Ohhhh flying with toddlers under the age of 2.5. It’s basically the worst age to fly with, peaking at the age of 18 months. Hands down the worst age to fly with. They are just starting to walk/run and that’s all they want to do. They can’t pay attention to screens for more than 10 minutes at a time. WHAT CAN YOU DO?! A whole lot of nothing, except keep them entertained, fed, and comfortable. So here are the tips to just do that. Unless you trained them young, give up on watching a movie at this age, you will be busy. But, at least your kid will be happy and distracted (for the most part).

These are tips from our personal experience, along with every single tip given in moms groups put into one place! Am I missing a tip? Let me know!

Do you want more tips on traveling with kids and want to know more? Read more here:

• How to pack for a family of 4 in one bag and save money
• Tips for flying while pregnant
• Tips for adjusting to jetlag with babies, toddlers, and kids
• Tips for flying on budget airlines with kids

Tips on Booking the Right Flights and Seats for Flying with Toddlers

Seat Assignments

If your toddler is 18 months or just a big mover in general – please please please just book a seat for them. I’ve learned the hard way. I know you don’t have to buy them a seat if they aren’t 2 yet, but it’s just worth it. A big exception is if you know that the flight is going to be pretty much empty. Then you can totally risk the chance that you will get a free seat. Otherwise, book that extra seat and it will save you, your baby, and other passengers a lot of tears.

So let’s assume you won’t get the seat, or you did get a seat and it’s a miss-matched number of seats in a row (e.g. you only need 2 seats and the row has 3 seats). It’s a golden rule to reserve a window and an aisle seat at the back of the plane. Back of the plane usually boards sooner (unless you are in first class) even if they don’t have family boarding. The middle seats on the back of the plane are also one of the last ones to be assigned. So more of a chance you might get that empty seat! If someone does end up reserving that middle seat, they are most likely going to want to switch with you so they don’t have to sit in between kids and parents.

Connection or No Connection?

Nonstop all the way especially if your flight time is less than 12 hours. For us, we always choose no connection. We love to just get it over with in one shot if we have a choice. Connection means more chances of missing connection, flight delay, waking up a sleeping kid, etc. Any flights over 12 hours, maybe connection might give you the breathing room you need in between those long flights.

Redeye or Not to Redeye?

If your flight is longer than 5 hours, I always say redeye if your kids are used to sleeping through the night. If less than 5, it’s just not long enough for anyone to get a good nights sleep, and it will just be a disaster the next day. If you do choose the redeye, have faith that your kids’ sleep cycle will remain the same on a flight and have all the ways they can sleep easily. More on that later, but things like those seat pillows so you can create a bed for them, blankets and pillows, and/or car seats if they are used to sleeping in one.

To Let Them Sleep Before the Red Eye or Not?

So let’s say you decided on a redeye. Your flight doesn’t leave until 11pm and their regular bedtime is 7pm. Do you let them sleep at their normal bedtime or keep them awake until you board the plane? The general consensus seems to say let them sleep, transfer them as long as you can along the security line, etc. and hope they will fall asleep again. If you keep them up until way past their bedtime, you will have an extremely cranky monster that will scream bloody murder until they pass out. I have to agree with the consensus. If they are used to sleeping through the night, they will fall back asleep because even if they do wake up at the airport, they will still be tired. Maybe feed them something comforting if they wake up (think protein, not sugar), let them be awake, and when you get on the plane, get them back to bedtime mode. If they do expect screentime on a plane (my kids learned this at a very young age), then just simply say “you get to watch the iPad when you wake up”. That’s usually a good enough incentive. If your plane has a screen on the seat, dim it all the way to turn it off or make it really dark.

Special Travel Gear to Bring when Flying with Toddlers under the Age of 2.5

Following are essential travel gears to pack and whether you should check-in, gate check, or carry on.

