Are you going home for the holidays?  Are you travelling with little ones?   Christmas is a wonderful thing, but it seems like there are so many details and adding in travelling home can be tough!    Visiting family is wonderful but it is not always easy especially when mixing multiple generations.

The pros about going home for Christmas to visit family – using a spare bedroom and not a hotel room and with all the family help – you get lots of free time….  The cons about going home for Christmas – all of the family “help,” no hotel and no free time!   That said it is still a joy and pleasure to spend Christmas at home and with your own children you are reminded of the joy and excitement the holidays bring for little ones. 

Getting back to the practical aspects of travel with kids think like this – pack it, borrow it or buy it!  You must travel with the essentials diapers, wipes, hand sanitizer, snacks (special stuff that you do not usually give the kids can work well on crowded trains or delayed flights – not that the Rockmybaby® blog would ever suggest bribery…) small toys, a car seat and a stroller. 

The rest of the bulky stuff like a highchairs, a portable crib, weather appropriate clothing  etc., can be borrowed from friends, family or neighbors.  We always suggest planning and budgeting to buy more diapers, baby food and the baby gear our families may no longer keep around!

As you plan for the trip, also consider these tips:

• Leave extra time
• Book everything ahead
• Download new apps, videos etc. (and do not feel an ounce of guilt, it is not everyday that you will do this and many of these apps have educational benefits)
• Buy the children an inexpensive disposable camera
• Use public transport, especially for children that are used to be driven around in cars – getting there is half the fun!
• Always bring your own prescription medicine and basic medicines like fever reducers and cough syrup, in many European countries especially on Christmas pharmacies often closed and of course that seems to be exactly when the children start feeling unwell!
• If you are going into a crowded place with little ones, like a Christmas Market, consider writing your mobile phone on the forearm.
• Check your passports that they are up to date and everyone can enter and leave the country without visas etc.

And when you come home if you need to relax, you did not get all the family “help,” that you thought you would, call a Rockmybaby® babysitter!