My Top Tips for Traveling With Young Kids

I’ve traveled close to 50k miles solo with my kids over the last two years, starting when my daughter was 4 weeks old. My son, who just turned 6, has flown around 100k miles (!) after taking his flight when he was 3 months old. Being married to a professional baseball player, travel has become second nature to all of us - from one city to the next, wherever he was playing, we’ve traveled everywhere from New York, to Oklahoma, to South Korea!

Because of that, travel has become second nature to all of us. I’ve been through more travel situations that you can imagine (good and bad), and I love sharing my experiences in hopes that I can encourage other families to travel, even when it seems overwhelming. From delays in the airport to the sweetest flight attendants on the planet, we’ve experienced just about everything.

We just got back from 10 days in Europe as a family. Midway through the flight from PHX to Paris, a cat got loose and started wandering around the plane. My son is allergic to cats, which we proceeded to find out on that flight. It made for an eventful travel day, to say the least - but it was one of the best trips ever. We are all already planning when we can go back.

No matter what happens, with the right prep, everyone can enjoy! Here are my current top tips for traveling with younger children.

MINDSET

First and foremost, mindset matters. Traveling with kids is not always easy - there may be delays, there may be frustrations and they may have a hard time being off of their schedules. I go into every trip knowing that even if the travel day doesn’t go as smoothly as possible, being on the plane is a finite amount of time and that all I can do is my best to keep everyone comfortable and contained until we reach our destination. And, even if your kids have a hard time, flight attendants and even fellow passengers tend to be supportive, as long as your kid isn’t relentlessly kicking their seat or being disruptive without the parent trying to remedy the situation. Many of them have kids and understand, and those who don’t can wear their headphones, tune out and watch a movie 🙂

Even after the longest (hardest) of travel days, I have never once regretted the trip. The more I travel, the more I’ve learned how to simplify the process, so here are some of my current favorite tips.

SIGN YOUR CHILDREN UP FOR AIRLINE LOYALTY PROGRAMS

Sign your kids up for frequent flyer programs. If they have their own seat, they bank the points - no matter how old they are! Here are direct links to do so with the major domestic carriers. Add your child’s birthday and then simply confirm that you are the child’s parent or legal guardian and are setting up the account on their behalf. 

I created email addresses for my kids for things like this, but you can use any email address you want. The miles on some airlines (like Delta) never expire, and miles on other airlines (like American) don’t expire IF the member travels within a defined period of time (like every two years). 

https://www.delta.com/joinskymiles/ 

https://www.aa.com/loyalty/enrollment/enroll

https://www.southwest.com/loyalty/enroll

https://www.united.com/en/us/fly/mileageplus.html

PACK EARLY, TWEAK AS NEEDED

Start packing early. I lay out suitcases around a week in advance. It helps me not feel rushed, and I can go little by little when it comes to my checklist and pack whenever I have the ability to. Will there be a change in climate? If so, destination clothes are packed first, since they’re already not wearing them at home. Underwear and socks go last so they’re not sitting in the suitcase when they need to be worn prior. 

Charge devices the night before and then turn them off and pack them in their respective bags/backpacks. This includes tablets and headphones. 

I tend to stay away from packing lists, since it depends on the destination - however some things are brought no matter what.

MY TRAVEL MUST-HAVES:

A LIGHT, FOLDABLE STROLLER. I travel with one that folds under the plane seat or in the overhead bin and is easy to fold down and carry up and down stairs or on public transportation. We have the gb Pockit+ All Terrain, and just recently purchased a Stokke Babyzen YoYo which is sturdy and has a little more storage, but is a splurge. The canopy also goes down a little further if your child will sleep in a stroller. 

ZIPLOCK BAGS. You’d be shocked at how many things I use these for during travel. I put trash in them on the airplane so the trash isn’t falling on the floor or getting shoved in the seatback pocket. I’ve used them for snacks (or half-eaten snacks), toys, pacifiers and more.

TRAVEL DISH SOAP. Handy for so many things, including a water bottle or pacifier that falls on the ground on a plane. You can also get wipes that work in a pinch. 

EYE MASK HEADPHONES

EYE MASK HEADPHONES. My daughter is just now getting to the point where she will sit still and watch a show on a plane, and when searching for headphones for her age, I came across these headband headphones that double as an eye mask - and when she got tired enough, I put them on her and when she fell asleep, turned on background noise on my connected iPhone and pulled them over her eyes which helped her sleep a little longer with plane lights and sounds. I tried a few brands, but these had the best audio quality!

