I am about to give you my personal Top 3 tips for flying with toddlers, so get out your pencils, iphone notes, or better yet just pin this post to your pinterest board!
I have traveled the world with my three children, and a couple of these tips for traveling with a toddler did not evolve until #3 came along.
I recently had a couple of “Aha! moments,” that have made flying with my toddler a lot easier.
#1. My number 1 tip for flying with a toddler is to bring a car seat on the airplane!
More likely than not, your toddler is more accustom to traveling in a car which always involves him or her sitting in a car seat. Thus, the car seat is a more familiar and comfortable environment for your toddler. It makes the plane ride seem less foreign and strange which can result in melt downs.
Honestly, I just think that putting a toddler in their car seat makes it seem like something they do everyday.
Also, toddlers are infamous for crawling all over mommy and daddy on the airplane which results in an unwanted wrestling match with your toddler. Our toddlers loved to try to climb over the seat to flirt with the passengers behind us. Some were more enchanted than others, if you know what I mean.
I wish that I had the “Aha moment” with my two older girls, because it would have saved me a ton of traveling headaches and a verbal altercation with a 20 something year old who was not happy about us being on-board. Just sayin…..
My favorite “flying with a car seat story” is from a recent trip. The airline attendant took our car seat to check it, when we told her that we were taking it on the airplane. She said: “I’m sorry, we don’t have many passengers that are so safety conscience.” Daniel replied : “Oh, we are not worried about safety at all, we take it on board to trap him.”
I think she might have peed on herself that she laughed so hard.
#2. Buy new toys for your toddler prior to the airplane flight and wrap the toys as if they are Christmas presents.
Wrap a new toy for each hour your toddler will be flying. A wrapped toy per hour on the plane is one of the best tips for flying with a toddler. Give it a whirl and let me know how it works out for you. Here is our top travel 5 travel toys for toddlers to make your job a little easier!
#3. Put your older kids or spouse in seat in front of your toddler.
Why you ask? Well, I am going to guess that your toddler likes to kick the seat in front of him or her, giving you a lot of anxiety. We are often left with the question of whether we stop our toddler from kicking and end up with a melt-down, or do I let him or her kick the seat and remain silent? Geez….give me a Xanex just talking about it.
My older girls were happy to take the kicked seats! The girls said “we will do anything to keep him from screaming!" I don’t blame them….its embarrassing.
