How To Enjoy Vacations With A Toddler

We took the baby on her first trip when she was three weeks old. We hadn’t planned to take her, but it worked out great. She slept through most of the activities and, when she wasn’t asleep, was content to be held. We were thrilled! We could take the baby everywhere and began to plan trips with reckless abandon. Ok, maybe not reckless abandon, but we didn’t mind her tagging along. Fast forward to this August, when she is firmly in toddlerhood. We planned a trip to the beach. I had to drive through Atlanta, but, no problem. I planned to drive through after the morning rush hour. Four hours into a traffic jam, listening to ear-piercing shrieks from the back seat, I was ready to cry along with her. Over the course of the past few months, I’ve learned some strategies on how to enjoy vacations with a toddler. I hope they will help you as much as they helped us!

This is a partnered post with Rock n Stroller. All opinions are my own,
This is a partnered post with Rock n Stroller. All opinions are my own,

How To Enjoy Vacations With A Toddler

1. Pack Their Favorites.  Do they have a favorite toy, favorite book, or favorite sippy cup? Be sure to pack these! If they have an item they have to sleep with at home, they’ll need it when they are away from home too!  If they have a favorite snack, be sure to pack enough for the entire trip. This is especially important if your child has food allergies. Many areas might not have the snack your child needs and you don’t want to spend hours of your vacation trying to find it.
Zutano clothes on critter

2. Bring A Sound Machine.  We recently spent a night in a hotel with a lot of city noise.  A LOT of city noise. I don’t think any of us slept all night due to the garbage trucks that seemed to keep circling the hotel.  It was so bad Brittany finally asked in exasperation, “I don’t think there are this many garbage trucks in the entire city! I think they are bringing them in from other cities just to circle the hotel.”  The next night we used a sound machine. Voila! Problem solved. The noise of the garbage trucks was drowned out by the sound of relaxing waves.  No one wants a cranky, tired baby.

Louisville Zoo 2

3. Play that Funky Music.  Because you’ll be listening to this a lot, plan a playlist the entire family will enjoy. I know the soothing, relaxing CDs I’ve purchased to help the baby fall asleep work really well.  On me. That’s not what I want when I’m driving.  And I can only listen to a movie soundtrack so many times before I want us to “accidentally” lose the CD somewhere.  Since I am a huge fan of 80’s music, we have the Rock n’ Stroller CDs.  There are two volumes of these CDs and they contain classic rock hits like I Love Rock N’ Roll, The Boys of Summer,  Into the Groove, and, of course, the classic 867-5309/Jenny.  These are upbeat songs I don’t mind singing over and over. Plus, I’m all about the baby becoming an 80’s music fan. The CDs are available on Amazon and iTunes. You can learn more about them at Rock N Stroller.


4. Go Electronic.  If all else fails, download their favorite movie to your iPad. They will usually sit still long enough to doze off in unfamiliar surroundings or watch at least some of it during a traffic jam.

The perfect baby.
The perfect baby.

5. Don’t Overplan. One of the fastest ways to ruin a trip is to over plan activities. Make a list of the things you would like to do in the area and then adjust your schedule accordingly. Plan downtime for your toddler, with breaks to play,  regular mealtimes, and a naptime. We also plan frequent traveling breaks for the baby to exercise and stretch her legs outside of the car. There’s nothing more stressful to me than driving with a screaming toddler in the backseat who keep trying to escape her car seat!
Sugar Mommas

Let’s face it- vacations with a toddler are not going to be as relaxing as adult only vacations. But they can still be fun and you’re making great memories with your family!

What are your best tips for vacationing with a toddler?

32 Comments

  1. Struggle is real when you have a toddler while on vacation! But these awesome tips are really helpful. Must share this!

  2. I know the struggle when you are travelling for a vacation with kids you need to have a long patience it’s happy but stressful sometimes.

  3. These are such great tips! I’m sure it’s not always easy to travel with babies and toddlers but these tips will definitely help parents out!

  4. These are excellent tips for traveling with a little one! I definitely agree with don’t overbook yourself!

  5. I wish i had these tips when my daughter was a toddler, she was such a handful. It was so stressful even with family around to help out.

  6. These are really awesome tips! Vacation with toddlers can be really stressing! These tips would be helpful for moms!

  7. These are great tips! I have always been a little reluctant to take my toddler too far from home, but the more we have done it, the more we realize we can, we just have to plan accordingly. The sound machine is always a must, and having his favorite movie on hand has saved us a few tantrums.

  8. A tablet can be very helpful when you travel with a toddler. I like to baby proof the room before we let the kids in.

  9. Traveling with little kids is so tough. I remember lots of crying in the car, teething, potty training.. it was a big challenge. Helps to have tips to help survive!

  10. So many great tips for traveling with a toddler. It can be so fun if you plan ahead, have some patience and enjoy the little moments.

  11. I had to learn the hard way when I first went on a vacation with my eldest! It’s really important to have snacks, games, and toys ready for them especially if you’re on a road trip!

  12. Having all the things that will help keep them entertained is really important. I think it’s one of the things that will help you get through the whole vacation without them getting bored. These are helpful tips for parents!

  13. Amazing tips! Having the favorite snacks, and all their favorite are so essentials. As an adult, I need naps so I make sure to schedule a few of those in there.

  14. These are great tips. I found that scheduling breaks and naptimes worked well for us. It can definitely be a learning experience at first.

  15. I am so happy those days are behind me! Although we just traveled with our 14 year old and there are an entirely new set of challenges!

  16. What a great post! I miss the toddler days, but thankfully I have a 4 year old niece so I can get my little toddler days in and I Do some of these tips when we take her on a day trip!

  17. These sound like some great tips for heading on holiday with a toddler I imagine it is a very different experience from when they are younger and especially from going alone.

  18. I need to save this! I have a teen, but my bf has a 3 year old so it’s like starting all over again.

  19. I wish I would have known these tips when my kids were toddlers. It was surely an interesting experience but we had fun and they still remember that vacation.

  20. These are great tips. I remember traveling when my kids were toddlers. It could be tricky at times, but for the most part we had fun!

  21. These are all great tips and some of these apply to older kids as well. I have learned not to over plan when traveling with family, though I still over plan when I travel solo.

  22. It’s so important to remember that you have to have PATIENCE and LOTS of it when you’re traveling with a toddler. Expectations and reality need to be in sync.

  23. These are all great tips. When my son was little we never traveled without his portable DVD player, it was great for long car rides.

  24. My brother is learning about traveling with toddlers. They’re older kiddo does not settle real easily in places that he doesn’t know so that does not help. They do like to travel but they decided to slow it down until he gets a little bit older.

  25. I find that electronics makes a long journey more enjoyable for folks of all ages including children. I loved traveling with my kids and picked places they would enjoy.

  26. vacationing with a little one can be stressful but you make it look so easy!

  27. These pics are absolutely adorable. I think this post is so important. Traveling with children can be so stressful. Thanks so much for sharing, looks like you had a great time 🙂

  28. We never had any trouble traveling when our children were small. Patience is and should always be in supple. You know your child so plan accordingly and all will go well.

  29. My number one tip is PATIENCE and SHORT excursions. We traveled cross country with three 1-yr olds and didn’t have any problems nor electronic gadgets. We made sure to keep our excursions short to avoid tantrums.

  30. Our annual family vacation includes all the grandkids. They are all beyond the toddler stage now, but I remember those days and not over-planning is key. I love your tip on making family playlists too.

  31. For us, as long as we had plenty of snacks and entertainment, we we ok. Love your tip about NOT overplanning 🙂