EXTRA CLOTHES. I pack an extra outfit for each kid, shoved to the bottom of the diaper bag. With a really young baby, you may want two extra onesies depending on the length of the trip.

 SMALL FIRST AID KIT. A few bandaids with a small tube of ointment, some Motrin, any medications they take, etc. Always pack this in a carry-on in case checked bags get lost. 

LOLLIPOPS. Helpful for takeoff and landing or just for a little treat when they get restless. I like YUMEARTH, but I also like Beekeepers Naturals which include propolis, vitamin D, zinc and wildflower honey. 

 DISINFECTANT WIPES. I carry travel packs and wipe every tray table, armrest and headrest down before my kids settle in. Whatever I can wipe, I wipe it - and I also wipe their hands a lot, even just with baby wipes. These BoogieWipes are alcohol-free, or if you’re comfortable using Clorox or a stronger disinfectant, those come in travel packs as well. 

NOZIN NOSE SANITIZER. Always ask your doctor before using a product like this, however this product has been clinically proven to lessen the risk of infection and has been helpful to travelers when used before a flight. It’s essentially hand sanitizer for your nose and I learned about it after a friend was recommended to use it by a physician.

ADDALOCK. This is a portable door lock that works on most doors, including in hotels. It adds a layer of security and gives me peace of mind. 

JETKIDS BY STOKKE. This is a ride on piece of small luggage that converts any airline seat into a bed, or adds a leg rest. It has been huge for us - my 6 year old can ride it through the airport, and then we use it to extend the seat for my very busy daughter. It also has extra storage for blankets, snacks, toys, or whatever. Just make sure to check with the airline before you travel - we’ve had no issues using it domestically, but it was NOT allowed on our flights to Europe on Air France (nothing that extended seat space was).

CAR SEATS. You can check car seats for free on most airlines. When I bring them, I put them in this car seat bag which fits both my son’s booster and my daughter’s travel car seat (the Cosco Scenera Next). We’ve also used the Doona, the WayB Pico and the RideSafer Vest depending on the age of my child and the location we’re traveling to. Most of the options we use are also FAA approved for use on the airline, as well. 

If you don’t want to bring car seats, car rental companies many times have them available to rent, or you can hire a car service that can have them previously installed. 

SLEEP SCHEDULES

This next tip is a little controversial, but it has worked for us when flying internationally. I adopted it when my son slept for 30 minutes total during a 17 hour travel day to South Korea - but then went to sleep and slept all night on Korean time as soon as we got to our apartment at 11pm. With the exception of overnight times on the flight or a catnap during the day, we try to avoid letting our kids take long naps during the day when we arrive at our destination. On our recent trip to Europe, our destination was 9 hours ahead. We landed at 10am (1am our home time), they’d each slept for maybe an hour on the flight. They fell asleep for 10 minutes in the car on the way to our rental around 1pm, and then we kept them outside in the sunlight and stimulated until it was bedtime local time. 

To make sleeping at the destination a little easier, we try to keep a sleep setup reminiscent of home. We bring a Slumberpod and stuffed animals for my daughter and a blackout stick up curtain and stuffed animals for my son - as well as their Hatch noise machines. With a dark environment, stuffies and the noise they’re used to sleeping with, they tend to feel more comfortable in their sleep space. When possible, we request a crib or travel crib from the hotel or wherever we are staying - but I’ve used the Guava Lotus travel crib with both kids, and it’s my favorite. Easy to put up and take down, and slightly longer than traditional travel cribs. My son slept in it on the road until he was 3 - and he’s in the 90th percentile for height.

CONCLUSION:

While this is certainly not an exhaustive list, nor is traveling with children a one size fits all situation, I hope that it has given you an idea or two when it comes to ways to make your travel a little easier! The memories made at your destination are sure to upstage the memories of the travel there.

What are some of your favorite travel tips? Let me know in the comments! Happy travels!

Clean Up Your Photos with the iPhone's 'Clean Up' Feature

How many times have you taken a picture that you love, only to wish that someone or something wasn’t diminishing the shot by being in the background? While I love being creative, photo editing is not one of my specialties (though I wish that it was). So, I was happy to find out that Apple had added this Clean Up feature to the Photos app and made it extremely beginner friendly to use.

Check out this photo of my family in Paris last week, at the famous Arc du Triomphe. As expected, we were not the only people there - there were plenty of tourists behind us in the only photo that we got in which my daughter wasn’t flailing around!

My family - and other visitors - at the Arc du Triomphe in Paris

Enter: the Clean Up feature. It works on photos taken on your iPhone, and on other devices or cameras, as well! Let me show you how it works!

