This week we will be traveling on my toddler’s 20th flight. At the age of two, he’s a pro at traveling, but my husband and I knew even before he was born that it was a big goal we had. We wanted to have kids that were comfortable with travel.
Traveling with kids takes organization and planning, and we’ve trialed many things, but we’ve fingered out what works for us and will stick with it!
It’s not to say that we’ve not had the odd moment where it’s been hard, it’s definitely 100% hard, but we’ve still always felt like it’s been worth it for the family experiences. It’s important to remember that although traveling might be when they are screaming around everyone, babies and toddlers still absolutely have the same right to travel as everyone else on that plane, train, or airport lounge.
Travelers without kids might not get it and are annoyed, but those with kids get it.
My son has had his moments of tantrums on a plane where nothing will soothe him except getting out of that seat and off the plane (we’ve all felt like that). There have been times when we are eight hours into travel, and I’ve given in to candy or some chocolate protein bar that he thinks is candy. And we’ve certainly learned our lesson with airlines; I vow never to travel with some again. Even so, as a family, we have traveling nailed down, and everyone plays their roles.
Here are my top tips for traveling with your own littles.
1. Gate check, gate check, gate check.
We prefer to have our stroller up until we get on that flight, not just for carrying the baby but for carrying out own hand luggage. Every time we have traveled through an airport, we’ve used our Uppababy stroller. My husband still tells everyone it’s the best thing he ever bought purely because you can put an entire suitcase underneath and still have room for more. On our most recent trip, we stored our car seat in the stroller underneath the seat. Gate checking means you have it until the last second.
2. We usually need an Uber wherever we go and will travel with a car seat.
When my son was small, we would gate check the stroller and take the car on board to go in a separate seat for him. If it was a short flight, we didn’t always bother to buy an extra seat for him, and he’d be a lap infant, but most of the time, we found it was best to give everyone their own space.
3. Snacks.
Fill a kid’s snack tray with snacks, or buy large ice cube trays for kids that would normally be for freezing purees – they have secure lids. I’ve found having endless snacks is a great distraction, and displaying it in a pretty way makes it fun for everyone. It also gives them choice, so even though travel is a little crazy, your toddler feels like they are at least in control of choosing their snack.
4. Transparent hand luggage.
Recently my husband bought a transparent backpack, which turned out to be the best diaper bag I’ve had. Purely because even though it’s packed so tightly with everything but the kitchen sink, I can see where everything is and don’t need to rummage through. Turned out to be a lifesaver when you’re three seconds from a toddler tantrum.
5. Sticker books and activities.
Sticker books are a BIG hit for us, but even better are reusable stickers that you can reset and play with repeatedly!
6. Protect your gate check items with bags you buy on Amazon.
My real hack with this is that you can hide extra luggage in there. I’ve stored extra diapers in these bags, blankets, and jackets, and no one ever counted them as extra bags of luggage because they are all considered baby items. It still goes through security as normal, but no one at security asks how much baggage you have.
7. Buy diapers and wipes once you get there.
On some trips, I could easily have filled an entire suitcase with baby items, but I stopped packing them after we were through the first couple of trips. I realized it was a waste of luggage space when whenever we flew had a pharmacy or equivalent in that country that was close by. My worried mom mode meant I packed for every scenario, but I learned quickly that it wasn’t worth the hassle or luggage fees. The same goes for toiletries and sunscreens. I buy it all when we get there.
8. If you’re flying domestically, get groceries shipped to your hotel room.
If you have a delivery service you’re already signed up for online, you can switch the address to your hotel room and have snacks, diapers, and wipes delivered when you get there. This way, you don’t need to travel with it all and have basic food items when you arrive.
9. Bring a drying rack and brush for bottle feeding.
If you’re bottle feeding or pumping, a mini travel drying rack and brush work great for cleaning parts and mean you’re not placing any clean items on an unsanitary surface. If you’re not bottle feeding, it’s still great for toddlers and snack containers!
10. Have something brand new and something that they already love.
I always pack something new that they’ve never seen before. This could be a cool snack he’s never seen before (this time around, it’s Mickey Mouse-shaped cheese), a new coloring pack, or a new fidget toy. I’ve packed all three for this flight coming up, since it’s a little long!
