Good Tips

When my husband suggested I take a baby-free girls trip to escape the neverending Minnesota winter, I found it pretty hard to say no.  However, I was still breastfeeding my youngest and not quite ready to be done, so I finally had to tackle pumping while traveling. Here’s the advice I would give a fellow mom looking to do the same thing.

I’ll be the first to admit that traveling with a toddler can be hard. Our son Oliver doesn’t sleep – even on a long flight – and his attention span for books or even cartoons tends to be low when stuck in his seat. So after our first few trips together as a family, we did some regrouping and assessed what we could do to make life easier. And it worked! We just returned from an almost three week trip to visit both sides of our family, and I’m hoping a few of our tried-and-true travel tips will save you some stress this holiday season.

Flying with a baby for the first time (or, really, anytime) can be daunting. I’ve flown a lot with my 10-month-old and have found that the best coping strategy is to keep expectations low—then there’s always the chance you may be pleasantly surprised. While flying with a newborn is obviously far different than flying with a more mobile baby, here are a few tips that’ve helped me, especially when traveling over the crazy holiday season.

My family is planning our first real road trip with three kids later this summer and to say that I’m not a little bit nervous would be an understatement. Road trips with kids are definitely a bit more challenging than those without, but they can be worthwhile and even—dare I say it—super fun. With a little planning and these tips, you’ll all have a great time.