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TRAVEL TIPS
Since
Traveling with kids is a much different beast than traveling alone,
we've gathered a few tips to share.
If you have any tips or hints, we'd love to hear your ideas to share
with others. Please email us at
sales@forbabiesworld.com
The first thing to remember is
to Try to stay relaxed so the kids feel your vibe.
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Bring Snacks! Airlines rarely
offer free snack anymore. If the airline serves meals, request a
kid’s meal in advance. If you have a picky eater, request a fruit plate
and supplement the meal with food you bring onboard.
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Bring your own bottled water
and pre-fill your sippy cups and/or bottles. It is far easier to do this
before you get on the plane; bringing a water bottle with a sports cap
so you can avoid spills. Try to avoid drinking out of those little
plastic airline cups.
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Don't forget your Sling or
Ergo. They can not only help free your hands but also sooth and
comfort the baby on the plane.
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Get them a new little backpack.
Wrap cool little presents
in it. Mostly like little coloring books and crayons, some cool little
books, even playdo. Finger puppets or little people work really
well. You wrap everything separate and then when they start to get
restless you let them open one. You can even wrap fun snacks too. It has
been a life saver and it really keeps them occupied!
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Get a lay over! I so
believe in layovers with children.
Yeah it's a pain to get off and board again, but hey, they cannot
stay content for 4 1/2 hours. My favorite stop is DFW. It's a huge
hub so there's actually stuff behind the security gates and it's a BIG
circle so you can walk it once w/ them and burn off some steam. There is
a ton to eat there too. O'Hare is a nice stop as well and going to
Maryland you might consider stopping there instead of DFW. Only drawback
to O'Hare is that it is LONG.
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Bring a small bottle of hand sanitizer.
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Bring a lollipop or hard candy or save a bottle for landing. If you have
an infant, try to time his/her feeding during descent and have a
pacifier ready. If you are still breastfeeding this is great too.
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Remember if stuff falls to the floor, it is usually hard to pick it up.
So if you have a pacifier, use a leash for it. Help your child stay
organized by packing things like crayons in a Ziploc bag so they don’t
end up everywhere.
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Bring a extra Ziploc bags. The bags are great because they are
waterproof and won’t leak if there is a cup of ice or other liquid in
them. You can use them to store a dirty diaper if you don’t have
immediate access to a trash can.
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Pack a separate Ziploc bag for each diaper change. Airplane bathrooms
are tinny, and you don’t want to have to dig through a diaper bag to get
what you need. When you are done, place everything into the Ziploc bag
and throw it away.
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Make your carry-on a backpack so you can keep your hands free to help
your child, juggle tickets, and push the stroller. Buy a multi pocket
document organizer so you can keep all of your travel documents
organized.
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If you have a runner or fighters, bring a piece of cloth maybe 4’x 4’ for
each child to play with as their “island” while waiting in the airport.
It will help contain them, and keep them entertained. Warn them about
the sharks in the waters. You can bring pencils for them to color their
island, or make a treasure map. Add some small toys, for an hour of fun.
When it is time to board the plane, pull the sides of the sheet
together, tie it with a rope and your are ready to board.
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If you have purchased a seat for your child, seriously consider bringing
your car seat. It is safer than using the airplane's seatbelt, and much
safer than a lap baby. Just make sure the car seat has been approved by
the Department of Transportation.
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If you have a lap baby find out if the airline provide a baby lap belt.
If not purchase. Should a plane experience strong turbulence or wind
shear, it could be literally impossible for you to hold onto your child.
He or she will fly up and literally bounce off the ceiling. Request a
bulkhead seat and bassinet in advance. The disadvantage of these seats
is there is no under seat storage and sometimes the legroom is limited.
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If you are flying over the ocean for some distance, request an infant
life vest.
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If you are bringing a stroller check it at the gate so you can use it
when you get off the plane.
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Remove all metal items before you go through security. This includes
belt buckles, coins, shoes, etc. If you have a metal prosthesis, many
metal detectors will cause the alarm to go off. If possible have you
child go through security with another adult in your group. If you have
not successfully passed through the metal detector and your child
approaches you, your child will be “contaminated” and be required to be
searched. Security might yell and scare your child.
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If you are disabled, request assistance (but make sure to bring proof
like your disabled placard). In most cases, you and your party will be
transported on an electric cart, allowed to cut to the front of the
security line and be working with people that will better understand
your needs. This can make a world of difference if there are long
security lines and your are trying to juggle your children’s needs and
your belongings.
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If you have a long security line to wait in, try to make up a game you
can play with your child: count the number of people in line, count the
number of people with red hair, play I Spy, make up a rhyme, make up a
story, etc.
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Ask if the flight is full. If not, request that the seat next to you be
left empty.
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Bring video entertainment, but save it for the plane ride. Bring your
own child sized headphones. Even for older kids, the airline headphones
are for adults and will most likely slip off a child's head. Note if you
are flying Jet Blue and departing from the East Coast, Direct TV usually
does not have any children’s programming in the evening (based on East
Coast time). Bring headphones for all video games, as the noise can be
disturbing for other passengers. Forewarn gamers that they will have to
pause their game during take-off and landing. Also, bring extra
batteries.
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If you child is old enough, have him/her carry their own rolling or
backpack carry-on. Let him/her pack it with their sweater, blanket,
favorite toy, and reading and drawing materials. They can even carry
their own bottle of water and healthy snacks. Pack an extra t-shirt in
case for spills (or motion sickness). Encourage them to be independent
and take care of themselves.
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Unless you have lots of stuff, do not pre-board the plane. Why add an
extra half hour of having to sit in a seat to an already long plane
ride. The exception to this rule is if you have lots of carry-ons or if
the plane does not have assigned seating.
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For older children bring a activities that will engage your child (e.g.,
beads and string, lanyard, origami book and paper, juggling items and
book, crossword puzzles). There are also travel sized version of many
games from Scrabble to Monopoly. Bring a piece of yarn and print out the
how to's of making string figures (see http://alysion.org/figures/main.htm)
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Write your cell phone number (with a permanent marker) on your child’s
hand or on a card, they can keep in their pocket or neck wallet, you can
do this also when you are in port. Just incase they get lost. It is a
good tip to write your room number on their hand or on a card for when
they are on board the ship.
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Make your child in charge of family safety, with the responsibilities of
making everyone stays together, bags are being attended, and trash is
picked up.
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If your child is prone to ear infections, talk to your doc. Ours
suggested giving a decongestant just before flying to keep the ears
clear. In fact, when we were going through the bouts of frequent
infections, we saw the doc before one trip, just in case... Sure enough,
ears on the verge of another infection, so we opted to start
antibiotics.
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Beware of the sippy cups with
valves. I had one squirt me in the face as we reached cruising altitude!
The difference in air pressure in the cup vs. the cabin was enough to
make it blow. If you bring yogurt or other similar products, be sure to
open them away from you so that they don't spray on you. Open the
containers for your kids, so that they don't do same.
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You should scan a copy of all
birth certificates and the first page of your passport. Then email it to
yourself. That way if something happen you have easy access to it.
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Add to the list of documents
you carry with you always: Health care proxy, durable power of attorney.
This way if something happens medically your partner shouldn't be denied
access.
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And don't bring your "good" stroller. Those things get tossed about
mercilessly. We've lost wheels -- which makes for an interesting
stroller "ride." We always use cheapies for travel.
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Good luck. Traveling with kids
can be fun!!
We also have
wheelchair traveling tips.
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