Travel stroller

We love our Mountain Buggy Nano and it is a perfect stroller from a tiny baby to toddlers. We always gate check the stroller except on international flights – especially if you are coming back to SFO. Sometimes, some airports will force the gate checked stroller to go all the way through past the security to the baggage claim. That means standing in the line at the customs without a stroller with an overtired toddler. Just don’t! If the flight attendants try to convince you to gate check it, basically say no, and let you bring it in. The Mountain Buggy Nano fits in the overhead bin. Henry once ran past the customs line because we couldn’t hold him while he was kicking and screaming. Tony chased after him, who was chased down by a customs security officer. Don’t be us. Bring in your stroller. 

Carry On Bags for Adults

Backpacks all the way! You have a toddler – I usually need one hand for the toddler and another for coffee. So no hands for any other bags than a backpack. We don’t have any particular favorites. I tend to use my Lululemon backpack because it has so many pockets. 

Carry On Bags for Kids 

If your kid is a pretty good walker, they will love these little rolling suitcases or these rolling bags you can pull, push or ride. Yes, we get looks at the airport – some good and some bad, but at least it gets them moving!

We usually stuff one of these with a change of clothes and diapers, and another with their entertainment and snacks so we know what’s where.

One Huge Bag for the Family

We usually like to cram the entire family’s belongings to one big bag. You can read our tips on how to do that here. We just check this bad boy in as soon as we can.

Inside the Carry On Bags

• Disposable sippy cups. These are our favorite. You are not supposed to, but we wash them and reuse them until they get gross. These are perfect to put anything the in-flight service gives you.
• Milk – get at the airport. Most flights will not have milk – maybe some for the coffee, but never really for the kids. We usually get milk at Starbucks or the newsstands usually has them too.
• Seat pillow – the kind that you put it in between the seat and the seat in front of you. This creates like a bed for your kids. It’s amazing! 
• Nursing Essentials if nursing
• Snacks + Entertainment (more on that below)
• Change of clothes for everyone – yes, even for you. If your toddler pukes on you, you will be so glad you packed a light shirt and leggings to change into.
• Favorite blankets and stuffed animals – they will be comfier and sleep better

Travel Car Seat

Cosco Serena is what we’ve always used. It’s cheap, it’s light, and easy to use. It is pretty small, so Henry I think grew out of it by the age of 3. Andrew is smaller so I think it might work for him a little longer. We usually check the car seat for Henry, because he’s comfortable without it on the plane – and it gives him lots of room when he’s not sleeping, and we carry on Andrew’s car seat because he sleeps well in it and still can be comfortable wiggling around in it. 

At the airport, we use one of these car seat straps to turn into a chair – it will be our first time using one of these but these turn into your suitcase into another stroller basically using the car seat. If you have two kids and one of them is usually not in a stroller, this is a great option if they want to sit down!

Tips During Check-In

• Gate check the stroller, not at the check-in counter, even if they stay in a carrier. The stroller is so useful to pile things on top of – it’s a great carrier of stuff while you chase your toddler around. 
• Again, make sure you can get the stroller plane-side, and it won’t get checked in all the way to luggage. If they seem unsure, play it safe and bring it on board. 
• If you didn’t purchase a seat for your toddler, ask (beg) to get an extra seat. Don’t give up until take-off time! We’ve gotten lucky asking the flight attendant right before take-off whether they have spots with an extra seat.

Entertainment to Pack for Flights with Toddlers under 2.5

Brace yourself and “5-10 minutes at a time” should be your mantra. Because you will probably go through each of these entertainment items 5-10 minutes at a time and move on to another. Basically, if you have a 5 hour flight and expect no naps/sleep – get 30 of these things. If you get lucky and not need them all, you can use it on the flight back. 🙂  Snacks below can count as one of these 30 things too. 🙂 If you are ambitious, some say to wrap each of these items so it buys you 30 seconds while you open it while your toddler is in glee in anticipation of what the next shiny new thing is. For me, I hate having garbage around when flying, so I always skip that step and unwrap any packaging before the flight. 

