If you are like me, you feel that you didn’t get all the skills required to function well when they handed that little bundle too you and said, “take care of it for life.” Oh sure, keeping it alive is one thing, but keeping it entertained and learning, while not putting you in the poor house or the crazy house takes real experience and skill. Listen up as we take you through some of the best tips and tricks to make travel with young ones a breeze and allow you to enjoy the vacation as well.

  • Prepare your child for the vacation.
  • Where you go is key.
  • Hire a babysitter.
  • Pack smart.
  • Keep a routine – If you are scheduled at home than I suggest you try to keep your schedule while on vacation as well. Maybe it can bend a bit, but children do best when they know what to expect and that applies to on vacation as well.

I can’t stress this enough! Let your child know what to expect and while you are explaining, build in time for just some down time for the parents.

Since your child has no experience with this trip, even if they have been lucky enough to travel before, so you can build this trip to be something for everyone. Rather than telling your child “We are going to the ocean, and we will swim and play in the sand and have so much fun.” Sit with them and lay out the time and ground rules.

“We are going to the ocean, and it will be so great.” Continue with “We will do fun stuff in the morning together, like swim and play in the sand, or maybe go off the resort and explore. Doesn’t that sound great?” “After that, the adults are going to be on the beach or go on a grown-up part of the resort and you can go to the child’s club and play with other children and learn things.” “Then in the evenings, we will dine together and go to the show that the resort puts on.” “Once the show is over, we will have a bit of quiet time and then sleep and do it all again tomorrow.”

Setting the ground rules and the expectation ahead of time will make it easier for you to get a few moments/hours a day to just relax and not count heads to see if someone has gone under.

Picking the right resort/hotel/rental is going to be one of the biggest parts of making sure you can relax while the children stay busy, and you don’t hear the dreaded words “I’mmmm boorreeddd.”

Select hotels with many activities. Water slides, water sports rentals, pool games, beach volleyball, pool tables, and games rooms, where they have board games to borrow and play on rain days are a haven of happy smiles.

Select hotels with activities for the right age range. If you are traveling with tweens or teens, a child’s club is not going to be fun at all. Look for resorts that have teens programs, like beach parties, snorkeling tours and horseback riding.

Did you know that many hotels offer a babysitting service? Dependant on the hotel and the destination, these babysitters are hires through agencies that screen the babysitters and even teach first aid, etc. You can sneak off to a day exploring and adventure and know the children are in good hands.

Children are more well behaved when they are full, exercised, and comfortable so don’t make a situation with clothing. Children will need the following:

Swimsuit – more than one so they can dry in between wearing’s. If you have ever tried to stuff a child into a wet and cold bathing suit, you will know why this is important. Nothing it more exhausting and frustrating that you just trying to get it on the child and the kid crying and screaming because it is cold and bunched up and not sliding into place.

Floating device or water wings - if the child is not used to the water, not a strong swimmer, or not quite tall enough for the pool level, these will make pool time more fun. Rather than you having to hold the child and wander around, now you can place catch, see who can hold their breath the longest or get to the wall the fastest, just using their legs to propel themselves.

Sunscreen – Lots of sunscreen, applied often is a must. Sunburns are not fun, and we all know that as a parent, we all hurt when our child hurts. Save you both the agony and lather up, often.

Snacks – If your child is a fussy eater, or just has favorites of things, and is not one to enjoy trying new things, that is okay. Why ruin a fun time with a meal-time fight about what is eaten and how much? Let them be and bring along things they love for those times when they can’t find something to please them. No one dies of malnutrition on a 2-week vacation.

First aid kit - Let’s face it, band aids, and antibacterial ointment is a must on vacation. From blisters to burns and all ailments in between, you will be able to fix them up and get them back to enjoying the day quickly.

Eating dinner at the same time, going to bed, and even getting up around the same time will keep our internal clocks working well, for post vacation life, but also can keep us from feeling grumpy and moody.