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Written by

Roxanne Albert, BSN, RNC-OB

Tips for Traveling with Kids For Both Driving and Flying

  • Uncategorized
Traveling in general can be stressful, but add in also having to take care of kids during it can be overwhelming! Here are some tips to make it a little bit more of an enjoyable experience.
Traveling in general can be stressful, but add in also having to take care of kids during it can be overwhelming! Here are some tips to make it a little bit more of an enjoyable experience.

Tips For Traveling With Kids

At some point in your parenthood journey, you will need to go on a trip with your kids. Many I know dread it, but below are some tips for traveling with kids that we learned to make it just a LITTLE less stressful.

Driving vs Flying

Whether you are driving or flying can change the tricks you need to utilize to make the trip easier, on you and the kids.

Each of them have their positives and negatives associated with the method of travel.

Driving

Benefits:
  • More control over when to leave and how long it will take
  • Can usually pack more items – snacks, toys, etc. to make the new destination more like home
  • Cheaper (depending on gas and if you will need to get a hotel along the way)
Negatives:
  •  Will need to plan stops for little get their energy out and stretch their legs (especially if in carseats) – less mobility during transit
  • Can take a LONG time depending on where you are traveling to
  • Bathroom breaks add time to the timeline
  • If you forget something you need to stop along the way to grab it – adds more time to timeline

Flying

Benefits:
  • Quicker
  • More mobility in airline and on plane for littles to get out energy
  • Bathroom breaks don’t disrupt the timeline 
  • More options for food and snacks if you forget them
Negatives:
  • More Expensive
  • Less control of timeline, less room for being late, etc. 
  • Subject to delays and cancellations of airline
  • Cannot bring own beverages from home – if your kids are particular on their drinks

Driving

Driving is a very common way to visit family and friends – especially if the cost of flights are out of the budget. 

If you are driving less than 3 hours likely it will be easier compared to trips that are 4 hours or longer. Especially if kids are in carseats. 

We have taken lots of long trips with our kids for weekend trips and a cross country move!! We have learned a few from the trips to help you prepare for your next road trip with littles!

Patience!

Lots of patience with yourself, your partner, and your littles. Road trips can be a hard time because you’re stuck in a car with no escape from one another for HOURS! Being patient with one another can go along way for the whole trip.

Also, don’t compare the trip to previous trips without kids. When we would drive to visit my in-laws pre-kids, it would take us 8.5-9 hours. With kids it took us 12 hours with all the stops and meltdowns. We were AMAZED on the amount of extra time it took us. 

Snacks & Drinks

Having all the snacks and drinks in a cooler and bag readily available can make the trip a lot easier. Doesn’t help anyone to pack snacks and drinks and put them in the trunk of the car that no one can reach easily while driving…put them in the back seat floor right where you can reach it!

I like to pack snacks that I know my kids will like to. It may be one they don’t get a lot at home to make it more exciting on the road…to keep kids happy.

Drinks that are in closed cups with minimal chance of spills is always a good idea! With being in the car you can fill the cup up with their favorite drink!

Entertainment

With car trips, having easy entertainment for the kids can make or break a drive. What you offer your kid for entertainment will depend on your parenting approach, but i list what we pack below!

iPad/Screen

We give our kids iPads for long trips to help keep them entertained when they lose interest in their toys, or they just want to watch a movie! We try not to let them watch it the whole time, but we do our best. 

It is always good to have as a backup just in case. Unless you are fine giving up your phone for a short period of time as an emergency.

Special Toys

Having special “car only” toys that they only get while in the car or on road trips, can make being in the car exciting for them! Having “rules” to get them to buckle into their carseat before they can get their toy can be an extra step. 

For example, we have those Sophie the Giraffe teether toys that we leave in our car because the kids love playing with them in the car! Anytime we are going somewhere they get to play with them. 

Other special toys can be anything from legos, magnet toys, dolls, or stuffed animals. Just has to be something that stays in the car!

You could throw in an educational toy in there if you wanted to get wild. 

Sensory Activities

Having special sensory stimulating toys can also be nice. We don’t really let our kids play with play-doh in the house, but on road trips with bust it out because the car is a lot easier to clean than my carpet is. 

You can also try the paint in a ziploc bag, or other sensory type experiences for them to play with in their carseats. 

