Urgent : change phobic dc going on holiday - survival tips please

[frustratedmom]

Taking dc (4yo) on his first proper holiday. Had varying successes in caravan previous summers (ok if v busy and don't ask to go to bed)

How do i help him handle the changes in location, routeens and all the new places and people (and language).

We are staying with family, who he has meet in our home when they stayed with us, and it has been arranged for me and ds to share a db bed. Helps to reassure him.

Anything else I can do? we fly first thing tomorrow.

Bring his favourite books/toys/dvds etcetera.
Explain the itinerary to him clearly beforehand so he knows what to expect.
If he gets overwhelmed by noisy, busy places you could try letting him listen to music he likes on an mp3 so he can tune out if he needs to.
Rescue remedy (you can probably buy it in the chemist at the airport) works wonders for my little girl when she gets stressy.

We took the dd's (dd1 (as) 5.1 and dd2 (hfa) 3.1) on holiday 2 weeks ago. Dd1 was fine and loved it, we made dd2 a book using pictures of the web of how we would travel, where we were staying and places we would visit, we thought she would be a night-mare but she settled in straight away and enjoyed the holiday. We also took some of her favorite toys, books and DVD's with us to help her settle.

Stick the standard bedtime routine as closely as you can for the first couple of nights, at least. Whatever bath/story/whatever system you have, use it. Other than that - relax; he'll be having fun and that does distract from all the changes.

Is there likely to be a problem with wearing different clothes? eg shorts/t-shirts/sandals? If so, find a way to minmise the changes (allow ordinary shoes with white socks and long-sleeved top, for instance).

Smell is important to my ds - so I take a small supply of my usual wash powder, soap, bubbles with me to keep smell of PJs /sheets/undies/bath as familiar as possible.
Have you got pictures of where you are going, people you could put in a mini album to look at on the plane?