Getting around with young children comfortably takes equipment. Following are our experiences with gear we found essential when traveling with babies, toddlers, and preschoolers.
Getting Around with Babies
My husband and I were truly surprised at how happy our three-month-old babies were seeing the city of Vancouver from the comfort of their Baby Bjorns. The padded fabric front carriers left our hands free for securely holding onto a public transit pole or consulting a map and our kids loved looking at tall buildings and the people on the monorail. At the very least, both babies loved being snugly attached to their happy parents!
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| Babies Love Looking Out from Front Carriers |
Getting Around with Toddlers
The amount of bulky baby gear we took to visit Prague and Budapest for two weeks with two eighteen-month-olds was staggering. We took two car seats, a folding McLaren double stroller, and two backpack child carriers. When the small taxi sent from our hotel arrived at the airport, we were actually glad the airline had misplaced one of our bags (which was delivered to our hotel later) because it wouldn’t have fit in the tiny trunk.
We absolutely used every bit of equipment. The car seats we used in the plane to keep both kids (and us) comfortable on a long flight; the stroller was good for naps on the go, served as a high chair in a pinch, and enabled one parent to take both kids on solo jaunts. The backpack child carriers were very useful when walking on ancient cobblestone streets or unpaved roads.
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| Backpack Carrier in Front of John Lennon Memorial in Prague |
Getting Around with Preschoolers
When traveling around Turkey with two-year-olds, the double stroller allowed both kids to easily get out and run around to kick the soccer ball we kept in a string bag draped over the handles of the stroller. (Having kids burn off energy increases parents' chances of being able to sightsee peacefully.)
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| Stroller in Front of Budapest Parliment |
Although we still used a stroller occasionally in Australia with our three-year-old preschoolers (finding that streetcars allowed open strollers to board in the rear), we found that the backpack carriers were indispensable because they enabled us to take many spectacular hikes in national parks on remote dirt trails. We also carried booster seats to use when driving around the country and to facilitate naps on the long plane flight to and from America.
Lugging all the baby gear (front carriers, car seats, backpack carriers, double stroller, booster seats) on vacation was surely cumbersome, but each piece served its purpose and allowed us more flexibility while traveling.
Read more at Suite101: Family Vacations with Young Children: Where to Go With Babies, Toddlers, and Preschoolers
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