Traveling With Young Kids

by  on  in Tips and Trips • 0 Comments
An adult male wearing a backpack walks down a jetway with two young children with backpacks following him
Heading to a plane

With some 20,000 flight miles, including a flight with 2 car seats, countless hours in the car, and an array of vacation styles, I feel ready to post this.

Our eldest was born during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. She didn’t fly until she was 18 months old. Her sister on the other hand took her first ski trip at 6 weeks and boarded her first airplane at 4 months. We’ve learned a few things along the way. I’ll start with a high level list of tips and then break down in detail what each means below. I also have separate posts on Disney, RVing, and Cruising with kids, and our thoughts on Beaches Ochos Rios. Feel free to jump to what makes the most sense to you!

Top Ten Travel Tips with Young Kids:

  1. Travel with as little as possible
  2. Set yourself up for success
  3. Snacks, snacks, snacks
  4. Travel toys 
  5. Embrace screens or audio 
  6. Use all the packing cubes 
  7. If you can, have specific travel items 
  8. If you can, buy a seat for the baby
  9. There is no time but local time 
  10. Give yourself some grace
  11. More snacks

Tip 1: Travel With As Little As Possible

This feels ironic because babies and children require so much stuff. But there are things you can do to lighten the load. 

My pro move is to find a Walmart en route to your destination from the airport and place a pickup order. I time at about an hour after my flight arrival. Be sure to pre-arrange with your transportation to make one stop at the Walmart and pick up all the stuff. It’s great that Walmart lets you add to the order up until a few hours before pickup. We’ve added all kinds of things we realized we’d forgotten or needed before we took off (sippy cups, water bottles, duct tape). I will do a grocery store if there isn’t a Walmart, but find things like diapers and wipes to be a lot cheaper at Walmart.

We try hard to book accommodations that include things like a crib, booster seat/high chair, toys, etc. If we can’t get them at the accommodations, we rent from a baby equipment place (Google it or ask your Airbnb host for a recommendation). Given what it costs to check bags these days, it’s usually not that much more than checking another bag. We’ve also bought small items at Walmart (think toys and bath stuff) and donated at departure. We do have travel versions of things which we will travel with when we must (more on that below). We also need to bring less stuff as the kids get older, which is great.

I always book accommodations that have access to laundry or bring my Scrubba wash bag. This allows us to pack far less clothing than we would otherwise need to bring and allows for children to be children. Case in point – when flying to Jamaica with our 6 month old, she had a blowout in the car seat. We were able to wash the liner in our Scrubba bag, hang dry, and were ready to travel by departure. Shout out to Restless Crusade for the recommendation on this bag, it’s a real favorite of mine. 

Tip 2: Set Yourself Up For Success

A friend of mine with four kids always preaches this advice for parenting in general and it’s spot on for travel. Here are some of the ways we try to set ourselves up for success when traveling:

