Traveling with little kids

Not trying to be funny, but don’t do it.

Wait til they are old enough to enjoy and not be miserable

Planes: Snacks and tablets. The snacks are to keep their jaws moving to clear their ears for the pressure changes, which causes most young kids discomfort. But you know what the Orlando airport (more kids per capita than any airport in the world?) doesn't sell? Gum, because of environment, something or other. Anything that makes them swallow works. I don't use water bottles, I use collapsible bags to fill with water once through security. Refill whatever they're drinking out of with your refillable bags. As long as you never drink directly out of them, and contaminate them with your mouth bacteria, they stay surprisingly clean (dry them out completely when done using, etc.)

The more mobile the stroller, the easier your life is. Moms have insisted on overbuilt strollers that can hold their shopping bags and Stanleys, when you need mobility and speed to fit through tight spaces, etc.

Your kids can travel 6-7 hours until it gets hairy. That's a flight from Atlanta to Ireland or London. They're fine. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. Have a plan, driving or flying, and communicate it. We're eating breakfast before we leave, we're stopping to pee at Mobile, and we're not stopping again until lunch. Expectations created. Kids, including that young, crave certainty. Do you have to pull off at a Wendy's unexpectedly every couple of trips? Sure.

My 9 and 7 year olds were perfectly fine on flights to/from IAH to Paris/Barca, it's 100% about the parent energy. If you're (and the wife) are OK, they're OK.

quote:

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Take them to grandma and grandpas and go enjoy yourselves. They will NOT remember this vacation and neither will you. just sayin'

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Don't say this to the Disney freaks.

But, OP needs to expose his kids to variety that is not on a screen. Dragging your kids to Mammoth Caverns, Smoky Mountains cabins, hell yes. There is a lot of joy in your young kids saying young kid things like, "I know why they say it's smoky up here," etc.

My (then) 7 and 9 year olds still talk about trips you wouldn't expect them to remember more than five years later. There are stories that came out of "they won't remember it" ages that I have already sworn I will bring up at their rehearsal dinners in 15 years. My 7 year old clearly remembers telling me, " I want to eat so many croissant I turn into one." Some of the memories are for the parents.