Prepping for a family of eight to go on vacation took weeks! All the planning around what ALL do we bring!!!! AHHHHH!!! How do we keep 6 kids occupied on a plane for 8+ hours, airport lay overs, jet lag, sleeping situations, transportations…carseats and a van big enough to transport us, how many bags can/should I bring, snacks…. the list goes on!
As a Mom of 6, packing comes in large quantities, which means lots of bags. Here are some travel tips I learned.
Travel Tips for Moms
- Ship items ahead of time to hotel in one box. It would cost me $75-100 for an additional check bag at airport so check shipping cost to the location you are going and see if it will be cheaper.
- snacks (weighs a lot in a bag)
- puddle jumpers (times 5, takes up a lot of room)
- swim diapers
- Plan your days / excursions ahead of time
- I find it always helps when I travel to have a plan for each day so you aren’t wasting time..especially when you travel with your kids. They will want to stay entertained so have a list of things to do everyday.
- Plan for down time
- When traveling with kids (especially in my case with quintuplets), they sometimes will ‘rule the nest’. Jet lag may happen so make sure you aren’t over doing it the first few days. Keep it low key..this way you don’t regret any excursions because your kids lost their cool and ruined the whole outing 😉
- Pack clothes in zip lock bags.
- To save on space in the many bags I had to pack, I use the large ziplock bags to make them air tight. Crazy how much more you can fit in the luggage when you do this. This also helps keep things organized (#myobsession #organization). Pjs in one bag. Swim wear in another. And then bags organized by day. *We had help that came with us on this trip so having the ziplock bags labeled “Monday dinner”, “Tuesday excursion”…etc…helped my helpers get the girls dressed without even having to ask “what do we need to put them in”.
- Start packing early
- When you plan to take a family of 8 on vacation, it takes a while to pack. I start a week before so when it gets down to packing crunch time, I can verify my checklist of items still remaining to pack and not over stress about forgetting something.
- Pack your kids first
- Write it down!
- Mom of 6 here….I can be scatter-brained….wait… ill call it ‘multi-tasking too much brain’ lol. In the midst of my multitasking packing skills, I constantly have other items popping into my head that I just can’t get up and tend to at the moment, so I have a notebook that I jot down items. And yes I’m old school, I use paper in pen because I like to see the item get scratched off the list hahaha. Adam always says “your phone can do that” haha
- Carry on bags
- 6 kids on an airplane (f.u.n. FUN! lol). Blayke uses a school back pack and the Quints have each a little JuJuBe MiniBe pack back that is perfect size for toddlers. I got advise from one of my favorite travel Mom vloggers, Jessica from The Bucket List Family. She advised me to let the girls pick out a few things they would want to bring and put them in their carry on bags. THIS WAS A GREAT IDEA! Gave us an activity at home to do and they got to pack what they wanted.
- Suckers are a must in the carry on. They are the instant mouth shutter haha. And they help with ascending and descending ear pressure.
- Lovie and a straw sippy cup
Until the next trip….lol. I’m already ready!! Where shall we go next!!!!????!!!???
#busbyventures
XOXO
~D~
