The holidays are here, and family obligations may mean traveling to visit relatives near and far. If you're preparing for a trip with young children this holiday season, careful planning should smooth the way.

Some ways to de-stress everyone in the car include leaving for a trip at your child's nap time, packing new or favorite toys and snacks and having one parent sit in the back seat with your baby. On an airplane, giving a baby a bottle or breastfeeding during takeoff and landing can help relax a child and alleviate ear pressure.

Des Moines mom Sarah Reid has a 4-year-old son who's now something of a seasoned car traveler. She also has a new baby, Genevieve Elizabeth, born Oct. 28.

Four years ago, she and her husband, Randy, took their then 3-month-old son, Wally, on a vacation to Utah.

"We didn't do a lot of planning, and we didn't know what to expect, but he did really well," Reid says. "The biggest difficulty was all the stopping for nursing, diaper changes and just to get out of the car to stretch. It seemed like the drive took forever."

Reid says there's no getting around the fact that trips with a baby just take longer. "You'll be making more frequent stops and the stops will probably be longer," she says. "Plan for this up front so you're not stressed out once you get on the road. Calm parents help make a calm baby."

She suggests having one parent sit in the back seat with the baby, to offer distraction.

"Even now, for long trips we make sure to leave a space in the back seat for one of us to sit with Wally," she says. "If he drops something, he can't get it; and he gets bored, too. It's just nice for him to have some companionship for a while.

"Many times, babies fuss in the car seat because they're simply lonely and bored back there," she says. "Having someone to look at, play with and talk to can help turn an unhappy baby into a contented one."