Traveling with kids is so fun, and so unpredictable. Eloise had been on 16 (yep, SIXTEEN) flights by the time she was 17 months old. Needless to say we’ve been around the block, er…world, flying with a baby/toddler and have learned a thing or two! So, if you have an upcoming flight and have all.the.questions. I’m here to (hopefully) make it a little easier for you, and if there’s something I didn’t cover that you want to know just drop it in the comments!

Booking

If you’re flying with a child under two and want to save, they can fly free on your lap domestically. A lap child technically flies free internationally as well but you will have to pay taxes and fees on their ticket (Eloise’s was about $100 roundtrip for our Greece flights!). You can typically get discounted child tickets for 12 and under, and some airlines even offer “kids fly free” promos throughout the year so keep an eye out!

On large flights (I’ve only seen this when flying internationally) you can request a bassinette seat. Even if you don’t plan on using it, those seats are at the bulkhead so lots of extra floor space. We always try to request bulkhead seats for the extra room, and even toss a blanket down on the floor to play!

Packing your carry-on

Don’t forget a copy of your child’s birth certificate (I keep a photo of Eloise’s on my phone). If it’s too late and you’re reading this at 2am the day before your flight and realizing you never got yours from the hospital, don’t panic yet. Most airlines will accept immunization records to prove name/birthdate. A passport will also work if your kiddo has one!

Worried about the liquid rule through security? Traveling with kids is great because you can bring water bottles, breastmilk, food pouches, WHATEVER you need for baby. Of course, within reason, but TSA is pretty great about letting you take whatever you need for baby, including liquids, through. It just may require some extra testing!
Bring enough diapers for two days. In case you get stuck en route, in case they lose your luggage, in case your child decides to have not one – not two – but three blowouts (like mine).
At least two extra outfits, for all the reasons above. I normally start in pajamas for Eloise, and honestly, we normally end the flights with jams too because they’re comfy. But I do always pack at least one regular outfit in case we get stuck somewhere or they lose our luggage.
Large ziplocks for dirty/wet clothes. Because, blowouts.
Busy bag…more on that below! This is a MUST for older babies – toddlers.
Infant Tylenol/Motrin AND Tylenol for mom & dad. Because, flying with kids is fun, but can cause headaches ;)
Poop bags for nasty diapers, they’re scented so you won’t kill everyone on the plane with the smell!
Disinfectant wipes. I probably should be but I’m not a super germaphobe with Eloise. Regardless, planes are gross & it’s always a good idea to keep these in the bag and hit the tray, arm rests, window sill, etc.
Extra shirt for YOU! Babies spit up, kids have blowouts, toddlers spill things…and all of that typically ends up on mama.

Get there early

Our rule of thumb is normally get to the airport about 1.5 hours before takeoff. That gives you enough time to get checked in (if you’re traveling with a lap infant you HAVE to check in at the ticketing counter to get their boarding pass) and get through security.

Security

We’ve only ever had good experiences going through security with Eloise. More times than not a TSA agent has spotted us and opened one of the ropes to short cut us ahead of the line which is so nice! If you’re coming through with your carseat/stroller -more on these below- you will need to empty everything out of both (including baby ;) ), put the stroller onto the belt to run through the machine, stroller typically stays upright and TSA will run it through the detector and do a couple other tests on it. Before we even get in line, even if we’re taking a carseat and/or stroller, I like to toss Eloise into the Ergo. It doesn’t have any metal so we can walk right through the detector and I still have use of all my hands to get our stuff back together. If you have any liquids/powders that you need for baby, stick those in a separate bin so they can easily get to them for testing.

Traveling with breastmilk? An entire post just on that coming soon!

Carseats, Strollers & Checking

This is the question I see the most when people want to know about flying with kids. So I have to get through the entire airport with my kid, luggage, AND their carseat and stroller?!?! Promise it’s not as difficult as it seems! When we flew with a carseat, Eloise was still in the pumpkin seat that attached to our jogger. Easy enough to toss her in the seat, seat on stroller, and pull luggage behind. If you’re going somewhere that you can get around with using only public transit (NYC, Chicago, Boston, pretty much any big city in Europe!) ditch the carseat and stick with just a stroller. If you need a carseat where you’re going there are several lightweight options that you can tote around the airport in a special carseat bag.

