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A single parent's top six travel tips

Travelling with kids can be doubly difficult for a single parent. Shelly Weiner shares some practical tips based on personal experience

• Don't pack more than one suitcase per person. If you are travelling with an infant or toddler, pack their clothes into your big suitcase. I never travel unless I can lug around the suitcases and the car seat and the stroller and the kid all by myself. It's a test of sorts.
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• When I fly with my 3½-year-old son, I put him into his car seat immediately before we board the plane and balance the car seat on his stroller. That way I can wheel him down the gangway, and I only have to carry him in his car seat a short distance from the door of the plane to the seat.

• Whenever we take a driving holiday, I try to stop every hour (or as close to an hour as possible). The first thing I do is look for a park or playground, so my son can run around for a while.

• Buy a kiddie harness. I like the ones with the chest harness, so you don't dislocate your child's shoulder if you have to yank it. (Sometimes, with the wrist ones, I felt like his arm was coming off!) I don't care what other people say - if I have my hands full with something (which I often do when we're travelling) and my son refuses to hold my hand, at least I have him attached to me with the harness. Then I know he can't run very far away from me.

• Always try to buy a child his or her own seat on a plane so you have a place to put the car seat. It's expensive, but much, much safer.

• Take the train. Kids love trains, and just being on one seems to ward off that 'Are we there yet? How much longer?' routine.

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