Coloring books can also be a great car thing! Markers may not be the best choice but crayons or those water coloring books or the imagine ink books!

Breaks

How Often? Depends on the kid, but usually looking at not driving for longer than 2-3 hours without a break. We want to taking them out of their car seat that often. 

What to do on Breaks? When we stop we try to time it with our snack breaks, so when we stop we are eating and drinking, using the potty, and then doing some sort of activity. This can take anywhere from 30-60mins. 

Entertainment/Activity: I also like to bring entertainment for the breaks. There are not many rest stops with playgrounds, so having something for them to do while at a rest stop to get their wiggles out can be helpful. 

Such as a toy that involves movement like a soccer ball, or a ball in general. Sand toys are another go to of mine. 

You can also plan out activities to do at the rest stops. Such as having pre-planned games to whip out or finding a rest stop that has something you want to do. 

During our road trip cross country, when we hit Colorado, we made sure to pick one of their rest stops that had a trail to walk or something outdoors (like a stream) to play at. 

Bathroom

If your child uses the potty and not diapers, this adds an extra level of preparation for trips. Planning what you will do if they need to use the potty…but there is no potty in sight. If you have a newly potty independent kid you know they wait till the last second to tell you they need to go, so you may not have 30mins to find a toilet like for an adult. 

This is when one of those portable toilets come in handy. Having one in your car at all times with those doggy poop bags inside. Some will put kitty litter inside to catch the pee, some will put diapers in there. Either method works and is easy clean up! We currently use the diaper in the doggy bag method because we already have a ton of diapers for our son. 

Plus if you can find a character toilet! We have a penguin one. 

Flying

Flying can be a bit more complicated logistics-wise, but sometimes its either the only options (flying from CA to NC) or you’re on a time constraint and driving would take up too much of the short break (4 day weekend trip). 

We have taken MANY flights with kids, and most of those flights I have had both kids by myself! 

These are my tips to make the flights easier on you!

Timing of Flights

Finding flight times that fit into your child’s daily schedule to disrupt them the least amount is highly recommended if possible. 

For example, we try to avoid early morning flights because my kids do not like to wake up super early to get to the airport. They will be more grumpy than usual, which just makes it harder on me. 

We also try to avoid super later flights to avoid missing their bedtime window, also leading to having two cranky kids. 

Sometimes its unavoidable though…so just mentally preparing for the hot mess of a trip its gonna be is helpful for expectation management. 

Carseat/Stroller

This tip can be person dependent. We personally do not bring our carseats onto the plane, we check them. Some like to bring carseats onto the plane because they can be more comfortable than the seat, and can be safer in the event of turbulence.

When traveling alone with two kids…I am not trying to bring two carseats along with the stroller, so I chose against this. 

I would recommend investing in a nice carseat cover! We bought the cheaper version, but they were hard to carry or would tear! I liked this one because it had comfy straps for me to be able to carry it comfortably. 

We do bring our strollers with us past security though! But then we gate check them, this makes it easier to navigate around the airport quicker if needed. It can also hold our stuff!

SNACKS & Drinks

Bring ALL THE SNACKS. I said it in the above section. On flights you may be limited on space, but I make sure I have space on my carry on for a lunchbox of snacks for the kids. 

I also always bring two closed lid cups because I have had apple juice and water spilled on me and on the floor/our bags one too many times. I like the ones that have a straw attached and is spill proof. 

Sometimes they will allow you to bring drinks/liquids that are over 3oz if it is for your child, but I am not sure on the age limit. I have brought on food pouches (serenity kids) and our kids protein chocolate milks and all they do is test the outside. 

Breastmilk and Formula can be brought through security as well!! Telling them at security makes it quicker, but all they will do is test the outside of the bag and then have you open the milk to test the inside. 

Take off & Landing

This is probably the hardest time of the flights for kids because of the pressure change their ears are going to pop. Only thing is they do not understand what it is! I find that landing is usually worse than take off too!

  •  Feeding baby during take off and landing can help the ears because they will be sucking and swallowing to help their ears pop!
    • I would breastfeed during take off and landing. Once lily was no longer nursing I would give her a drink or snack to eat to help with her ears instead
  •  Pacifiers can also be helpful…if they will take them

Entertainment

For entertainment, I try to pack a few different toys the kids can play with together and alone. I then put them in either packing cubes to organize them, and lately have been using the Softly Summer Gather Sack to put all the toys in together. 

