As a family we got quite used to travelling with one small child.  The adults outnumbered the children – woohoo! One sorted luggage whilst the other sorted the child – simple right? I’m glad we travelled so much with April when she was small and it was just us three, because that was the easiest we would have it for a while.

With the arrival of Luna in October 2017, our family became a family of four.  We knew this wouldn’t hold us back from travelling, it’s something we are both passionate about.  We want to see the world, we want our children to see the world and travel gives us important quality time together as a family.

In the 18 months Luna has been with us we’ve taken 6 family trips, including four longhaul flights.  Whilst things became harder, and there were moments of utter stress, it wasn’t impossible.  So I have a few tips for those of you travelling as a family, maybe you’ve never travelled together before, maybe you’ve travelled a few times and you’re unsure about another trip, maybe you’re seasoned travellers just reading about how other people do it, hopefully something here will be useful to you.

1. Agree your roles and stick to them.  For us, we know that Em deals with the children whilst I deal with the luggage. If you don’t know what you’re doing then chances are you could end up with a lost suitcase, or a lost child.  Knowing what you’re responsible for means everything is covered.

2. DON’T FORGET change for the luggage trolleys at the airport.  Yep, we did this once on the way back from Belfast, had to try to co-ordinate 2 children, 1 pram, 2 suitcases and 2 car seats. It was impossible to say the least. We’d not had the best flight, neither child wanted to be in the pram, chaos ensued and in utter despair and exhaustion Em began to cry.  How on earth were we going to carry everything from the luggage belts to the car? As luck would have it, a very kind gentleman overheard our dillemma and most likely saw us losing the will to live, he gave us the right change for the trolley and order was restored (well, sort of, cue more tears from Em at the kindness of strangers).

3. Accept help.  It sounds silly, but being British, most of us politely decline help from people before we even think about whether or not we actually need it.  When we travelled to Florida with both the girls Em went ahead to the airport whilst I sorted out the car parking.  This meant Em had a 4 month old Luna in a sling, an almost 3 year old April in a pram and was pushing a luggage trolley.  Before she even stepped foot in the airport someone offered to help Em, she almost declined (for no reason other than not wanting to inconvenience this kind woman), but last minute said yes and thanked her for the offer.  She pushed the luggage trolley into the airport for and helped Em find where we were checking in on our flight before heading off to go and find her own check-in desk.  From then on strangers offered us help throughout the whole journey, most of which we accepted.  It made it easier for Em and they got to go home feeling content that they’d helped out a mother with two small chilren – win, win.

4. Flights.  This is probably one of the most widely covered so I won’t bang on about it but take snacks – LOTS of snacks. Buy a new toy at the airport so that it’s still a novelty when they get on the plane and of course, take iPads.  How entertained they can be depends on their age but the girls usually stay fairly occupied on flights with the above.  On our latest flight to Florida April made friends with a girl her age and they sat playing together for most of the flight, it was amazing! Also, agree on which child you’re going to be responsible for for the flight, that way no one gets stuck watching all the children whilst the other parent just chills and watches a movie! Try not to worry about them misbehaving/being loud etc. If this happens you’ll find that most of the people on the flight actually have sympathy for you and want to help, so *try* not to stress about it.

5. Do your research.  On our latest trip we very nearly ran into some trouble when we assumed a large family holiday provider would provide certain essential items on our trip.  The first assumption we made was that car seats would be available for the private transfer we booked for our hotel (life is so much easier if you don’t have to take car seats on flights). We called up a few weeks in advance to make sure they knew we needed car seats, lo and behold they don’t provide them. That’s right, one of the biggest family holiday providers in the UK don’t ensure car seats are available for the private transfers they offer.  This wasn’t written anywhere on their website either.  We had to cancel our transfers with them and book alternatives.  With the same company we discovered that on our flight back they didn’t provide bassinetts or sky cots for babies in first class (no, no, we’re not that posh, we got a last-minute bargain on the seats!) Cue a night flight with an angry 18 month old who doesn’t co-sleep. So, say it with me, “don’t assume, it makes an ass out of you and me”.

6. Get a double buggy. Yes, even if your eldest doesn’t usually use one. Okay I’m not talking about 10 year olds in a pram, but April never uses one at home, however on holidays where we spend a lot of the time walking she gets bored and tired. Having a pram for her to sit and take a rest or a nap is priceless.  Some of our best sight-seeing time is when both the girls are asleep in the pram and there’s a short window of peace and quiet!

7. Other essential items include a baby carrier/sling if your child is small enough to still fit in one – let’s all cheer for hands free parenting! Sunshades for the pram – helps them to nap but also stops them peeking out at what’s going on and distracting them from sleeping. Snacks. Always snacks.

If you’ve got any more tips for travelling with two then leave it in the comments below.

To follow our travels as a family then follow our blog https://kinallytravels.family.blog/  or head over to our Instagram – http://www.instagram.com/traveldaddave