Reaching Your Holiday Destination Without Tears

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Whoever it was that said it's better to travel than arrive obviously had never tried taking two children on holiday! It doesn't have to be as daunting or stressful as it might seem. The key to a peaceful journey is keeping your children entertained and avoiding tantrums. TRAVELLING WITH TWO CHILDREN

You are joyfully planning a Summer or a Winter holiday and musing about the fun it will be to play in the sand or the snow with your two children. Then suddenly it hits you. How do you successfully travel with two young ones without the screams and chaos you have witnessed in other families at the airport.

First apart from the holiday packing, you’ll need to prepare a bag with everything you may need on the journey for each of the children and to keep in mind that journeys can be delayed, so you’ll need more than the expected number of hours in your special bag. Second, it’s a good idea for both children to have as much fresh air as possible before the start of the journey. If they use up a lot of energy running around, they will be calmer during the actual trip.

Also a lot depends, of course, on your means of transport. Travelling by car has the advantage of being able to stop whenever and wherever you like and that, at least for part of the journey, the humming of the engine and the regular movement of the car induces sleep in most young children. But the disadvantage of the car is that when the children awake, they must remain strapped in and relatively immobile whenever you are driving. So, for car journeys, it is essential to think ahead about ways of entertaining both the children during the journey. Your older child may be ready for games like “I spy with my little eye something beginning with-” If this is too difficult due to his age, then try “I spy with my little eye something coloured -”. You can also see who sees a [cat/dog/horse/cow/lorry, etc.] first, so that the children focus on looking at things out of the window. Singing and acting out to the songs with their arms and hands is also a good way of entertaining both children. If the car is big enough, it’s a good idea for one of the adults to sit with the children in the back so that they don’t clamour to get into the front. The adult could read a story to the two children, making it very active by having them guess what comes next, or by asking, for instance, if the picture (of a cow) is a cat, because children just love correcting adults (No, silly, it’s a cow!). Anyway to keep the children actively engaged is good.

But what about journeys by train or by plane? Trains of course have the advantage of allowing the child to walk around while the train is moving. Otherwise, entertainment is as important as journeys by car. Airports can be quite stressful places although many of them now do provide special play areas for children. Try to have one adult entertain the children for most of the time that the other adult is queuing to check in. In the plane, the child will need to be strapped in for quite long periods, so books, and toys that do not require a table are a good idea. For other parts of the journey when table trays can be put down, drawing is fun. Avoid toys that easily fall off tables or you may spend your time crawling around on the carpet looking under rows of seats while trying to locate your lost toys. Don’t forget, too, that children of all ages can get blocked ears when plans take off or land. Sucking hard on a bottle can help to unblock ears as can chewing something relatively solid. But obviously be careful about anything that can be swallowed whole. If your children are old enough to know how to blow their nose, then this will also help unblocking the ears.

But the journey is not the only thing to think ahead about. Children often take time to settle into strange beds and strange surroundings generally. If your children have separate rooms at home, they may be sleeping together in the same room for the first time. Expect some sleep disturbances for a couple of nights. The important thing is that they exhaust themselves physically during the day so that they are really ready for sleep.

A child who has only bathed in a swimming pool may at first find the movements of the sea rather daunting. Take things slowly. And, if you are in the snow, remember that children can get very cold if they are not moving much, so do have them swing their arms round and round to keep up their body warmth. But above all, have a wonderful family holiday and take lots of photos to share with the grandparents and friends and as souvenirs for your children in later years.

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Healthy Environment

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Sibling

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Travel

Article Tags:

travel with kids

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temper tantrum

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stress