Traveling with Toddlers: Practical Gear for the Family on the Go

One of the biggest challenges we face while traveling is what to pack to keep the kids (and therefore ourselves) happy. Long gone are the years of slinging a backpack over a shoulder with just a couple of outfits, a Lonely Planet guide and a camera. Oh no, packing has become a straight up science in this family. We study it, we practice it, we test it, we tweak it and then test it again. Sometimes we fail miserably, like the time that we tried to take the Tube in London with two umbrella strollers, two kids, two backpacks and three rolling bags. As you could imagine, it was a cluster****. Anyway, the point here is not that we have failed, but that we have learned about what works and what doesn’t from years of trying.

Traveling can be stressful but it’s so much easier if you start out your journey with the right kit for your crew. Also, a combo of gear that works for one group may not be the right set-up for another family, or the same family but several years later. This what we have found to be the most helpful and long-lived equipment for our traveling family.

Carseats and Luggage Straps

Falcon modeling his Ride-Safer Vest

CAfter hauling our full-sized carseats across the country once, I vowed never to do it again. If you have a baby it’s probably easier to bring a reclining carseat, especially if it clicks into your stroller, but for older kids with huge strap-in carseats the Ride Safer Travel Vest is a lifesaver (both literally and figuratively). Since my son was on the smaller side for his age (like 30 lbs and 4 years old) and couldn’t safely ride on a booster, I had to search all over the internets to find a safe, smaller alternative to the massive standard seats. This vest may look like he is going parachuting, but it meets the safety standards for the USA and is rated for kids weighing 30-60 lbs. It is a little pricey at $150-ish dollars (a bit more for all the straps and pillows) but it only weighs 2 pounds and fits into a tiny backpack which, in my opinion, might as well be priceless.

Even more mind-blowing is the Mifold Grab and Go Booster Seat. We have friends that swear by this and have jettisoned their regular boosters and carseats at home in favor of these. This booster is the size of a large wallet and weighs under 2 lbs, meaning that a kid could carry it in their backpack or it can fit in a glove compartment. It’s perfect for traveling and at $35, it won’t break the bank! It also meets the safety standards in the USA and children must meet size/weight requirements- 40 lbs, 40 inches tall and 4 years old. Our kids aren’t quite that big yet so we haven’t tried it yet but I’m counting down the days.

Don’t despair if you have a toddler that doesn’t meet the weight requirements for the boosters mentioned above. Carseat Travel Belts may be the way to go if you absolutely must bring an unwieldy carseat. Strap that sucker to your rolling luggage with your kid in the carseat and roll the whole thing around. Carseats can be checked at airport counters or at the gate if you want to keep it to haul your kid around the airport. It may be the best $15 you could spend.

As a last resort, most car rental companies can provide carseats for a fee. I’m not advocating this but if you are traveling abroad, some countries don’t require carseats for children at all, but that is a risk/reward decision that only a parent can make.

Baby and Toddler Earmuffs

Earmuffs for the win!

If you have a child, then you need Baby Banz Headphones. They are a life-saving piece of equipment, and not just for the traveling family. The adjustable, padded, noise-dampening headphones are perfect for newborns through toddlerhood. I can’t even count the number of times that we used them in restaurants, at concerts, for fireworks, parades, mowing the lawn, vacuuming, and running the blender. Not only do they protect sensitive little eardrums from loud noise, but I also credit the headphones with reducing some of the anxiety that my kids have when facing new environments. Granted, this is anecdotal and may be specific to my children, but I have found that reducing a small bit of sensory simulation allows my kids to keep their cool in situations when other families are frantically scrambling to leave. While there are many brands to choose from, some seem tight enough to permanently misshapen a baby’s head, other headbands just can’t physically withstand the force of a toddler on a destructive streak, so do yourself a solid and just get this go-to brand.

Baby Carriers

4-year old Falcon sleeping off the jetlag in the Ergo 360

Strollers have their utility but if you are traveling frequently, or find yourself on cobblestone streets or facing massive potholes, a baby carrier is an absolute must-have. There is a virtually unlimited number of baby carrying devices but my personal favorite is the Ergo 360, well because as the name suggests, we find it the most ergonomic and comfortable kid hauler around. The 360 degree feature allows a baby to be held on the front, the back, on the side, as well as facing in or facing out, and so many options make it perfect for kids as they get older and heavier. Granted, our children are still on the small side but we will still carry our 5-year old when he gets tired and needs a break. We don’t travel around the world just to stay within a toddler’s walk of the hotel so virtually any piece of equipment that allows us to stay out longer, later and go further is worth the price. The Ergo 360 is roughly $160 and has lots of color and fabric choices.

