Hellobee

Our kids have been on a number of domestic flights to Washington DC and Chicago – StarCakes since 9 months and GemCakes since 2.5 months. These west coast to east coast flights can be daunting for first-time travelers, but even more frightening for parents flying with babies and toddlers. So here are my Top 11 Tips to help you stay sane on a plane with a baby and toddler in tow.

1) Keep your child’s schedule in mind. I have heard conflicting advice in regards to scheduling a flight during a baby or toddler’s nap time. Some kids find the airport hustle and bustle exhausting and will knock out during a flight. Others will find it exhilarating and will be over-stimulated to the point that they can’t (or won’t) sleep with all the action going on. You know your child best. Mine have a track record of falling asleep on flights, maybe because I tend to schedule our flights during their nap times and I try to run them ragged in the airport terminal. 

2) Make it feel like home. With the time changes, it can be tough to stick to their usual routine at home, so I make sure that they eat adequately so they aren’t hangry (hungry + angry) during the flight. This usually means snacking on Cheerios, Goldfish crackers, MumMums and other low sugar snacks. The last thing I need on the flight is a sugared up child bouncing off the airplane walls! I also bring one of their loveys on the plane so they have a little piece of home on the flight. My kids usually sleep with white noise and the airplane engine is the ultimate white noise machine. If your kid needs silence for sleeping or just less noise overall, I have seen some parents use these headphones on their babies.

4) Consolidate and check-in. One of my biggest pet peeves is carrying a lot of stuff around the airport. One way to alleviate this is checking in as many items as possible. We check-in the umbrella stroller, the car seats, the luggage and anything else that we will not need for the flight. I realize that many airlines charge for check-ins, but they do not charge for stroller and car seat check-in. Some people like to use their stroller as a way to contain their toddler in a busy airport – understandable. With that, you can gate check your stroller when you board the plane. I also try to fit my purse items in my diaper bag so I am only carrying my diaper bag on the plane. This is so helpful for me especially since I am usually baby wearing throughout the airport. I will usually pack my purse in our luggage to use at our destination. My partner brings his backpack with all our tech stuff and some baby food.

5) Try to pack only one large luggage. We usually visit family when we travel so I am conscious of what I do and do not need to bring. For example, I pack as many diapers and wipes as needed in my diaper bag and plan to purchase the rest at our destination. I roll all of our clothes into these Packing Cubes which makes it easy to fit everything in our luggage. I also love that I can pack all of my kids’ clothes in one cube and take that out when I need it without making a huge mess of everything else.

6) Arrive early. What I mean by early is two hours before your flight. This gives you enough time to check-in, go through security check and then settle into your gate. Sometimes when you are travelling as a family you will be in a longer line with other families waiting to check-in. I would rather be early and wait than be late and rush, especially with kids. If they start getting antsy with all the waiting I like to talk to them about all the stuff going on at the airport. StarCakes especially loves to watch the luggage get thrown onto the conveyor belt.

7) Let your kids roam around the terminal. This is one of the biggest reasons I show up early at the airport. The more time the Cheesecake kids have to run around, scream and do whatever else they need to do before getting on the plane the better. It is better for a kid to be running around screaming in a terminal than inside a small enclosed space like an airplane!

8) Babywear. At the airports I’ve been at, if you babywear in the security check, the officer will let you continue wearing the baby and will check your hands for explosive residue. Then you are good to go! For every single flight that GemCakes has been on, I have worn her through the airport. She is used to it and it is comforting to her. It has also helped her nap during flights while also helping me keep my hands free to hold my toddler’ hand, enjoy a beverage, read or play games on my phone.

9) Talk about the seatbelt. We usually don’t have StarCakes sit in his car seat during flights. I’ve seen other families that do it and it works for them, but I don’t like the hassle of dragging our car seat around the airport. Plus we would have to drag two car seats for two kids! Like most toddlers, he doesn’t like being contained. So to combat that, I constantly remind him about wearing his seat-belt on the plane. Once we are on the plane I let him play with his seatbelt before take off. I remind him that when the seat-belt light is on he needs to wear it. This piques his curiosity and he watches the light frequently during the flight, asking me to help him put his seat-belt on and take it off when the light changes.

10) Charge, charge, and charge some more! Nothing is worse than telling your toddler you have the “Finding Nemo” movie on your tablet only to find out that you didn’t charge it before leaving the house. Cue high-pitched screaming and body flailing in a flying vehicle. To make sure that this situation is prevented at all costs, we have this Anker Astro battery to make sure that all of our tech devices stay charged during the flight. The great thing about this battery is that it can charge up to two devices simultaneously or one device up to four times. Also, don’t forget to bring the headphones so everyone doesn’t hear what you are watching!

11) Roll with it! Even after following all these suggestions and having seasoned baby/toddler travelers stuff happens that is beyond our control. Just roll with it. Kids learn how to react to a situation by watching how you react to it first. If you are stressing out about a delayed flight or frazzled over not finding your gate your kids will see it. If you are taking things in stride and working to find solutions to problems that arise then they will see that you have everything under control (even though you may not!), and that will set them at ease.

I hope you find these tips helpful the next time you plan a flight. Happy traveling!