if you missed it, we’re back from florida {you can read it here!} and i’ve received a handful of questions about how it went traveling with 3 toddlers! it’s funny to look back on my very first ‘traveling with twins’ post more than 2 years ago.… how much is changed! now that miller is the girls’ age when we took them on their first plane ride, we’ve learned a LOT and have really perfected our travel plans, as if you can really perfect anything with toddlers. everything is mostly trial and error so i wanted to share what we’ve discovered to make our traveling a bit easier.

dockAtot

this was my #1 must-have baby item when mills was a baby {the infant version – deluxe} and now i’m so excited to partner with dockAtot again to share about the dockAtot grand! mills co-slept with us in his dock until he was about 7 months old when we transitioned him to his crib. the dockAtot deluxe is recommended for use until 9 months and then they recommended to move up to the grand. we brought his dockAtot grand with us to be able to use in the hotel in florida and now on the boat and let me tell ya…it’s going great! now that mills is active and walking all. over. the place. i typically have to rock him to sleep, then put him in his dock once he’s out. if he’s awake, he likes to run a muck and thinks he’s hilarious flopping all over. we have a travel bag that made carrying it through the airport {and checking it!} a breeze, as well as protecting it from all the germs. hands down, it’s one of my must-haves for traveling with a younger toddler!

headphones + offline movies

our kids aren’t super into technology, so this is new for us.
we have an old iPad from when i was in the classroom that i thought would be perfect to use for the girls while on the plane…until i didn’t get any apps that could be used offline. {hand smacking face}. so when my brother in law pulled out headphones with a downloaded movie from netflix for the boys to watch i was instantly bummed i hadn’t thought about that! i amazon primed {that’s a verb now, right?!} some headphones of our own to be used on our next vaca and so far it’s gone great! since we have amazon prime {and if you don’t, prime day is June 16th, so tune in for your extra discounts!!}, i just downloaded some free movies + tv shows for them to choose. i’m still in the process of finding some good offline apps to use, so i’ll keep you posted!

water wow painting

whoever created these are genius and if you have toddlers and haven’t seen them…do yourself a favor and spend the $4. a paintbrush filled with water and a booklet of pages that once dried, can be used again {and they dry super quick!}. the girls just recently started getting into them in the last couple of months but they’re perfect for the car, plane and i always have one or two in the diaper bag! 

snacks

this should be a no-brainer going anywhere with toddlers but above all else, do NOT forget the snacks! try to think of the favorite ‘cleaner’ snacks…pouches, fruit snacks, raisins… and if you’re going on a plane ride, definitely suckers. i was nervous how miller would do this year since he’s not nursing anymore but not old enough to tell us if his ears were hurting, but a sucker worked like a charm for take-off and landing! he’s never had a sucker before but it was a hit!

new toys

i learned this early on in my teaching career… new + interesting toys lead to less problem behavior. while i don’t necessarily go out and buy new toys, i always try to pack toys that the kids haven’t seen in awhile but that they liked. i keep our toys at home on a rotation and every couple of weeks, it’s like christmas morning again! same with traveling… pack new books + toys and they’ll be less likely to get bored quickly!

books

my kids LOVE books and love to be read to. i pack a couple favorites and a couple new ones i think they’ll love. engaging books are always a favorite {these pop ones i get at sams and we love them!!} 

patience, patience, patience

y’all, traveling with toddlers can be stressful, but try to keep a positive attitude and it’s surely to go better for everyone! i typically have VERY low expectations, consume entirely too much caffeine and keep my goal to arrive safely. we try to make the best of it, play ‘duck duck goose’ in the terminals and make games out of nonsense. the kids love it and we all get a good laugh.

what’s your number one travel tip with your littles?!