I try to limit the toys to a few categories:

  • Spiderman toy: this has to have its own category for Lily haha, but any toy your child loves can fit this one
  • Sensory toy:Anything sensory such as kinetic sand, slime, sand, foam, etc. We usually go with playdoh, I got this starter set that has tools along with playdoh. I keep the same one and just put new playdoh in each trip
  • Coloring book: Either crayons, imagineink, or water books
  • Education Toy Anything educational that is also play, pictured above is the Learning Resource Number Popsicles. We like all of learning resources toys!
  • Technology: We use the iPad, but any tablet and headphones would work! We have games and movies downloaded on there so she can do things other than watch movies.

Layovers

If you can’t get a nonstop flight (which is my preference personally but not for everyone) during layovers is the time to let them run around and get wiggles out so the next flight segment can go smoothly.

  • Let them walk around if possible to use up energy. If you have a short connection, may not be feasible.
    • Lily likes to run/walk to our next terminal for our connection.
  • Allow them to carry their own bags
    • This doubles as a way to use of their energy for the next flight, but also makes them feel like they’re helping!
  • Grab a meal and/or treat if possible! Hangry kids are not fun kids
  • Airport Kids Areas/Playgrounds
    • Look up ahead of time if your airport has a kids play area/playground is beneficial because that is an amazing place to take them to get their wiggles out.
    • When we have layovers in Minneapolis they have a super cool playground area for kids to play. The kids got to play on the playground with other kids and then slept on the flights after! Those flights were so nice for me because I actually got to watch a movie and listen to an audiobook!
  • Airport Lounges
    • If you have the option, airport lounges are GREAT for kids, especially if you have a long layover. They offer food, tables and chairs for kids to play at, and usually will have open areas for the kids to play

Bathroom

Bathroom breaks on the plane are not super great, especially with two little by yourself. When they wear diapers, it is a lot easier to manage than when they use the potty. 

  • Use the bathroom before boarding!! There are lots of family restrooms around the airport, using those for everyone to use the potty or change diapers can make it a lot easier with all the bags and stroller. 
  • Pack wipes, diapers, and hand sanitizer in a separate small bag. If you have to change a diaper on the plane, or have to go to the bathroom for a potty trained kid, having a bag full of all the things you will need in the bathroom makes it easy to grab and carry with you.
    • I would sometimes change a pee diaper at my seat if needed once my kids were able to stand. We do standing diaper changes so it was easy to switch out the diapers, put the dirty one in those baggies at the seat, and then hand sanitize my hands. This was my go to for Colin when I was traveling alone…because I am not trying to go to the bathroom with a toddler who doesn’t need to go to the potty on a plane if I can avoid it. 

Miscellaneous

Some items I would bring that didn’t fall into any of the above categories

  • Blanket:It gets cold on those plane sometimes!!
  • Arm Pillow for Nursing: Your arm can get tired from holding baby and especially if baby is nursing a lot during the flight. This made it so much more comfortable!
  • Neck Pillow: This is a travel must have, it took me a few flights before i caved and bought one, but now that I have one I can’t go back. If I am not wear it my daughter is using it.
  • Noise Cancelling Headphones for you: The noise of the plane gives me headaches, so I will bring my Airpod Pros for flights now because they keep the sound of the airplane out without having the cord or headphones over my head for the kids to grab at! I use to wear the Bose headphones, but Lily and Colin would pull them off my head so I stopped. 
  • Water bottle: They can never give you enough water to drink on the plane, but if you have a water bottle sometimes they will fill it up for you versus using the cup. Also on layover there are tons of places to fill up your water bottle along the way!
  • Extra set of clothes for everyone with toothbrushes: This is a lesson I learned from our flight this past summer. Just in case always pack an extra set of clothes for the kids and you because if your flight gets cancelled or delayed where you need to stay overnight somewhere. Having a toothbrush and a change of clothes makes it a little less stressful!

Conclusion

Traveling with kids is inevitable, but it does not have to be this awful and stressful experience with a little extra planning and prepping! 

The biggest tip after all the above info is to give yourself and your kids some grace while traveling! It is a lot for everyone, just take it one second at a time. The journey will be worth it once you reach your destination!