Keeping your baby's schedule while traveling: The secret to a successful vacation!

 Whether you're embarking on a cruise, spending a week at Disney, or just taking a weekend drive out of town, traveling with your toddler can run the risk of throwing your child off of her schedule.  While you may be excited to change up your routine for once, babies and toddlers thrive on routine and structure.

Your love of travel and desire to keep your child on a routine don't have to be at odds with one another, but there a few things to consider when traveling with your little one.

Here are Five Tips for Keeping your Baby's Schedule While Traveling:

1. Travel During Nap Time

While flying or taking long road trips may prove to be exceptions to the rule, when possible, try to arrange your travel to and from your destination around your child's sleep or nap schedule.

On our of our most recent #AdventuresWithRobinClaire , we decided to take a weekend trip to Biloxi, MS to enjoy the sun and get away from the Post-Thanksgiving shopping craze at home. Biloxi is about two hours drive from our home in Baton Rouge, which works perfectly with Robin's nap schedule. We took the morning to pack up for our last-minute getaway and hit the road at around 11:00 am, when Little Miss usually goes down for her first nap. Longer trips don't always afford us this luxury, but we were glad to take it and let Robin know that when she woke up we'd take her to see the beach and ocean.

2. Recreate Their Crib As Best You Can

I'll admit it. I was always the parent who made fun of Pack N' Plays. I thought that they were bulky, pointless, and just one of those things you got at baby showers because an over-eager aunt just had to make a big display of things.

I couldn't have been more wrong. While we still don't use our Pack N' Play around the house often, it has been a godsend on vacations. Outfitted with Robin's Pillow Pet, her favorite blanket, and of course, her Barney and Meow, we can give our little miss a slice of home wherever we are, whether we're sailing the seas, or just out of town for a weekend getaway.

 

3. Plan Around Their Routine

For about the last year, Robin's bedtime is always between 8:00 - 8:30 pm. This is true whether we're home, on vacation, or anywhere in-between. We know this, we accept it, and we do everything that we can to keep it that way because disrupting her routine ultimately makes her unhappy which only serves to make everyone in the family unhappy.

Her bedtime routine goes as follows:

1. Take a bath and change into her night clothes (as a side note, we've come to love one-piece footed pajamas for keeping her warm and happy through the night).
2. Reading two books, she especially loves "Binkie NOT for SALE" and her finger puppet books.
3. We brush her teeth while singing her "toothbrushing song" and give her a chance to drink some water.
4. We turn on her sound machine, lay her down, kiss her goodnight and turn off the lights.

Once she's out, we can usually turn on the TV, or one of us can plan to do something with the big kids.

I'm sure your little one has a similar routine that she follows. Whatever it is, make sure to keep it up while you're traveling. Even if you're running past her bedtime, sticking with your established routine will help your child adjust to being in a different environment which can make the difference between you enjoying your vacation or stressing through it.

4. Talk About The Changes

I cannot stress this enough. Talk to your toddler about your travels and explain what is going on. If you are going to the beach, tell her that she is going to take a car ride and that you will go see sand and the ocean. Talk to her about the resort or the cruise ship and what it is. Set up her crib and explain that you have brought her blankets and lovies from home.

From day one we've talked to Robin about her day and her surroundings. Your child does hear you and can rationalize what you are saying, even if they can't always express it.

Take every opportunity to tell your little one about what you will be doing that day, where you will be going, and how long you will be there.  It'll go a long way to helping your toddler understand what is going on and enjoying herself while she's away from home.

5. Be Prepared to Take One for the Team

My daily routine usually has me getting up between 5:30-6:00 am each morning, which usually bleeds into my weekends and vacations since I'm so used to the daily-grind at this point in my life.

Robin will usually wake up between 6:00-6:30 am.

While we're at home we can go up front, fix breakfast and hangout until everyone else wakes up. In a hotel room or on a cruise, it's a recipe for waking everyone up and ruining everyone else's day.

My solution, get dressed and start our day.

On our Biloxi outing, rather than making my wife get up at 6:00 am, we went to the lobby, had some breakfast, and took a drive along the beach for an hour or so before stopping to get my wife some coffee.

On our last cruise I packed Robin up in our QBit Travel Stroller and headed straight for the Lido deck to grab some coffee and a bite to eat for Robin while watching the ocean in peace. Most cruise lines will tell you that the buffet doesn't open until 6:00, but I've never had one deny a baby a piece of fruit and a pastry when I ask nicely.

Seriously, I defy you to say no to that face.

Happy wife happy life. Happy baby makes travel less crazy!