Travel With Children
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Travel with children, whether on your way to see a Ponseti Method
doctor or for vacation, is a part of life once you become a parent.
Because so many parents will travel with their infants and children en
route to seek out Ponseti care, this page is going to offer tips, ideas and
advice to make these trips more enjoyable for everyone.
Tip #1 (the only real tip you need): Expect the unexpected, then
just go with the flow.
We were on our way from east-central Oklahoma to Iowa City, a trip of
roughly seven hundred miles, delivering Everett to Dr. Ponseti to begin
his clubfoot treatment.
We didn't know then-five-year-old Brian would eat all ten packs of bubble
gum in the back seat - packs that were supposed to last for a couple
weeks at least, and certainly not to be eaten and swallowed in the period
of three hours on the highway.
Solution: Find a Walmart. Buy one small trash can and a lot of trash
bags to line it with so he can barf going down the road with out messing
up the car too bad.
Ya, so that was just one of our trips.... and the trip where I learned that
one should never leave home with out a few key elements packed along
- namely, the barf bucket.
Travel with children is rough under the best of conditions no matter if
you are going by car, plan, bus or train. My best advice is to pace
yourself, which is something I find hard to do.
When we pull in to a motel and we're just sitting there watching some
stupid TV while the boys are going berserk, I think, "We could have gone
fifty miles by now!" But I am a power driver - I get locked in to Go Mode
and I don't want to quit till we get where we are going. The husband
and kids don't exactly agree with my philosophy.
If traveling by car, plan on stopping at a motel or a hotel before
you are entirely exhausted. Try to keep meal times and bed
times as close to their normal routines and times and possible.
Turn your trip to see Dr. Ponseti or your other approved
Ponseti Method physician in to a small vacation.
A trip for medical purposes doesn't have to be all
gloom and doom!
It was on that same above mentioned trip from Oklahoma to Iowa
that studying the map, I noticed that if we altered course, getting
off the 4 lane highways and opting for the back roads, we could
visit Hannibal, Missouri - you know, Boyhood home of Samuel Langhorne
Clemens - the famous Mark Twain! And what a cute town it is. We even
took an impromptu river boat tour.
Plan on taking plenty of clean, dry snacks, too, for both your adult
selves and the kiddos. Too much sugar is going to make them car sick
and hyper (I'm not sure which is worse!), but riding gets boring and we
all like to munch.
Pack in your ice chest several small bottles of water, plus milk and their
favorite unsweetened juices.
Pack lots of wet-wipe containers always with in easy reach.
Avoid chocolate. Avoid sticky candy.
Feeding Infants: Believe it or not, you really can breast feed your
infant while your husband drives down the highway and when time is an
issue and you have a baby that wants to nurse ever hour, this is an
alternative you should consider using to get some miles under your belt.
Instead of unbuckling the baby, just take yourself to him or her. OK -
that probably breaks traffic laws in all 50 states and at least three US
territories, but it's an option.
Bottle feeding: Your thermos full of hot coffee is a great frozen breast
milk defroster. Put one frozen bag of breast milk in your coffee cup -
pour coffee. With in a few minutes the milk is thawed out and warm,
ready to put in a bottle for feeding.
Bend Them Knees! Pull in to a small town at least once a day while
you travel and ask where their local city park is. Go there. Get out,
have a snack, spend at least an hour letting yourself and the kids
unwind. Encourage older kids to run and scream like wild Indians. Hold
the infant and nurse her a lot for comfort.
Motel Secrets: My friend Kellie says to pack a Pink Panther video or
dvd with you to let the kids watch when you roll in to your motel room...
kids like cartoons but this one is soothing with its sedated music that will
lull them in to relaxation and sleep.
aids or anti-stress-aids - even if it is just a can of beer or another
alcoholic beverage. But many use Rx sleep aids as well as over the
counter sleep aids. Infants and children suffer many of the same things
adults do - stress, strain, hyperactivity due to stress, strain, excitement,
change.... if you think you kid needs help calming down once in a while,
talk to your own doctor about the use of benadryl.
Again, do NOT take my advice, always ask your doctor first, but I also
used both Tylanol and benadryl before each serial casting appointment
to help the child relax through the procedure and rest well afterwards.
doctor or for vacation, is a part of life once you become a parent.