• Reusable stickers (don’t get the big Melissa and Doug ones. Those are amazing for restaurants, etc. but it’s too big for the plane. These versions (still Melissa and Doug) are a perfect size.)
• Washi tape (comes in so many patterns and designs, and they are kind of like painters tape – comes off super cleanly)
• Window Clings
• Playdough
• Water Wow (I personally find these annoying because the brush is small and it does empty pretty quickly, but my kids like it, and many people love them too.)
• Pipe cleaners (Again, never been a huge fan – my kids never got into it, but many people love these. They are small and easy to carry, so maybe worth it!)
• Scratch Art (if your kid is strong enough, these are fun!)
• Travel Etch-a-Sketch (get the smaller kind with stamps and pen – not the wheel one)
• You. You playing with them. So much energy but don’t expect to throw a toy at him/her and think they will entertain themselves for long. (I know, so exhausting.) Switch off with partners (15 min on, 15min off, etc)
• iPad or old iPhone turned into a small iPod (consider training them first) – get a stand or case that goes behind the plane seat. If they are not used to screen time though, it could get a little nutty, so I would save this to the last resort. If there’s any chance of them sleeping, reserve this for after sleep, not before. If they are old enough to understand “if you sleep, you can have screen time” this is a good bribe to at least get them to try to sleep. See below for suggestions on apps and shows I found. 
• $1 store or Daiso toys and nicknacks in a surprise bag.
• Toddler Headphones – hit or a miss but better to have it just in case. A lot of people frown upon volume without headphones, but you could always test out the sound by walking away to see if the airplane white noise doesn’t carry the volume beyond your seat. Try these with them before the flight so they know how to use it and see the benefits of it. Have fun with it – like “wow, can you hear anything?! NO?! How about now?! How cool!” These seem to be highly rated by parents and these wireless ones seem pretty cool too. 

Apps and Shows for This Age

• Elmo – oh Elmo, why do toddlers love you? Because they do, I love you too. Download the 10-20 minute versions. The movie ones tend to be a little too long for this age.
• Daniel Tiger
• Little Einsteins
• Wheels on the bus (App)
• Little Baby Bum
• Mother Goose Club
• Sesame Street
• I Hear Ewe (App)
• Infant zoo (App)
• Smart Baby Touch (App)
• Towers 2 by Tiny Hands (App)

Snacks to Pack for When Flying with Toddlers

Generally, think protein before any sugar. Make sure your kids get plenty of protein as a base before offering anything sweet. A sugar crash is so real with my kids and protein seems to help. We also like to use these to put the snacks in. The colors make it kind of exciting and you won’t have crushed or mushed snacks. You aren’t supposed to, but we do reuse these until it gets gross.

• Gummies for landing and takeoff
• Salty snacks like Pirate’s Booty
• NEW snacks
• Favorite cups
• Freeze dried fruit
• Milk from Starbucks or stand before you get on the plane

Medication?

Definitely bring your necessary meds for you and your kids, but what about sleeping aids and other pain meds? We always bring Motrin and Benadryl on the flight just in case of pain and allergies, but (knock on wood) we never had to use it.

Of course, ask your doctor first about any necessary/allowed meds! If you are considering melatonin/Benadryl to help your kids sleep, read what I have to say about that in my post on overcoming jetlag with kids. Some people seem to say fish oil aids in sleep too. Never tried it, but FYI.

There you have it!

Do you think you are ready for your flight with your wiggly toddler!? It’s not easy, but with all this ammunition, hopefully, you can keep them well fed, entertained, and eventually, they will love to fly. Henry can’t wait to fly every time – no wonder – he gets new toys, snacks, and unlimited screentime (for the most part). [Insert eye roll emoji here]

Do you want more tips on traveling with kids and want to know more? Read more here:

• How to pack for a family of 4 in one bag and save money
• Tips for flying while pregnant
• Tips for adjusting to jetlag with babies, toddlers, and kids
• Tips for flying on budget airlines with kids

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