Holiday Stress Tips
3 Easy Tips to Reduce Family Holiday Stress
Family trips can be more stressful than relaxing sometimes. Things don’t go to plan, your toddler is in a bad mood, the baby is crying and the work calls haven’t stopped. This is supposed to be a holiday!
Fortunately, the majority of these things can be avoided with a little prior planning. Here are three simple holiday stress tips to ensure your family holiday goes smoothly.
Maintain Your Routine
You don’t have to stick to it like glue, this is a holiday after all. However, sticking to the usual nap and eating times will make a huge difference to everyone’s mood. This might mean heading back to the hotel for an hour at noon for a nap, or it could be as simple as laying down on a towel at the beach for quiet time. A young child that is tired and/or hungry is not fun!
Know Where You’re Going and How to Get There
Winging it without kids is easy. In fact, winging it without kids is fun! However, being stuck at a train station for hours upon arrival with a tired, hungry child because you haven’t pre-organised the details is no fun at all.
You don’t have to organise every detail, but being able to hop straight into pre-arranged transport to a hotel after a 12 hours flight with young kids is much more enjoyable than trying to work it out when you get there.
Don’t Cram Too Much Into Your Day
Young kids get overwhelmed easily. They will not enjoy visiting six crowded museums in one day and as a result, neither will you. When travelling with kids, go sightseeing in the morning and leave the afternoon free to have a nap or play on the beach away from crowds.
Other Tips for Reducing Holiday Stress:
Jessica, from Magnets from Everywhere shares her advice on reducing stress when travelling with kids here
The Sullivan Family from Going where the wind blows share tips on reducing stress when travelling with children here
The Lackey family from Adventures in Family Travel share their tips to reduce stress during family travel here
Need Some Family Holiday Inspiration?
For more information on great places to visit as a family, head on back to the home page for inspiration on destinations and activities worldwide.
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Great tips! We have a hard time sticking to the schedule, but we do make sure nap time happens everyday. Often we’ll just make sure the kids sleep in the carriers, but if at all possible we lie them down in the hotel. Bonus if the grownups get a nap too!
I wouldn’t even dream of heading off without a carrier the little one can sleep in ! It’s saves my sanity on many occasions 🙂
Couldn’t agree more about not cramming too much in to one day!
Your tips about being organized are spot on! It is hard to try and wing it with tired kids along!