Travelling With Children » Group

 Hi all! I am new here and we have been traveling the world for 19 months as a family and will continue to do that. I have lots of info on my website which is very family and child based:

www.soultravelers3.com

As I have time I will add some advice things here as we have learned a tremendous amount during our travels. We homeschool as we go and also my child does violin and piano lessons as we roam, so we know much about extended travel which is actually a lot cheaper than vacations.

We have some videos up on youtube and will be getting more up as we have time:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wn9rDTZj-m4

You can join our channel if you like them.

My daughter who is fluently bilingual in Spanish will be doing some small tutorials in Spanish for kids.

Looking forward to meeting more folks , learning more and sharing!

Since this is a group, I assume that it is ok to post a question.  I traveled over the summer and have encountered a new problem with my youngest son.  I was fortunate on our trip to the states because my older son had a little playmate his age that was sitting next to him.  His mother and I were both relieved we were sitting together as this kept both of the boys occupied.  My other son, who was 2 at the time, constantly was slipping out of his seat and screaming every time I had to put him back in.  He wanted to roam around while the plane was landing and taking off and never wanted to sit down.  I tried the usual things, small little gifts that he could unwrap, playing cars with him etc.  How would you keep a child buckled in?  I am at a loss and next year we are again traveling and I want to be better prepared for this.  I appreciate any suggestions.  Thanks!

Hi there, I was wondering if any one has any tips on flying with a 17 month old. Will live WA perth and are flying to the UK for Christmas this year. But I'm worried how my daughter will go. She has suffered alot of ear infections this year. I've put in down to her teeth. I'm hoping that they are all through by then. We are flying Emirates, I'm unsure how they are for babies.
Thanks for any advice
Tracey

i find wen i go which is probably every 4-6 months either on train or in car take between 6 and eight hours either visiting family my god son or just friends i find with my twins u take 2 favorite toys with them lots of juice food and a blanket and let them get out of they car or pram half way for as long as u can cope or need to get bck on the road that is my journey rules hope it helps u xx

Me, hubby and little Oille 4 in June will be travelling to Tunisia in June for 7 days.  He has been on  a plane b4 but never to a place so hot.  Will he be able for the heat?  I have always been very careful about the sun and protect him well and he has never been burned.  Also he does not use a push chair anymore but do you think I should take one anyway?  Tnx in advance

Kastol

That would be a big YES from me......

Reasons....
1: They won't keep undoing your belt buckle...
2: When it is time to eat you will have enough room for your tray
3: If they decided to throw up it won't be all over you and other possible passengers
4: If traveling with your partner/wife/husband and they and baby are asleep you can still get up to go to the toilet.
5: Less leg cramps.
6: They won't keep pulling out the ear plugs while you are trying to watch a film.
7: They will have a screen of their own so they won't keep touch yours and turning off the movie or changing it...
8: You can watch what ever you want while they watch what they want and even if they don't like to wear the head phones they will still watch the screen.
9:When they need something it is much easier to get for them if they have their own seat as moving around while baby is on your lap is rather hard to do if what you want has fallen on the floor...
10: Holding on to Francis while on the airplane made for a very hot and sweaty ride....

There are many other reasons but still a bit to tired to think of them right now.....

I give two thumbs up for traveling with Quantas....  I am sure those that fly have their preferred airlines, but in my case flying with Francis Quantas was the way to go.  

I will say though if you are traveling with kids, I totally recommend buying them a seat of their own... This was my only regret.   Because when it came time to eat we had trouble... Francis's meal came out first which was fine, but his tray was still with us by the time our food came and then we had three trays and one of us could not eat because one of us was either holding Francis, or the dirty tray....   

But on the bright side, ask and you shall receive!  You want milk, they have it. You want some baby food they had that as well. You want to walk your child up and down the plane no worries just don't do it when it is food serving time, you want to take as much time in the loos as possible no worries.   Ok the passengers don't like that bit much but you'll find that by the time they get to were they are going they have forgotten about your kid taking up loo space, besides there are others..  :)
Kids meals they have those too... My cousin flew down to Melbourne from QLD with Quantas and although it was only a two hour trip or was it three can't remember but she said they were amazing. SHe had the baby food offered to her, where as we got the kids meals (which need to be ordered when buying your ticket.).   

Also when your child decides to throw up on you four hours before you land, they give you PJ'S from first class... Yes my son through up on me four hours before we landed.  And I now have some lovely PJ's from Quantas airlines first class..  YIPPEEE... I did look funny when I got off the plane but at least I was not smelling like baby spew....

To sum it all up if you can avoid flying until your child is at least five, or can pay for their own ticket, if you can't avoid that then I suggest if possible buy them their own seat, it will be much more comfortable for you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   If it is a short two or five hour flight sure, but 15 hours get an extra chair.....

I just want to share to a nice family (no smoking, child friendly) accommodation in Rockingham, Perth, Western Australia. The landlord, Violet Williams, is very friendly lady. She lives just next to the property, so if you need anything you can easily contact her.

The name called Amore Beach Retreat. So far, many guests come from England, very popular during summer time.

If you plan to come to Perth, you may want to consider this place.

When you travel long haul there are a few things to remember.

Yourself (and companions) Do you enjoy to travel? 
What makes your experience enjoyable?
Can you prepare your bub/child in anyway?
Are you travelling with others? 
Can they help with bub/child?

Baby/Child Take off and landing bottle/treats to chew.
Travel sickness tablets
Is milk provided by the airline?  (it was for us, and we were allowed as many refills as she required.)
Are you taking a car seat
Have you got the bulk head
Is baby able to sleep in the skycot
Are you in economy
What is baggage allowance and carry on allowance for bub/toddler/child?
Toys/activities
What about potty training/nappies/etc?
What about pram/buggy, to take or not to take.  To store in hold or have brought up to airplane doors? Do you need it as you change planes, refuel etc?
Is there a pram/buggy to borrow at your destination
If you do take pram/buggy how do you identify it?  Surely noone else would dare to travel with same one as you - right? 

E loved the mirrors in the loo.  We walked up and down the aisles - when attendants were not busy.  She made friends with people in the seats behind us.  She would stand up on our seats, peer over the top (she was 18mos) catch someones eye,and for the rest of the flight she would peep at that person and smile, gurgle, giggle chat etc.  If the person didnt respond to her first eye contact she moved on to someone else till she found her 'friend'.  She still does this when we travel by bus and train esp at rush hour.  We made many great friends on those flights...lol. 

She picked up on our mood, that we enjoyed the travelling (I was with my mum and dad).  We stayed positive even through delays, made each delay an adventure - which was good for us as well because we didnt get quite so annoyed as we might have. 

I am sure there are loads of other things.  But I felt like I was writing this often, maybe jsut been thinking about it a lot recently, dunno.  But anyhow, at least people will see it in this group when it is relevant to them.  I hope it helps.  Enjoy your trip!
Peace
EF.x 

I was watching a program the other night and heard that very soon, the policy will change when it comes to needing a passport when travelling outside the U.S. Apparently, in some cases, passports aren't needed, but this will change soon.  Also, it was advised that when only 1 parent is travelling outside the U.S. with a child, it is best to have a notorized letter of permission from the other parent. This will avoid any troubles and delays, as it is getting common for one parent to abduct their own children from custodial parents.