I am so excited to be going on our first big family vacation this spring! We are headed to West Palm Beach, Florida then stopping at Disney World for a few days. Max has no idea. I have always wanted a surprise Disney trip as a kid, so making this happen for Max is a dream come true! While Dante is too small to understand, I know he will love it as well. The only thing that I am a little worried about is air travel with the little ones. I have never taken either on a plane and honestly I’m freaking out over it. I’m not the best flyer, so the kids will be a good distraction for me.
As we booked our flight, I began having flashes of past flights I’ve been on with screaming babies and frustrated moms. Once I had a window seat and a 4 year old named Charlie was sitting in the middle seat next to me (and his dad in the aisle). He spilled his apple juice all over me. At take off. Needless to say, it wasn’t the most comfortable flight. As we landed, he proceeded to yell “We’re going dooooown!”. Kids + travel = scary. I’m hoping that it doesn’t have to be in my case.
I have been doing a ton of research to troubleshoot and keep everything as smooth and uneventful as possible. Here’s a round up of some great tips for traveling with little ones that I’ve discovered.
1. Book a nonstop flight. Enough said.
2. Before you book your flight, check where the available seats are located. Some areas of the plane (like emergency exits or the first row of coach) have extra leg room (or room for your toddler to stand up and stretch). Plus they won’t be able to kick the seat in front of them because they can’t reach. Check out seatguru.com to find out which seats are the best and which are the worst (near the bathroom, bad view of the TV’s). The site was created by the same people from TripAdvisor.com.
3. Every flyer with a seat is allowed to bring a carry-on bag. Take full advantage of this by giving your little one a lightweight back pack full of his or her own things. Max will be rocking his pre-school sized Spiderman backpack filled with new books snacks, a drink, toys, etc. He will feel like a “big boy” carrying his own stuff. The pre-portioned bags of snacks are ideal for travel.
4. If your child is old enough to sit through a movie or TV show, pack an iPad and load up your Netflix queue. I just bought these headphones for Max for like $8 at TJ Maxx. If the movie doesn’t hold his interest, the sides are teeny whiteboards and little dry-erase markers tuck into the bottom of the ear-pieces. They’re designed for kids so the volume doesn’t reach an unsafe level. That little gadget on the headband part erases. How cool are these?!
5. Since Dante is going to be in my lap for the flight and it’s Max’s first time flying, he wins the coveted window seat. I’m packing window clings to make it a bit more fun for him. (source).
6. This might be my favorite idea I found. Since we will be flying round trip, I have to be sure that the carry-on items are new (AKA exciting). I’ll be packing something like this for both kids for both flights. The “trip back” items will be labeled and packed in my checked bag. (source)
7. Adults can chew gum to encourage swallowing which helps stabilize ears as the air pressure changes. Help baby’s ears during landing by giving him or her a bottle, juice cup, or pacifier during descent.
8. Table toppers are the best invention in a while. They’re disposable place mats that stick to restaurant tables (or airplane meal trays). They come in different designs (cars, dinosaurs, princesses, etc) and some even come with stickers. source
9. Nobody wants to be sick on vacation. Airplanes are notorious germ carriers and kids put their little hands on everything. I’ll be wiping down arm rests, seat belt buckle, window, you name it. If it’s in our aisle, I’m wiping it down. Plus they are safe on skin so the double to clean up dirty hands. Purell wipes will be in full effect. I like these individual packets.
10. Our flight is only 2.5 hours so I’ll be changing Dante right before we board. If the inevitable happens and I need to change him on the plane, I have to be prepared for it. Not all planes have changing tables, so I may need to change him on the seat. He has mastered the crocodile death roll during changes, so I’m thankful that my husband will be there for back up support. I’ll be packing a changing pad and a few zip lock bags big enough to fit a diaper and seal off any funk.
What are your travel tips? Share them in the comments below!
wow!!! seems like you’ve got this under control!!! good job!
Just trying to troubleshoot! Hopefully things will go smoothly!!!
