I get a slight panic at the thought of traveling with our toddler. Even just planning a trip makes me nervous. Our toddler does not sleep well on the go ever since we’ve trained him to sleep in his crib. He doesn’t like to sit still so long roadtrips are out of the picture. I’ve been through too many meltdowns with my son on a plane and in a car that I’ll do anything to avoid it at all cost.
Traveling with a toddler can feel daunting for parents, depending on what your first few experiences are like. Since our son was born, we’ve traveled with him for a total of 4 times on a plane. The first three times were shorter flights ~2-3 hours so it was much more manageable. Our longest plane ride was to Oahu in February which was 6-7 hours total when our son was 15 months old and there were so many lessons learned from that trip.
From our experience, traveling with a toddler is much more challenging than with a younger baby (less than 12 months old). In our case, our son did not nap as easily on the plane when he became a toddler and was much more active and overstimulated than ever before, which made it that much more difficult for those longer plane rides.
If you are traveling with a toddler, I’m sending you all my good thoughts and vibes because trust me, there’s no easy magic potion for turning toddlers into great travel partners! Like I’ve heard from another mom, “expect the worst, hope for the best”, and that’s the mantra I’ve been practicing when preparing my mental state for traveling with our toddler.
While there’s no easy way to travel with a toddler, there are a few ways you can prepare in advance of your trip to ensure a smoother experience for everyone. Here are a few tips that have worked well for us, which I hope will be helpful for you!
- Be strategic in choosing your flight time. When choosing a flight time, we always make sure to choose earlier in the day and time it so it’s during their nap. This is so that they will be tired enough on the plane ride to easily fall asleep. When our son was 6-8 months old, we timed the flight so it was during his first nap and it worked out really well because he would fall asleep as soon as we our plane took off. Although his nap was shorter (30-45 mins), he had enough sleep pressure so that he was able to fall asleep easily.
- Bring lots of snacks, toys and books. This is a MUST! Keep your child entertained on a plane requires a bit of creative thinking. If you are like me who tries to limit screen time as much as possible, then bringing snacks, toys and their favorite books is a great way to keep them entertained. We brought along a few new toys as well and introduced them slowly throughout the flight. We also brought paint tape and water bottles with glow sticks which kept him occupied for a good 15-20 minutes. If all else fails, screen time is more than okay and we don’t limit screen time when traveling!
- Consider noise cancelling headphones for your toddler. This is a great tip I received from another mom friend. You can purchase noise canceling headphones like this one so your child can sleep without being disrupted by the intercom or noisy neighbors. We quickly found out on our 6 hour flight to Oahu how disruptive the plane can be – with constant passengers passing by on the aisle, to the changes in lighting and loud intercom from the flight attendants and pilots. Having noise canceling headphones can make a huge difference in allowing your child to sleep longer on the plane. We also bring along a sound machine to help drown out additional noise.
- Replicate their sleep environment as much as possible. Our son does not sleep well on-the-go. We’ve trained him to sleep in his crib so he’s used to his sleep environment which includes his sleep sack, pitch dark room with a low sound machine. So, by default, we were very nervous about his ability to sleep on a plane with lots of noise and lighting. In preparation for our flight, we brought with us his nursing pillow, a nursing cover and his sound machine. As soon as I nursed him and put him on his pillow with the cover over him, he would fall asleep within 5-10 minutes. Staying asleep is a totally different story and that requires a bit more creativity with using tools like the noise canceling headphones and a dark cover to cover surrounding lights.
- Sign up for Pre-TSA if you haven’t already done so. This is a no-brainer. My husband and I have always traveled with pre-TSA before we had our first child and it’s been the best purchase! We cannot imagine traveling without it now.
- Check-in stroller at the boarding gate. Initially, we thought having less items to carry through the security checkpoint made more sense but after traveling a few times with our toddler, our stroller has come in handy so many times! It is helpful to carry the additional backpacks and diaper bags that you’ll likely bring with you as a carry-on so that way you’re not lugging it all on your back.
- If possible, bring the car seat on the plane. We purchased an additional seat and brought on our son’s car seat for our trip to Hawaii since it was a longer flight and it proved to be worth it. It was so nice to have him sit somewhere other than our lap and gave us extra space to maneuver during the flight. Although he didn’t sit still for much of the flight, he was able to sit in his car seat when he napped and when he watching his favorite TV shows. This gave mommy and daddy a few breaks from carrying him because he definitely gets heavy after a few hours. I would recommend bringing in a car seat if your flight is more than 3 hours or if you’re traveling alone with your child.
- As stressful as traveling with a toddler can be, it’s super important that the caregivers remain a calming presence so make sure you get a good night’s sleep the night before and nourish your mind & body before the trip! I can’t stress this enough. Traveling day is going to be stressful PERIOD. No matter if it’s 2 hours or 10 hours, or if it’s road trip or flight. Traveling with a toddler requires so much more preparation, planning and packing so make sure you give yourself adequate time for rest the night before.
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