Jessica Steixner The sentence long flying and toddlers should not even go in the same sentence. But if you are a family that values travel and experiences, it is a sentence you will hear yourself saying. It can be tough and is not for the person who only likes to travel. You will have to love to travel to put your family and toddler into a 4 seater airplane.
Expecting the unexpected is the name of the game for dealing with a toddler in a plane. It can be especially difficult if your child is too young to watch tv or you are trying to not use screen time. If either of those sound like you then you need lots of tiny distractions that will keep your kiddo entertained. When I am packing the activity bag here are the questions I ask myself.
- Is it small enough to bring in a diaper bag?
- Are there more than one way to play with the toy?
- Will it entertain my child for more than 5 minutes?
Then I first look through what we have that meets this criteria. Some of the items and things that help the most while flying. Snacks are your best friend. Find snacks that are not messy and that you know your kiddo is going to like. Also make sure you don’t get only new snacks for the flight. Because there is nothing worse than bringing all the food and snacks then your toddler hates them all. My kiddo’s favorite for the plane are puffs. His favorite are the serenity kids puffs, they have great ingredients and have hidden veggies. He also really likes popcorn. Obviously each kiddo is different so bring the snacks that work for your kid. Now that you know what snacks to bring, what the heck do you put them in? I honestly have not tried a ton of different snack containers. The one we love is the Whiskware Harry Potter Stackable Cups .
These stackable cups come in so many different characters and are very functional. We even used it to carry formula when he was still on it.
Now that we got the snacks we need the entertainment. The things that I found that entertained him the most were board books, stickers, and my sunglasses. Any type that will entertain your kid will work. Toddlers love to flip pages and stick stickers on things for a long while. I find the magic number of toys to bring is 8. Not sure why 8 but that just tends to be what works for us. I try to find 8 different types of toys so that each one will entertain him. I also try to get one new and fun item when we are doing a flight over 2 hours. I usually just go to the dollar tree or the target dollar spot. A one dollar toy will entertain him the same as a 20 dollar toy. So girl save your money!
Now that you got the food and the entertainment, we gotta know where the kid eats, sleeps, and strolls. This is where the amount of things you have can be alot! The key is finding lightweight and foldable options for the three extra things you will need when traveling with a baby and toddler.
- Lightweight car seat: Cosco Mighty Fit Convertible Car Seat
- Lightweight Stroller
- Foldable pack n play
Now that you got all your stuff and don’t forget the baby you are all set. Now for my advice that has worked with flying with my own child. Try to time flying near your kids’ longest nap time. This will help you and them. Because most of the time your kid will fall asleep which will give you 2 hours of peace and quiet on your flight. You just got to time it right and be willing to get to your destination after that nap time. Bring a stroller. There is a lot of waiting time from ubers to all the checks you have to do on your plane. Having a stroller means you can go for a walk anywhere and it will help you kill time. ALWAYS have your car seat you would not believe the stories we hear from uber drivers about people not bringing it then trying to get an uber. It is not safe and it is not legal. But the most important piece of advice I have is that the day will not go as you plan. There is so much out of your control it’s best to just go with the flow. It will make a much better trip for you and your family. I hope you have found some information that has helped. Till next time, happy flying.