  • I maintain a spreadsheet in Google Drive with packing lists for each child with columns for activity specific equipment we need to pack (skiing, swimming, hiking, etc.) I borrowed this method from a friend who does triathlons because I couldn’t fathom the logistics of packing for that so asked how he manages. 
  • I keep items I haven’t packed yet highlighted yellow on the spreadsheet until they are packed. This helps prevent the forgotten sippy cup situation.
  • I add things to the spreadsheet while traveling if I realize it would have been nice to have something (like misting fans in Jamaica).
  • I run through the plan with our kids and include all the things we will need to do (drive to the airport, park and take the bus, fly on the plane, take another bus, etc.) to get to where we are going with time estimates measured in viewing of Paw Patrol shows or movies (I.e. the flight is two paw patrol movies long). This is the Big Little Feelings PREP method and it really helps. 
  • My husband and I also talk through the packing list and any planned activities so we are in agreement about what car seats/monitors/shoes/etc. we might be bringing. Only once we’ve gone through what each of wants to do and thinks we need, we start packing. 
  • We also run through the plan for how we are getting there:
    • If driving, we talk about expected departure times and stops as well as the route we plan to take. 
    • If flying, we talk about where we will park, what time we need to leave to get there, and what the food plan is. We nearly always leave late and have arguments about food, but hey, we try!
  • Think about and discuss how you will split things up in carryons, what you will carry on and how you will go through security. That sounds like a strange thing to discuss but it’s things like will we fly with the car seat? If yes, how will we carry it around the airport? What will it look like at security? We will need to take the car seat off the stroller, take the caddy off the stroller, take out the formula/water for bottles/breast milk/etc. We’ve found talking it over in advance limits the snapping at one another during the actual security line. 
    • Quick note: TSA is actually SUPER flexible about bringing liquids through for kids. You have to do a little extra screening but you can generally bring it all in.
  • Especially when the kids were younger, I often found it easier to navigate the airport wearing the baby in a carrier and piling all the luggage on the stroller, particularly when flying with the car seat. 
  • Allow extra time. Even as streamlined as we are, we need an extra 30 minutes to get two kids from the car to the gate than when we fly without them. Same with driving. We tend to need a stop every 1.5-2 hours. This applies to flight times too, if your budget allows. We avoid crack of dawn and late night flights when possible, try to fly direct, and allow ample time on a connection. 
  • Bring ANYTHING you might need for 36 hours in your carry ons. I’m talking swimsuits, a change of clothes, sleep items, bottles, formula, medicine, extra diapers/pull ups, toothbrush, snacks, etc. This way, if you or your checked bag get delayed, you can make it through an overnight and deal with the situation the next day. I speak from multiple experiences here. 
  • We tend to try to book our seats two to a row stacked in front of each other (i.e. I’m sitting in 31E/F with the toddler and my husband and big kid are in 32 E/F. We find this easier than 3/1 because we get two windows, and we can stand up to watch the kid in the other row when we need to go to the restroom. 
  • Plan to board the plane with your kids in clean diapers because the amount of time between boarding and the fasten seat belt sign coming off can be shockingly long in diaper time.
  • Keep a change of clothes for both kids in your underseat bags. 
  • If you travel to a destination often or will be there for an extended time, you may want to look up where the nearest children’s medical center is. We learned the hard way that not all walk in clinics treat young kids and we would be better off just going to an ER if x-rays may be needed. I often forget to do this but am trying to better about it. 
  • Research playgrounds along your route and at your destination. I picked up this tip from a friend who travels with a dog and a kid. If you can find a park with a playground and picnic tables it makes for a much better lunch stop than fast food or rest stops. I always find the nearest playgrounds to our destination including port days when cruising (see my Alaska post for more). 
  • Once we had two kids, I started trying to dress them in matching outfits on travel days, preferably neon colored. It makes it easier to track them. This is another Big Little Feelings tip. I don’t do it every trip, but try to on the looong ones or when we have connections. 
  • We try to book accommodations with a separate sleeping area for the kids even if it’s a walk-in closet (or a balcony that we can hangout on after bedtime). We also prefer having a kitchen or kichenette. That allows us to keep bedtimes somewhat normal and have milk/breakfast food, small meals at the hotel/rental vs always needing to eat out. If we can’t, we pack the slumberpod (more on that below). 
  • We preboard because we travel with car seats. It takes extra time to get set up and get situated, and that way we get overhead space. I know a lot of people prefer to board last with kids to get extra zoomies out. Know your kids and do what you think is best.

Tip 3: Snacks, Snacks, Snacks

I bring an absolutely comical amount of snacks with us when we travel. I’m talking literal pounds of snacks. But I’ve lived through enough plane delays (sitting on the tarmac waiting, still waiting, to depart), traffic situations, and “I hate everything this restaurant can possibly cook me” days that I bring all the snacks. Here’s my general plan:

Plane:

  • Each child packs their backpack with the toys they want on the plane and their snacks, usually in a snackle box. 
  • I then pack a mix of kid and adult snacks to supplement. Think granola bars, yogurt and applesauce pouches, fig bars, chocolate, cookies, fruit, etc. I make sure some things have protein and substance in case they need to be an unexpected meal. 
  • I always have some sugar because if a bag of oreos means we make it through a 20 hour travel day, the sugar won’t kill us. 
  • If we eat all the snacks on the way to the destination, I restock before departure. 
  • Important if your baby doesn’t use a pacifier, you may want to have some kind of pouch for her to suck on during takeoff and landing to help with ear pressure.

