Traveling With Kids

My husband has been a commercial airline pilot for the past 5 years. Being a pilot’s wife means that our family has had the opportunity to travel all over the world. Whenever we are in the airport or on the plane, people always ask if it's the girls first trip on an airplane and they don't realize that our girls have probably logged more flight hours than themselves.  

Throughout all of our flying experiences, I have learned a lot. Nothing ever goes perfectly, but I do my best to be prepared for the unexpected. Above all, don't forget to relax and be gracious with yourself. Of course, it's hard when your kid is crying on an airplane. However, it's not going to help them calm down if you are worked up too. Before you travel with your kids, pray and ask God to help you. He will be faithful to provide just what you need, like a kind flight attendant or someone to give you a break and just hold your baby.

Here are some of the things that I do, which help me to have a better traveling experience with my kids. If you have additional tips that work for your family, please leave them in the comments.

Tips For Traveling With Kids

1. Use a backpack as your diaper bag.
When I had my first daughter, I had a cute over the shoulder diaper bag. This was fine for my first baby, because I didn't know any better and I had an extra shoulder to carry my diaper bag on. However, with each child I gained more knowledge and wisdom as a mother. Not to mention, by my 3rd child, I had run out of extra hands!! At this point in time, I began to use a backpack as our diaper bag. Honestly, I wish I would have done this so much sooner! It has made all the difference, especially now that I have twins. Keep this in mind when you travel as well. Invest in a good quality backpack that will free up your hands to pull a suitcase or hold hands with your other children.

2. Bring a stroller.
Before I had the twins, when we would fly with my older three kids, I would bring a cheaper umbrella stroller that I bought from Walmart. I did this for several reasons. First, I wouldn't be upset if the stroller got lost or broken. On one trip, I brought my nice jogging stroller, but it was so bulky and just a pain to try to lug around the airport. Second, umbrella strollers are light and very compact, so if the kids wanted to walk in the airport I wouldn't have to worry about carrying a big bulky stroller. Finally, I always like bringing a stroller with us, because if any of my big girls got tired or needed a break they could take a turn and sit in the stroller too.

Twin Exception: This past year, I have learned that twins are the ultimate exception to this rule! When we moved to Hong Kong our twins were just 2 months old and I can't carry both of them by myself, so I was forced to use our big bulky stroller in the airport. It wasn't my first choice, but it was better than trying to carry both babies along with everything else we were bringing with us overseas.

That being said, try to find a stroller that works best for you and your particular situation.

3. Baby front pack carrier.
Before having my twins, this is my favorite way to travel! I always brought my baby carrier with me, to carry my youngest around the airport. There were a few times we even got by without a stroller which was nice too! The carrier allows me to be hands free and help hold other things. We have two of these now and we use them with the twins all the time. My husband carries one baby and I carry the other. If you don't have one I would highly recommend it!!

4. Airport security.
I've had some pretty interesting experiences with airport security. To make things a little easier for yourself, try to put all the baby stuff like foods and any liquids in the same bag. Traveling to Hong Kong, each of the girls had their own backpacks with snacks inside, so it took forever to get through security. Try to keep everything together, to minimize how many bags security needs to check. Also, I bring apple juice and water for formula in my bag as well. Security will check those liquids to make sure that you don't have anything dangerous. Don't forget to be gracious to the TSA workers, because they're doing their best to keep everyone at the airport and on your plane safe.

5. Snacks galore.
I am not going to lie, when we fly with our children, I let them have a lot of snacks!! They're just as hungry and tired as I am from traveling, so I always bring special treats for my girls. I try not to just give them candy, but granola bars, trail mix, string cheese, mandarin oranges, goldfish and beef jerky are a few of our favorite airplane snacks. Days before our flight, I always portion out the snacks into small snack or sandwich bags, so I don't have to worry about making a mess on the plane. It's helpful to have the snacks ready for my girls when they get hungry.

6. Entertainment.
We don't normally let the girls watch a lot of TV or movies. However, when we are flying that all changes. We bring coloring books and a variety of activities for our girls to do while we are flying. That being said, on our 15 hour flight to Hong Kong those activities only lasted so long. Thankfully, our girls had their own TV screen and we let them watch more movies and TV shows. They had so much fun picking their own movies and watching whatever they wanted to (within reason). If you're traveling with littles, cut yourself some slack and don't feel like a bad Mom if you let your kids have more screen time than normal.

7. Pack for worst-case scenario.
I've flown standby more than most people. I could tell you about all the times we thought we were going to get on a flight, but we didn't. It's torture to watch your seat be given away or have your flight get cancelled. That being said, I always pack for an emergency or missed flight. I never check my carry on bag, because it's usually full of extra diapers, wipes, formula, a change of clothes for me and my girls, extra snacks, and an assortment of toiletries. It's better to be prepared than to run out of diapers or wipes.