How do you travel with young kids for the holidays?

Holiday travel with young kids goes better when three things stay familiar: the seat they ride in, the hour they sleep, and one object from home. Everything else can be borrowed. This is for children about three and older who are riding in a harness or a booster. If a younger child is also in the car, follow the seat rules for that child too. A story about the trip is not a product for infants.

Key takeaways

• Bring the seat you already know how to install. Plan a stop about every two hours.
• On a plane, use an aircraft-approved car seat. A booster does not go on the seat.
• Sleep is the first thing that slips at a relative's house. Protect the usual hour.

What belongs in the bag?

Pack less than you think and name it the night before, so the child sees the bag close.

• The car seat, not a promise that the rental counter will have the right one. HealthyChildren notes that rental seats are limited and that you should check condition and the printed instructions before you accept one.
• Snacks they already eat, plus water. A new snack in a moving car is how you discover an allergy on an exit ramp.
• One soft toy from home. A sack of new toys is for the destination, if at all.
• Wipes, a change of clothes, and any medicine you already use, in the original container, in your personal bag. Do not put the only dose in checked luggage.
• The address and a phone number for the house you are visiting, written on paper.
• If you are staying overnight, the sleep object: the same blanket, the same cup, the same lamp if it is small.

Leave wrapped presents for the end of the trip or ship them. A week of "is that mine" in the back seat is optional misery. Opening everything in someone else's living room can wait until you have slept. It does not have to happen in the car on December 23.

What is the car routine?

HealthyChildren's travel guidance says children under 13 ride in the back seat, that you stop about every two hours, and that you never leave a child alone in a car. A harness seat comes before a booster. A child who has outgrown the harness (top weight or height, shoulders above the top slots, or ears at the top of the seat) moves to a belt-positioning booster until the vehicle belt fits, often around 4 feet 9 inches and somewhere between 8 and 12 years. The middle of the back seat is often the safest place, and sometimes it is a poor fit for the seat. Install it where it locks tightly. If you are unsure, a certified child passenger safety technician can look. The AAP's car-seat page is the checklist, not a guess from a relative. CDC guidance for trips makes the same point: vehicle injuries are among the leading causes of death for travelers, and children 12 and under are safest buckled in the back seat.

For a child who still needs to ride rear-facing, HealthyChildren says to keep that seat rear-facing until they reach the manufacturer's height or weight limit. Do not turn a seat around because a cousin's van is crowded.

Car sickness, on the same site, starts when the eyes and the inner ear disagree. A child sitting too low to see out the window is a common cause. Signs are a pale face, yawning, restlessness, then vomiting. Offer a light snack if they have not eaten in about three hours. Have them look out the window, not down at a page. Stop when you can do it safely and let them walk. Ask the pediatrician before you give motion-sickness medicine. Those medicines can cause drowsiness and a dry mouth, and a wiped-out child at the destination is a poor trade.

The same page says to call if the symptoms show up when the child is not moving, especially with a headache or trouble hearing, seeing, walking, or talking. That pattern is not ordinary car sickness.

A simple script before you pull out:

"We ride in the back. We stop when the clock says two hours. If your stomach feels bad, you say 'window' and I stop when it is safe."

What is the plane routine?

HealthyChildren says to reach the airport early, to dress children in shoes and layers that come off easily, and that children 12 and younger are not required to remove shoes for routine screening. Tell them, before the line, that bags and toys go into the machine and come back. A joke about a bomb is not funny and can delay the whole family. Strollers can go through screening and be checked at the gate. Ask the airline ahead of time about the car seat. Many airlines let it travel as an extra piece without a bag fee. Check that policy on the airline's own site before you arrive.

On the aircraft, a child is best protected in a car seat labeled for airplane use, matched to their age, weight, and height. Children who weigh more than 40 pounds can use the aircraft belt. A belt-positioning booster cannot be used on the plane. It can be checked as luggage for the car at the other end.

Reserve the seat you will actually install. A lap is not a restraint in turbulence. If the flight is short and you cannot buy the seat, say that out loud to yourself before you go, and do not pretend the lap is the same thing.

Screen time on the descent makes some kids dizzy. The car-sickness advice still applies: look out, sip water, skip the hot pretzel if they are pale.

How do they sleep in someone else's house?

Keep the hour, even if the cousins are loud. Do the same two steps you do at home, in the same order, in a corner that is not the party. A bath can be skipped. The order should not be. If they usually hear a short read at night, bring that same one. A new house does not need a new plot.

Say the plan at dinner, to the hosts as well as the child: "They go down at 7:30 in the back room. We will come back out after." Guests who are surprised will keep offering ice cream. Guests who were told can help.

If the visit is the whole holiday, a story about the child's own bed and the guest room can be read on the drive. A holiday story made from one photo can use the trip you describe, the people who will be there, and what you want left out. It is written for ages 3 to 7, created after you pay, and you approve the proof before print. Prices are on the pricing page. Read it before you leave, not as a souvenir you hope arrives later. It will not make a strange room feel like home by itself.

Call the pediatrician the same day for fever with limpness, repeated vomiting with too few wet diapers or trips to the bathroom, trouble breathing, a rash you do not recognize, or an injury from a fall. A holiday is not a reason to wait until you get home. Urgent care or the emergency department is the right door if they are hard to wake, struggling to breathe, or you think they swallowed a battery or a magnet. A story and a familiar blanket do not treat any of that.

Related reading:

• See the holiday pictures
• Holiday gift notes
• Open a holiday story
• What belongs in a preschool bedtime routine
• Everyday family story ideas
• First Christmas after a move

Sources

1. Tips for Safe and Stress-Free Family Travel, American Academy of Pediatrics, accessed October 30, 2026
2. Car Sickness, American Academy of Pediatrics, accessed October 30, 2026
3. Car Seats: Information for Families, American Academy of Pediatrics, accessed October 30, 2026
4. Traveling Safely with Infants and Children, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, accessed October 30, 2026