Road Trips

  • If we are going more than a few hours, I pack a small cooler with sandwiches, yogurt pouches, fruit, and drinks. I also pack a travel cooler and do this if we are road tripping at our destination (I talk about this in more detail in my How to Save Money When Traveling post). 
  • I try to pack each girl a snackle box for the trip. If we are departing around dinner time I try to make it a snacky dinner. Think homemade lunchables. 
  • I always keep a bag of random chips, pretzels, bananas, granola bars, and things like that right behind the front seat, easy access so I can wheel and deal the snacks. 

Tip 4: Travel Toys 

We keep a storage tub of dedicated travel toys. The kids only get them when flying somewhere, so that keeps it a bit fresh. They work for both on plane and at destination. These are the only toys we travel with now. When we traveled with babies, we did have this portable activity mat that was great. These are the toys in the bin:

Now that the girls are older, I let them pick a few toys to take on the plane, filling their travel backpacks to a weight they will still carry themselves. 

When I’m in pro-mom mode, I’ll cycle the tub of plane toys with the restaurant toy bag in an attempt to keep it all fresh. I’ve successfully done this maybe 3 times in my eldest’s life…

Tip 5: Embrace Screens or Stories

We bought the girls tablets ahead of their first flights over 3 hours (at about 18 months). While I feel a little guilt here, I’m a big fan of Emily Oster’s advice on screen time– it’s not as much an issue of how much screen time but what else you could be doing. While traveling, there’s not a lot of alternatives so we embrace it. We also load up games (we love Lucas and Friends) and podcasts so it’s not just endless Cocomelon (no hate, there’s still a lot of Coco). We let the girls pick out what color headphones they wanted, and we’ve never had an issue with them wearing their headphones. 

Since our girls go to sleep with their Tonie Boxes at home, we will turn on a story podcast on their tablets for bedtime, and then switch over to white noise if we didn’t bring the sound machine. We were already in the Tonie universe when I learned of the Yoto player. The mini one seems great for travel, but it seemed crazy to buy a whole other universe of audio player and cards, so we make the tablet work when traveling. 

Our favorite kids podcasts:

  • Peppa Pig Storytime
  • Story Pirates
  • Nickelodeon’s good night bedtime stories
  • But Why?
  • Brains On

Pro tip: make sure you double check your downloads before you leave because some of them will time out and believe me we have been burned by that. 

Tip 6: Use All The Packing Cubes 

Here are some of the things I use packing cubes for (these are my favorites):

  • Diaper bag – I use a small packing cube in lieu of a diaper bag. I keep diapers, wipes, a changing pad, some big ziplocks for messy clothes, and a change of clothes/pjs in a cube. Then I toss it in whatever bag I’m carrying and have less to take to the bathroom (really helpful on airplanes).
  • Each kid and adult has a different color cube. It makes packing and unpacking a breeze. 
  • Airplane bag – I’ll keep whatever I need in flight in a cube (snacks, books, toys, etc.) and pull it from my larger bag before stuffing in the overhead bin. 
  • Snacks, obviously 
  • Dirty laundry – if I don’t get a chance to wash everything before we leave (hear me out, coming home with clean clothes is the BEST) I’ll dedicate one cube to dirty clothes. 

