Flying with a baby and toddler, ALL you need to know!
It’s almost that time again! Traveling for the holidays with the whole family is coming up! While I’m excited to change up my scenery and catch up with family, I would be lying if I said I wasn’t anxious about traveling with the kids. First off, let me start by saying there’s no right way to fly with your baby or toddler. Traveling with a toddler and a baby are entirely different but both challenging in their own ways. One of the best travel tips I can give is to try and stay positive. Traveling is already stressful enough without kids, so when you add them into the mix, they can definitely feed off our energy and tell if we’re stressed out. At the end of the day, traveling with kids is no walk in the park so trying to make light of hard situations and going with the flow has really helped me in the past. I also have plenty of crazy yet funny stories to look back on as well! :)
Being a mom of two littles, I feel like I have a pretty good grasp on how to make traveling a little bit easier on us moms! Starting with, choosing flight times that work with your kids’ schedules. From my experience, most children are happiest in the mornings and not as much at nighttime. This is when I usually try and book most our flights. I understand that may not be an option, but traveling first thing in the morning has worked out better for us. For both my kids, scheduling a flight during nap time is sometimes risky, but I will say it has worked out amazing 90% of the time. The kids are usually overtired from all the airport chaos, so once they are on the plane they begin to doze off.
Next tip would be to bring a stroller or wear your baby. I will say choose whatever you are comfortable with. For me, 90% of the time I wear Blaire and push Blake in the stroller all the way through security until we board our plane. I leave our stroller right at the gate before getting on the plane and it’s been a game changer! Personally, I can’t travel without our Doona stroller (it holds up to 35 lbs so I will push Blake in it). It’s so convenient and makes the security process go a lot smoother. Keep in mind, when going through security you will need to take your baby out of the stroller and fold the stroller up to go through inspection like everything else. The Doona is known for converting from a stroller to car seat with one click so it definitely takes the pressure off when you feel overwhelmed going through security. For the times when Blake doesn’t want to be pushed in the stroller, I usually will have Gary push Blaire in the stroller and wear Blake using my Tushbaby. It’s amazing because it can hold up to 45 lbs and gives me so much back support. Another must have in my opinion when traveling! Say you don’t want to baby wear and both kids want to be pushed in a stroller, I would highly recommend the Zoe double stroller. It’s very easy to collapse and super lightweight like the Doona! You should also know that you are able to bring more than 3.4 oz of baby food, milk, water, etc. for your baby/toddler as long as you take them out of your carry-on and place them in an individual bin for screening. Sometimes, if Blaire doesn’t need a bottle right away, I will keep the formula powder in our Dr. Browns formula dispenser and then once we get through security buy a bottle of water.
Third would be to pack each child their own backpack with tons of snacks and new toys. This will not only make them feel important but will be easier to keep their stuff organized instead of you digging through the diaper bag for all their stuff. I try and have new and exciting snacks for Blake on the plane because then he gets excited to eat them since they’re different. This could also just mean cutting his sandwich in the shape of a star verses in half. So simple but makes the sandwich more appealing to him! I usually don’t go crazy with packing toys since they do take up a lot of room, but I try to pack 1-2 new toys or things for them to play with. For Blake that could be a new sticker book, new markers or fidget toys.
Fourth would be to get all diaper changes and potty breaks in before boarding the plane! I always wait right before we board to change diapers. I usually apply a ton of diaper cream just in case I’m unable to get up and change a diaper right away. Also, since we are starting to potty train Blake, I will keep him in overnight diapers because it holds more without him getting too uncomfortable.
Fifth is to take advantage of pre-boarding! If you have children under two you can pre-board most flights; just listen to the loudspeaker at your gate. It’s been a game changer for me because I have more time to get situated and it’s so much nicer to do without a tail of people rushing me to get to my seat. During that time, I wipe down the seats, get the kids situated, and just remind myself that things may not go as planned but that’s ok!
Sixth is to nurse or bottle feed at take-off and landing. As adults we know how to keep our ears from hurting with changes in altitude, but for our little ones it’s a whole different story. I always nursed with Blake and now bottle feed with Blaire (or offer a pacifier) to help with this discomfort. Now that Blake is older, I will usually have him drink water during this time.
Whew, this might seem like a lot but implementing these tips has helped me so much! If there’s anything to remember, try to relax and know that you aren’t alone. I always get worried about what people might think if my kid cries the entire plane ride, but I guarantee you it’s happened to most of us. Most of the time the person near you is either a mom themselves, dad, aunt, or uncle and they get it. But, if for some reason you happen to be sitting next to a grumpy rude someone, just remember chances are you’ll never see them again. Anytime I get stressed out, I try to remind myself how grateful I am to be traveling with my kids and that I’m making memories that will last a lifetime!
The whole crew after a 3.5 hour flight!
