For many of us, summer is the season of long car drives to visit faraway relatives, national parks, and white sandy beaches. Here are a few tips to help you help your child get ready to travel.
When to tell your tot about the vacation. Young toddlers and up will be interested to know and will respond to being told that the family is planning a vacation. Since "in a few weeks" is an eternity for very young children, wait until about one week before your travel date to introduce the general idea. Two or three days before you travel, remind your little one that you will soon be going on a trip together. Talk about how much fun it will be, let him know that the family will be sleeping in a hotel or at a family member's house, reassure him that you will all be together, and explain that you will all come home together at the end of the vacation. The day before your trip have him help choose a few comfort items to take along, such as a favorite teddy bear, blanket, or book.
How much to talk-up your vacation. For toddlers, keep it brief and stick to the basic facts, such as, "Next week, we are going to visit grandma and grandpa at their house." It might overwhelm your young toddler to give him too much information. Give the idea in broad strokes. If he is either really looking forward to or is particularly apprehensive about the travel, try mentioning one or two things that you know will be a hit. For example, "Auntie Eva is excited that you are going to help collect the chicken eggs" or "It is going to be so much fun to hunt for seashells at the beach." Preschoolers, on the other hand, are likely going to want a lot more information. They may want to know exactly how many days there are until you go, and that is a great opportunity to pull out the calendar, mark the departure date, and count down the days! They may also want to know who will be there, how long it will take to get there, the planned highlights of trip, and how long you will be there.
Make it familiar. If you are going to visit relatives who you only see once or twice a year, look at photographs and point out who is who. Let your tot see pictures of himself as a baby being held by his uncle, aunt, or cousin. "Look, here is Uncle Jim standing with me in front of his house." If you have brochures of where you will be visiting, pull those out and let her look at them with you.
Discuss rules and expectations. If you have specific rules that you want followed by your kids while traveling, start discussing and reviewing them a few days in advance. Limit your rules to the top three that will squelch the broadest range of potential problems. When the family is loaded in the car, do a quick review: you ask "What is good behavior in the car?" and the kids might answer something like, "Use my indoor voice, keep my hands and feet to myself, and no throwing." Repeat this after long rest breaks or overnight stops as needed. Ditto for expectations, which might include things like sharing toys with siblings, saying please and thank you, and using words (instead of hitting, crying, whining, etc.).
Read books, of course. Read together about families traveling by car on their vacation. Also read books that include the sights and sounds of things similar to what you will be doing, whether it is visiting family, camping in a national park, or touring a big city. Books are a wonderful way to ease children into unfamiliar environments and provide comfort at the same time.
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