First, go into the photo you want to edit in your photo library. Click the three lines at the bottom to open the edit options.

Three lines at the bottom of the photo, bringing up the edit menu

After you click the three lines, you’ll see Clean Up in the bottom right corner.

Click the Clean Up button on the right!

From there, the iPhone will automatically detect things in the back of your photo that it thinks you may want to remove. You’ll see them flash. Simply tap with your finger, and the iPhone will do it’s best to remove them. You can also drag your finger over any items it may have missed, and it will try and remove those, too!

Things the iPhone can remove flashing in the background

If it removes something and you don’t like how it looks, hit the arrow in the upper corner to undo.

Then, hit “Done!” Look at the before and after. Only takes 1-2 minutes, and voila!

BEFORE USING THE CLEAN UP FEATURE

AFTER THE CLEAN UP FEATURE

Want to see this explanation in video form? Check out my reel on Instagram.

It’s not always perfect, but sometimes it makes a big difference! Happy editing!

Social Media & Young Minds: A Few Things to Consider

This blog was originally written for and posted on Techronicler.

As you may have heard, the Australian government recently introduced a bill to ban children under the age of 16 from using social media. While government involvement is a completely different topic, and I can not speak to the specifics of the bill, I do think it’s important to discuss the potential impact that social media can have on young minds.

As a former Google employee and mom of two who has worked in the tech industry for almost two decades, I am very passionate about protecting our children in the digital age. I feel strongly that although there are exceptions, such as accounts run by parents for work purposes (an example would be a young professional athlete or public figure), most children should not have access to social media accounts (and in many cases, other apps as well without direct parental supervision or strict parental controls).

I also feel as though open parental communication and education is key here. The internet is vast, and children are curious - cultivating an environment in which the child can ask questions can be essential.

Social media is made up of complex algorithms that help determine what the user will be shown - and the algorithms are specifically designed to keep a user on the app as long as possible. The content that I see on my timeline may be very different than the content that you see, as timelines are made up of posts that the algorithm has deemed will be the the most likely to keep an individual user engaged and scrolling.

The more time that you spend on the app, the more money is made - so a "one size fits all" approach is simply not effective from a business standpoint. The documentary "The Social Dilemma" breaks it down pretty well, and gives examples of what the app does to essentially get a user addicted to it - from tweaking the content that you see to sending you notifications suggesting you come back and check out what's new. It also shows specific scenarios in the lives of young people. It is available to watch on Netflix.

Let's say a curious young person searches for something that most adults would deem inappropriate, and then scrolls through and reads about it. The algorithm now sees that the topic the user searched for was of interest, and will deliver more content of the sort. You may have noticed this on your own timelines.

Your child may be ingesting information that is not only dangerous, but completely false - being delivered from fake accounts with ulterior motives, people disguising themselves as someone else, and so much more. On top of a chemical change in the brain when it is being served content of interest, which I will touch on next, younger brains also have a harder time distinguishing fact from fiction, and many times a harder time being able to brush off negative or dangerous content or messages.

Seeing content that we're interested in prompts a physical change in our brain, activating the brain's reward center - keeping the user refreshing and/or scrolling to see what's new. Because of the dopamine spikes that social media usage can provide, many adults have a hard time putting their phones down sometimes (myself included). Now, consider the impact that this can have on a developing brain.

Not only can this cause shortened attention spans when asked to participate in important activities that cause less of a dopamine spike (including schoolwork, reading, family time and playing with toys), the targeted information provided to the user perpetuates the cycle of wanting more, more, more. This can lead to difficulty concentrating, increased anxiety, sleep issues and more.

There is also growing evidence that mental health issues in teenagers are on the rise, and could very well be correlated with social media use. This can be due to a plethora of reasons - from unrealistic beauty standards and filters on social media that teens are comparing themselves to, to the ongoing desire for validation through posts and likes - and cyberbullying can be extraordinarily dangerous for vulnerable teens, as well. Here's an article from Yale on the subject.

The main argument I've heard in favor of social media, understandably so, is that social media is a way to connect and socialize and not having access removes the child from a key part of socialization. While I completely agree that socializing is imperative, there are other ways for young adults to be digitally included without having social media accounts. These can range from having a non-smart phone for calls and texts to having a monitored phone with limited apps. Privacy and independence are important for teens - safety is even more important. All it takes is one post or message to cause significant damage to a child or teen's mental health, or worse.

Making sure your child is ready for the world you're opening them up to is essential. When deciding if your child is old enough and mature enough for social media, it’s important to consider if they truly understand things like the fact that a post, even if deleted, can potentially live on forever. And that just because a profile looks legitimate upon first glance, doesn’t mean that it is.

