A travel survival guide for parents wishing to hang on to their sanity!

OK, so after making the decision to come on a family vacation to the Dominican Republic, you have now been stuck at the airport for 4 hours, the kids are turning into the not so sweet little darlings you envisaged on a Caribbean beach (you’re almost reaching for the birth control pills) when you booked the holiday in the first place, and it’s a public airport lounge so you can’t get the duct tape out like you do at home! What are you going to do? Read on mums and dads around the world for a “Parental Travel Survival Guide” written by a parent herself who often has to make a grueling 8 hour flight from the Dominican Republic back to the United Kingdom with a rather rambunctious 3 year old in tow!  Relax! and you can make traveling with kids a fun and stress free experience by following a few simple steps:

1 Try and book a night flight, this is not always easy when traveling long haul I know but have a shop around.  It is a lot easier traveling from the States or Canada as there are more flight options however every parent knows when their little ones close their eyes, peace resumes once again.

2 Put the children in something comfortable to wear, it is more important to be comfortable than fashionable when flying (this goes for yourselves as well). Try and resist the urge to dress the kids in something cute as it is going to be a long day for everybody so go for soft fabrics, avoid a lot of zips, buckles and tight elastic.  This will also help when going to those super small airplane toilets too!
Airports and airplanes are often cold, so bring an extra layer to put on in case of a delay, and also families often get seated at the back of a plane so the reverse applies here as it is often quite hot, make sure your little one has a t-shirt or vest on underneath if you need to peel off.

Avoid any type of clothing both for yourself and the kids that will make clearing security any more difficult than it already is.  Keep away from belts with large buckles, hair clips, for parents, under wired bras, body piercing, keys, loose change, make sure you have removed as much or all of this as it will only detain you away from your children as you will have to put most of it in a separate tray to go through a screening process.
Keep shoes simple as you will be surprised at how impatient people can get towards your family if you are struggling with untying sneakers/trainers for a few pairs of little feet.
Just while we are talking about removing things, try and remember if you are with an infant to change your baby’s diaper or nappy before you board the aircraft, have you seen how small those flip down baby changing stations are inside the aircraft toilets?!

3 If you are traveling with an infant and you didn’t buy them their own seat on the plane, then bring your infant carrier along with you, but don’t check it in at the check in desk with your luggage.  Instead check it in at the gate before boarding, having the use of your carrier in the airport before you board will make traveling a lot easier for both you and your baby.
The same goes for a stroller, keep it with you until it is time to check it at the gate.  A lot of airports have long walks to the gate, so having your stroller will make getting around much easier. If you are worried about your stroller being damaged then buy a stroller bag to protect it whilst it is in the hold during transit. Alternatively I have always liked the long walks as it is an extra chance to ‘burn off’ some more boundless toddler energy!
Try and use a back pack if you can then this leaves you ‘hands free’ for your toddler or infant.

4 If you are like most parents then the purse strings are pretty stretched at the best of times.  Snacks and drinks at airports are notoriously expensive so I always bring snacks from the DIY shop (Do It Yourself – at home).  Bearing in mind the security checks with fluids being brought onto aircrafts, you will usually have a couple of hours wait before boarding so a few home made treats/snacks have always gone down well with my little one.

5 So you have finally made it onto the plane that’s a 100 gold stars for you so far. After the initial excitement of finding your seats, trying to get the children buckled in and sat down and after they have stopped fighting for the window seat, the long flight ahead looms.  If your child is of an age when they can understand simple conversations then explain to them a day or so before what is going to be happening, that you are taking a flight, explain about the airplane, the noise levels of the engine in a fun and understanding way and try to quell any fears that they may have before hand.   Make it an adventure, a discovery and you can step by step lead them the way, as you have already explained about the special airplane seats, special seat belts etc.,. So there are no surprises.

Toys
If you are with your infant then bring their blanket or something familiar that you use at home to keep the warm and comfortable.  Bring a few of their favorite toys along that they can hold and play with. Generally familiar things can make traveling a lot less traumatic for children.
If you are with a toddler then a few weeks before you depart, put away a couple of their favorite toys and then get them out on the plane as a surprise.  If you have the funds you can always prepare a ‘goodie bag’ with a few new treats or plane toys.  I have found that crayons and coloring books work well, story books, stickers, small plastic toys like cars, dolls or animals, Aqua doodle toys are excellent (we did once have a crayon on the drop down tray & wall incident but Huggies wet ones after a bit of scrubbing removed all trace evidence!), Fisher Price Doodle Pro, or Toddler electronic games like V Smile or Leapster have a great battery life and plenty of different games children can play with.
I have in the past brought along a portable DVD with his favorite DVD’s but the battery life is so short, I found that with the added weight of carry on luggage, and the hassle it eventually caused when it failed to play any longer, it really wasn’t worth bringing.

6 During the flight a lot of babies and children may experience ear pressure during take off and landing.  Try and get your child to suck and swallow by taking a drink.  This should help in equalizing the pressure.  I try and make my child go a little bit thirsty before landing and take off, so I pretty much know he will take a long drink during this time.  A hard boiled sweet or a chewy sweet for older children usually works as well.

7 If you are traveling with a recently potty trained toddler then you might want to use a ‘Pull Up” as remember even if your toddler is now quite adept at going to the toilet, there are a lot of times during a flight when you cannot move around.  I have also found it handy with an infant to put all the changing items into a large zip lock bag, like bum cream, diapers/nappys,wet ones etc.,. together as this saves you rummaging around your main carry on bag for all the individual items. Have a damp flannel/wash cloth or some extra wet ones handy in case of on board spillages that is always within reach.

Hopefully these handy hints will “assist” you and your family when traveling with kids, with out you heading for the nearest bar and drowning your sorrows hysterically! We’ve all been there and no one has the perfect family or well behaved kids at all times, so take the strain off a little bit and don’t be so hard on yourself Try and makes the situation fun, entertaining as a laugh and a good kiddies chuckle goes a long way..

If you yourselves have any tips that you have found works wonders or just takes that strain off a little bit, please drop me a line at therealdr.com and I will put them up for everyone’s benefit as parents unite around the world!  Good luck in the meantime and wishing you all a great vacation here in the Dominican Republic.