Helpful Ideas for Traveling with Kids by Plane
Age
Birth- 12 months
This in my opinion is the easiest time to travel with children. They aren't yet mobile and if you are breastfeeding they are usually happy under a nursing blanket. I felt like when I was on a plane with my little babies that they were safe from germs under there as well. For those who do not nurse, having a bottle is very important even if it's not during a feeding time. if your child is particular about the temperature of the milk sometimes the flight attendant can warm up the water for you with their coffee maker, but not all attendants will provide this service. Once they begin eating solids I'd stick some in your purse to have on hand.
If the baby is a lap child than you can't bring a car seat on the plane unless there are empty available seats. In the case of no extra seats on the plane they will gate check the car seat for you and you can grab it right when you get off the flight. My favorite stroller to carry the car seat and baby through the airport and security and onto the plane has to be the Snap n Go. It's light weight and super easy to fold up. Which you have to do quite often when traveling by plane.
If there is an empty seat, definitely bring the car seat onto the plane. It will give you a chance to have 2 free hands at some point and maybe you yourself can enjoy a snack and drink. It might give you a break which will make traveling so much more enjoyable!
Only bring the amount of diapers you will need plus a couple extra, wipes, and at this stage if there is a blowout, which easily can happen, you will certainly need an extra outfit or two!
1-3 yrs
This stage of traveling is the most challenging! They are mobile now and so curious about everything. Some like to stand on your lap and push the light button on and off or mess with the air conditioner. They like to stand up and look at the people behind you. Hopefully, the person behind you doesn't mind and might even play peek- a- boo with them! Once they learn that the tray table can come down, some children constantly enjoy messing with it, up and down, up and down! They get really frustrated when during take-off and landing that the tray table must remain in the upright position. This is the time when you need serious distractions or you may get a tantrum.
There are many useful distractions that can help in this situation. Things that have worked for me include:
Tic Tacs
Pez candy already loaded into the dispenser, they can only get one out at a time
Dum Dum suckers
a new toy or one they haven't seen in awhile
(I usually go shopping for a few new small toys they have never seen before just for the purpose of traveling. A couple of favorites are a small toy phone, keys that make noise when you push buttons, and anything with buttons really!)
The IPAD or mommies phone with pre-loaded apps is such a nice item to have when traveling. It's become a necessity and can really make the trip so much easier. Especially if the children don't get this privilege all the time!
In desperate situations you can try to make a puppet out of the barf bag
or look in the magazine and catalogs for animals, there are usually many pets in the Sky Mall magazine. I did hear that this magazine is going out of business so may not be an option anymore.
I always bring an empty sippy cup on the flight and when the flight attendants offer drinks, they will fill it up with juice for the kids. I feel like it gives the kids something to look forward to and you don't have to take a drink through security. You can bring a sippy cup with juice through but they sometimes open it up and test it with something and I don't like that very much.
Hand Sanitizer! Planes are full of germs!
At this stage we like to bring the forward facing larger car seat and pull it with the Britax Car Seat Travel Cart. The child can use this as a stroller in the airport and then when you arrive at your destination you have your car seat ready to go and you don't have to carry the car seat around!
4 and up
This stage is much easier. I usually still bring wipes for clean up and an extra set of underwear, shorts just in case. I usually pack them their own backpack so they can be in charge of their own snacks and entertainment. Maybe a small bag of legos, a book, an iPad, an empty sippy cup if age appropriate and small snack options and a few pieces of candy!
Sometimes it helps to decide who is going to sit by the window before you get on the plane and don't forget headphones!
These are just suggestions that have worked for us. I hope they can help!