Sleeping and Eating Gear

Avoid extra charges at hotels for cots, AND more importantly keep all those gains made in sleep training by bringing your own portable baby crib. I consider this a luxury item not worth hauling around; however, other parents swear that it is an absolute requirement. If you fall into the later group, I have done some research and the UniPlay Portable Playard is highly recommended. It weighs only 8 pounds, folds up to the size of a briefcase and for $75 you can have the peace of mind that your baby won’t roll off the bed, that a toddler won’t get out of bed and flush all their toys down the toilet, and that your nearly potty-trained kid won’t pee on an AirBnB mattress. Plus, you can throw a fitted sheet on top to provide shade at the beach, etc. Ok, I have just convinced myself that I need this.

I have noticed in our travels that some countries are more baby travel-friendly than others. One small example is the lack of availability of highchairs. The Inglesina Portable Highchair attaches quickly to tables and can be used anywhere from picnic benches, restaurant tables, hotel desks, etc. It can hold a child up to 37 pounds and collapses down to 4.2 pounds making it easy to carry in a backpack or diaper bag. Our friends just traveled for 5 months straight with their 1-year old and swore that a portable highchair was their most highly recommended kid-travel accessory.

I have to admit that we get a little kickback from Amazon if you buy from the links in this article, so go ahead and DO IT! This stuff is really great, but if you disagree, leave me a comment and tell me why.

Angkor What? Tips on How to be a Responsible Tourist from Lessons Learned in Cambodia

“I don’t like dealing with money transactions in poor countries. I get confused between the feeling that I shouldn’t haggle with poverty and getting ripped off. -Alex Garland, The Beach

The wheels of the plane left the runway and the nose lifted into the air. The buildings, the trees, the cars and the neighborhoods rushed by faster than my brain could comprehend. Before I knew it, we were passing over the circle road surrounding Chiang Mai and I could see the perfect square of the moat outlining Old Town. The golden tops of the temples glistened and the brown ribbon of the Ping River meandered through the city. I could see it all through the window of the plane, because for once, I was actually able to sit next to the window. I had left my children with their sticky fingers and sloppy kisses back in Thailand while Ben and I flew to Cambodia.

The anxiety and trepidation that I felt abut abandoning my babies in a foreign country while I vacationed without them was short-lived. I don’t know who I am trying to kid. We desperately needed a short break from each other. The kids were undoubtedly going to be spoiled by their grandparents who were visiting from Oregon, while Ben and I got to do things together as a couple again. We planned to spend long days touring the Angkor Wat temples, having a few drinks out at the unchild-friendly time of 9pm while also having long overdue conservations without constantly stopping to address the kids’ demands or praise them for their newest accomplishment or break up a fight, etc.

 

However, what we didn’t plan on was a taking a trip out of Siem Reap and to the floating village of Kompong Phluk. Intellectually, I knew that poverty in Cambodia was worse than most other (if not all) Southeast Asian countries but this was our first experience really seeing it in person. I naively thought that we were going on a short tour to something like a floating market or to see some unique architectural dwellings. It took approximately one minute after our arrival to be completely overcome with massive guilt for exploiting the locals by ogling at their lifestyle. I overheard some tourists being judge-y about the kids not attending school mid-day or the amount of trash in the neighborhood, most everyone seemed moved to be financially supportive. But it was not clear what avenue would provide the most bang for our buck.

The floating village of Komplong Phluk, outside of Siem Reap, Cambodia

In the choose-your-own-adventure of charitable gift giving, would spending money in their makeshift markets make the biggest impact, or paying extra to go on another boat ride with local guides or offering to buy pencils for the kids’ school? So, it was during these moments of indecision and shame that I was motivated to do a little more research on the best practices for responsible tourism and here’s what I found:

 

Let Children Be Children

There is nothing like denying a begging child to really make a person feel like a world class shit, but giving money to youngsters makes them less likely to attend school and to be continually used as the bread-winners for the family. It is better to find a way to employ adults, rather than children. Allow adults to be guides, hire a local tuk-tuk driver, support organizations that provide income to parents, rather than to children.

Gentlemen who had been maimed by landmines working as musicians to support their families at Angkor Wat

Haggle Less Hard

I am insanely frugal so this one is really hard for me. I have to remind myself constantly that I don’t need to get the best possible deal and that I can afford to be ripped off a little. The vendor needs the money much more than I do, and in all likelihood, I would just spend the extra couple of dollars on coffee or beer anyway. Furthermore, supporting local artisans by buying local arts and crafts, rather than mass-produced souvenirs can be also beneficial.

It’s Not Always About the Money

Giving items such as bags of rice, school supplies like pencils & paper, or health-related items like band-aids or diapers, and new or lightly-used clothes and shoes are all very important, non-financial gifts that can go a long way. In the developing world, medical care can be very poor to non-existent. Donating blood is a fantastic way to give back and can be arranged at local hospitals. A hospital would be a good place to do some research and get more information on the specific needs of the area as well.

