The Flying Fox
Courtney asked for tips on flying with an infant and an older little kid, and because I aim to please, here they are! And in a timely fashion, unlike Fox’s birth story, which I hope to get posted before he turns six.
Most of my best tips for air travel are as relevant to flying with two kids as they are to flying with one (or even alone, actually), and in The Flying Toddler, I covered the following:
a. Streamline the security process.
b. Fly light.
c. Don’t fly at naptime/bedtime.
d. A little bribe goes a long way.
e. Disarm your neighbors.
f. Drink.
g. Overprepare.
(If you don’t go back to read that post for the information, at least check out the killer photo at the top–one of my favorites.)
Flying with two kids was of course different than flying with one, but the biggest change I noticed was how much easier it was to fly with a three-year-old and a newborn as opposed to a single kid between the ages of 1 and 3. Kids at that stage are both hard to contain and hard to entertain (they just want to RUN), whereas currently I have one kid who will sit still and mostly quiet and do mazes in a workbook and one kid who can’t even roll over, let alone stand up and head top speed for the nearest emergency exit. Contained and entertained, done and done.
Other tips that came out of our recent flights (and a few repetitions of old tips, just for good measure):
1. Sit in the middle seat and give your older kid the window. Not only can you keep him entertained with the goings-on outside (baggage handler! wing flaps! clouds! topography!) but HE CAN’T GET OUT. We’re lucky in that our flights are so short I’ve never told Wombat there’s a bathroom on the plane, so even that’s not an issue. We sit, we pull out our activities and snacks, and we’re good for the long (well, short) haul.
2. Speaking of activities, crayons are great and all, but they roll off airplane trays and onto the floor. Stick with stickers.
3. Check with the gate agent to see whether your flight is full. If it’s not and you’re flying an airline that lets you pick your own seat on the spot (much love to you, Southwest!), put your big kid by the window and yourself in the aisle and chances are no one will be crazy enough to want to sit between you, meaning you’ll have the whole row to yourself. If you can swing this, you could also bring your car seat on board and have a handy place to stow the infant so you can open your peanuts with two hands rather than one hand and your teeth and oh, now there are peanuts EVERYWHERE, oops.
4. Make sure you are the last person to diaper your baby before heading to the airport. That way, if there’s a blowout incident that can be attributed to improper diaper application, you’ll have only yourself to blame.
5. Carry as much as you can, including children. Wombat rode in the Ergo until he got way too big for it, and Fox took to the wrap immediately and will go into the Ergo at around 5 months. If you can wear a kid on your person and put all of your carry-on stuff in one bag that fits on your back/shoulder and then under your seat once you’re on the plane, you’re golden.
6. That said…traveling with two car seats? Take the stroller. This is the first time we’d flown with a stroller, and although it’s kind of a pain at security, it was a lifesaver before and after those points. We were flying with a big suitcase, a little suitcase, a big car seat, a little car seat, a carry-on backpack, and a stroller. With Fox strapped into the wrap, I was able to pile everything except the big roller bag onto the stroller and move it all myself (both hands on the stroller bar with a thumb hooked into the handle of the roller bag to pull it along). There’s no way I could have handled all that stuff if I hadn’t been able to stack it all on a set of wheels. Note: If you’re flying alone and taking a stroller, I can’t see how you’d get through security without babywearing, since you need two hands to get all that stroller junk through the x-ray machine, so if you’re NOT a babywearer by nature, I’d suggest you get some sort of carrier now and practice with it before your flight. It will make all the difference, I promise.
7. Another rule the stroller will let you break is the Don’t Let Your Kid Carry His Own Stuff rule. Independence, responsibility, blah blah blah, you know that kid is only five minutes away from complaining he’s too tired to carry his own backpack (which he insisted on bringing) or pull his own rolling luggage (because it looks like fun!), and we all know who will end up having to deal with all that extra stuff from then on. With the stroller, I consented to letting Wombat bring his backpack stuffed with junk, knowing I could just toss it on the stroller when he got “tired” (which he did, almost immediately).
8. Give the kids a sippy, bottle, or boob on the way up and down. As planes ascend and descend and the air pressure changes in the cabin, little ears are sometimes slow to catch up and can start hurting (and inspire screaming). Neither of my boys has ever had ear problems on planes, but I’ve also always made them drink during take off and landing, so perhaps that’s why.
