Expert Tips for Traveling with Kids

After 50 flights with my 3-year-old, I feel like I’ve earned the right to call myself an expert. Is it sometimes a nightmare and difficult to travel with a toddler? Yes! Is it worth it? Always! In this post, I’m going to share my top expert tips for smooth sailing (pun intended) and smooth traveling with kids!

Tips for Flying with Kids

Choosing flights

We (currently) live in the middle of the United States in Colorado, meaning 75% of our travels involve flying. Lillie has flown on 50 flights in her short life and Levi, my 2-year-old, is almost at 30 flights! When I book flights, I base our flight timing around naps or when they’re most likely sleepy — like early morning flights. I will happily get up at 3am to catch a 6 or 7am flight because I know that most of the time, the kids are so sleepy they’ll end up sleeping a bit on the first flight. I also have found in my multitude of travels, that flights early in the day are less likely to be delayed and canceled. We’ve had very minimal delays in our 50 flights with our oldest, and it’s usually because of this reason. If we ever book an evening or night flight, it seems that they always get delayed from incoming flights and if you’re traveling solo with 1 (or more) kids, delays/cancellations are a nightmare!

Another reason I like early morning flights is to get to our destination sooner. I don’t like having to rush to set up the pack n play or crib, the slumberpod, sound machine, etc. late at night and try to get the kids in the bed. That’s why arriving to our destination earlier in the day, like 3 or 4 pm if possible, is ideal.

For multiple flights in one trip, I prefer a longer layover…but not TOO long. If both flights are 2+ hours, it’s good to have a few hours in between to get their wiggles out, eat lunch, etc. I’ve done the 45-minute layovers and it always seems like we’re running from one plane to another and it’s 1) stressful and 2) no time to regroup, stock up on snacks, use the bathroom, or do anything else.

What to Bring

When we would travel back and forth from Germany to the US to visit family, we would always bring a car seat and put our oldest in there for the long haul flight. They’re used to that seat, it’s more comfortable for them to sleep in, and they’re not up running around. Lately, most of my flights have been solo with 2 kids, so I never bring the car seat because it’s a lot to drag around. If you have 2 adults traveling, it’s worth it to bring the car seat on board for their safety and for comfort. How can you carry around the car seat in the airport? I get it – those things are heavy! We love using this rolling cart that’s made for car seats.

One of the most important things when it comes to flying with kids is preparation. The better you prepare things for the kids to do, the more successful your flight will be. Here are some favorite things that I pack in the kid’s bookbags for our flights:

• Snack box filled with different (and new) snacks
• Amazon Fire Kids Tablet
• Headphones with volume control
• Dot Markers (for the 2-year-old, but really they both love these)
• Dot Markers Activity Book
• Watercolor Paint Brush Set
• Water Wow Books
• Busy Board
• Lightweight travel stroller
• Travel size playdough
• Playdough tools
• Cars/Trucks
• Small blanket — planes are usually very cold and the kids are much more prone to sleep if they feel comfortable under a fuzzy blanket

The list above is just a suggestion and you won’t need ALL of these to have a successful trip! We’ve collected the majority of these over several years and while I may bring 90% of these, sometimes the kids don’t even touch a specific item. I’d rather overpack/overprepare than run out of things to keep them busy during flights. It also depends on if your kids love toys, or if they entertain themselves with other things. Both of my kids really love toys and play so well with them independently, so we stick with what they like.

Tips Once You’re in Destination with Kids

It depends on where you’re traveling, but our most recent vacation was at an all-inclusive resort in Riviera Maya, Mexico! Since that’s the last type of travel we’ve done, as of this post, this is where I’ll draw from my experiences to give advice. We’ve traveled to dozens of countries with our oldest, Lillie, and travel tips tend to be the same across the board for us.

When we’re traveling, expectations are lowered and schedules aren’t as rigorous as they are at home. Both of my kids still nap, so we try to keep them on a semi-consistent nap time each day, but if we’re planning to do a late show or dinner, it’s okay for them to go down for a nap later in the day AND let them nap longer than they normally would at home. Dinners are also a free-for-all when it comes to phones, tablets, toys, etc. Neither of our kids uses tablets except for when traveling. Our son, Levi, hasn’t taken to the tablet at all, which can be a challenge on long flights to keep him entertained, but as long as he has toys and some trucks, he can keep himself pretty occupied during longer dinners. I’m also inclined to get up and walk around with them if dinner is taking a while because it is really hard for them to be expected to sit still for hours at 2 and 3 years old. That’s why expectation management is vital when it comes to traveling with kids.

Just as preparing for flights is important, so is your packing list for your trip! Of course, this packing list will change slightly depending on where you’re traveling to and in what weather, but I’ve added most of our favorite items that always make the list.

What to Pack

• Packing Cubes – these are vital for traveling with kids! Use 1 packing cube for each child/parent to make things so much easier on yourself
• Water shoes
• Slumberpod – we’ve used this everywhere from cruises to hotels. We never travel without it!
• If using a crib, their crib sheet from home or a small blanket
• Noise-canceling headphones — these are great for sensitive ears if you’re on a cruise and it gets loud at the shows, or even at resorts when playing music
• Sound Machine — we never travel without a sound machine, especially when in hotels because you never know what kind of noise level it will be from other people
• Kids Camera
• Insect Repellent – depending on where you’re traveling, if ticks/mosquitos are going to be around, this is hands down the best repellent we’ve ever used

And last but not least, pack a lot of patience. Some people say that traveling with kids is just parenting in another location. But for us, it’s worth it! It’s an escape from the mundane, from the schedules, from the winter blues, from reality!! Enjoy traveling with your kids and embrace the hard times to get to the good times.

I hope this post was helpful and I’d love it if you shared it with a fellow mama to help with any of her family’s upcoming travels!!