Traveling with Toddler

Welcome to week five! It is hard to believe that we are already almost an entire week into August. Insane. Do you know what else is insane?  My little mini will be turing TWO on Sunday! TWO. I don’t know where the past two years have gone but I’m ready to push the pause button. Well, in eight weeks after little brother is here.

The topic today is car trip necessities. We haven’t taken a car trip longer than 2 hours with AG but we have done a lot of flying over the past year. Eight flights to be exact and we have one more coming up in two weeks. Each time we fly, I learn something new that works with keeping the mini entertained and content on the plane. Today, I’m going to share ten tips for traveling with a toddler which can be used for car and plane rides.

SNACKS! Not pictured above but a must for traveling with a toddler. I make sure to have some of AG’s favorite snacks on hand and a few new items I think she’ll like. I always over pack snacks. Always.

Ipad. We have a first generation iPad we keep in the car for her and also bring on the plane. We bought a holder on Amazon which has worked wonders over the past two years. It’s similar to this one and can easily attach to the headrest in the car and the tray table on the plane. When she was little we had baby einstein DVD’s that we uploaded to iTunes for her to watch. Now, she still watches some baby Einstein on there but she also has Elmo, Frozen and Beauty and the Beast.  She won’t watch an entire movie on the plan or in the car but it will keep her attention for blocks of time.

Picture above is the iPad attached to the tray table and stickies I bought in the dollar section at Target for her to play with.

Button fun! I took a Take n Toss container and cut a rectangle shaped hole in the top. I filled the container with buttons for her to take out and drop into the container. This can also be done with pom poms and a circular cut in the container. This activity is one of her favorites. She loves doing it at home and it was also a hit on the plane.

Noodle necklaces (in picture above.) Super simple to throw together for a trip. I used large pasta noodles and a piece of ribbon. I would recommend shoe laces next time just because they are stronger and have the ends tied off. This was another 15-20 minute activity. We worked on counting the pieces, put them on and off and then wore it as a necklace.

Magna Doodle (in picture above). I bought the little one above for less than $5 at Target this spring. It’s perfect for throwing in my bag and going. She loves to scribble on it and erase it.

Lots of books. I bring at least 4-5 books with me for each trip. I try to pack a few favorites along with a few new ones. AG is more entertained by me reading books over and over again then by her iPad. The girl loves her a good book.

iPad apps. Some of her favorites are Daniel Tiger, Disney’s Story Time, Elmo ABC’s, Endless ABC, Puppy Palace, Tiny Hands Lotto and Towers and See ‘n Say.

Plan for layovers and unexpected delays. We still bring AG in her umbrella stroller at the airport. She’s into planes, so when we had a long delay last time we just pushed her around and watched the planes take off. Much better than chasing her around the dirty airport.

Comfort. Whether your child is in the car or on a plane, do all you can to keep them comfortable. This includes clothes, shoes, favorite blankets or stuffed animals. AG still uses her paci for sleeping and we make sure to always have it with us for long trips. It’s something that calms her down, something familiar.

  Hopefully you can find these tips helpful for your summer travels.  Make sure to check out the other mama’s blogs for even more tips!  And be sure to link up with us below if you also have a post on this.

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