It’s time for the second post in our travel series. Today, we’re talking all about airports and flying with kids. If you missed the first post about packing for family trips, you can find that here.
Some of you look at these pictures of us standing outside the Atlanta airport and on the plane with our three kiddos (and their three carseats 😂) and immediately your chest feels tight. How in the world do you get three kids, 3 and under, through the airport and through a flight?! Well I’m so glad you asked, because that’s what today’s post is all about. 😉
First, let’s all admit to the fact that flying anywhere for the first time, even if you only have yourself to take care of, is intimidating. The printed tickets, baggage check, correctly sized liquids in your carry-ons, planning out the timing, not knowing what the security lines will look like- it’s all a little overwhelming. Until you do it.
It’s amazing how much you learn after just one trip. And traveling with your kids is no different. Sure there are a few more variables (and personalities) to consider, but with the right prep, I think you’ll find that you and your kiddos will rise the occasion.
Below you’ll find a list of tips that we’ve learned purely through experience, as I couldn’t find a ton of posts like this one before we first started traveling with ours kids.
Tip 1: Set Expectations
We tell our kids that we’re going to have so much on our family adventure and the fun will begin in the airport, but that the very beginning of the airport experience requires a lot of really good listening so that mommy and daddy can follow all of the rules that the airport people ask us to follow. This means everyone is in their strollers, no one is asking for snacks or toys or offering to help, and as soon as it’s safe for them to walk around (at the hallway to the gate if it’s not crowded), we will let them. You can do what you want here regarding snacks, toys, treats, screen time, etc., but we personally think the hustle and bustle of the airport is enough to keep the kids entertained and prefer to save those other things for the flight.
Tip 2: Get to the airport EARLY
Here’s the thing: airports are stressful, and if you’re flying with your kids for the first time, you’re going to feel an entirely different level of anxiety as you hope for everything to go smoothly. Do yourself and your kids a favor, and take out the stress of rushing to the gate so that you can help your kids experience the excitement of traveling right from the beginning.
Tip 3: Bring a stroller and check it at the gate
Families traveling with strollers get to walk to the front of the security line. When we took Natalie and Ryan to Maine when they were 23 months and 5 months, this saved us nearly an hour of waiting in the extremely long security line. So even if your kids are passed the age of using a stroller regularly, consider bringing one so you can get through the airport faster and save their little legs from all of the walking. Strollers check right at the gate and will be ready for you when you deboard. Just walk to the desk once you arrive at the gate and let them know you have a stroller to check. They’ll give you a baggage check sticker to wrap around the handles right before you board.
Tip 4: Decide whether you want to bring your carseats
We’ve done this both ways: flown with carseats and flown without carseats. Honestly, it 100% depends on the ages and personalities of your kids. When we flew to San Diego last April, we scheduled the flight around nap time and knew that everyone had a way better shot at sleeping if they were strapped in and could lean on their carseat headrests. We also knew that one of ours would have a hard time sitting without a carseat for 5+ hours. And lastly, since we were renting a car when we arrived, we felt better having our own carseats than risking ones not being available at the rental car place when we arrived (some rental car companies won’t confirm availability until day of).
If you want to bring a carseat, but don’t want to lug in on the plane, you can check it at baggage check for FREE! And if you need the carseat to get you to the gate (like we have done with the infant carrier attached to our stroller) but don’t need it on the plane, you can check it at the gate, again for free. Just make sure you stop at the desk at your gate and tell them how many items you’re checking. And have an oversized garbage bag (or official carseat gate check bag) ready to put the carseat in before you board because you don’t want the lining of your carseat rubbing up against who knows what while you’re flying.
Tip 5: Time your flights around your kids’ schedules when possible
When we can, we like to schedule flights around nap time. The plane makes for great white noise and napping kids on a plane make everyone happy. 🙂 When we’ve had nursing babies, I’ve also scheduled flights around feed times so that I’m nursing right around the time we’re taking off. Flight times can always be changed though, so just do your best and don’t sweat it if the timing doesn’t work out perfectly. Schedules are going to get thrown off on vacation, and you know what? Everyone’s going to survive. 😉
Tip #6: Fly Southwest and sit at the back of the plane
We like to sit at the very back of the plane because it’s the loudest and it’s right next to the potties. We also like flying Southwest whenever possible because each ticket comes with 2 free checked bags (and each kid under 2, even though they don’t have a ticket, also gets 2 free checked baby items), you’re seats aren’t pre-assigned, and families get to board first after priority members. So we ask the desk before boarding if the flight is full (thinking ahead for how many extra seats we may be able to snag), and then we head straight to the back of the plane when we board. When they final people are boarding and looking for seats, they are not likely going to seek out the family of 5 in the very back of the plane to sit between. On both the flights to and from San Diego, we paid for 4 seats and ended up with two rows (6 seats).
Tip #7: Pack a bag of fun for the flight
This will again look different for different ages, but generally it works to pack a few smaller toys they haven’t seen in a while, stickers, those Melissa & Doug Color Blast books, and Water Wow books, an iPad with some downloaded games or movies, and some treats that they can unwrap themselves. We brought Starbursts on our flight to San Diego and it took Ryan and Natalie 1-2 minutes to open each one and another 1-2 minutes to eat each one. This way, the loading up on sugar feels a little more like an activity, hah. Oh, and if you do choose to show a movie, we love these kid headphones that connect to each other so two people can watch the same show or movie.
If the hallways are light when we land and we aren’t having to get anywhere at a specific time, we’ll let the kids walk to burn off some energy. But we usually tell them that they need to end well and get back in the strollers when we say it’s time. We remind them that we’ll be at our destination soon and they’ll get to play and have fun before long.
And here’s the thing, there will be moments that aren’t smooth. There might be meltdowns and weird sleeping nights or earlier-than-normal mornings. But these same things happen at home. So when they happen while you’re traveling, you can be thankful that you get to experience the not-so-great moments in a cool place you’ve never been.
I can tell you honestly that we have never gotten home from a family trip and wished we had spent the time or money elsewhere. If anything, we’re usually planning our next trip while we’re on vacation because we want something to look forward to when that vacation ends!
So that’s all for today. Hopefully you found a few takeaways for your next family trip. If you have any questions or any tips of your own to add, feel free to leave a comment below!
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