Keep Kids Healthy and Happy During Traveling

Today we have a guest post by Kendra Thornton, who was a Director of communications at Orbits, before she was promoted to the post of 'full time mommy' to three beautiful kids. She has travelled to over 28 countries on 6 continents and has been quoted in the news about seasonal travels trends and destination all over the united states.  Today she gives us a few useful pointers on how to keep kids healthy and happy during travelling.

Keep Kids Healthy and Happy During Traveling

The point of going on a vacation is to have a care-free and fun time, but this doesn’t mean that you can’t plan ahead where it is appropriate. When traveling with your children, you want to make sure that they are safe and happy, and there are many things that you can do to make this a reality on your trip.  

1. Beware of the Airplane Bathroom

According to Dr. Charles Gerba, you won’t find another environment that has more germs than the lavatory in an airplane. As if this isn’t bad enough, the environmental microbiologist stated that he hasn’t tested an airplane bathroom that didn’t have traces of E. coli. It’s not always going to be possible for you to thoroughly wash your hands with hot water and soap, so make sure to travel with a sanitizer that has an alcohol base.

2. Avoid Traveling with Tired Children

If your children are on a nap schedule, a good plan is to book your flight or plan your car trip for a time when they will be awake and alert. Airplanes are notorious for cranky and tired children who can’t settle down during the flight, but this doesn’t have to happen to you. If your kids are well-rested, they will enjoy the flight much better (especially if you are changing time zones) since they will be more alert and not as restless and groggy.

3. Travels with Snacks

Sometimes, traveling can be highly inconvenient because you aren’t always near a place where you can pick up a snack. Avoid this unpleasant reality by packing travel-friendly foods before you leave. The ones that work the best are pretzels or a trail mix that you can create yourself that contains peanuts, raisins and dried bananas and coconut flakes.

4. Don’t Forget to Take Time for Yourself

Of course, someone will need to be with the kids at all times, but you and your husband will need time for yourselves on this trip as well as time spent together. One way to arrange this is for you and your husband to take turns taking care of the kids while you each take part in activities that you enjoy. However, make sure that you can spend some time alone by hiring a babysitter or sharing a bottle of wine after the kids have gone to bed.

5. Eat a Healthy Breakfast

Theme parks aren’t known for having the healthiest food choices. In order to ensure that your kids have at least one good meal for the day, plan to have a very healthy breakfast before you descend upon the theme park of your choice. I like using Gogobot to find out personal reviews from other family travelers; I found a great Orlando hotel with a free kids continental breakfast!

Remember that you are going to want to have fun on vacation without having to stick too closely to a schedule, but planning a few things ahead can decrease the chances that you or anyone in your family will get sick. Then, you can thoroughly enjoy your trip.  

Kendra can be reached at  kendrathornton3@gmail.com