With the holiday season just around the corner, the idea of sipping on a Pina Colada or ice-cold bevvie whilst lounging on a crystal white beach listening to the lapping of the waves sounds pretty idyllic.

Add in a few tired, screaming sunburnt children into the mix, however, and your holiday dreams soon turn into a nightmare.

Holidaying with kids, especially young ones, can prove challenging if you haven’t planned for every eventuality to ensure the smooth running of your holiday, the happiness of your children, and ultimately, the success of your holiday.

With a few organisational tips and tricks, and a bit of planning, you can help smooth any potential bumps in the road to your dream holiday.

Check out this survival guide with top ten tips to help make sure your family holiday is as stress free, and as enjoyable as possible!

• Choose your destination carefully

 The first step to a blissful family holiday is to be picky with your holiday destination. All families are different so make sure to choose a spot that suits the personality of your family.

Do your kids love to build sand castle and to take a dip in the ocean? Then a warmer holiday destination like Fiji should be your go to. Or perhaps your children get cranky in the heat?

If this is the case, consider a slightly colder vacation spot like Tasmania. No matter what destination you decide on, it’s important that your chosen accommodation caters for children, with kids programmes or other fun activities.

Just bear in mind that family friendly hotels get booked up fast, so book well in advance.

• Plan, plan and plan some more

Just because you have your destination and accommodation booked in, doesn’t mean that you can sit back and relax.

There are plenty of potential bumps along the way that many parents tend to forget about, such as long connection times, uncomfortable transport routes or even worse, forgetting your child’s favourite toy.

The key here is to outline your travel route step by step and keep in mind all potential risks. Put together a packing list for each member of the family, make sure to print out all itineraries ahead of the trip and if you’re having a long stopover, look up cafes and restaurants nearby.

Book as much as possible in advance, sadly your carefree days of spontaneous travel will have to be put on hold until your children are slightly older and can handle the unknown.

• Keeping track of everything important

Despite having it all planned out ahead of your trip, no matter how organised you are, when it comes down to actually hitting the road you’re bound to run into the occasional problem.

Keeping track of passports, bags, your kid’s favourite toys and most importantly, your child itself, is easier said than done.

To avoid losing precious items, invest in a location tracking device like Tile that you can attach to your passports and bags.

You can even fasten a Tile to your children’s favourite toy to avoid them having a meltdown again when they misplace their beloved toy, with the added bonus of keeping track of your children if they wander off with their toy in their arms.

• Getting through the initial journey

If travelling is exhausting for an adult, just imagine how tiring it is for a child with a significantly shorter attention span. Getting to the actual destination could be the biggest challenge of your holiday.

Pack accordingly and bring a few favourite toys and plenty of snacks, but make sure to steer away from the sweets to avoid a sugar high and subsequent crash.

All parents know that it’s a struggle to carry a whole bag of toys, so instead go tech-savvy and bring an iPad packed full of fun games and movies to keep your children entertained.

Crankiness is often associated with a lack of sleep, so urge your children to take plenty of naps throughout the journey.

• Keeping your children entertained on the trip

You’ve made it through the initial journey and have finally reached your dream destination, it should be plain sailing from here, right?

Think again, a holiday may be an enjoyable break from work or home life for you, but for a child it might be a case of emotional overload and extreme boredom.

To avoid a meltdown, ensure your child has something to keep them busy or entertained at all times. Research a range of activities or trips to fill up your holiday.

Again, prepare this ahead of time, but make sure to be flexible once there, depending on weather and how everyone is feeling on the day.

• Keeping everyone healthy

Even if your child is normally an angel, if the flu strikes whilst on holiday away from the comfort of their own room and bed, you can kiss goodbye to your relaxing break.

Children seem to be more prone to illness when travelling, with all the bugs and bacteria circulating crowded airports and large hotels probably playing a part in this.

The solution is to boost the entire family’s immune system before hitting the road. Check in with your GP two months before you travel to make sure you up to date with your vaccines and shots.

Eat well and take immune boosting vitamins in the weeks leading up to the trip, and when you finally depart for your holiday, bring an emergency first-aid kit with pain killers, stomach medicine and don’t forget Hydralite, children tend to suffer from dehydration more than adults.

• Stick to routines

Whilst you might love the spontaneity that holidays offer, it’s important to stick to your regular routine so children feel like they have structure to their day.

You’ll find children behave better, and are less likely to push boundaries if they know what they can and can’t do.

Whilst activities are important in keeping your child entertained, make sure you don’t overdo it, and stick to a maximum of  2-3 per day. Keep your home routine as closely as you can, this means staying devoted to the usual dinner, TV, bath and bedtimes.

• Eating habits

We all know that kids can be picky eaters, so however exciting it is for you to try out the local cuisine, you may want to stick to your child’s normal eating habits to avoid a breakdown.

It’s also important to remember that foreign food could result in an upset tummy. If heading out of the hotel to explore, make sure to pack healthy snacks to keep your children’s energy levels up.

• Factor in downtime

Whether you are going on a road trip across the country or flying to the other side of the globe, after a long time travelling your child will no doubt be exhausted.

Adjusting to a new environment is even more difficult for your children than it is for you. So when planning your holiday, make sure to include some ‘downtime’ when you reach your destination.

Urge your children to take a nap, watch a movie or read their favourite book once you arrive at your accommodation. This will make sure your kids feel relaxed and ready for all the fun adventures you have planned ahead.

• Get your kids involved

Whilst keeping kids entertained with a variety of trips and activities will help create a more relaxed and fun holiday, the key to keeping them engaged is to try and get them involved in not only the decision making process on what activities they want to do, but getting them to engage on a personal level with these activities.

Why not have your child document their holiday by giving them a camera or a notepad to either “paint” their experience , or if old enough, keep a travel journal.

Getting a child involved on the their holiday will keep them happy and content and more importantly, will make sure you have an enjoyable holiday.