England/Italy

Hi!
We took our daughter to Germany this past Dec when she was 10 mos old. I have flown with her twice since then after she was walking and my biggest suggestion is for the plane. Take lots of snacks and toys he has never seen before. New stuff is so much more entertaining. I would suggest this book called the Quiet Book (got mine at a yard sale but I'm sure you can google it). It has about 8 pages and is made of fabric and has different activities like buttons and zippers and tying a shoe, etc. It kept her occupied for a long time when we flew last May. I do not have a portable DVD player yet since she isn't watching tv much, but I would find out if your plane is going to have the tv screen in the seat in front of you or if there is only a large tv. If I were flying now, I would probably buy a portable dvd player for my daughter because 8-9 hrs is SO long. I also experimented with all kinds of new snacks and eating kept her busy too.

As for travel suggestions while there, take a stroller that reclines - try to find an umbrella-type stroller since it takes up less room, but there has to be one that can recline. I FORGOT our umbrella stroller and had to buy one while I was there! I realized it as soon as we arrived at the airport, I was so upset. They do not have $10 strollers over there, we had to spend $150! Anyway, the reason you need the recline is you will not see folding changing tables in the bathrooms, at least not very often. In major department stores you will find them but almost never in a restaurant. So I used the stroller to change her a lot.

Good luck and HAVE FUN!!!
~A.

Hi M.,

I took a 18 mo. old and a 4 year old to England. I found taking the overnight flight a great idea, it worked well and my little one slept through a good part of both the long flights. I think I would recommend having some sort of plan in the back of your mind for how you might entertain your toddler in an airport in the event of a delay etc. Our return trip ended up taking well over 24 hours and everyone was getting cranky in the Philadelphia airport waiting the "few minutes" it was going to take to get the plane ready.

One wonderful piece of advice I was given to help handle the waiting was to take lots of small toys and snacks and to wrap all of them like they were presents. Then during the course of the trip you give them out slowly. The idea behind this was that it takes time to unwrap them and what you are really trying to do on a plane is occupy their time. It worked beautifully and the flight attendants were really impressed with how well it worked to keep the kids happy (no complaints about having to repeatedly get the wrapping paper just comments about how well behaved they were.)

We fly to my parents in Florida every year and while I don't give too many wrapped presents anymore (my kids are 7 and 10 now) I do always make sure they have lots of small things in their own individual backpacks to keep them busy. If I only had one small child to manage I might try that with a 2 yr old. Just know that you will end up carrying it....I figured out how to attach both kids' bags to our wheeled luggage long ago!

The only other thing I suggestion I would give about the trip is remember that you and your son will be jet lagged when you get there. My daughter was up almost the entire first night we got there because she slept well on the plane, and her body said it was time to be up. At 18 months old she really couldn't understand that she was supposed to be sleeping. Unfortunately, my son didn't sleep much on the plane. (He broke out in hives somewhere over the Atlantic.) I ended up being awake and taking care of a little person for something like a day and a half. I would strongly suggest having some down time built into your schedule once you get there for family to adjust.

I'm sure you will enjoy your trip. We had a wonderful time once we got there. Just try to be as flexible as you can. Traveling with little people often means having to change plans and to improvise. We have wonderful memories of exploring the English countryside on foot for the first several days. This wasn't what we had planned but I think they are some of the best memories we have of the trip. It was like wandering through a Beatrix Potter story for all of us.

Enjoy,

K. L.

We took our then 12 month old to Greece 2 years ago. Definately bring lots of activities for the airplane. While you're at the airport walk a lot and tire your litte one out as much as possible.
If the people you are staying with also have kids that will be great because they will likely have toys, books, etc...
For your hotel stay ask if they have a bed for toddlers. Most European hotels did we found. They use pack and plays for beds. That way you don't have to drag that with you.
Bring some favorite toys/books/color books a long for the hotel portion of the trip too.

Good luck and have an amazing time.

At first I thought a window seat would work for me as my son could look out the window and be distracted. However, he decided to mess his diaper like three times and I had to keep bothering this poor orthodox Jewish man to stop reading his torah so I could get up again nad change him. He was not happy especially as he would ignore me and keep reading his book as I was saying excuse me please. I had to wave my hand in the end over his book and that obviously didnt go down well! I just didnt know what else to do as he kept ignoring me. I think maybe there was some important ritual thing he was doing so I felt really rude but I hoped he would understand. So, sitting on the end of the row would ahve been better for me and him!
Umbrealla strollers that are easy to fold up are a must. You'll be changing flights and need to get out and about. The bag people can be rough with them so keep that in mind when you decided what stroller you'll bring.
I borrowed a car seat when I was over there as I just didnt feel like having the hassle of a car seat of extra baggage. Ask your frineds and family if they can locate one for you to borrow while you'r their. As far as I know you dont need one on public transportation there if you are going to use that instead of driving around.
You'll love it. I'm from England so I hope you have a good time while your there.