Tip 7: If You Can, Have Specific Travel Items 

Here are the things we have that we’ve specifically bought for travel and I wholeheartedly endorse:

  • Minu stroller and rider board (be sure to take the rider board and cup holder accessories off if gate checking, trust me). We had the car seat adapters and used it when traveling. We also had the bassinet from our Vista which is compatible and that’s what we used to travel with for sleep when the kids were very young. It fits in the overhead on most planes. Depending on how many carryons we have we will either gate check on carry on. The montage above shows you how hard we work this stroller.
  • Costco car seat – this is now discontinued 😕 check out Safe in the Seat’s recommendations because trust me, a travel car seat is worth it. We also bought this luggage strap and run it through the belt path, creating a handy carrying strap that allows us to hang the car seat on the stroller handle. 
  • Rider Safe Vest – we switched over to this from the travel car seat when our eldest was 3 and I can’t wait to get one for our toddler. It’s important to know that like a booster seat, this harness works best if your kid is mature enough to sit still in the car. We rode next to our kid when she was young but she’s been fine since she was 4ish. 
  • High chair (also doubles as a great camp chair and tailgate chair)
  • Stardust travel crib – we bring this camping and on road trips, we don’t fly with it. 
  • Kidco Peapod Plus – we use this from about age 2-4. It’s not my fave but is small enough to toss in a checked bag when flying if you don’t have a crib at your destination. 
  • Bottle washing kit
  • Plastic water bottles (we usually use stainless but travel with plastic ones to cut weight)
  • Sound only monitors – we have traveled with our video monitor when the kids are really young, like under a year, but after that we switched to sound and haven’t looked back. We love our Roar monitors, and as a bonus it came with a sound machine that doubles as a Bluetooth speaker. 
  • Travel tech kit – after years of being a hot mess who forgets all the charging cables, I took my own advice and set myself up for success. I bought this little organizer bag, and loaded it with the baby monitors, all the cords I need, a power block, and wall plug. It’s been great. 
  • Recently, when I wanted to buy a travel sized air mattress for kids, my husband pointed out our camping air pads were literally the same thing so we flew with one for the big kid. So this is a friendly reminder that you might already have things that work for travel. 
  • We have this crib at our ski condo and my in laws bought the same one for theirs. It might be worth getting if you frequently travel to the same accomodations (like a relative’s house). 
  • Slumber pod – this is definitely a nice to have in some cases, not a need to have. We find it useful when cruising or room sharing with younger kids. It makes it more feasible to put them down to sleep and leave lights on/continue life in the same room. That said, we probably only bring it on 25% of our trips, since we aim to book accommodations with a separate bedroom. 

Tip 8: If You Can, Buy A Seat For The Baby

Yes, children under 2 can fly for free if you are willing to lap them. But it’s safer and easier on you if they have their own seat. I love having the additional space under the kids seat and next to the car seat. We travel with a FAA approved car seat and keep the kids buckled in until at least 3 years old. As a bonus it makes plane sleep a breeze. 

Tip 9: There Is No Time But Local Time 

I swear by the rule of no time but local time when changing time zones. Get lots of sunshine and stay hydrated, but do your best to stick to your normal routine on your local time. With an infant this can be really hard and you should expect disrupted sleep for the duration of your trip and when you get home. However, we’ve found for both our kids, after about 8-15 months we are able to keep them up that first night as long as possible to get to as close to normal bedtime in the new time zone. I’ll also give the big kid a melatonin gummy and tell her it will help her sleep. I think it’s a total placebo effect but all of this is mostly mind over matter so I’ll take it. 

Tip 10: Give Yourself Some Grace

Traveling with kids is so amazing and so hard. Things will go wrong. Nap schedules go out the window. You will forget things. There will be so many tantrums. Security will take 1,000x longer than you thought. Bones will be broken (true story). 

It will all be fine (even the broken bone healed). My grandmother always said all you need to travel is your ID and a credit card, you can figure the rest out. 

You are doing great. Nearly everyone gets how hard it is to travel with kids and will cheer you on or help you out. And the ones that don’t are jerks you don’t need to worry about. 

Now, to quote the great @BigTimeAdulting “Get yourself a snack!”

Leave a comment