Traveling with young kids can be tricky. You often need to be creative to entertain kids on road trips and navigate the sleeping situation at hotel rooms. Our family has traveled many times with our kids and our experience has been different each trip. We’ve learned some useful tips for traveling with kids as well as things to avoid. We’ve also tried some great gear that has made traveling with kids a whole lot easier!
This post is a partnership with Nakturnal featuring travel bed rails.
Choose Kid-Friendly Accommodations
Stay in a place where your kids can have their own room or section of a room. Vacation rentals by owner (VRBO) are a great option for getting a larger space for your money. You can often rent a small house or condo for the price of an average hotel room. We love staying in VRBO rented places. When kids can have their own room, it’s much easier for parents to stay up later or watch a movie. Individual vacation rentals are furnished with basic amenities and often have their own kitchen. Families can easily make breakfast and enjoy home-cooked meals at their home away from home.
Conversely, our family doesn’t always rent a vacation house. We also love traveling in our RV motorhome. We have a comfy living space and kitchen which allows us to cook meals on the road. Our kids also have beds to nap during the day, which allow us to maintain our kids’ regular routines.
Don’t Ditch Naptime
Speaking of naptime, it’s very helpful to maintain kids’ regular routines even while on vacation. Plenty of rest will help kids stay energized during your family adventures. Our kids usually nap right after lunch for at least one hour. If the kids miss a nap, it’s harder for them to enjoy the afternoon. Our RV motorhome allows the kids to sleep in actual beds for naptime, even if we are parked at the zoo!
When we are on the go, the kids can nap right in their car seats in the RV motorhome. The increased space allows them to stretch their legs and cuddle up with a pillow. It’s important for kids to stay in their car seats while an RV is moving, just like in a car.
Choose Casual Destinations
Don’t pack your schedule too full when traveling with kids. Leave room to have fun and fit casual activities in. We usually plan 2 to 3 main activities to do per day and fill in the rest of the time with spontaneous activities. These could include walking through a park, going to a local ice cream shop and exploring the local culture. Sometimes we find a local farmer’s market to stop by. Casual trip planning allows us to enjoy some down time with our kids. We don’t always have to worry about meeting our itinerary goals.
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Make some special memories vs. seeing everything you can. We focus on making a few special memories with our kids on vacation, rather than seeing everything possible. We loved exploring the tide pools on our Oregon family vacation last year. In Hawaii, we also hiked with our baby to a rainforest waterfall. You can easily forget the details about the rest of your vacation. However, your family will remember the more adventurous events of traveling with kids.
Bring Helpful Kids’ Travel Gear
Staying away from home with your toddler? These travel bed rails from The Shrunks make naps and bedtime much easier for kids when away from home. You can create a cozy sleep space and barrier on any bed that will make a child feel more secure. The Shrunks travel bed rails feature a slim design that easily slips under the bed sheet. You can inflate these portable bed rails in minutes using the compact foot pump it comes with. All the materials are BPA-free, Phthalate-free and lead-free. The Shrunks inflatable bed rails are designed for ages 2 and older. The inflated size is 48 in. x 7 in. x 4 in. and the bed rails roll up at a weight of 0.6 lbs.
- Keep your child safe from rolling off the bed.
- Slim design slips conveniently under any fitted twin, queen or king bed sheet.
- Recommended for kids 2 years and up.
The Shrunks travel bed rails may need to be occasionally re-inflated depending on location, temperature and humidity. My 2-year-old benefits from using a rail or barrier of some type to successfully stay in bed. We have a built-in rail on her bed at home. On the go, these inflatable bed rails provide similar security for keeping kids snug in bed.
b.box Sippy Cups
These are easily our favorite sippy cups to use when traveling with kids, featuring a weighted straw and easy-to-grasp handles. The straw allows your child to easily drink when semi-reclined in a car seat or stroller. And the straw is thinner than normal so they are pretty hard to spill in the car. My daughter loves her award-winning b.box sippy cup and she’s hard to convince to drink from anything else!
Revelae Kids Cloth Snack and Storage Bags
Colorful modern cloth snack bags are another wonderful travel essential to hold snacks and accessories while on family hikes. They’re made with moisture resistant food-grade material and close with a zipper. We use these cloth snack bags to hold dry snacks, fruit, hair accessories, cosmetics and more! Revelae Kids Everything Bags are great to organize larger items such as clothes, hats, sunscreen and bug repellent. You can keep everything together in these Eco-friendly nylon bags and organize your purse, diaper bag or beach bag.
Okiedog Kids Backpacks
Nothing travels better on a family vacation than a cute kids’ travel bag. Kids’ okiedog backpacks are roomy enough to hold all of a child’s necessities. These okiedog Wildpacks would be perfect for family traveling this summer and could be used later for school!
Enjoy Kid-Friendly Adventuring
Our family loves exploring forest trails and stopping along our hike for snack time. Kids enjoy discovering simple things such as pretty flowers, spotting a chipmunk and throwing rocks in a lake. We recommend that you don’t plan an adventure that’s too long. During many hikes, our kids eventually need to be carried the rest to the way back to the car.
A hike through the forest is an easy way to enjoy the great outdoors as a family. You can explore nature and enjoy a simple afternoon together while traveling with kids.
