Mommy Knowledge: Flying with Kidos

So over the last few years we've flown a number of time with our kids.  Almost always to Texas to see family.  For us going to Texas is an all day traveling adventure.  Usually involving a 1.5-2hr flight somewhere, a 2 hour layover, another 1.5-2hr flight. We land in Dallas and then we have to do the mad scramble to get our luggage and car seats to the rental car company.  After that it's another 2 hours (at least, not counting potty and food breaks) of driving to Wichita Falls.  So although we haven't been to many places with the kids, we've flown at many various ages because we've tried to go every year (except the year they came here because Steve and Cece got married).

Natalia has been to Iowa at 8 weeks, Texas at 7 months, 1.5 years (I was 8 weeks pregnant with Lydia on this trip), 3.5 years, and almost 5 years
Lydia has been to Texas at 14 months and almost 3 years
Quinton was almost 2.5 months or so for this last trip to Texas.

So as you can see we've had experience with lots of different ages leading up to Natalia turning 5, and with multiple kids.  And yikes, is it hard work.  So I thought I would break down some of the things I've done over the years to help us pass the time and make the trip a little easier.  And it wasn't even until this last trip did we have an Ipad to help entertain them!  **disclaimer, this is all based on my experiences... so you might have a different experience/opinion.  Do what works best for you!**  I do have to say that THANKFULLY I've never had to do this alone.  Charlie and I have always done this together, and I can't imagine having to do this alone.  Like the gentleman said on our flight to Dallas, we are a team/well oiled machine.  We work together awesomely and he is so very helpful in all aspects of this process.  If you are going to be flying alone I hope some of my tips might help, but I'm honestly not the one to ask about it. =)

Our most recent flight to Texas. on the plane and at the Denver airport. 

At the airport at 5am for a 6am flight, ouch.  Girls wore jammies until we got to Denver and I had a change of clothes for them in Charlie's backpack

Car seats: At all ages, car seats are a must when traveling.  I don't trust rental car companies and their car seats.  I'm kind of crazy when it comes to car seats (that in itself can be another post!) You just never know if they've been in accidents, who's used them, if they are cleaned properly etc.  Airlines let you check your car seat at the check in desk for free. So although it is a hassle to get them out of your car, drag them through an airport and get them installed in a rental, it's so worth it to me. A few of them (United being one for sure) give you a big plastic bag to cover the car seat at check in.  It can get really gross under that plane so I wouldn't go without one!  I'm pretty sure Southwest charges for them, but I've used big black garbage bags before.  =) If you've paid for an additional seat for your kiddos you can take them on the airplane for your kid to sit on, but it's not required.  Plus that's an additional item to drag through the airport during layovers ick.

Strollers:  For me this depends on what age you are flying with.  If it's just one and they are small, just baby wear and forget the stroller.  Unless of course you need it at your destination. Keep in mind;  you have to take it through security, fold it up all nice and compact, and put it on the belt to be scanned. Then you check them at the gate when you go to board your plane (also free) you just have to show the gate attendant your ticket so they can put a tag on the stroller.  Our very first trip with Natalia to Iowa we brought our big folding stroller and really never used it. The last few trips involved more than one kiddo so we invested in a small umbrella stroller and even if a kiddo isn't sitting in it it's been nice to put a backpack or a diaper bag in it to help lighten a load.

Drinks/snacks/food etc:  I know there are so many rules for security surrounding liquids etc.  But, they are actually really great about drinks for kiddos.  I usually bring milk in sippies for the girls. (we tend to fly first thing in the morning though, so they are used to having milk when they first wake up)  They put them through the scanner and then will pull you to the side to test them.  They have you unscrew the lids and then they hold a little paper over them that tests the fumes (I think that's what it tests).  Same with formula/breast milk in bottles, etc.  I've yet to encounter someone rude at security (and hopefully never will) when it comes to this.  They are usually super nice and patient with me while I try to wrangle all our stuff and get to the testing station.  =) I haven't had to deal with baby food yet on a plane but I assume that if it's under the 4oz amount that they allow it wouldn't be a big deal.  I'm not even sure if it counts as a liquid (something another mommy could definitely weigh in on and teach me).  I always make sure to pack tons of fruit snacks, the girls love them and the little baggies are perfect for stashing all over in our backpacks/diaper bags for easy access.  I usually cut up an apple or two as well just to give us some fresh fruit because we eat so poorly during that day with airport food.  As soon as we get through security I go to a stand and buy a big bottle of water (sometimes they even give me one that hasn't been refrigerated so I don't have to worry about it being too cold) so that I have it for formula.  You can wait until you are on the plane and ask a flight attendant for some water, but I would rather not bother them if I don't have to.  I make sure to bring extra empty sippies in our back pack for the girls so that when the drink cart goes by we can ask for some apple juice for them.  On our flights back from Dallas this time they actually had lids/straws for those plastic cups they offer us on the plane for the kids and the girls absolutely loved it.

BTW: I usually carry the diaper bag and Charlie usually has a backpack.  So we try to split up what we need between those two items.  Natalia and Lydia were big enough on our last trip they each had their own small backpacks with their familiar items.  But I tried to keep them light so that they could carry them themselves.

• Always make sure to bring something familiar like a blanket or lovie for them.  Natalia usually brings whatever doll she is attached to at the time and her blue ladybug blanket.  Lydia it's one of those thin blankets and her little Minnie.  

