Travelling with your Mini Treasures

A certain person here from Mini Treasure Kids is about to travel from Melbourne to Rome via Hong Kong with 4 kids under 4 years of age including twin 9 month olds. This article is for Conie and anyone else who needs some tips on travelling with kids:

Choose books and toys wisely. Try wrapping a couple of little “plane” presents pass-the-parcel style to add to the excitement and get them in a good mood. Keep a couple of toys aside to be unveiled at that magical moment when you most need them.

Teach your kids things such as: how to do up buttons, zippers, shoelaces, tell the time and how to write their name, even reading the flight safety instructions is educational and entertaining and will keep them occupied for a while.

Using the travel blanket tucked over the top of the seats can create a nice little tent which kids will love and may even encourage them to fall asleep even if the cabin lights are on!

Take a portable DVD player. Put some kid’s music, songs and stories on your iPod for them to listen to. The Leapfrog Leapster Game is brilliant; it doesn’t take up much room but with a few cartridges will keep the kids entertained for hours.

Pack two complete changes of clothes for the kids and one for Mum and Dad. There is nothing worse than sitting in wet clothing for a 24 hour flight.

Pack the good old baby wipes! Even if your kids are too old, baby wipes are great for not only cleaning hands and faces, but wiping down toilet seats, tables and trays etc. And they are great for refreshing during a hot day or a long flight.

Don’t forget restrictions on baby formula, milk, juice and other liquids you can read about here. This website also has some information on security screening and x-ray at the airport with kids and babies.

Finally, expect that there will be some problems but if you have an easy-going attitude and “go with the flow” the kids won’t sense your stress and everyone will deal with any hiccups much better.

For more reading have a look at Delicious Baby, a brilliant blog for parents who want to travel with their children.

There is also a great article on Kidspot - Top Tips for Travelling with Children.

Conie will be travelling with her family to Italy for the Pitti Immagine Bimbo children’s trade fair held at the end of June. More on that to come in our next post!

What are your tips on travelling with children? Leave a comment below, we would love to hear from you!