsa alongside. She shouted, “ELSA is on a BUS!” » We still laugh about it today. We spent so much money taking her to Disney and her go-to memory is seeing a bus with her favorite princess on board. A good reminder for all of us that joy can be found in the smallest things. ❄️

Thanks, Kathryn! I love this bus story so much. This was definitely my toddler’s Disney highlight the first time we went, since we’re just small town people and never get to ride buses, monorails, or trains. I think sometimes we forget as parents that All is new and so we expect the most expensive items to be the most exciting when, for example, there’s a duck and that’s the best thing ever.

Thanks for being here.

“Find the playgrounds” was one of the best pieces of advice I was given before our first toddler road trip. Babies need to stop every hour or so for feeding, changing, etc., but toddlers? They have to move.

Right now, some of our favorite travel memories have to do with playgrounds. In Portland, ME, the East Promenade playground overlooks the ocean with stunning views, and if you do it right, the Ice cream fiasco the food truck is at the bottom of the hill. Now my toddler proudly asks if “we’ll stop at my favorite playground” every time we drive to visit family.

A summer dream,

Kayla

If you liked this article, please consider supporting my work. I’m just a mom at heart trying to create essential memories for our entire family while minimizing meltdowns. I sincerely hope this helps you do the same.

This article was originally published on Traveling with Toddlers.Subscribe for more actionable travel tips, toddler-friendly itineraries and proven gear recommendations.

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