Travelling abroad with kids can seem like a daunting prospect, especially if your children are in the toddlers phase, but you needn’t be worried. With careful forward planning you can make the whole prospect much simpler and keep your children happy in the process.
If you want to reduce the stress levels on your holiday then take a look at the following tips which should make it an easier time all round:
Buy travel insurance
If you want to make sure you are covered for every eventuality then this is crucial. Within your travel insurance policy, you’ll usually get; accident/sickness cover, public liability cover, holiday cancellation cover, loss of luggage cover and theft /holiday money cover.
Should something go wrong without this protection, your holiday could be ruined and if the worst comes to the worst, you could be faced with a huge bill for medical care or similar.
Look for insurers who sell family packages (kids under 18 are often free) to make sure you get best value for money. This is usually a much cheaper option than purchasing separate policies and to make the process easier and save some money in the process why not compare travel insurance.
Get your kids involved in the packing process
With younger children in tow it’s easy to opt for hurriedly packing what you think they’ll need whilst on holiday. The problem is, in doing so you might not be packing what they actually want.
Ideally you should aim to get a good mix of both the essential items and the bits and pieces they’ll want to have with them (such as their favourite toys and teddy bears). To further avoid any holiday tantrums, its best to let your children get involved in the packing process and this becomes even more important as they get older and want an active part in the decision making process.
Keep them interested
For younger children and especially on longer flights, its best practice to pack a variety of toys which you can access during the flight to keep them entertained.
Children have very short attention spans so it’s a good idea to keep producing a new and exciting toy as their attention begins to wane. This gets easier with older children as a handheld games console or iPod (don’t forget you can play videos on the models with bigger screens) should keep them happy.
Let your children have their own backpack
Not only will this begin to teach your children that they need to be responsible for their own possessions, you’ll also be able to take advantage of their baggage allowance (if they are old enough to have their own seat on the plane).
They’ll soon learn to pack more carefully if they have to carry a heavy backpack round the airport.
Pack some snacks
One thing that’s sure to cause a tantrum is an empty stomach, so make sure you pack a variety of snacks for the journey (and also to produce throughout the holiday).
Kids soon feel hungry again after a meal so aim to pack healthy, slow energy release foods such as breakfast bars, nuts banana’s, etc.
If you follow the above tips, your next holiday should be that little bit less stressful and your kids will have a better time too!
