Useful Items for Simplifying Flying with Little Ones

We have flown quite a bunch the past few months, including two trips with our young children. I am sharing my top 7 tips to simplify air travel with littles during this on-going pandemic to help keep everyone healthy, safe and happy during their travels. And a shout out to my best friend, who called me for tips before her upcoming trip with three young children and inspired this post 🙂

Top 7 Tips for Traveling on an Airplane with Littles:

Double stroller or wagon: If you follow me on social media, you probably know my love of my lightweight double stroller for traveling. Using a double stroller or wagon helps keep your kids contained, which means little hands aren’t touching everything. It also makes navigating around the airport so much simpler. I use a hook (like this one) to attach the boys backpacks to, so the stroller doubles as a bag carrier too! You simply gate check the stroller and pick it up at your destination. Bonus: some airports, like ATL, allow you to go through the handicap/stroller lane which makes getting through TSA is MUCH faster!
Games: Melissa and Doug Water Wonder/LED Tablet/Mr. Buckle: My parenting method is distract with toys and games as long as possible BEFORE introducing screen time. We have a few tried and true small games that we bring along. Some trips the games keep the boys completely entertained and other times, they end up watching a few tv shows–either way they stay happy, which is the whole point :). These water wonder are perfect, we fill up with water after we get through TSA and the boys paint and swap them with each other (they are great because they dry quickly and can be reused multiple times!). We also have a couple of these tablets, which the boys love to draw on and work on their abcs/1,2,3s. Mr. Buckle is also a small toy that keeps my youngest occupied for a good 10-15 minutes. I was tempted to purchase these sensory bubble toys, but have not yet–they also look like a great portable toy!
Kids Headphones (and iPads/tablets): Like I said, we try and hold off on screen time as much as possible, but it is more important to me that the boys aren’t touching everything/frustrated on the flight–so we make sure we pack kids headphones. Some airlines provide screens for you (Delta is amazing!) with tons of kids entertainment, we even played tic tac toe, while others may only allow you to watch shows through your own device. We bring our kids tablets along just in case with some downloaded shows.
Fanny Pack/Back Pack: So I may not be the most fashionable, but I LOVE my fanny pack (or belt bag)! It is the perfect travel accessory as it keeps my ID, phone, sanitizer and extra masks close at hand. Using a fanny pack means I have both of my arms available to help with kids which means it is a MUST for travel. We also travel with backpacks–it makes it easier to have both arms/hands available (I’m all about some practicality!).
Snacks and Water: Our last trip, I brought along a gallon sized ziplock filled with snacks, including Haribo Gummies. My boys devoured all the snacks, so next time I will be doubling this! Some airports make you take out food, so having it organized makes for an easier time through TSA. Additionally, the snacks keep my boys occupied during the trip (tip: Haribo fruit snacks are extra chewy which helps pop ears when ascending/descending). I also make sure to bring the boys (and our) empty water bottles and fill up at the airport.
Disposable Masks: Y’all these are my favorite disposable masks. When traveling, masks get taken on and off (to eat the thousands of snacks), thrown on the ground, etc., so disposable is the way to go. On our last trip, Walker went through 5 different masks on a 2 hour plane ride. Save yourself headache and go disposable!
Purell Wipes/sanitizing spray/sanitizer: Given the pandemic, I make sure to wipe down all of the surfaces of our plane seats with these Purell wipes. Throughout traveling, I use spray and sanitizer to keep the boys (and our) hands as clean as possible. I make sure to pack all our sanitizer in one ziploc bag as its easier to pull out one bag at security check point.

I know it is such a relief to feel comfortable flying again, I believe airlines are doing their best to keep us all healthy and safe. I hope you have safe travels and enjoy being able to get out there and explore this year 🙂