Vacation Advice – Keeping Kids Safe When Traveling

Child safety when travelling is every parent’s number one concern. Kids love adventure. Kids love to get stuck in. Kids get into close calls and scrapes – and not all of these situations are the child’s fault. That’s why we’re going to look at how to vacation safely when travelling with children, so that you know what to do – if you do find yourself in an unfortunate situation, with an injured child, see this personal injury lawyer in Oakland. 

On board the airplane 

I was once on a packed flight to Portugal when a young family of six (with twin babies) boarded the plane. Everybody froze. The tension was real. We all scanned the available seats to try to guess where this hoard of children would be seated. For those of you who’ve already guessed where this is going, kudos. For those who haven’t guessed it yet, let me put you out of your misery… they were seated next to me, and in front of me, and behind me. I was the hole in a ring doughnut of misery. But then, to my surprise, the family handed me a small sandwich bag containing a piece of candy, a voucher for money off my next purchase from the family business of home-made pastries, and a note to say sorry for any noise the babies may make. 

If you’re travelling with babies, you could consider something similar if you want to keep everybody on your side. But if you’re travelling with slightly older children, the advice is not to seat them in the aisle where they can reach out and be injured by a passing drinks cart, and always keep their seatbelt on (turbulence can happen without immediate warning). 

Choose Activities Wisely

The whole essence of going for a family trip is to have fun, bond with your kids, and make new memories. Children get bored quickly. 

To avoid this while traveling, you should ensure you engage in fun car activities to keep them distracted. For instance, you can bring along coloring books which is a great way to keep them occupied.

After arriving at your destination, you should be having a list of fun activities to engage in, visit, and many others. For instance, there are many fun things to do in Nashville that your kids will love. 

Your kids may have fun at the museum, or they can go bike riding on the beach. The most important thing to do when engaging in such activities is to ensure that your kids are safe. 

Besides the mentioned activities, you should ensure that you have a list of kid-friendly games and zones to visit. If a specific place doesn’t seem right or safe for your kid, you should avoid it as much as you can.

While staying in the hotel

Remove anything from the room that could harm your child, such as cutlery, glasses, complimentary matches, and even shampoo – these small travel shampoos can be easily bitten into by curious toddlers. Also, ask at reception for electrical covers so that power outlets do not pose a danger. The last main pointer with hotel rooms is to tell your child never to open the door to anybody (you won’t be leaving your child unattended anyway, but this covers scenarios such as when you are in the bathroom). 

Hotel play areas

Hotels make money by selling the same service over and over, and they don’t plan to eat into their profits by being overly-zealous with regards to maintenance. In plain English, if something hasn’t broken yet, the hotel is unlikely to replace it. When it comes to hotel play areas, you can expect a certain degree of vigilance against faulty equipment, but it’s always worth casting your eye over things like any gates that don’t close properly, any sharp edges, any rusted parts, and any nuts or bolts that look like they could use tightening. While your child may protest if you decide that the play area is not fit for purpose, these checks could potentially save you and your child from a trip to a foreign hospital.