Because so many parents will travel with their infants and children en
route to seek out Ponseti care, this page is going to offer tips, ideas and
advice to make these trips more enjoyable for everyone.
Tip #1 (the only real tip you need): Expect the unexpected, then
just go with the flow.
We were on our way from east-central Oklahoma to Iowa City, a trip of
roughly seven hundred miles, delivering Everett to Dr. Ponseti to begin
his clubfoot treatment.
We didn't know then-five-year-old Brian would eat all ten packs of bubble
gum in the back seat - packs that were supposed to last for a couple
weeks at least, and certainly not to be eaten and swallowed in the period
of three hours on the highway.
Solution: Find a Walmart. Buy one small trash can and a lot of trash
bags to line it with so he can barf going down the road with out messing
up the car too bad.
Ya, so that was just one of our trips.... and the trip where I learned that
one should never leave home with out a few key elements packed along
- namely, the barf bucket.
Travel with children is rough under the best of conditions no matter if
you are going by car, plan, bus or train. My best advice is to pace
yourself, which is something I find hard to do.
When we pull in to a motel and we're just sitting there watching some
stupid TV while the boys are going berserk, I think, "We could have gone
fifty miles by now!" But I am a power driver - I get locked in to Go Mode
and I don't want to quit till we get where we are going. The husband
and kids don't exactly agree with my philosophy.
If traveling by car, plan on stopping at a motel or a hotel before
you are entirely exhausted. Try to keep meal times and bed
times as close to their normal routines and times and possible.
Turn your trip to see Dr. Ponseti or your other approved
Ponseti Method physician in to a small vacation.
A trip for medical purposes doesn't have to be all
gloom and doom!
It was on that same above mentioned trip from Oklahoma to Iowa
that studying the map, I noticed that if we altered course, getting
off the 4 lane highways and opting for the back roads, we could
visit Hannibal, Missouri - you know, Boyhood home of Samuel Langhorne
Clemens - the famous Mark Twain! And what a cute town it is. We even
took an impromptu river boat tour.
Plan on taking plenty of clean, dry snacks, too, for both your adult
selves and the kiddos. Too much sugar is going to make them car sick
and hyper (I'm not sure which is worse!), but riding gets boring and we
all like to munch.
- My best car snack to travel with children is this:
1 box of cereal such as Golden Grahams
1 box vanilla wafers
1 small package of ginger snaps
2 boxes snack crackers of your choice - gold fish, trisketts, etc.
3 or so packages of dehydrated fruits - berries, rasins, pineapples
1 smaller bag of corn chips - fritos or generic brand.
Nuts if you want them.
I gather all these packages, and open each on the table, along
with a box of zip lock baggies. Now I reach in to each package
and pull out a small handful of each and put it in a bag, so the end
product is several bags containing a small sampling assortment of
each food item listed above.
Make your bags on the small side, so the kids can just pretty
much eat one at a time with out having half open and half empty
bags spilling and littering the back seat.
Pack in your ice chest several small bottles of water, plus milk and their
favorite unsweetened juices.
Pack lots of wet-wipe containers always with in easy reach.
Avoid chocolate. Avoid sticky candy.
Feeding Infants: Believe it or not, you really can breast feed your
infant while your husband drives down the highway and when time is an
issue and you have a baby that wants to nurse ever hour, this is an
alternative you should consider using to get some miles under your belt.
Instead of unbuckling the baby, just take yourself to him or her. OK -
that probably breaks traffic laws in all 50 states and at least three US
territories, but it's an option.
Bottle feeding: Your thermos full of hot coffee is a great frozen breast
milk defroster. Put one frozen bag of breast milk in your coffee cup -
pour coffee. With in a few minutes the milk is thawed out and warm,
ready to put in a bottle for feeding.
Bend Them Knees! Pull in to a small town at least once a day while
you travel and ask where their local city park is. Go there. Get out,
have a snack, spend at least an hour letting yourself and the kids
unwind. Encourage older kids to run and scream like wild Indians. Hold
the infant and nurse her a lot for comfort.
Motel Secrets: My friend Kellie says to pack a Pink Panther video or
dvd with you to let the kids watch when you roll in to your motel room...
kids like cartoons but this one is soothing with its sedated music that will
lull them in to relaxation and sleep.