Donating blood at Angkor Children’s Hospital

Consider Your Purpose

When booking tours or visiting places were people are disadvantaged like schools, hospitals or orphanages, really evaluate what the intentions are for visiting. Imagine being an orphan and seeing rich people with no intention of adoption parading through your home? If the goal is to provide a service or to teach a skill, then continue by all means. But if the visit is to gawk at or to teach yourself or your kids a lesson about poverty, then consider either doing something different or figure out how to make your visit more meaningful. The same can be said for volunteering. Do you have a valuable skill to impart? Are you taking a job from a local person and undermining them by offering to do it for free?

* I have focused on humanitarian topics in this post, although I know that there are plenty of environmentally sustainable issues to consider as well. We truly enjoyed our visit to Cambodia and plan to go back with our children someday. I hope that the research that we have done will help to us make better choices as tourists and to better help those less fortunate than ourselves. Please feel free to comment if there are other ethical tourism ideas that I have not mentioned.

Traveling with Toddlers: Practical Advice for the Flight

Navigating the strict rules of the airport while carrying all of my belongings AND toting cranky or sleeping little ones sends me into a panic attack just thinking about it. However, I have traveled with my two toddlers enough to know that we will make it and the trouble will be worth it. The following are a few of our tried and true methods for dealing with the chaos of the airport and flights.

1. Bring the kid gear.

No matter how cheap the airline is they always allow a car seat and a stroller to be checked FOR FREE. So, if your big-ass double stroller will make your trip more bearable, then bring it. Typically, you can leave it at the departure gate when you get on the flight and either pick it up at the arrival gate or at the baggage claim. Just remember that if it is not checked at the front counter, you have to get that beast through security so empty it out in advance and save your sanity for the flight.

2. DON’T pay extra to book seats together on budget airlines.

I can’t even fathom that a child would ever have to sit alone on a flight. If the airline doesn’t automatically move your child to sit with you, then the passengers will because no one in their right mind that wants to sit next to a kid. It’s also highly unlikely that another passenger wants to sit next to a single parent and a child when the rest of their party is nearby. We took this gamble on a few budget European airlines, never once was it an issue. The airline put all of us together and we saved big bucks by not paying for seat selection. This may not be true, however, if the seats are booked separately. Although I still maintain that any person who has ever encountered a child would make sure that they are united with their parents for a flight.

3. DON’T get stuck holding your wiggly child for the entire flight.

If you have a lap infant on a long-haul flight, ask the check-in counter or flight attendants for seats with a bassinet. They are often located at the front of the rows and a small child can sleep the flight away, freeing you up to do normal things like eat with both hands or go to the bathroom. LIFESAVER! For toddlers and other small children, we bring small blankets to make nests on the floor for them to stretch out on. I suspect that this is frowned upon by most airlines since they are not strapped in but it is one of those risk/benefit situations that each parent must weigh for themselves.

4. Reuse water bottles.

Of course, security does not allow you to bring liquids through, but nothing says that you can’t fill a water bottle up at a drinking fountain afterwards. My family drinks an insane amount of water and the airlines never seem to supply enough to keep everyone hydrated. The real pro tip here is bringing mix-in powders to make other drinks. We bring emergen-C for a quick boost of vitamins, Gatorade powder for electrolytes, Starbucks Via for our caffeine habit, kool-aid, hot chocolate, even dry soups. The powders take very little space in a carry-on, yet make a huge difference. This can also be taken a step further by bringing instant oatmeal or macaroni and cheese cups that only require hot water. The one caveat is that some bottles can erupt under pressure and spew water many feet in the air if they remain closed during take-off. My children have both been blasted by shower-force water to the face and on one rare occasion the passenger sitting directly behind us was the unlucky recipient of our mini-geyser.

5. Let your roller luggage do all the work

You have your luggage, your giant stroller, probably your toddler’s entire bedroom packed up into some kind of bag, maybe a car seat. How do you carry it all? The real answer is, “you probably don’t.” We take multiple trips, we ask strangers for help, and we use the expensive airport carts. However, there are a few gadgets that can provide a limited amount of assistance. Try attaching a bulky car seat to your rolling luggage with a strap, some even allow a child to remain in the seat.  https://www.amazon.com/Traveling-Accessories-suitcase-ultra-portable-solution/dp/B0772VL93G If you McGyver it just right, you might also be able to get a folding umbrella stroller strapped onto your roller as well. Use an extra large, rolling duffle and cram as much as you can fit in it. We’ve transported kid’s bicycles, car seats, small strollers, and the kid’s luggage within a larger duffle and then paid to check only one bag. Bonus points if toddlers can ride on the duffle as you roll it.

Stay tuned for more pro travel tips and practical advice. If you too have any helpful hints, please let us know. We want to hear it!