Toddler Travels

I have been traveling with my little bear since he was 4 months old. We've been to Japan and Thailand before he turned one. Taiwan before he turned two and Hong Kong, Cambodia and Vietnam before he turned three. Aside from international trips we have also been bringing him around to our local travels. May it be travel to Tagaytay, Nueva Ecija, Bataan, Baguio and he has even travelled with just his Titas and my Mom to Palawan.

It was never the same trip with him. They say that the more you travel with your child you would know how they would most likely behave or react to the situation they are in. But travelling with my little bear has been a wonderful learning experience. There is always something that I learn each time we travel. I cannot always expect that our last smooth airplane ride with him will be the same smooth airplane ride with him the next time.

Toddlers are different from adults. They are always developing and I must say that my little bear is the eager to learn type of toddler. He gets curious with his surroundings thus being the active child he is.

Now that he is in his terrible two and almost nearing his terrifying three here are some of the things that I have been doing during our flights that I want to share with you:

Know your Child

• Knowing your child is the most important thing for me. You have to know your child in order to understand him/her on why he/she is acting that way. When you know your child you would know which approach would work well for him/her. Knowing your child would also be in handy to know what is that he/she needs. Simple body actions or crankiness on my little boy's part would signal me that he is sleepy or hungry. Knowing your child well enough would also give you the knowledge of his sleeping patterns. Knowing his sleeping patterns would help booking flights. If you can book flights during the time that he sleeps so that he can sleep throughout the flight.

Manage EXPECTATIONS

• When you know our child you can very well know how to manage your expectations and know what to expect when traveling with him/her and how the flight might go. When I also say manage expectations this not only means managing your own expectations and your companions expectation but also your child's expectations. I know its a bit too much to manage a child's expectation. You might think that I'm out of my mind and that children don't have expectations. Well, for my I tell André in advance that we are going to ride the plane, where we are going, what we are going to do, what he needs to do inside the plane and so on. But know that no matter how behaved your child might be he/she at one point might not do what you say. Always be open to unexpected things. This brings me to my next tip.

Have a longer PATIENCE and UNDERSTANDING

• Things will not always go your way. Unexpected things may or may not happen but longer patience and understanding to your toddler is all that they need. Sometimes they can be sleepy on a flight but is feeling discomfort which makes them act grumpy and irritated. Moments like this he needs you to be more understanding and patient with him. Shouting or reprimanding him might just make things worst. Try to understand what is it that they are feeling, why are they acting as such and what is it that they need.

Be READY and CREATIVE

• Being on a plane makes you restricted of the things you can do with your toddler. You can't just let him loose and run inside the plane during the whole flight just so he can enjoy himself. You cannot also bring all of his toys with you. What I do during flights is that I entertain André with the in flight magazines, with the shawl that I have or whatever I see that can entertain him. I also make sure that I pack small snacks for him that he can eat during the flight. I also bring small cars (matchbox) with me since he loves cars and he always want to have a car with him wherever he goes. But if all else fails, I mean all else we would let him borrow the iPad wherein there are saved videos and games which will entertain him and as much as possible I would limit his screen time.

Have enough REST before your flight

• I find this tip very helpful and important coming from our most recent trip to Cambodia wherein I  came straight to work with no sleep. I have zero energy and couldn't function well. Always make sure to have enough rest before a flight with a toddler because you never know when you will be needing that extra energy to run after your toddler. Plus you would need a lot of energy during your flight if your toddler doesn't sleep throughout your flight wherein you have to entertain and watch over him/her.

Have a Travel Buddy or a Companion

• This I have always believed to be important even during our first flight with André. Having a companion with you makes the load lesser. You can share responsibilities with that person. In my case, most of the time my travel companion would be my husband. He would watch over André while I sleep and then I will watch over André while he sleeps. That way we both get to rest and share the load. Traveling alone with a toddler would be very hard. Unless you really have to.

In summary, traveling with a toddler is a fun learning experience because you get to know your child better and get to spend quality time with him/her. Plus you get to enjoy and share the experience with them in visiting new places. It can be tough but as long as you know your child, you manage yours and their expectation, have longer patience and understanding, be ready and creative, have enough rest before the flight and above all have someone with you then everything would work out fine. If not then it can be a learning experience for you and try new tips next time. Above all enjoy and have fun with your child.

xoxo!