I saw a quote once that said something like, "when you want your child's childhood to end, give them a smartphone." So my question is this. If you do hold off on social media for your child, what's the worst that could happen?

Technology is ever changing, and the digital landscape just keeps growing and growing. It’s our job as parents to keep the communication flowing, and our eyes open to the vast world that our kids will eventually be exposed to.

When Time Is Flying: Three easy ways to document your Children’s childhood

At some point in time (or many points in time), every parent with young children hears something like “enjoy these moments, the time goes so fast!”

On one hand, it’s the absolute truth. When I brought my daughter home from the hospital, my newly four year old son seemed to have grown into a teenager overnight. On the other hand, it’s not necessarily a great thing for a sleep-deprived, overstimulated parent to hear - as much as we know that the time is flying, we also barely know what day it is and we may or may not have washed our hair or even peed in peace this week.

I’m not as consistent with the following ideas as I wish I were, because, well, because of the last sentence. As I write this, the laundry is piled high, my son is making our dog howl, and my husband is feeding my daughter her pureed lunch. But when my son was two and started talking, I wanted to remember some of his phrases and mispronunciations. Milestones. Whatever. I tried a few things to document these memories in the easiest way possible, and here are the two things I’ve committed to doing as much as possible.

First, I started keeping a notebook (just a standard small spiral notebook, nothing specific) in a place that I know I will physically see it. Out of sight, out of mind, right? I leave it and a pen by my bed, and when I look at it, it makes me think about what happened that day. I get the ones that I use on Amazon, and they’re cute and relatively inexpensive. One of the first things I wrote down were how he was pronouncing things:

Ollie, our dog, was pronounced “Ahh-ga.” My son would want our dog to follow him around, so we’d hear “Ahh-ga, come on!”

Watermelon was “waaga-mata.” Excavator was “Ha-ka-vee-ku.” Stephanie was “Fa-nahn-ie.” And so on. I never want to forget that little voice!

Later the same year, I wrote how much he was obsessed with the song “We Will Rock You.” And to say, “look how big I am!” He’d say, “look how huge am are!”

My writing is not pretty. It’s random things, scribbled at random times, barely legible. But they mean something to me, and I’ll remember these moments when I read them. My mom did something similar when my siblings and I were young, and turned it into an entire book of kids’ quotes - especially now, there are so many options down the line of how to best publish them when your kids are grown and you’re done writing!

Second - I have a dedicated note in my phone. If something happens that I want to remember, I can take notes here and then every once in a while, I copy over to the notebook. This option can be especially helpful if you’re more of a digital notes kind of person, especially since you can use it in tandem with phone reminders. I use Siri to remind me to take notes - for example, I have it set in my phone to remind me every year on their birthdays to write down my thoughts about the last year. I also have a reminder set to remind me every Sunday night at 9pm to jot things down about whatever the kids did that week. You can set it weekly, monthly, yearly, whatever works for you.

The third thing, which I’m sad that I didn’t think of sooner, was to start writing letters to each of them. I created a Pages document on my computer, one for Max and one for Zoe. The current plan is to give it to them on their 18th birthday, but TBD.

I started each of the letters with what age they are now, and what life is like. Made me tear up a little bit, I won’t lie to ya. Noted their personalities, things they do, what they like. Every year on their birthdays (I asked Siri to remind me to write every year on their birthdays), I’m going to look back at how much they’ve grown over the last year, and mention things that I’ve noticed. As they get older, I’ll tell them some stories of my own from when I was their age. And every year, I’m going to tell them how proud I am of them.

Just make sure to either print a copy every time you write something and put it in an envelope, or back it up somewhere. Just in case.

What I like about both of these are that there’s no pressure. I tried to do a more specific baby book, with guidelines and writing prompts, and then before I knew it I’d forgotten a few days/weeks/months and then I felt bad. This way, I write when I can or when I remember and then even if I don’t document everything, I still have some memories recorded that I may have otherwise forgotten. None of them are perfect, but they’re all a form of documentation that will remind me of things when inevitably the whirlwind settles down and these beautiful, chaotic days are a thing of the past.

These things are for me just as much as they are for them. It’s a win-win-win - I can look back on it, they can read it when they’re older, and it takes a little bit of the bittersweet sadness away when I think of how fast time is flying, and want time to stand still.

Baby & Toddler Sleep While On The Go

When I was pregnant, people always told me to “sleep while I could.” And then after I had my son came my personal favorite - “sleep when the baby sleeps!”

