Travel with Triplets:
Triple the Trouble or Triple the Fun???
By Catherine Eames, Triplet Mom
Originally printed in November 2003

We have had great opportunities to travel with our children since they were a few months 
old.  The early trips were by car to "safe destinations" - places with helpers and 
equipment on the other end.  By helpers, I mean real help - family members or friends 
with experience with newborns who could easily handle the feeding, bathing, holding, 
rocking of the three children so that my husband and I could get some sleep and have a 
meal out without the children.  What I don't mean by help - I don't mean meddlesome 
suggestions from people who are interested in doing it their way rather than your way.  
The equipment end is also important because it helps you figure out what is essential to 
bring versus the "nice to haves."  The more free essentials at your destination, the easier 
it is to bring the "nice to haves."  The free part is also crucial because the daily rental of 
cribs, high chairs, strollers, bed rails, etc., will quickly eat into your vacation fun money.  
Most hotels, condos and rental agencies charge $10-15 or more for EACH of these things 
per day, so watch out.

We developed a routine of what would always be in the car, for those spontaneous day 
trips to the beach or anywhere we were invited.  We found that it served us very well 
until the kids were 16-18 months old and even now, with the kids nearing 3 ½, we still 
have a variation always packed.  In the back of the car, we always had a duffle bag with 
changes of clothes and toiletries for everyone, including my husband and me, five towels 
and facecloths, a couple of blankets or old comforters, a port-a-crib, disposable cameras 
and the fold-down strollers.  This made it easy to pack food and the current "favorite" 
toys, fill the gas tank and go.  We never left civilization on any trip so we could buy 
essentials we ran out of; however, this preparation made us quickly realize what we could 
do without or creatively substitute.  

We did a 450-mile car trip when the kids were 16-months old that was not as bad as it 
could have been.  I thought we were crazy to do this, but we found it best to drive, fully 
caffeinated, at night so the kids could sleep during the ride.  Our kids got bored during 
car trips of more than 90-minutes or so, which at that time was the length of their 
afternoon nap.  I also think they did not like their mobility restricted, so our answer was 
to drive at night.  It also minimized the extra toys and things we would have had to bring 
along to keep them entertained while we were in the car.

When the kids were 20-months old, we got more adventurous or, did we just go off the 
deep end?  We all flew to Florida on Delta, non-stop to Fort Myers.  Suggestions for 
flight preparation:

?	If there is an airport near where you live, take the kids for a visit.  We were and 
still are regular visitors at both the Lawrence, MA and Nashua, NH airports.  The 
kids like the novelty of speaking to people who have their own planes, watching 
all of them take off and land, and telling stories to wide-eyed children.  Some of 
these small airports also have a coffee shop which makes it nice to be able to have 
a snack or meal there while the kids are learning about the airport and planes.

?	Take seriously the advance check-in times suggested by the airlines.  Some 
airports are much easier to move around in than others and the size of the security 
checkpoints varies widely.  Also, don't forget picture identification for everyone.  
We had copies of their birth certificates and recent family pictures laminated to 
make it easier.  

?	If it is at all possible, non-stop flights are the way to go.  Often times, it is more 
expensive, but everyone's comfort is also a consideration.  Obviously, it 
minimizes the up-and-down, which for many infants is very painful because they 
do not know how to clear their ears for pressure changes.

?	Make sure that everyone is well-hydrated before and during the flight, preferably 
with water, water, water.  It gets the kids used to swallowing frequently to clear 
their ears, even if it means more trips to the bathroom or diaper changes.  For 
those of you who are unfamiliar with this problem, changes in a plane's altitude 
and the resulting changes in the plane cabin's air pressure can seriously effect the 
pressure in human ears.  It is particularly acute for people with allergies and sinus 
problems because of their congestion.  We had a bag of DumDum lollipops and 
doled them out to insure the kids were swallowing during the last hour or so of the 
flight.

?	Pack a small cooler and make sure you have the kids' favorite snacks readily 
available throughout the flight.  If your kids are at all like mine, you never really 
know when they're going to want to eat and how much.  Both before and during 
the flight, they are much better off eating snack-sized meals than large ones to 
minimize any stomach discomfort.  We never had any motion sickness, but 
perhaps we were lucky.

?	If you are going more than one time zone away, consider whether you should 
change the family's daily clock.  The less disruption to it, the better.  We have 
relatives who come from California each year with young children.  They visit for 
a week or ten days and do not change their children's clocks and do not schedule 
anything that would interfere with changing it.  This means that the children get 
up at the California time of 7:00 AM (our 10:00 AM), eat breakfast or a neutral 
meal that the children could eat at any meal, have morning activities on California 
time until snack or lunch time (depending on the age of the children), rest and 
snack, then more activity until dinner, and bedtime at two or three hours later than 
otherwise.  It might drive the in-laws crazy to have children up "so late", but it 
has sure worked for us. 

?	To minimize carry-on and checked luggage, ship things ahead of time to your 
destination.  Via UPS or the US Mail, it is pretty inexpensive to send 50 pounds 
of stuff you won't be able to live without during your vacation, but you won't 
need while you're traveling.  This includes sun block, disposable cameras, some 
clothes, golf shoes, etc.  For an extra $5, UPS will even come to your house and 
pick up your shipment.  Most hotels will have your shipment in your room when 
you check in.  You can also maximize the storage space in your rental car because 
it won't be filled with the things you shipped ahead of time.  Save your shipping 
box and send back your dirty laundry, the books you read (remember, you were 
on vacation!!), and other non-essentials.  It may sound crazy, but my husband and 
I did this long before we had children because it made airport check-ins and quick 
connections much easier.

?	As with any trip, make sure you have some new, small things for your kids to try 
out.  It's a great way to kill some time, too.  We have done coloring books and 
crayons, the small Magna-Doodle, dolls, make-up and hair ribbons, trucks, etc., 
all with pretty good success.