Where will you go adventuring with your family this summer? Every family can enjoy their current life stage with kids. You simply have to choose age-appropriate activities for making memories on your family adventures.
Hi, I’m Katie! I live with my husband and 3 kids in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. I love Jesus, coffee, creative projects, taking photos and traveling. I’ve previously worked as a web designer, journalist and barista. I hope you enjoy our creative projects and family adventures!
Wow! These tips do not only seems practical but also very useful and convenient. I will make sure my friends who have kids read your post. Keep up the awesome work!
I like that these travel bed rails will help kids stay snug in bed and keep them from rolling over and falling out of bed.
I like that these bed rails can fit any sized bed.
I wish I had this product when I was little, I seemed to always fall out of bed. This product seems like it would keep kids safe in the bed.
I love that these bed rails are so portable and will slip under any bed for easy storage out of the way!
I love that you can deflate these for easier storage!
I love this product because it’s so portable and it would keep my grandson safe in the bed and not roll off. We have to sometimes rearrange a room when traveling just so we have the bed pushed up against the wall for protection for him.
I am happy to see they fit a king size bed.
I would like this when our grandson is taking a nap at our house. He is 3 & doesn’t want to sleep in the porta crib anymore.
I love this idea! These bed rails seem like they would help kids fall asleep.
I like that these travel bed rails can fit any sized bed.
These are great travel tips. Love the sippy, cloth snack bags, and convenient portable bed rails.
Sometimes it can be hard for kids to sleep away from home. Love how these bed rails create a safe, cozy sleep space.
Inflatable bed rails seem like a great way to keep kids in bed.
I like the safety aspect and peace of mind that these bed rails offer.
I love how easily these bed rails store.
I love the idea of this product! Fear of falling out of bed is a huge issue for us when my kiddos and I spend the weekend at their grandparents or aunts homes. I love that they are soft, unlike a metal rail and how portable they are!
The rail would be helpful when camping. Kids tend to roll all over the place in a tent and I wake up with body parts in my face and kids laying outside their sleeping bags. This could help with that!
I love this product since my toddler just recently converted to a toddler bed and I am wondering what we would do on vacation.
These bed rails would be awesome! Help keep my daughter safe in a bed she is not familiar with.
I need these bed rails for my family. Great travel tips
Wow!! This is brilliant!! My son is a tosser and a turner and this would really help us when traveling!!
I love that this can fit any bed. We haven’t had too many issues when traveling with our kids… mainly just finding places to stop when they have to go potty! AH!
This would be a great product to have even at home
I love that these bed rails are easy to store!
i like that it helps kids from falling out of bed.
We co-sleep and put our mattress on the floor so if my daughter rolls off, she won’t get hurt. I am scared every time we travel that she’ll fall off the bed. I didn’t know that something like this even existed.
I like that these bed rails are not restricted on size or age and that it’s more inside the bed
I love these bed rails because they solved the problem of what to do on our next trip.
Never seen these before. Looks like a must have for traveling with kids.
I am a co-sleeper, especially when traveling. This is definitely a need when sharing an adult sized bed with a little one.
These bed rails are so perfect for when you travel so the kids wont fall out the of bed. Really nice design.
love these bed rails, helps keep the little ones safe by helping them not fall out of bed.
These bed rails would be good when my sister’s grandbaby comes to visit
This bed rail would be great even in the camper
Honestly I’d love this bed rail even for home. Need to move the toddler to a twin bed soon and need it to be safe for him.
Our biggest travel difficulty is always sleeping arrangements. Our older daughter is 11 and doesn’t like to sleep on a couch so she needs a twin bed or a blow-up mattress, and our 3 year old is too kick-y to sleep with us, so she also needs her own bed.… Read more »
This would be useful for my toddler so he doesn’t fall out of the bed.
I absolutely love this for my son and daughter-in-law and granddaughter. They are military and travel a lot. This would be amazing for them with my granddaughter because in hotels she will wake up and get off the bed and start wondering around whereas at home, she has the rails… Read more »
This is a brilliant idea! My 2 year old just recently moved into a “big kid” bed and we actually use my old Snoogle pregnancy pillow as an ad hoc bed barrier, but it’s too big and unwieldy to schlep around while traveling. This product is an inflatable Snoogle!
Love these RV travel tips! I like that the travel bed rails are easily portable and don’t have BPA, lead or any of the nasty stuff in them as I like my grandchildren to be safe from chemicals and harmful ingredients if possible.
I like that they are inflatable so they will pack up easily. Then, no matter where we are, we can have them with us!
I love that these bed rails can be deflated for easy storage!
I like that these bed rails are easily portable and streamlined to pack.
I like that it is compact and Includes compact foot pump and convenient carrying bag.
I love that these bed rails are deflatable for easy storage. My grandson is always rolling off the bed, this would help a lot.
Love that these bed rails can fit any bed and give you peace of mind
It’s so hard finding bedding for small ones when your are traveling. This looks like a big help.
This product seems great to keep my niece in bed, she moves alot when sleeping.
These bed rails would put my mind at rest if my toddler had to sleep in an adult-size bed on trips.