Toddler Travel Tips (for real, this time)

OK, so yesterday I might have still been in a pissy mood underslept, which made my post seem a little harsh on traveling with a toddler.

So, today, in the spirit of actually being helpful, I present my real tips on traveling with a toddler. (and I promise no “drive at night when they’re sleeping” or “use Benadryl” tips)

1. Bring some items from home – I think that bringing Cordy’s fleece crib sheet and her crib toys helped a lot. I wanted the hotel room to feel like her room when she slept, so I tried to recreate her room with a few carefully chosen items. Aside from the first night, she slept very well.

2. But don’t overpack – While the crib sheet and crib toys were nice, I really didn’t need to bring the overflowing weekender diaper bag of toys with us. She barely had time to play with them, and in the end it just added 20 minutes to our check-out time, as I opened all the drawers in the room, looked behind the curtains, and climbed under the beds (let me tell you, ick) to retrieve every last Little People person.

3. Pack some food from home – Again, to help make things feel less foreign, a little food from home is a good thing. Otherwise, you’re stuck eating lunch in a food court that has few choices for toddlers, so you end up feeding the kid an overpriced grilled cheese sandwich with some type of fancy cheese on rosemary bread. Nice, but I don’t think she appreciated the upgrade to her sandwich; plain ol’ American on white would have been fine, and cheaper.

4. Plan time to run the child – No one likes to be kept in a stroller all day (or for 30 seconds, in Cordy’s case), so make sure the child gets plenty of time to crawl, cruise, toddle, or whatever. Run ’em hard, too. Make sure that they’re ready to collapse before putting them back in the stroller. At the very least, they won’t have as much energy to resist your attempts to restrain them.

5. Expect tantrums – Rare is the experience where you can travel with a baby or toddler and keep the child on their schedule. Somewhere, at some point, something will throw them off and set off a chain of events that will end with the kid on the floor crying and screaming, with you looking around for the quickest escape from the other people who are watching the spectacle with awe and annoyance. Realize it’s gonna happen, and there’s nothing you can do to totally prevent it. Just work on your best “I’m sorry” smile, and your best “I’ll rip your head off if you say one thing about my kid screaming” dirty look, depending on the situation.

And finally, one special tip for a select group of parents:

For parents who are on anti-depressants: deciding to cut back on your medication at the same time you are going on a long road trip with a toddler is a bad, bad, bad idea. Take my advice, and wait until you get back.