Well maybe not effortless.. but might be a little easier than you thought! Travelling with toddlers IS hard. Surviving the airport with toddlers is no small feat, BUT it is something I love very much. We LOVE flying on airplanes and honestly it was the only reasonable way to get from Texas to south Florida to allow my ailing grandfather to meet his one great grandson. The thought of flying on an airplane with a toddler for the first time was SUCH a daunting one.
Today, I am no longer intimidated by travelling with littles. After some trial and error, some preparation, and some expectation setting, I look forward to travelling with my littles. I’ve chatted through packing a carry on bag for the flight here. This post will focus on the trek from parking your car to getting seated on the airplane.
Packing Pre-planning:
First off: try to find the baby items you need (ie pack and play, high chair, etc) at your destination if possible. I tell everyone the hardest part of flying with toddlers is the trek from the car to wherever you check your bags are. I break a sweat every time. In general, if you’re able to avoid dragging any large item with you at the airport, that is a big win.
When visiting family or friends, I try to see if they have a neighbor that has things you can borrow or even just buy something there to keep there if you’ll visit more than once through your child’s first couple of years. Minimizing the amount things you’re carrying (and the weight of it) helps tremendously.
Light-weight Travel Item Favorites
If you can’t borrow it there and you see yourself traveling to many different destinations through the toddler years, invest in a light weight version of those items. Some lightweight travel items we’ve invested in:
- “lotus crib” pack and play and it straps to your back like a backpack. It is very lightweight, very portable, and is a handy zipper on the side that has been a hit with my oldest. He genuinely got very excited to crawl into it. I think this type of pack and play would be difficult with little little babies and probably best for babies ages 6 months and up because the mattress sits directly on the ground. My littlest was a little afraid of this one at first just because the set up is different from a standard crib. Big brother helped show her this was a safe space.
- The lightest carseat we found that also meets FAA requirements for a toddler to sit with it on an airplane is the Cosco Scenera carseat. We lug it through the airport into the seat on the plane in this car seat bag with straps. The best bonus is that it is really an affordable car seat. Regular car seats are SO HEAVY. This carseat was a game changer for us getting through the airport.
- For little ones still needing a high chair – little picnic chair that folds down easily into a suitcase. I try to avoid bringing any type of high chair set up when possible, but honestly it is beneficial to have somewhere to set your baby to eat so you can use two hands to feed yourself
Airport Parking with Toddlers
Most airports will have various options for parking and if you book ahead of time, you save money. Book the most convenient parking possible. Don’t skimp here. If you can park at the terminal (thank you DFW airport) this is awesome and worth the expense (again book ahead of time to cut the cost as much as possible). If you have to park remote, park somewhere that the shuttles come fairly often so you’re not wasting time. I’ll talk about my FINE airport experience at DIA in another post.
Airport Check-in with Toddlers
When you get to the airport, you’ll need to get all the things to the area you check your luggage try to get the kids into a travel stroller or baby carrier. Get your bags checked – note if you check a car seat, you don’t have to pay for it! It’s considered a travel item. If we’re having to purchase a seat for a child (2 and up), we keep our lightweight car seat with us and strap our kiddo into this seat. Will talk about this further in just a bit.
Airport Security with Toddlers
After checking your bags, it’s time to go through security – tsa precheck has come in handy for us so many times – not just saving time in lines but also having less to unpack/repack and fewer shoes to worry about by wrangling kids in an airport. The process for getting precheck (or global entry) is not terrible but we’ll worth it for traveling with kids, lasts 5 years – plus your kiddos will get on precheck as they fly with you as well!
Pre-Flight Airport time
After this you’ve got some time (hopefully) before your flight! We recommend bathroom breaks/diaper changes and filling tummies before the flight as available. If you’ve got access to a chase lounge – we’ve had a lot of fun there as a family at the airport in Austin. Most of the time, the first thing my kids want to do after getting through security is to “look at the airplanes” which is a good way to just hang at the gate while another parent grabs some food. Hype up the airplanes, talk about the cargo trucks, talk about the suitcases going on the plane. This is what makes my kids excited about travel and going to the airport. Kids in a good mood helps mom be in a good mood 🙂
Car Seats on Planes
So now it’s time for your flight – get over to the gate early. If you are bringing your car seat onto the plane and anyone asks you to check it – just politely let them know your child will be sitting in it on the plane. They may let you know your child should sit in a window seat.
Car Seat on a Plane? REALLY?
Now why would I drag my car seat all around the airport with me after I had said initially to pack light? Honestly, my first flight with our oldest when he reached two coincided with nap time and this kid really needs his naps/sleeps hard. We also had our littlest one as a lap child. Having to constrain two toddlers just seemed more difficult than bringing a car seat on the plane. By bringing a car seat on a plane, I was able to replicate a very desirable nap location for him. THE CAR!
Honestly it has absolutely been worth it for us each time we’ve travelled. I thought I might seem a little crazy bringing a car seat on a plane because I couldn’t think of seeing another parent with a kid in a car seat on a plane. EVER. I mean I see people talk about it on social media but I never saw it for myself. Well I did it and I love it and I don’t think I seemed too crazy 🙂 I recommend it to anyone with a child that still needs a nap.
It feels like there must be a lot of rules/info to know about bringing your carseat on the plane and if you want to do some digging, there is info through the FAA here and a REALLY detailed blog post here by Trips with Tykes that inspired me to do it depite the concern of looking crazy
Car Seat Rules – My Cliff Notes Version
- Your carseat must be approved for use on airplanes, contain a label demonstrating such, and fit into the plane. The Cosco Scenera meets all of these and is lightweight.
- The carseat cannot block other passengers from getting off the seat (basically for most flights, your buckled in child will have to be in the window seat).
- The airline may ask you to check this at the gate – just explain your child will be sitting in his/het carseat on the plane and acknowledge he/she will sit in the window seat.
- In general, this is something airlines/the FAA are working to encourage. Seating lap infants is something people are working to ban. Because of the, airlines are encouraged (but not obligated) to allow for parents with unticketed kids under 2 to take extra seats (if available) to have their child sit in a carseat. I haven’t tried this myself and have always taken advantage of a “free” ticket for my kids under two but definitely understand how this would be a safety risk I am taking on.
Boarding with a Car Seat
So getting onto the plane with a car seat – we usually have the parent with the car seat go first, followed by the kid that will be sitting in the car seat, then for us it is the littlest one strapped into a baby carrier with the other parent. When we get to our seats, the first parent quickly straps the car seat in forward facing into the seat and we get packed in and ready to go! While its a couple of extra minutes to get situated, this allows us to have some free hands and sometimes a somewhat relaxing flight.
Airport with Toddlers Conclusions
Good luck with your travels! YOU CAN SURVIVE THE AIRPORT WITH TODDLERS. You CAN have fun travelling with toddlers. Let me know what I missed or any questions you might have in the comments below.