L

Traveling abroad with toddler?

Anyone does this and can share tips/experiences especially for the long plane ride? We’d like to go to Europe...any suggestions on where to bring a 4 year old to in Europe?
Like
Share Mobile
Share
  • Share

Show your support

I’ve traveled twice with my almost 3 year old to Argentina and three times across the country to Louisiana. Just make sure you have lots of stuff to keep them entertained and also to snack on. If you’re ok with screen time then make sure you have a number of games and shows for them. Airport kiosks tend to run on the expensive side. Also if you have lots of connections or a long wait in between flights a travel stroller is a godsend. Other than that there’s the obvious.. make sure you have all the necessary paperwork and whatnot.

Travelling is brilliant as it broadens horizons and he can experience different cultures

Melatonin gummies. They’re awesome for getting the littles (and you too) on the right time. And maybe loosen up on expectations for bedtime—if kids where you’re going stay up later, consider letting yours do the same.

1 reply

And consider Italy. Italians love kids and are very tolerant of kid behavior. We were there with our daughter from 2 1/2 to 3, and it was wonderful.

portable dvd player or tablet is a must. for ear pressure, give infant tylenol before boarding and then have then drink out of a sippy or suck on a lolipop durig take off and landing . if you can get a night flight they can sleep through a lot of it

Hey we went to north of Sardinia and my then 4 year old loved it. It’s a friendly place and if your 4 year old loves his pizza’s and pasta’s as much as mine did, he’ll have a fab time. Plus the local wine is amazing 😊 For the flight I’d recommend activity books, toys, snacks and a tablet for a movie if you have one. Hope that helps, enjoy wherever you decide to go x

4 trips from the US to the UK before he turned 18-months and a bunch of domestic flights. Airline attendants are your best resource. On all of our flights they've all been baby crazy. They let you stand in the back, will walk around with them if you need a break and have fun game idea for stacking cups and playing with all the other stuff in the galley. We found out that our kid who never gets screen time is also not interested in screen time for more than about 10 seconds. So, not necessarily going to be helpful on a 10-hour journey. On the way from the US to the EU if you get to the airport early you can request the bulkhead bassinet. It's generally first come first serve but the airlines are pretty good about shifting people around to get a baby in. On the way back you'll have to reserve the seat when you buy the ticket. Lastly, bubbles. You can get a 1 oz bottle of bubbles, take the bubbles and the baby into the bathroom and it's a party.

Related question: I will be traveling internationally with my 22 month old who is going as a long child. One flight is overnight. Any suggestions or products for helping us both get sleep?

I took a bag with loads of new little things to keep My little one entertained and it worked a treat! Brought a new item out every 20 mins or so.

We used melatonin to get our at the time 1 year old to sleep on the plane to Italy. Something to drink or suck on during air pressure changes. We didn’t really use tablets or phones. He was never interested. He always fell asleep. I guess we got lucky cause he has always loved flying. I guess the most helpful advice I could give you is literally anything for the baby/toddler you can take through security no matter what other rules say. Take extra of their favorite juice, snacks, anything. Being super comfy clothes for the flight. And the flight attendants are so so helpful and understanding. I had a meltdown the first time and they did anything and everything they could to help.

Let them pack a backpack with stuff they like... pack your tablet with some Sago mini games and Netflix just in case everything else fails.

Loving the advise! We plan on traveling to Germany in 2020 with our then 12 year old and 2 year old.

1 reply

We will be in Germany The first two weeks in March 2020. What part are y’all going to? I’ll have a 11, 7 and 2 year old then.

Portugal!! Very family/baby friendly.

Melissa and Doug reusable stickers and travel magnets work wonders on long trips!

Hey moms, I spend roughly 2hr cooking for my one year old, How many hours do you spend on cooking? Any suggestions on how to make cooking more efficient on travel and same time still making a healthy and nutritious meal? Thanks.

We lived in South Korea for a year. We had two major flights to get two and from and honestly it's hell is own kind of hell lol but my 2 year old sat in his own seat on the way home using this FAA harness I bought that turned the seat into a car seat. He was great.

Try today for free
Scan the QR code and join the app
to connect with women at a similar stage in life.
Download Peanut to connect with women at a similar stage in life.

StarStarStarStarStar-Half

Trusted by 5M+ women

Logo
Try today for free
Scan the QR code and join the app
to connect with women at a similar stage in life.
Download Peanut to connect with women at a similar stage in life.

StarStarStarStarStar-Half

Trusted by 5M+ women

Logo

We flew from NYC to Mexico with a 1 year old. He loved Sesame Street episodes on our comouter and he slept. It was actually ok. Have snacks and baby headphones.

I bought wipe clean flash cards for our long trips and then extra wipe clean markers. Didn’t have to worry about the battery dying or worrying about losing them (I hole punched them and put them on a ring. Plus they are a fraction of the cost of a tablet or other device) anytime we take a long trip they are a lifesaver. It’s one of the reasons I signed up as a consultant https://g7185.myubam.com/p/1009/animal-doodles

1 reply

And pouches. Lots and lots of pouches. Haha

We travel to Europe pretty often. Madrid and Athens stick out as SUPER friendly to kids. Our is was 2 in Madrid, 1.5 in Athens. We went to Paris when she was 2.5. We got a little side eye at small quiet cafes, but once they saw she wasn’t tossing stuff around and making a mess it was ok too. We’ve been to a few other places, let me know if you wanna talk a little more!Depends on what you guys like to do. Personally we just go wherever tickets are cheap.

