Plane Travel with Kids

Step one: Hyperventalate. totally freak out about the idea of being in the air for 6 hours and being in transit for close to 10 hours door-to-door. Ok, take a step back. Look at the "50 ways to amuse your kids" article I pinned on Pinterest. Nope, none of those apply to my kids. Those "special" travelers who won't sleep and who also get airsick. Yep, it happens on planes, trains and automobiles. Although the longest train ride they have been on was in Disneyland, does that count? Plus they were pretty unhappy in line, so I'm calling it all modes of transportation.

As I mentioned in my car travel with kids post, we love these backpacks. Our son has the Wildkin Olive Kids Under Construction Pack 'n Snack Backpack. They have a main compartment for workbooks, headphones, and iPad etc. and a smaller insulated compartment for snacks. I got an assortment of workbooks for the kids, mostly sticker ones for my son, and writing/word ones for my daughter.

For snacks I like to bring things that won't make a mess. At preschool age that means fruit bars, almonds, raisins, squeeze applesauce, a "kid bar" (which in our family is a special treat). I also pack lollipops for takeoff and landing. I found it helps their ears.

Each kid carries their own backpack through the airport, my husband has a backpack with things for him (and, optimistically, a book for me), and I have a diaper bag with supplies for the baby. I switched into a larger diaper bag for this trip, the Skip Hop Studio Diaper Bag , since it zips closed, very important.

Honestly, the trip wasn't awful, but then again, we don't have any kids currently in what I classify as the "No Fly Zone" which is between 6 months and about 2. 

Under 6 months, and the babies aren't yet mobile, don't need toys, and I can just nurse and hold them. For this flight, we had a seat for the baby with her car seat, but she was in it for about 30 minutes total. My back was killing me from holding her, but at least she was relatively happy. After being held (or in a car seat) for so long, in the airport and when we arrived I made sure to give her plenty of floor time.

Over 2 years old (and change), kids are easier to amuse. They might watch TV (we bring an iPad loaded with pre-approved shows), do a workbook, or in the case of my son, snack for the entire trip.

Between these two ages, it's a rough road (or flight as the case may be). The baby wants to move but can't and isn't old enough to reason with. We have certainly flown in that time period, once even with two kids in that age range (I've blocked out all memory of that trip), but I am trying hard to avoid it with the current baby.

Jessica

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Sunday: I Heart Naptime, Nifty Thrifty Things, Inspired Honeybee, Nest for Less, Delectable Home, It's Overflowing  Monday:Between Naps on the Porch, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Thrifty Decor Chick, Alderberry Hill, Debbie Doo's, Home Stories A to Z, Home Savvy AtoZ , Tuesday: Coastal Charm, Tip Junkie, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Carolyn's Homework, Made in a Day, Our Delightful Home, A Bowl Full of Lemons, Get Your Craft On, Kurtz Corner , Organize and Decorate, Natural NestersWednesday: Savvy Southern Style, Mommy Solutions, Power of Paint, Newlyweds Recipe Linky, Southern Lovely , Home Happy Home Thursday: The Shabby Creek Cottage, Made in a Day, House of Hepworths, the 36th Avenue , Bloggeritaville Craft, Scrappy, Happy, 52 Mantels Friday: One Artsy Mama, Serenity Now, Tatertots and Jello, The Shabby Nest, Thirty Handmade Days, Addicted 2 Decorating, Funky Junk Interiors, Financial Friday, Furniture Friday, At the Picket Fence, The Rooster and the Hen