When I was pregnant with my first, I had a job that required 100% travel. I’d fly out every Monday and home every Friday. And I’d come darn close to vomiting on every single flight. Then I’d land and find the nearest Panera, have soup and all would be right in the world. Just like waking up to pee every night during pregnancy preps your for sleepless nights with your baby, I’m thinking my travel challenges during pregnancy were prepping me for the fact that travel would never be the same. My motion sickness was predictable. Traveling with little people is… not predictable.
Last week, my husband and I traveled with my 3, 6 and 8 year olds on a cross-country non-stop flight. This was by far, the easiest so far (knock wood!). My girls are all old enough to carry their own backpacks full of stuff (well, the three year-old pulled hers on wheels) and I planned pretty well (if I do say so myself!) for in-flight activities and challenges. In the last eight years, I’ve traveled with a “just weeks-old” infant for a thirty minute flight, pregnant with my second while my first was 2 1/2 years old on a 16 hour flight to Seoul, cross-country with a three year old, and just about every other combo there is. Here are some of the tips I’ve collected or created through the years.
NAVIGATING THE AIRPORT…
BABY CARRIERS: This is a personal choice, but for me, I’ve always preferred to travel through the airport without a stroller, opting instead for a baby carrier. I like having my hands free to hold older kids’ hands and I pack bags knowing I’ll be carrying them versus hanging them on a stroller. (Of course, if your not a baby-wearing mama usually, I wouldn’t pick a trip to the airport to try it out for the first time.) When you use a carrier with a metal ring or frame, security will usually make you remove it and put it on the belt, which is a hassle and of course, will wake a cozy or sleeping baby. SO, grab your Baby K’tan or other soft carrier.
CAR SEATS & STROLLERS: If you prefer a stroller in the airport, it’s great that you can roll it right up to the door of the plane and they’ll check it there. Consider using a stroller travel bag to minimize damage, and definitely use a luggage or name tag with your cell phone listed. If you have a child in a stroller and you have a walker as well, try a Tag*a* long to get them to buy into hanging on versus walking near you (or lagging behind or tripping oncoming traffic, as mine accidentally do!).
If you want to use your car seat on the plane, first check that it is FAA approved for use in-flight. If so, consider using Britax’s car seat travel cart which will get your seat to the gate on wheels (it easily attaches using the LATCH), replace your stroller since your child can ride buckled in, and then fold and store in the overhead compartment. If you don’t want to use a car seat on the plane, but want some sort of harness, check out CARES for in-flight, and check your car seat with your luggage.
RENTAL ITEMS: If you want to travel really light, you could consider renting gear on the other side via a baby supply rental company. National and local companies rent car seats, stroller, pack n’ plays, high chairs, toys, you name it. As a SafeKids Certified Child Passenger Tech, I’ll tell you thatI don’t rent car seats, as I worry about not knowing the complete history of rental car seats (are they accident-free? expired?) and as a mom, the one time I did rent a seat (from the rental car company, not not one of the baby supply companies whose reputation would be mud if they delivered dirty gear), I was pretty grossed out (riding in their own cheerio crumbs is one thing…). Don’t want to pack baby supplies? Order them and have them meet you at your destination via Babies Travel Lite.
IN-FLIGHT LOGISTICS: Nursing or bottle feeding babies during take-off helps their ears adjust to the pressure. Older kids can suck on a lollipop or chew gum. (While you’d think offering sugar before you’re even in the clouds may be counter-intuitive when you want chill kids, it’s worked wonders for me to take their minds off the slow start and any potential ear discomfort.) Pack fruit and bagels and food that will last, make it through security (unlike frozen yogurt tubes which are kind of iffy with security- bummer.) and keep them going through long flights. A few fun snacks that they don’t see a lot at home keeps things interesting. Bring an empty cup with a top for each child to get drinks from in-flight service since you can’t bring liquids through security and of course, this will reduce spills. A few empty zip lot bags come in handy to divvy up snacks or save unfinished food for later. For the young ones especially, bring a change of clothes in case of spills or accidents. (Also, I’ve had my luggage get lost and it’s exponentially worse to not have what you want on hand for kids.) I’ve learned to also pack a pull up for any relatively newly potty trained kid that I think may have trouble waiting to pee once they announce they need to go (which generally means NOW!). (Once we sat on the tarmac for 25 mins and the crew wouldn’t let us up to pee even when I threatened stated matter-of-factly that my three year old would have to pee on the seat then.) You can pretty easily slip a pull-up on and take care of business if you absolutely need to. P.S. If you need to change diapers in-flight be prepared to play Mommy Macgyver since there’s often no changing table.
STUFF TO DO: I read once that it’s a good plan to have something new to offer your toddler or older child to do for every hour they are on the plane. It doesn’t have to be something you’ve just purchased and it doesn’t have to be fancy, but I find this is a good rule of thumb. Of 
course, we pack iPads and a portable DVD player with headsets, but I hold off on pulling them out as long as I can because once they’ve sat and focused on that kind of stimuli for a bit, they are even more antsy. For the youngest, we’ve had books, figurines and stacking cups that may fall, but won’t get lost. I love the Cheerios book that is both an activity and a snack in one. For younger kids, I’ve had Color Wonder art activities, silly putty, lacing cards, magnetic play sets like dress up princesses. For the older set, we’ve used the card games like Uno, travel magnetic games like Tic Tac Toe, Melissa and Doug travel games like Bingo, and mini board games like Connect Four and Trouble, as well as Mad Libs and other activity books. I like any way to contain our stuff so I’m not retrieving it from under a seat, so the crayon bungee is cool and the Go Mumma seat back organizer means you don’t have to cram everything in the pocket of the seat. Pillow pets are great for trying to get comfy of course,- part pillow, part lovie, part blanket. For kids old enough to tolerate them, I pick up eye masks because it’s tough for them to tune out the light and activity to nap and maybe, just maybe it’ll help.
Have more ideas for airline travel with kids? Please comment!
What to Expect When You’re Expecting
It’s that time of year when it’s so nice that stylish can be flowy and comfy, and above all, easy. Grab a great dress and a pair of sandals and you are good to go. However, if you were a nursing mama, dresses could be tough logistically speaking – until now. Here are some great finds that offer nursing access but don’t skimp on style: 
And although we’re talking dresses, need to squeeze in a mention for Undercover Mama which totally wins an innovation award in my book! Wish this was around when I was nursing my little ones! The Undercover Mama turns ANY shirt into a nursing shirt. Check it out! 
