Travelling with children can be somewhat like shooting a herd of wild goats on holiday. Whether they're your own or somebody else's, factoring a kid 's needs into your journeys involves a lot more than sticking on a CD full of pop songs and making bathroom stops. Here two Rough Guides writers share their hard-won wisdom. First up, mum of 2 Hayley Spurway offers guidance on traveling with toddlers, then Ross McGovern reveals how he manages to travel with older children. Hayley Spurway's tips for travelling with toddlers
Take your time
The best thing you can take - whether at the airport, sightseeing or getting from A to B - is extra time. Toddlers love to explore and don't care for your time pressures of traveling, which means you're more likely to retain your cool if you factor that the faffing, gawping, stalling, bathroom stops and tantrums in your own timeframe.
Keep bugs at bay
If you're travelling to Paignton or Peru, antibacterial wipes and hand sanitizer are purse essentials. A wipe of this cutlery in restaurants where you're unsure of hygiene, or even a squirt of hand sanitizer if there's no washing facilities, can zap a few germs and prevent toddlers catching some common bugs.
Give them a camera
Giving toddlers their own (strong, child-friendly) camera motivates them to watch their surroundings and focus on what interests them. You might be amazed by the results in their knee-high view. Amongst images of feet and wheels, my three-year-old has shot flowers, critters, helicopters, ships, stones and rabbit poo.
Pack Pull-Ups for potty training
Planes and public transportation during the potty training days could be a nightmare. As in the event that you didn't have enough in your hand bag, now you're expected to bring a potty, three changes of clothes and bags of wet, stinky pants. Potty-training gurus may disagree, however if toddlers are still having plenty of little mishaps then I'm all for putting them back in to Pull-Ups on the airplane.
Have quite a few family games prepared in the event of delay.
Punch-buggy and padiddle are very popular, if violent, favourites for car travels, whereas cerebral ones like the Alphabet match are far safer for aviation.
Engage and involve older children
The best way to avoid a soul-destroying sulk from the teenager is to involve them in the planning of the holiday and ask them for input on which they'd like to do. You may be amazed to hear it's not spending all day on the internet.
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