How To Fly With A Toddler

These Toddler Flying Tips will make all the difference in the world if you ever have to travel in a plane with your little cuties in tow. Turn an exhausting experience into a pleasurable one! Then sit back and enjoy the ride!

Get Their Own Seat

I truly wish we could have been able to afford to get Jack his own seat. On one of our flights, we were lucky enough to have an empty seat in our row, so Forrest sat in the aisle seat, and I sat by the window. Jack loved being able to sit in his own seat, and we had so much more room. Obviously, if your child is over two, you don’t even have the option of not buying your child their own seat. I know a lot of airlines give discounts for minors, so I would look into that as well.

If your child does have their own seat, bring their car seat! I feel like we would have had a lot less trouble getting Jack to sit still if we had his car seat with us.

Snacks

This goes without saying — bring snacks and, if your flight is long enough, a real meal. The only reason I think I made it off the plane with all my sanity was because of the limitless supply of snacks we had. While I don’t normally believe in letting Jack eat whatever he wants, whenever he wants (though he does try to get me to!), desperate times call for desperate measures!  He was obsessed with eating anything he could find in my bag, and I was just too tired to say otherwise! If you are worried about your child eating too much, just make sure to bring healthy snacks.

Bring a Stroller

If your toddler is small enough to be in a carrier still, this might still be a good option. However, I found that it was a lot easier this time around to put Jack in his stroller. He’s a little bit bigger than the last time we flew, which made me more tired as we walked through the airport. I was able to still put things in the basket of the stroller, and we were quickly able to maneuver through the airport. I definitely still recommend gate checking your stroller. That way, if you have a layover and your child needs to sleep, they can sleep in there, rather than you having to find a quiet place for them to lay down.

Plus, if you have little hooks for bags on your stroller like we do, you can totally use them to help carry luggage. I’m not kidding, this was a life saver, because we had more bags than it really made sense for us to be able to carry.

Entertainment

Bring a laptop, iPad, or any type of electronic device that can be loaded with movies or videos. We purchased the Internet on our flights, but unfortunately, we weren't able to stream Netflix. However, I did randomly have two Sesame Street videos that were 15 minutes each that I pulled out in my most dire of moments, and they actually did a great job of entertaining Jack for awhile. I only wish I had thought to download more!

If you don’t have some kind of electronic device, bring books, coloring books and crayons, or any other small toys that you think will keep your child occupied. I wouldn't recommend bringing something that can be easily thrown (or maybe it’s just Jack that enjoys flinging items every which way) or rolled, or anything too messy (play dough is probably out.) You know your child best though — anything that keeps them occupied at home will likely work on the plane.

Take Advantage of Family Perks

Not all airlines still offer family boarding, but I know that at least Delta and Southwest do. With Delta, they allowed anyone with children to get on first, and even though we had pre-assigned seats, this was so helpful. One time, we missed it, because Forrest was off buying some food, and it was kind of miserable getting on the plane. I was pretty much hitting everyone with Jack’s feet and the diaper bag as I moved through the aisles. When we were able to get on first, I didn't have to deal with that!

Just keep your ears open before boarding, because the gate attendants should indicate whether or not something like this exists.

Thanks to Clarks Condensed for writing this article! Click here to check out more of her Flying With A Toddler Tips

Image Source: Steve's Piks