Roxanne’s Five Tips For Traveling With Toddlers
After our recent flight to Charlotte, I came up with some Tot Travel Tips to share with you.
Some of these tips, by the way, I had to learn the hard way.
1. Arrive to the airport EARLY.
If you have a domestic flight, I believe the rule of thumb is to arrive at least an hour prior to your departure time.
I made a big mistake the day we left for Charlotte and didn’t allow us enough time to even get our luggage checked. I messed up. I admit it. What could’ve been a leisurely morning making our way through our pride and joy of Tampa, Tampa International Airport, turned into a stressful episode of The Amazing Race. Me running full-speed, pushing the stroller and trying to drag my rolling-bag, drenched in sweat by the time I got to the gate at Airside F and barely made the flight. Not cool. Don’t be like me. I told my kids once we were in our seats on the plane that normal people who have their acts together do NOT travel like that.
2. Board your kids last.
The airlines invite families with small children to board early. But why would you want to do that? Why would you want to ADD to the amount of time that your child has to be on the plane. So here is what we do. Doug boards the plane by himself (with my rolling bag so that we are sure to find space for it in the overhead bin). Then I take my time with the kids, picking up last minute snack items, just so they can have a little more time to get their energy out of their system before they’re confined in their plane seat.
3. Fly in the morning or close to nap time.
My one and a half year-old takes her nap around 12:30, so our flight home from Charlotte departed at 12:30 P.M. After about thirty minutes in the air, she was out. The plane engine lulled her to sleep so I just had a nice, cuddly sleeping baby on my lap. She wasn’t a bother to anyone, screaming or carrying on. Our outbound flight was early in the morning. The kids are in a great mood then…just peppy and curious about their adventure, looking out the window, having a great time. I can assure, had we flown in the late afternoon or early evening, my kids would have acted like wild animals. That’s their time, generally-speaking, at home when they carry-on, crying or fighting or jumping off the couch. Avoid late afternoon and beyond flights.
4. Tease snacks for lift-off and landing.
I say, “Oh, girls! Guess what!” Let’s dig into the snack bag as soon as the plane is up in the air.” I bring some of their favorites or buy something interesting at the airport kiosk. This gives them something to look forward to after they’ve gotten through the excitement of lift-off. It also helps for them to be chewing as we increase the altitude to alleviate ear pain. Same holds true for the landing.
5. Think “Game-On”
I don’t just mean you have to be on YOUR toes when traveling with little ones. Be ready with ideas for games for you kids. They can’t watch YouTube videos on a plane. However, because flying is a new and unusual experience for them, there will be all kinds of sensorial experiences for them to delight in and you can turn everything into a game. I Spy is an obvious one, and here is a link to more plane game inspiration.
Safe (and sane) travels!
10 Worst Airports For Holiday Delays…
Compare Cards says choose a nonstop early morning flight if you can. And avoid these airports for a connecting flight. They say these 10 had the most delayed or cancelled flights over the past 10 years in December.
