Traveling With a Toddler: 10 Commandments
Photos and Story by Bill Horn and Scout Masterson
Bill Horn with his daughter Simone.
For six seasons, millions tuned into “Tori & Dean” and fell in love with the couple’s good friends Bill Horn and Scout Masterson, who became affectionately known as “The Guncles” (Gay + Uncles) to Tori and Dean’s four adorable children—Liam, Stella, Hattie, and Finn. Now Bill and Scout have their own family with their very own adventures, and when they hit the road they want to share the experience with Yahoo Travel.
When we had our daughter Simone, we said goodbye to our pre-parenting days of jet-setting to Mexico, Europe, and the Caribbean.
Off to New York City with her rolling suitcase.
Still, in the past three years we have managed to do our fair share of traveling with our 3-year-old, including trips to New York, San Diego, Louisville, Palm Springs, and Lake Arrowhead. Traveling with a newborn, infant, and/or toddler can be brutal. That’s why so many families just give up and do staycations rather than deal with babies on planes, trains, and automobiles.
Early on we developed a set of tips and family guidelines to help us keep our sanity when we hit the road.
Choose Wisely: Do your research with your family in mind. One spot we’d suggest avoiding with a child—Las Vegas. We stopped once to chat with a friend on the way to our hotel room at a popular resort on the Strip, only to be told twice by security that we needed to get moving because we had a 6-month-old in a casino. It wasn’t our fault that the elevators to the rooms are located 10 miles from the check-in desk, and it’s not our fault that our 6-month-old loved the slots. #Haters
Food For Thought: Always pack snacks, especially for long car rides and plane rides. There’s nothing worse than a kid who’s hungry or thirsty. Never be ashamed to bring your own food and drinks (especially booze) before you check into a hotel or resort. There’s nothing worse than burning through a minibar, especially when it’s to buy a $10 orange juice for a toddler who will drink a third of it. Becoming a parent means never being ashamed to bring your own wine to the hotel. If anything, it should be encouraged. You have to pay for college, right?
Pack Lightly: We know it’s hard, but there’s nothing worse than lugging a dozen 20-pound bags through an airport or to an airport. Try to keep it light when traveling, especially by air. You can buy pretty much anything anywhere these days.
Seat Envy: Flying can be expensive. Trust us, we get that. Airlines allow infants (age newborn to under 2-years-old) the option to fly on a parent or guardian’s lap. After that, you have to buy that extra ticket. We still think it is worth buying that extra seat for your infant-aged child. You have to lug a car seat onboard, but your baby will be much safer in case of an emergency and much more likely to be calm and collected upon landing. We put Simone on our lap during a flight and she thought it was a license to go wild. If she’d had her way, she’d have run up and down the aisles screaming bloody murder. Isn’t sitting in coach bad enough without having to deal with that?
Be sure to pack lightly and remember a change of clothes for the plane ride.
Wardrobe Change: Always bring extra clothing for your kid and yourself. Simone has spit up food (and other fluids) on practically everything we own.
Check Yourself: Research stroller and car seat restrictions for plane travel before you leave. Airlines will allow you to check (for free and in addition to your bag limit) a car seat and stroller (some weight restrictions apply). You can bring a lightweight stroller to the gate and have it checked at the aircraft door. If your stroller is too heavy, they’ll check it at the front counter and make you lug that baby or babies through the airport without any assistance.
Portable electronics when traveling with small children are a godsend.
Technology is Good: Some people lament the day that technology started being part of kids’ lives, but when traveling it is a gift from the gods! In restaurants, on planes, and on trains, a smartphone or tablet will keep your toddler happy … and sane. ALWAYS keep these items charged so they are ready to go at a moment’s notice. Invest in a cover made of foam. For months we refused to pay the $40 for the big, ugly foam cover for Simone’s iPad. One day she dropped Scout’s iPad Mini and smashed it. Lesson learned. We ran right out and bought her a big, ugly orange foam cover with handles. You could drop it from the Empire State building and it would survive. Buy inexpensive kid headphones that will only allow the volume to be turned up to an acceptable level. There are Minnie Mouse headphones with “ears” that are adorable.
Enjoying a meal in the hotel room.
Say No To Sleep Shame: Don’t beat yourself up about missing naps or bedtime because of travel. We’re big fans of a somewhat strict nap and bedtime schedule at home, but on a trip (especially a vacation) it can prove to be an impossible task to adhere to a schedule. When we travel to New York, we actually keep Simone on West Coast time. She sleeps in with us and goes to bed late. Getting back to our hotel room for a 7:30 p.m. bedtime isn’t realistic … or any fun!
Ship It: Did you buy too much on your trip and you’re not 100% sure how you’ll get it home? Afraid of racking up expensive fees at the airline counter because your bag weighs more than you do? Consider shipping a bag or two. When Simone was born on the East Coast, we’d accumulated so many items in just two weeks that we had to ship a suitcase home. FedEx cling-wrapped the suitcase and sent it back for something like $60. It took a week, but we just planned ahead.
Have (Adult) Fun: Don’t feel that you have to do kiddie activities for your entire trip. Go to a nice restaurant. Enjoy a drink at lunch. As long as your baby isn’t screaming uncomfortably, people will just have to deal. Simone has been visiting fine eating establishments her entire life. Sometimes it turns into a sh%t show, but for the most part it’s lovely. As a parent, you can’t be expected to live off of pizza and macaroni and cheese!
