Tips and Tricks for Flying Alone With Babies and Toddlers
I recently flew to California from Utah to attend a wedding with my 5 month old daughter and 2 year old son, and no husband. There were layovers getting there and layovers getting back. I was called brave, insane, strong, and Superwoman. One flight attendant, upon seeing my board with both kids in my arms, exclaimed “I see it, but I don’t believe it, Super-Mom!”
Honestly? Flying with my kids was fun! I’d do it again. Here’s how I did it.
Flying Tip #1: Schedule Layovers on Purpose When I discovered I could only get flights with layovers, I was horrified. Layovers with small children? I was pretty sure I’d need to drug them with Tylenol in order to survive the ordeal. However, the layovers, each lasting 1-1/2 hours, were a blessing in disguise, for the following reasons: 1. It broke an approximately 2-1/2 hour flight into shorter, more manageable parts. 2. I didn’t have to try and wrangle both children into a tiny airplane bathroom. Instead, I brought both into a nice big bathroom stall at the airport between flights. 3. When the baby had a poopy explosion on the trip home, I was able to change it on a big changing table near a sink and trash can instead of at our seats on the plane. 4. My toddler got to run around like a crazy person and wear himself out after sitting in one confined space and before having to sit in another combined space. 5. They don’t serve hamburgers on short Southwest flights.
Flying Tip #2: Skip the Stroller and Bring a Sling for Your Baby and Leash for Your Toddler It is true that most airlines will let you bring a stroller up to the boarding terminal, check the stroller for you, and then have it waiting for you when you arrive. However, that takes away valuable exercise time for your energetic toddler, who is going to have to sit for a long time on the plane. I bought a backpack/leash combo from Target for my 2 toddler, who had fun riding on the moving walkways, walking across chairs, and running laps around me while I stood in line. I didn’t have to keep an eye on him, and he wore himself out. He slept through 2 of our 4 flights. I secured my baby to my body with a stretchy wrap that left both of my hands free to sign paperwork, show identification, and wrangle my toddler. Since there were no pockets, rings or buckles on my wrap, I did not have to take it off to walk through the security checkpoints. I had her facing out, and she contentedly watched all the people, and the planes taking off, and the pictures on the wall…you get the idea.
Flying Tip #3: Bring Empty Sippy Cups or Water Bottles Due to stricter security measures, you can’t bring liquids measuring more than 3.5 fluid ounces through the security check points. You CAN buy water, juice or sodas from the airport stores, but they cost a bundle. Instead, I brought an empty water bottle and filled it at the water fountain. Once on the plane, I put my toddler’s complimentary beverages in a sippy cup so he wouldn’t spill it every where. This is especially useful during take-off and landing, because the sucking/swallowing motions helped equalize the pressure in my toddler’s ears. Landing was especially painful for him – he kept pointing to his ears and telling me that they hurt. When I convinced him to drink, his ears “popped” and the pain subsided. For my baby, I breastfed her during take-off and she slept through 3 of our 4 flights.
Flying Tip #4: Bring More Diapers Than You Think You Need I ran out of diapers on our way home. Stores inside the airport sold large diapers only, individually packaged, at 75 cents a piece. One store sold a “convenient” diaper-changing package, with two diapers, wipes, diaper cream, and plastic disposal bags for $10.00. We normally use cloth diapers but had decided to use disposables for the trip. The sticker price for a weekend’s worth of disposable diapers was already shocking to me. The airport prices just about gave me a heart attack. Calculate how many diapers you need in your carry on, then double it. It is always better to be safe than sorry.
Flying Tip #5: Bring an Extra Change of Clothes For Each Child I was very grateful to have an extra change of clothes on hand when my baby had the above-mentioned poopy blowout. I didn’t do the same for my toddler, who managed to spill an icy cold drink all over his pants during our last flight (I had forgotten to bring a sippy cup in my carry-on bag on the trip home) and I didn’t have any dry pants for him to change into. It made the last flight of our trip uncomfortable for him.
Flying Tip #6: Find a Window Seat Just Behind the Wings For Your Toddler Since our flight did not have assigned seating, I chose a window seat for my toddler where he could watch the wings of the plane. The wings do strange things during take off and landing, and it was fascinating for my toddler to watch the various moving parts. I also pointed out various things to look at during the flight, such as snow-capped mountains, lakes, canyons, and trains.
Flying Tip #7: Bring Something Your Toddler Has Not Played With Before I printed up free animal coloring pages off the internet and attached them to a clip board. Once we were I the air, I presented them to my toddler with a crayon (notice I wrote “A” crayon). He delightedly flipped through each one and told me their names (or the sound they make) before eagerly scribbling over them. By the time he was done and wanted to move on to something else, we were preparing to land. I also had new episodes of the children’s show, “Bunny Town,” downloaded on to my iPod. My toddler is familiar with how it works and knows how to put the head phones into his ears. He sat still for a good stretch of one flight, with the iPod in his lap, and giggled out loud occasionally while sipping on a Sprite. When my sister travels alone with her two young children, she wraps little presents and has them unwrap them on the plane. They get the excitement of getting a present, they spend time opening the packages, and then they get to play with the new toy or art supply inside.
Flying Tip #8: Breastfeed If You Can A couple sitting a few rows ahead of us on one flight had an adorable little girl that I think was around 1 year old. She was cheery and giggly until it was time to eat. Then, the “alarm went off” and she started to cry. The parents scrambled to put a bottle together for her. Of course people were staring, though it really is none of their business of a small child needs to let some emotions out. However, I felt very blessed to be able to breastfeed my baby without having to prepare anything. Some mothers are not able to breastfeed, and to them I extend my sympathies. If you can, do it. As I mentioned previously, it helped avoid pressure problems for my baby during take-off. It also lulled her to sleep so that she was napping against my chest in the baby sling during 3 out of 4 flights. I didn’t have to bring any extra equipment and I could feed her immediately, before she needed to cry. It was a great advantage.
Flying Tip #9: Laugh, Especially If you Want To Cry Instead We had 20 minutes until boarding and I had just run out of diapers. I spent $1.50 plus taxes on two diapers from the airport store and changed both children in the airport bathroom. I brought everyone to the gate and then my toddler pointed out the warm, yellow stain spreading down my baby’s legs.
I wanted to panic but I had already prepared myself to laugh when I felt stressed. I said “uh, oh!” out loud and hurried everyone to the store where we bought another diaper. We then returned to that store a minute later when I realized that my toddler had stolen a wildlife magazine. I changed the baby as fast as I could, clothes and all, while singing “This is the way we change our clothes, which made my toddler dance and my baby giggle. We made it to the gate in time to slide in between Group A, already boarded, and Group B, still waiting. When our children do something that makes us mad, or need a change of clothes right as we are heading out the door, or the entire contents of our diaper bag spills onto the floor right before the an entrance to an airplane, we have the choice to laugh and turn any necessary clean-up into a game. We can take a moment to feel the emotions of anger or frustration or even fear, and then consciously act in a way that is calm and decisive. This is not the kind of control that comes easy to small children – they are still learning what their feelings even are, let alone how to cope with them. That is why they need us to show them different ways of acting when things aren’t quite going the way we would like. A sense of humor is a valuable gift to bestow upon our children.
This is the first time I have flown with my infant daughter and third time I have flown with my 2 year old son. None of those trips have been the nightmares I anticipated. I already love the company of my small children and loved taking them with me. With a little preparation and creativity, flying with a baby and toddler can be a fun way to connect and spend time together.
by Alisa Terry
