Traveling with a Four-Year-Old

Traveling with kids is not easy.
I started traveling my kids when they were as young as four months old. Here are some ideas outside of the DigEplayer to keep your trip safe, cheap and enjoyable for all involved. My favorite swag: the Trunki by Melissa and Doug (not being paid for this). My four year old loves to help pack it, pull it through the airport and when we get in a tight spot with time, he rides on it and we can pick up the pace. It is sturdy and has locks on the sides, so I keep my camera in there and some muffins and bananas. This keeps them from bruising in my larger purse.

My little man likes to carry his own backpack. Inside:

-Quiet toys: story cubes, Spot It, magnetic Tic Tac Toe and Story Cubes - I like the Story Cubes and Spot It because they don't take up much room and there are multiple games within each one.

-Reading books

-Crayons and paper

-A cup with a top - they never have these on three plane and this can prevent some very annoying spills
-Snacks: always healthy juice, granola bars, fruit rolls (I have muffins and bananas in the Trunki so we can avoid spending a fortune on airport food)

-In my purse I bring wipes, always good to have, two  suckers and gum (these help kids during take off and landing with ear pain)

- I usually gate check my car seats (they are something I feel as if I can't live without) - but most airlines will also allow you to check them as baggage for free and we always wrap ours in a black plastic garbage bag when we do that to keep all the straps, etc. safe.

-Finally, a lot of patience :-)

General advice: mix it up and during layovers move.