I don’t have kiddos yet but I found this post to be so helpful!! Definitely jotting these down to remember for the future because we travel a lot to stay connected to family. I feel like I remember the flight attendants say that you couldn’t be in the exit row with kiddos because they need willing people who can help?? Maybe I’m wrong. Either way, great tips. I LOVE the window cling idea so much. That’s my favorite. Enjoy your time! Hopefully it won’t be too god awful hot.
Hi Brittaney, thanks so much for stopping by! So glad you liked this post. I’m not sure if that rule applies to all airlines because we booked our seats in that aisle (although we booked it online, so I’m not sure if that matters). I love the window clings idea too!! Hopefully it won’t be crazy hot. Either way, there’s always the pool 🙂
We have done a bunch of flying with our 2 year old. So we have learned a lot!
Lollipops are a great treat to give at take-off and landing to help ears pop with the sucking motion! We also bought new books, Crayola Color Wonder markers and coloring books so we didn’t have to worry about accidental marks 🙂 And like you said lots of snack- especially new and exciting ones!
The liquid rules don’t apply to kids stuff so it’s so nice to be able to bring milk, juice boxes, etc. for them. They may just test them.
Some airports are super awesome and let you skip part of security’s lines and hop right in (Tampa is one of them- makes it so easy!)
We bought a travel DVD player and some new movies- most of our flights have been 2-3 hours and no one showed movies (except if you are on Jet Blue- love those individual TVS!) so it was a godsend to have Mickey Mouse! When we went to Disney we bought some of the real life Disney sing-a-longs (from the 90’s) so she knew what real life Mickey and friends would look like- she loved them and had no fear meeting them (she had just turned 2.) We learned lots of Disney tips too 🙂 (Make sure you visit the Circus tent in the newer Fantasyland section- you can visit the characters and they are wonderful! Goofy played ring-a-round the rosy with her, Donald picked her up when she fell down, Daisy danced with her and Minnie gave her lots of hugs- and she still talks about it months later!)
While it’s a pain to carry, having her car seat with us was so helpful. She knew what to expect with her seat and I knew she was safe (and her car seat was- I have had 2 friends have their checked car seats arrive damaged and the airline wouldn’t replace them!) After some bad turbulence and being thrown into the seat in front of me I was glad not to have my daughter be my airbag in my lap! They also required her to be in the window seat, it probably was because of the car seat.
On all the flights we have flown on they have not allowed children to be in the exit aisles as you have to be physically able to perform all the actions needed on the regulation cards (per FAA regulations) but flights still let you book there and don’t always tell you until you go to sit down!
Airline travel doesn’t always have to be traumatic with kids- I feel like most people are super understanding. (Not always haha.) We had a few rough flights, but our last flight last month went amazing!
You are going to have so much fun at Disney!
Hi Whitney!
Such great feedback! Color wonder is a fantastic idea. Markers are so much more fun for Max since we are always using crayons. And the lollipop idea is even better than the drinks (fewer trips to the bathroom in the airport 😛 ). We are flying Jet Blue, so I’m thankful that everyone has their own TV. We are bringing the iPad anyway. I’ve never flown Jet Blue so I am excited for that nice feature.
We have been brushing up on our classic Disney movies! I will definitely be visiting that tent!!! I had no idea about it. The character encounters are what make the visit special. I’ll have to double check our seats! I’m a little nervous that they will try to move us around or separate us (which won’t work with kids).
Thank you so much for the great ideas 🙂
Jet Blue is my absolute favorite airline- and their flight attendants are usually the best! They also usually give lots of snack choices 🙂 Even if they make you move with the age of your boys they will definitely make sure that an adult is with each child- no way would they want little kids sitting with people they don’t know. That would be a disaster! These Disney videos are what we watched to get her used to the idea that the characters don’t look just like the cartoons- they are fun 🙂 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0009X75WO?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00 You will have a blast!!!
Thank you so much Whitney!!! I’ll check out those links now 🙂 I think I’m more excited than anyone lol!