Flying with a Toddler

As I mentioned previously, a few weeks ago me and my lil guy took a trip just the two of us to visit family in PA.  I was so nervous about this trip as my hubby was supposed to go initially but due to some work scheduling issues wasn't able to.  There were no direct flights from Houston to Buffalo so I knew we would have a layover and then on top of that once we got to Buffalo, we had a hour and a half drive to the house.

Per my usual I did some research to try and figure out what I could do to make things as smooth as could be and that in conjunction with my experience have compiled a little list of what I found to work.

- Buy a few small toys they haven't played with before.  The one thing I bought that he loved was a travel size doodle board thing

this entertained him the most honestly even more than the iPad which was very surprising since the iPad is his crack.

- load up on snacks a little bit of a bunch of different things.  I didn't use these ItzyRitzy pouches but in hindsight I have them and they would have been perfect, I used the little snack trap cup things and they take up so much space!! These little pouches I might add are so good for so many things!

- Get a window seat!! I only had one flight where I had a n isle seat and thought it would be good so I could get up easily but no, our first flight we had a window seat and then the second flight we didn't and L just wanted to climb over our neighbor to get to the window and thus threw a fit because he couldn't get to the window.  plus, not only can he look out the window if you have a baby you are still nursing you have a bit of privacy since your nestled in the corner.

- If you can afford it get them their own seat.  I decided to have L sit on my lap but on one of our flights we actually had an empty seat next to us and it was so nice to have room to spread out a bit even though he stayed on my lap it was a nice space to put  few toys to get to easily and for me to not feel so cramped.

- Bring a small fold up stroller that you can fold and carry easily.  I used the Chicco Liteway and it was a bit heavy.  After I checked my boarding pass I had to carry L, my bag and the stroller down the gateway and it was a bit of a struggle.  I did use a gate check bag for the stroller to avoid any unnecessary damage.  

- Use a carry-on thats easy to carry with lots of pockets.  I wish I would have used a backpack, I used the Lands End canvas bag which was ok since I had the stroller to drape it on but I think a backpack would have made life easier.  If you have lots of pockets its easier to put things in their own space thus easier to find things in an instant instead of rummaging through your junk with a squirmy baby and people waiting behind you!

- Bring a packet of cleaning wipes and lots of hand sanitizer.  traveling is dirty and on the plane your baby will want to touch everything and then snack and put things in his mouth so once we sat down I wiped everything off and it gave me a little more peace of mind!

- FInally, get to the airport early and try to plan your flight with no layovers or a long enough one so you have time to get to your gate and get something to eat! Luckily we got to go through the special line at security because I had the baby but it still takes time to unload all the stuff take shoes off fold the stroller and traipse through the security thing and then put it all back together.  

Things went as well as they could with a 14 month old trapped in a small space for a long period.  I may or may not have given him a little benedryl to help him sleep as he is not the type to sleep anywhere, he has never fallen asleep in the stroller and rarely in the car, plus he was cutting 4 molars at the time.  I think that you should discuss that with your pediatrician though as I am no doctor!