- My kids are not allowed to jump on the beds at home - but
in a motel? Um...I'm not so strict with that rule. Kids are full
of energy that can't come out tied in the back seat. It's
gotta come out somewhere. Ideally, get your motel or hotel
room, carry in your bags, adjust your heat or AC, then take
everyone out for a walk around the parking lot three or four
times. Again, encourage older children to run and scream
like wild Indians.
Also consider giving each child a dose of Tylanol, just to
ease out those stressed nerves and road trip aches and
pains.
Another potentially arguable tip is to pack a bottle of liquid
Benadryl. I am not a doctor and I don't even play one on
TV but I have given my infants and children a dose of
benadryl once in a blue moon to mellow them off to la la
land for the night.
aids or anti-stress-aids - even if it is just a can of beer or another
alcoholic beverage. But many use Rx sleep aids as well as over the
counter sleep aids. Infants and children suffer many of the same things
adults do - stress, strain, hyperactivity due to stress, strain, excitement,
change.... if you think you kid needs help calming down once in a while,
talk to your own doctor about the use of benadryl.
Again, do NOT take my advice, always ask your doctor first, but I also
used both Tylanol and benadryl before each serial casting appointment
to help the child relax through the procedure and rest well afterwards.
- If older siblings are along on the trip to see your
clubfoot doctor, consider adding a side trip for them
to enjoy. Older siblings are often confused or jealous
that the baby is getting all the attention.
Remember, turn your travel with children in to an
exciting road trip adventure, a small family vacation!
When we came home from Iowa with Everett, we took
several hours to tour the Bridges of Madison County
not only the home of The Duke himself (John Wayne)
but also the setting for the popular novel and movie
by the same title staring Clint Eastwood!
Eating: With your bags of snacks as outlined above,
don't count on the children being very hungry.
Travel sort of makes a person not hungry anyway.
Although it's not the best food in the world, consider
stopping to eat at a McDonald's while on the road,
instead of those nicer sit-down places. Why?
Because again, when you travel with children, those
children get full of energy! Inside a McDonald's
people expect kids to behave like little heathen brats
- meaning you as the adults can relax a little more as
you worry about their manners and behaviors just a
little less. And while you are there, don't forget to
donate your spare change to the Ronald McDonald
House Charities.
Better still, if it's only a day trip, pack your own lunch and go eat
outside at a park weather permitting. Spills totally won't matter
there, neither will running around the table with food in their hands.
| Return to Travel With Children Top of Page Travel Games for Children six-feet.com |
A swimming pool at the motel never
hurts for buring off that extra energy
while soothing Dad's tired bones.
hurts for buring off that extra energy
while soothing Dad's tired bones.
| An hour running and climbing in this park and Brian is ready to crawl in to the back seat again. |
| Children love to travel to the lake for vacation! This is Brian riding the tube behind a boat and Everett below waiting his turn!. Tenkiller Lake, OK |
| 2 year old Everett is singing those "I've had too much family vacation" blues. |
My three children and me. At six months old,
Garrison is wearing his Mitchell FAB as we visit the
Oklahoma City Zoo as part of a small weekend
family road trip.
Garrison is wearing his Mitchell FAB as we visit the
Oklahoma City Zoo as part of a small weekend
family road trip.
I've seen a lot of people
ask about airport security
with the FAB. Here
is a direct quote from the
TSA website:
"Security Officers should
not be asking you to
remove your orthopedic
shoes, appliances, or
medical device (insulin
pump, feeding tube,
ostomy or urine bag, or
exterior component of
cochlear implant) at
any time during the
screening process."
You can see the full text
here:
http://www.tsa.gov/travelers
/airtravel/specialneeds/edit
orial_1370.sht m#3
(Thank you Kaci for this
information!)
Another great tip: Never
put your child's foot
abduction brace in your
luggage. Carry it on to
the plane with you in
case your luggage gets
lost!
ask about airport security
with the FAB. Here
is a direct quote from the
TSA website:
"Security Officers should
not be asking you to
remove your orthopedic
shoes, appliances, or
medical device (insulin
pump, feeding tube,
ostomy or urine bag, or
exterior component of
cochlear implant) at
any time during the
screening process."
You can see the full text
here:
http://www.tsa.gov/travelers
/airtravel/specialneeds/edit
orial_1370.sht m#3
(Thank you Kaci for this
information!)
Another great tip: Never
put your child's foot
abduction brace in your
luggage. Carry it on to
the plane with you in
case your luggage gets
lost!