A young child does not emerge from your toddler on a given date or birthday. He becomes a child when he ceases to be a wayward, confusing, unpredictable and often balky person-in-the-making, and becomes someone who is comparatively co-operative, eager and easy to please at least 60% of the time.

So by the age of about three, your child is becoming an active participant in your travelling adventures and therefore, right from the planning stage of your trip you can get him involved and spark his imagination so he will look forward to going.

This strategy also gives you the opportunity to calm and reassure him, as he will still have a natural wariness of the unknown. Take him to the travel agents to look at the posters and models of airplanes and ships and on to the Library to find books relating to some aspect of your trip.

Many holiday companies have short free videos advertising resorts, which can all help children adjust as they enjoy seeing in person, things they already recognise. Depending on how long before you actually go will determine when you view these so that they do not forget.

Make a homemade scrapbook diary with a page for each day you will be gone or treat him to a child's passport. Write the day/date at the top of each page. As you travel your child can use any quiet time to fill in what's been going on, draw pictures of interesting things he's seen, paste in bus tickets etc. Take it with you when you're out and about and he can get the autographs of anyone from your holiday rep to your waiter or new friends he meets. Your book will be just the thing to share with his friends when you return.

Children have no real sense of time at this age and what they experience now seems like it will last forever, whilst what is going to happen never seems to come. "Are we there yet scenarios". So when they are enjoying themselves they never want to stop. If you find yourself getting agitated because you feel held back and they feel rushed as they are enjoying themselves why move on, try to be as relaxed as you can be. Abandon any rigid plans for a more flexible approach, let them linger and enjoy these new experiences. Before it really is time to leave, give them plenty of notice with a steady "15min, 10mins, 5mins, ok time to go "countdown system which is not negotiable.