Check out http://www.ciaobambino.com/index.asp We used their service in 2005 when we took a 10 day trip to Italy (Rome & Tuscany) and everything was wonderful. They were just concentrating in Italy then but now have recommendations for lots of other cities as well. There are also lots of good travel tips on the site.

Hi M.!
Europe is going to be amazing. My husband and I werein Sicily in March with our then seven month old son. I know your child is older, so more compact activities will be necessary. The umbrella stroller is a must. We flew with Alitalia Airlines, so were got a crash course in there travel policy. For example, they do not permit DVD movies to be played during flights. Also, if you are flying into Rome, the airport is enormous! Be prepared to walk and travel light. Absolutey take children's Motrin & Benadryl. My son developed ear infections from the pressure & a cold. Also bring plenty of plastic baggies for all liquids/ creams for your child. Buy as much as you can here in the US. Both the Pound & Euro are ridiculous....Enjoy

We just returned with our 6 month old from Paris and London. Because the dollar is so weak - you should try to bring as many items as possible from the US otherwise you will be spending lots of money for basis items. Also the infant food in a jar is different so if you have a fussy eater try to bring your own.

For the flight, try to get an overnight flight for the long stretch. If he is tired he may actually sleep a few hours despite all the excitment. If he won't, be prepared to walk around the plane a lot. My son was flirting up the flight attendants who probably had better things to do, but they played along well and were very nice.
Mayeb a dosis of Benedryl, some kids get very sleepy from it (my son... not so much)

Make sure you pack the typical meds like Tylenol or Ibuprofen, possibly cold meds as they do not dispense them the same way they do here in the US. I had to go to the pharmacy (in Germany) and they really go about it the natural route, which is great in general, but when you are on a 7 day trip you just don't have 5 days and sleepless nights to let a cough and fever run it's course.

I am not sure how well your son does on bedtime, you could start getting him adjusted to the time difference by letting him go to bed an hour earlier every couple of days leading up to the trip.

Most of all, just enjoy the vacation and all will fall into place!

M.,
I have traveled the world with my two children, now 4 and 2 years old, ever since they were born. The only suggestions I can offer is to stay in places with a good reputation ie. larger chain hotels or places that can be verified for their safety. I could tell you stories of how we had to childproof the room so my toddler couldn't leave in the middle of the night or crawl out a 22 story window while in Thailand. I am always concerned with the safety factor in a foreign country because their standards are not always our standard. With a big chain hotel it is usually easy to verify chain locks standard on all room doors, locks on windows etc. Also these places usually have highchairs and cribs available so you don't have to provide them. As far as Europe is concerned, this is a great place to take children, and most places and attractions welcome kids. You need to verify that your car seat is legal in the country that you are going to. Some countries have their own standards and require a sticker on the car seat that says is passes their standards in that country. If you rent a car, you can rent a carseat. Be prepared though to receive one that may not meet your standard of cleanliness and by all means complain if it doesn't. In New Zealand we received 2 carseats from the rental company that had spit up all over them and I complained and promptly got new ones. As far as buy any supplies, you will find that Europe has everything we have here just under different manufactures names and brands. Infact, you may like theirs a little better than what we have to buy here. I found wipes in other countries that I loved and daipers that are better than what I buy here. Go figure!? The most important thing to do is to take it all in stride. Things will go wrong but things will also go right and sometimes be amazing and memories you will never forget. My children are pros at travel and know exactly what to do at any given time. I have taught them to go with the flow and that is what they do. I think they are more adaptable than I am and I am proud of that. If you want to talk more indepth about any of this you are welcome to email me. You will have a wonderful time, I promise!!!

OMG!!! You're going to have such a total blast. You need a back pack type carrier-not just stroller. Luckily a French family loaned us one when we were there. There are lots of amazing walks and hikes on dirt and cobblestones through cities towns and countrysides where the stroller won't work. Europe is awesomely equipped for kids and families, you'll have everything you need.