I travel a lot.. I’m own a travel agency. It’s stressful to travel with Little’s but experiences are important

My son was born in Germany and I flew back with him at 5 months old. So it will be much different with a 4 year old im sure but after our domestic travels now I know you need snacks, new toys, tablet with downloaded games and videos (keep it away awhile before travel so it’s extra special) more snacks, changes of clothes for inflight accidents, benedryl or motion sickness medicine in case. If the kid has a hard time try not to stress even though you’ll feel like everyone is staring at you and pissed or annoyed. You still have a right to go wherever you wanna go 😉 For places that are kid friendly in Europe I would say Mallorca (certain islands but you can google which ones s’illot was nice for families. Europe is a lot of history, castles, architecture and walking! So I would choose somewhere costal as the beach can be a nice break for kids and they seem to be a little more relaxed.

We moved to Kazakhstan when my son was 6 months old, that’s how we started our crazy travel life. For the past 4 years, we flew pretty much every 3 months. I’d say the key thing to travel with a toddler is to have things for him/her to be busy with. For longer flights, I usually buy a small new toy before flying, give it to him when he starts to get bored in the plane. That works to keep him busy for a while. Also, I prefer to not let him sleep much before flying, that way he could get tired and actually sleep on board. I use a JetKid suitcase that he pulls and rides on in the airport, it can convert to an extension to the seat, with the mattress that comes with it, he can actually lie down only using his own seat. Traveling to Europe, hm... so many good choices. Off the top of my head, I would recommend Poland. We love Warsaw, very kids friendly. So much to do, one indoor playground especially, is my son’s absolute favorite, called Digiloo, we spent couple hours almost everyday when we were there.

I’ve traveled solo with two of my girls, almost 4 and almost 1 at the time, and we had so much fun. I grew up a lot overseas, so my perspective may be slightly different, but I say go anywhere! Just go have adventure! What interests you the most? What are you most into when traveling? Then decide from there what countries best suit you, because you can’t just visit one ☺️

We have twin boys and been traveling since they are 4 months. We have done about 4 trips to Costa Rica. I can tell you that it will depend on the day, you might be lucky or not really. But, you can make things easier for all of you by taking enough time to get to the airport, and to the gate. Pack enough snacks, favorite toy, download fav videos, book or anything that normally entertain him. Always carry his medication with you, and enjoy, even if it's not a nice or easy thing to do.. it will take you to a nice a place full of fun memories.

Im from Hungary, Budapest and the whole country is pretty good for kids, and its cheap. There is a lot of fun for kids: Csodak palotaja (physics playground), the zoo is really good, there is some awesome and free playground, lake Balaton is cool, cirkus, lots of shows for kids and museum what the little o es can enjoy too. There is a lot of pool and water park in the country too. I also really recommended croatia, the beach is beautifull and they have really good campings woth bungalows, and italy is close too, and slovenia is beautifull too.

I took my twins from Missouri to California when they were a little over a year old. I know technology is quite terrible for kids but mine had great attention spans and that kept them very busy. I would recommend trying to plan the flight around nap time so their body will want to sleep. The baby food pouches, soft blankets, tons of bottles and Breast milk and toys, got us through it. It wasn’t awful. Make sure they are comfortable!! Cute does not matter and if your little will still put up with it, a stroller/wagon is SO helpful. Some moms say to let them pack their own bags but if you have multiple under the age of 5, I would not recommend their own carry on. It just causes more stuff to keep up with.

I did this back in April with 2 toddlers and I was about ready to lose it

Travelled to France for my sister's wedding when my son was almost 2 yrs old and my daughter was 7 months. Choose your flights to fit their sleep routine, if it's the first holiday try short flights, pick accommodation that caters for the kids and try and get time to relax. It's your holiday too. I've also been to Turkey when my son was almost 3 and my daughter was 2. The hotel had a creche and a spa. It was amazing. There's a company that deal in toddler friendly holidays. https://www.kiddieholidays.co.uk/30-amazing-all-inclusive-toddler-friendly-hotels-in-europe/

I haven't done lengthy OS trips as yet, thank COVID, but I have flown interstate quite a few times with my son (2) and I found tiring him out at the airport and having his favourite toys to play with work really well, we usually fly around his bedtime so that he sleeps most of the flight.

My carry on was full of toys and it really helped. Toddlers do like playing with the airplane window, so use it. We booked the front two seats on sunwing with extra legroom, which really helped. We had the little man trapped in front of us for the 7 hours ride. We made a point of not walking him around on the airplane but that only worked bcz it was reasonably short plane ride. Getting him to nap was difficult…but obviously try your best. The vacation to DR was well worth it!!

I had couple 🛫 from UK to Europe when our baby was 8 Months and 15months. Last time I really struggled as my lady wanted to run everywhere in the airport and didn't wanted to sit in the seat. Needed lots of snacks, new activities

Try today for free
Scan the QR code and join the app
to connect with women at a similar stage in life.
Download Peanut to connect with women at a similar stage in life.

StarStarStarStarStar-Half

Trusted by 5M+ women

Logo
Try today for free
Scan the QR code and join the app
to connect with women at a similar stage in life.
Download Peanut to connect with women at a similar stage in life.

StarStarStarStarStar-Half

Trusted by 5M+ women

Logo

We took our two year old and two month old to Serbia and I was so anxious about it, but they both did great! We took playdough, coloring books, finger puppets and suckers. It kept our two year old busy the whole time.

Read more on Peanut
Trending in our community