9. Your fellow humans can be a very helpful lot. Let them show you.
10. Keep your sense of humor. No one wants to hear the tale of that one time you flew alone with two children and everything went smoothly (see above). When disaster strikes, take a deep breath, press on, refer to point 9, and pay extra close attention to every crappy little detail so you can tell a really good story later.
You can do eet! Fist pump!
Please add your own tips for flying with kids (especially older ones because as soon as Fox learns to walk and Wombat hears about the cool toilet on board, I’m screwed).
My favorite airplane with small children tip ever (and I don’t even remember who/where I heard/read it) is to bring a roll of painter’s tape and allow your child to tear and stick to their heart’s content.
Great idea! My boys love taping stuff. I’m writing this down on my packing list.
I have heard of people offering to buy neighbors in immediate proximity to their potentially freaked out/screaming/restless child(ren) a drink before the plane even taxis out, as a precaution…it’s usually received very well (whether or not they actually take you up on the offer), and on the off chance the kid(s) do(es) freak out, you’ve already bought a little extra patience…
Yes! I covered that in the Flying Toddler post. We’ve offered earplugs to people before, and although no one took us up on them, it really did disarm them and let them know we were concerned about their comfort, not entitled douchebag breeders.
Whoops, yeah, just read the 1st post and came back here to say right, yes, you HAVE already thought of this
It’s a good tip, so it totally bears repeating!
That is a hella expensive tip.
I like to hit the dollar section of Target and buy a few trinkets that I surprise the little with on the plane.
If you can get a packet of Free Drink coupons (I know Southwest awards them), the drink thing doesn’t really cost anything. And for us, flying to and from Salt Lake City, I’d never have to use them anyway because of the high percentage of nondrinkers. Win!
And yes–all hail the dollar section at Target!
You were allowed to wear your baby/toddler through security and on the plane!? Every time I’ve had a baby in a carrier (wrap, sling [both with zero hardware], BabyBjorn, Ergo), I’ve had to take it off to go through security AND for takeoff and landing. Not the end of the world, but it always seemed to defeat the purpose. :-/
I’d always been asked to take Wombat out of the Ergo, but going both ways this time I didn’t have to take Fox out of the wrap. They swiped my hands with one of those explosive-detector strips when I got through the metal detector, but otherwise they didn’t hassle me about it. I don’t know if the difference is just a change in policy or if they’re more lax with one parent traveling alone with several kids. Either way, THANK YOU, SECURITY AGENTS. I bet they’ve had a lot of moms flip when they’ve asked them to take their sleeping baby out of the carrier to walk through security for 30 seconds.
My twins are now 3 1/2 and have been on 5 trips by airplane so far. Here are my tips.
1. Whatever you do, do not rent carseats from the car rental place when you get to your destination. Trust me; this is the most important piece of advice ever in the history of the universe.
2. They recently (2011?) changed the rules so that children don’t have to take off their shoes when they go through security, so that saves some hassle.
3. If you get your seat assignment and you’re seated away from your kid, don’t panic. Obviously, they’re not going to seat a 2-year-old all by himself and will change it on the plane, at the latest, but also I have been seated with one boy while my husband was seated with another in a different part of the plane, and the flight attendants always moved us so we were all together. Very nice.
4. Lots of new activities and iPod games.
Twins! I’m putting on a hat right now just so I can take it off to you!
I’m gone to say to my little brother, that he should also go to see this web site on regular basis to take updated from most recent news.
Exchanging visiting to know more friends in the blog circle, so that many green hand can grow up~~~ lol~~~thanx for the advice ..I got many helpful imformation….so I can choose what I want~~~shopping on the line~~~lol
Hi! It’s me, the original requester. Just wanted to say thanks so much for the tips! You mentioned stuff I wouldn’t have even thought of (like, uh, going to the bathroom with two kids on tow) and now I’m pretty convinced I can strap this as-yet-unborn baby on, stick a bunch of crap in the stroller, and totally do this thing.
You can do it! And if things go horribly wrong, those types of things always make for the best stories later, don’t they?
Oh. OH! Utterly captivating. I LOVED IT. He has such a flair for the dramatic pause and some dramatic voice changes. Thanks for sharing this! Also, I don’t care what your real names are. You’ll always be Leah and Simon to me.
This is obviously spam, but I kind of love it with this post. Ha.