Totally doable, right? Who needs to do laundry, shower, go to work, or - gasp! - have 5 minutes to yourself?

I’ll be totally honest - the first 6 months of Max’s life left a lingering cloud on me for a while. The lack of sleep (and being far away from friends and family, therefore having little support) hit me hard - and took me a long time to rebound from. In part because of that, I got him on a relatively strict schedule, no matter where we are in the world - and helping him (and therefore myself) get the best possible sleep is super important to me.

I am, by no means, an expert. But here’s are a few things that have worked for me when it comes to helping ensure my son gets a good night sleep.

1) PORTABLE BLACKOUT CURTAINS + A SLUMBERPOD

In hotels, and when sharing a room, the Slumberpod has been an ABSOLUTE GAME CHANGER. It fits over most travel cribs and pack and plays. We put it in the corner, or even in a closet, and put a noise machine (see #3) in between us and him. The child won’t be distracted by trying to look around the room, the noise machine helps them feel even more like they have their own space, and the fact that it’s completely blacked out in there helps them get deeper, restful sleep.

Probably in-part because he’s slept in the dark for most of his life, my son won’t nap anywhere other than in a blacked out room - so on days where we’re on the go, I have to just accept that he won’t be napping in the carseat or on a plane. That being said, he usually sleeps really well at night now, and since he’s such an active kid, still takes a nap most afternoons if in bed in the dark.

Having him sleep in a blacked out room has also been able to have him on a “baseball schedule,” going to bed later and waking up later, because the morning light isn’t a factor. Furthermore, when traveling, it helps minimize jet lag. If he’s tired, he’s not (as) thrown off by the sun suddenly being up at 7am when according to his body, it’s only 4am.

When traveling, we use these portable curtains that stick on the window. Nothing to install, no walls to mess up. Just make sure those bad boys are truly blocking out all of the light.

2) A CONSISTENT BEDTIME ROUTINE

We didn’t do this at first, but when we started to implement it, we realized how important that it was. We start “wind down time” approximately an hour before bed. We take a bath, brush our teeth, read books, and then tell stories. I sing the same song every night, and then he gets hugs and smooches. Having this routine helps him know what’s coming.

3) A SOUND MACHINE

There are a ton of great options out there, and just about anything will work - but love the Hatch Baby Rest. I love it so much I have the Hatch Baby Rest+ in my own room, because the sound is great - and the Rest+ it has a clock on it.

I have Max’s on the dryer sound at about 40%. This not only helps him sleep well, but bringing it with me he has familiar sounds wherever we go. This not only helps create a better (and consistent) sleep environment, but also takes some of the stress off of the parents or caregivers, not worrying that every noise they make might wake up their child!

4) BRINGING THE SAME STUFFED ANIMAL OR OTHER LOVEY

Along with his sound machine, we bring his favorite stuffed animal everywhere we go. It’s big - as big as a pillow - but it gives him the comfort of the same sleeping conditions no matter where we are. Trying to make him feel as much at home as possible wherever we are is a priority for me, and it seems to help him.

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TIPS FOR TRAVELING ACROSS TIME ZONES

As I mentioned, my son won’t really nap anywhere that’s not blackout dark. Our travel to Korea took approximately 20 hours, and despite all of my best attempts, he only slept for approximately 30 minutes (right before our descent into Seoul). This makes travel days more mentally exhausting, but using the above resources, I’ve found that it makes it easier for him to adjust to new time zones. By the time we got to our final destination, he was so tired that we were able to get him to bed, wake him up in the morning local time, and ease him into his new schedule.

More often, we’re traveling somewhere with a 2-3 hour time difference. Here’s my method:

I try to ensure that he will get a normal night sleep in the original city. If I have to, I will opt for a flight that requires him to wake up a little earlier than usual - but I try to avoid super early morning flights. I’d rather land super late and be tired the next day then have him be cranky at the airport and on the plane.

Because he doesn’t nap on-the-go, I plan on having to entertain him for the entirety of the flight. Knowing that before I go into the flight makes it slightly more manageable. Then - we power through! The first thing I do when I get to the destination is set up his crib with his stuffed animals, Slumberpod or blackout curtains, and noise machine. I help him wind down, go through bedtime routine (abbreviated if it’s super late), and get him into bed. The hardest part is waking him up the next morning (especially if I’m jet lagged myself), but it’s worth it to keep him on a schedule. If it’s a short trip, I try to keep him on the originating city’s time zone. If it’s a longer trip, we usually just start living our lives around the new time zone right away. We all might be tired for a day or two, but everyone ends up being happier and adjusted quicker.

What are your tips on baby and toddler sleep?