With most airlines, you can check 2 pieces of baby gear for free. Carseat & stroller are obviously the most common but I’ve seen some people check pack’n’plays as their free item, too! If you plan to check your carseat at the ticket counter straight through to your destination, you should make sure it’s in the original packaging. Going through the baggage handlers can be rough on your gear and you don’t want the thing that’s supposed to protect your baby getting damaged! I personally won’t ever check a stroller at the ticket counter, because I need it to lug all of our crap through the airport & occasionally contain my wild child. I prefer gate checking both stroller and carseats. Just go up to the counter at your gate and ask for tags, they’ll ask if you want to check it through to your destination or pickup at your layover. We always pick up the stroller in between flights because, again, lots of crap to get from point A to point B :D I like gate checking because you drop off and pick up at the end of the jet way right before you board & in my experience, they are a lot gentler with the things that get gate checked!

** If you’re lucky and didn’t buy a seat for your child under two and your flight isn’t full, some flight attendants will let you take your carseat on with you and use an extra seat! We’ve done this a few times with Eloise and it was great. This obviously isn’t always guaranteed but doesn’t hurt to ask when you’re getting your gate tags!

Babywearing

In general, I love baby wearing! But getting through the airport with your babe strapped to you and having use of both of your hands takes the cake. I typically like to wear her through security (as long as your carrier doesn’t have any metal!) since it can be one of the most hectic parts of flying. Keep in mind technically TSA has a rule against this but I always ask and have never been told to take her out.

Right before boarding I normally strap her on again (after letting her run off some energy around the gate!) to make getting on the plane and settled in a little easier. One thing to note, most airlines will not let children be in any sort of baby carrier during take-off and landing since they aren’t FFA approved. Kind of annoying when you have a sleeping kid and the flight attendant makes you readjust but rules are rules I guess. A good way around this is to just unstrap and pull the carrier down, once you’ve taken off you can have someone strap it back, and fingers crossed your kiddo is still knocked out!

Even though you can’t wear for takeoff/landing, when Eloise was smaller I liked to wear her when she was sleeping and I wanted to take a nap. It made me feel less uneasy about the thought of hitting turbulence while we were sleeping since she’d be securely strapped to me.

Boarding

If you’re flying Southwest and don’t have assigned seats, most definitely board first when they call family boarding (after the A’s) to make sure you aren’t stuck in a middle seat, or can sit with the other adult(s) you’re traveling with.

With assigned seats, sometimes we go at family boarding ahead of time…but honestly the worst part of flying with kids is the waiting, and the only thing worse than waiting in the airport is waiting on the confined plane. So sometimes it makes sense to hang out and run off that last bit of energy until the line dies down.

Takeoff and landing

Nursing or giving baby a bottle during take-off and landing will help with ear popping! Pacifiers, suckers and even sippy cups work for older kids, too!

Diaper Changes

Check ahead and make sure your flight has a changing table in the bathroom. If they don’t, you’re not missing much (but most do!). It is cramped, bumpy and no fun but sometimes it has to be done. To try and avoid needing to change on the plane we change her as close to boarding as possible.

** LAST RESORT should be to change baby at your seat. The tiny bathroom is no fun but it’s also no fun for other passengers to deal with it. At the end of the day though, you gotta do what ya gotta do. **

Ignore the grumps

There’s a stigma around seeing kids on your flight, and there WILL be jerks that give you rotten looks when you walk past them even if your kids are being complete angels. Don’t let Larry ruin it for you. We’ve had so many people compliment Eloise (even if she had a few moments), passengers grabbing something she chucked in the aisle, people through security handing you things while you’re struggling, flight attendants checking in multiple times to make sure we have everything we need and seat neighbors talking to her/us to pass the time. So, ignore the haters and look for the angels in disguise!

Busy Bag

A small bag full of things to keep littles ones occupied is a MUST for flights! It’s also nice to have this when you get to where you’re going for playing in the hotel and on the go. What you bring will vary by age but here are some of the things that we love:

Window clings. Grab them after holidays on clearance! Eloise loves putting them on the windows, trays, and our phones.
Nesting eggs. I kept a few nesting eggs from Easter out and tossed them in, and I like to add hidden surprise in the smallest (bouncy ball, fun shaped crayons, character erasers, etc.!)
Notepad & crayons
Stickers (if your kiddo will listen and only stick them on themselves or the notepad!)
Car/toy with wheels. I love open ended toys! With this we make ramps, roll the car over our legs, make a road, etc.!
Mini baby doll. The one we have came with a tiny bottle & blanket, Eloise spends lots of time undressing and dressing babies, feeding them & wrapping them up.

My favorite things for traveling with baby…

Ergo

Poop bags

Baby Jogger

Disinfectant wipes

Cosco Serena

Carseat Bag

Headphones

Kindle Fire

Feeling prepared?

I hope this helps while you’re stressing about flying with your kiddo! Did I miss something? Leave a comment with what other questions you have & I’ll see what I can do! Looking for basic travel tips? Check out > this < post! Happy travels!