Flying with a baby:

• To me 4 months or smaller was honestly the BEST age to fly with.  They slept the whole time, still not in an official sleep schedule so flying during nap time/early am/late pm didn't really matter.  
• Once they are a bit bigger and especially once they become mobile it becomes a little bit harder to keep them entertained.  Natalia at 7 months was hard and exhausting because she wasn't entertained by books/shows but didn't want to be sitting still.  My arms were very tired that trip ha ha ha
• Just be sure to nurse/bottle feed during take off and landing to help pop their ears.  Binkies work sometimes.  Q was so full on one of our flights that he refused the bottle during take off and screamed like crazy.  It was honestly my only bad experience with ears not popping though, the girls have always done so well.  The binky didn't do much to help him either, so I just had to apologize profusely to the people around me until he was calm.  (the heat was something I couldn't help either, but they didn't hold it against  me in the end, we were really lucky to have nice people on that flight) 
• Baby wear!!!  I had the Bjorn with Natalia when we went to Iowa, but since then have always used my Ergo for flying.  They are awesome for keeping hands free through the airport.  Bonus is that you don't have to take them off to go through the scanner.  Baby stays in and goes through with you.  I can't imagine trying to just hold a baby, and struggle with the whole shoes in security thing on top of a diaper bag and whatever else.  Once on the plane you have to take them out of it and stow away the carrier (I thought I heard a rumor recently that they might have or might be changing that rule though and will allow you to continue to wear them through the flight, which would be awesome because Q would fall asleep in it but would wake up when I took him out.  If he had stayed asleep it might have gone a bit smoother!!) 
• Diaper bag musts: my rule of thumb is a diaper for every hour you are going to be traveling.  A couple of changes of clothes for the baby.  A change of shirt for you in case of a massive blowout that ends up on you.  Bottles/formula if you are going that route.  Wipes, binkies, you know the usual diaper bag musts.  Light blankets to help cover up in case it gets chilly on the plane are great too.  If you are breastfeeding I'd use the blanket or bring a cover... I'm all about feeding in public but you never know what kind of weirdo you could encounter or sit by on the plane
• The bathrooms as we all know are ridiculously small on planes.  I've noticed more and more are putting small fold out changing tables in them, thankfully. Sometimes it's right above the toilet and sometimes it's hidden behind the door and you can't see it until the door is shut. But I have had to lay a changing pad on the floor before and sat on the toilet to get a diaper change done.  Not the ideal situation, but who wants to smell the poop!?!?! ha ha ha.  I also make sure to do a quick freshen up during layovers right before boarding. 

Flying with toddlers/preschoolers:

• The main thing here is DISTRACTION!!  They just need to be distracted and entertained.  My best friend at this age is the dollar store.  Right before a trip I run to the dollar store and stock up on some fun little toys/stickers anything that might seem like fun.  This last trip I bought a big thing of post it notes, because the girls recently have loved them.  They loved peeling them apart and sticking them all over the place.  stickers can also provide this type of fun if they are into those still. ;)  Lydia has a thing for pulling out wet wipes still.  thankfully the dollar store had a thing of three little packages of Disney character wet wipes.  She had a blast with those, pulling a fresh one out, wiping her hands/face etc.  One year I just pulled out all the happy meal toys before they could get to them and stored them for a trip.  Natalia loves to color and draw so I bought her new colorful pens and a couple of small notepads.  this last trip the dollar store had those plastic pencil boxes so I bought one for each girl and filled it with their goodies.  They found them in their backpacks the morning of our flight and were excited to go through them on the plane.  I also put little bottles of hand sanitizer in them, gum for Natalia, fun little flashlights, I also threw in a couple of sheets of those star stickers that you find in office supplies in there.  We play a ton of hand and foot (a card game) in Texas so I gave them each their own new deck of cards as well.  They don't know how to play hand and foot, but they do love playing with the cards.  Again this is all from the dollar store.  I love that now a days you and find so much Disney/Character things there.  That wasn't always the case!  My SIL on a recent trip to Hawaii with their 2 year old had a ton of those fake tattoos.  She said they spent almost an hour applying them all over my niece and themselves.  She said they all looked ridiculous, but it kept her happy and entertained!  Our last resort has been the laptop with movies or the Ipad this last trip.  We usually wait until the last minute to bring that out just because we don't want them to loose their coolness ha ha.   
• Be sure to use the potty before boarding!  The time we went right after Natalia had just potty trained I  made her wear a pull up.  You just never know when they will let you get up to use the restroom and never know when the urge to pee will hit them.  And if they are anything like Natalia they wait until the absolutely HAVE to go to tell you they need to go.  We've never had an accident yet, knock on wood, but you just never know.  So I pack an extra pair of pants or shorts and panties for her in the diaper bag or back pack.  
• As exhausting as all of this can be, during layovers let them run as much as possible.  It's the last thing we want to do, chase them all over an airport... but it gets their wiggles out and wears them out a little.  

And my number one tip is to just not stress!  I know that's the hardest thing ever, but the kiddos and especially babies feed off of that stress.  I had to remind myself to take deep breaths and stay cool during Quinton's meltdown.  It was really hard!! 

Alright.  I know that got long, and more than likely I forgot something! But, I hope it helps someone out there to fly with a kiddo.  

Now, if any of you reading this have tips of driving long distances with kiddos, I'd love to hear them.  The furthest we've ever gone is Salt Lake (5 hours from here).  The girls did awesome, but we now have three little ones.  In November we are making the trek to CA and going to Disneyland!!! We plan on splitting it up into two days each way, but other than that I'm on Pinterest like crazy trying to find ideas to help us pass the time!