Traveling with Kids (Part 1 of 3)

The holidays are fast approaching and many of us are making plans to get on the road to visit family and friends. 

And if you've never traveled with your child or your last trip made you feel like you'd rather have stayed home, I have something for you!

For the next 3 weeks, I'll be sharing tips about traveling with kids, how to sleep well and make travel less stressful...

This week deals with making travel less stressful. Traveling during naptimes or in the evening while your child is sleeping is also a good idea. Whether on a plane or in the car, if they're awake, make sure you keep them busy! Toys, books and snacks can keep kids busy and occupied. 

Here are some helpful ideas for snacks from Brittnay Sharman, at thenutbutterhub.com and she shares her idea for great snacks to have during your travels. 

Healthy Snacks For For A Road Trip With Kids
When we're heading off a long trip with our kids, snacks are an essential item! Unfortunately, convenient snacks for kids are often pretty unhealthy, not to mention expensive. Keeping our small kids occupied in the back seat can be challenging at the best of times, without constant cries of “I’m hungry!” resonating around the car (which can drive anyone crazy!).

You can also have a go at making it yourself, which is a great option if you’re on a budget.  Here are some great ideas:
Popcorn--Popcorn is a great healthy snack and it comes in all sorts of flavours. Buy a big bag and split it up into snack-size portions in boxes or sandwich bags. We find it  can get a little messy, but at least it’s dry and not too difficult to vacuum up!
Cottage Cheese & Blueberry Wraps--This one might sound a bit out there, but all our friends' kids along with our kids loooooove this combo! It's a perfect way to get the kids to have a balanced meal with carbohydrates & protein. The cottage cheese ensures you don’t have any runaway blueberries to fish out from under the seat. 
Granola Bars--Making your own granola bars is a great option for a no-mess and healthier snack. Store bought cereal and granola bars are often packed with sugar, glucose syrup and additives which aren’t good for anyone!Making your own can be a fun exercise to do with the kids as well (and maybe tire them out before you get on the road). You can pack them with your kids’ favourite things and they don’t have to be too difficult either. We have a few favourites are blueberry vanilla & greek yogurt as well as double chocolate peanut butter. These recipes are healthy not to mentions delicious (we usually save a few for ourselves)
Cereals--Make a great snack for long car journeys. There are lots of healthier options such as wholegrain cereals, cereals with much less or no added sugar and ones without artificial flavourings. Pop a handful in a sandwich bag or snack box for long journeys to soothe those hunger pangs – if you don’t usually have cereal as a snack, your kids might even be occupied at the novelty for a while!
Jerky is perfect for on the go snacking. It doesn’t require any chilling or heating and its practically impossible to make a mess with it (well my kids manage to make a mess with anything and everything)! The only problem with pre-packaged jerky is that it can be extremely high in sodium. Try making your own bacon jerky, it’s super simple and last for months. The kids won’t be able to tell the difference!

Dried Fruit-- Dried fruit can be a great healthy snack for kids; it looks different and tastes different to its fresh counterpart. It’s also much less messy than fresh fruit, as there’s no juice to be squirted over the back seat and no messy hands wiped on clothes. Banana chips, dried apple rings and dried apricots are some of the favourites. You can grab these in health food shops super easily and lots of supermarkets do a good range.
It can seem like a daunting task when it comes to staying healthy on the road with small kids, but with these ideas, it should be a little easier! 

And when the snacks are all done, make sure your child has plenty of toys to play with!

Hopefully while you're traveling, your child gets a lot of sleep. During travel, rules around sleep are so much more flexible. Stay tuned for next week's blog of Traveling with Kids part 2: Making Sure Your Child Sleeps Well at Grandmas.

For more sleep tips, visit www.sleepsolutionsbychristine.com