Flying Home with TWO
Matthew is going to Bolivia with World Vision at the end of the month. Rather than a family member flying down to help with the kiddos, I am going to go for an extended stay in Wisconsin.
I am really excited about getting quality time with my family and having time to see friends that I don’t normally get to see!
I have a double stroller (review and special giveaway coming in August!), which I know will help tremendously. Adeline is such an easy baby that I am not expecting things to be too difficult, but if you have any tips for flying with two little ones, I would appreciate it!
We flew back in October with our then 18 month old and our 3 month old from the US to England. My advice is to nurse (if you are) or give a bottle ANY time they want it for the baby, and for your older one – new toys, dvd player, and some ring pops or lollie pops. The ring pops were a life saver for our 18 month old. The best advice I ever received for traveling with kids – let them have no rules. It sounds crazy, especially if you are a type A like myself, but it helps! If they want to jump on the seat, let them – as long as they don’t bother other passengers. If they want candy – give them candy, if they want to watch tv the whole time – let them! Once you are safe and sound at your destination, implement the rules yet again 🙂 Hope this helps!
Dale and I flew to Virginia with Caedmon and Lucy when she was just 2 weeks. She did just fine. My advice is to nurse her when taking off and landing which may free up in between for her to sleep while you focus in big brother. That’s what I did and it went smoothly. Although I’d recommend anyone not octake the redeye with a two year old who can only sleep in his bed! We had THAT kid. It was terrible but the other flights went fine!! I’m heading home with just the kids in a few weeks, Lucy will be 3 months, all by myself too. My tricks with Caedmon are special treats, snacks and reading books, his favorite, back to back. We also bought one of those doodle boards that has the pen on the string and slides to erase, he thinks that’s the coolest thing in the world and it eliminates dropping crayons on the floor. Caedmon has his own backpack with only four or five things in it but he feels like a big boy with it. And I’m only taking one bag on so I don’t have to remember to carry anything…o and the carrier pouch for Lucy works the whole time, she stayed in it and I loved that my hands were free to help Caedmon. Ah, that’s a lot! It’s just my experience and I’m looking forward to traveling with them again…crazy some tell me, but they’re my kids and I LOVE to travel. Hope your flights go smoothly!!
Definitely have water (or milk for baby), or juice in a bottle for Elias so they can drink and swallow and clear their ears while taking off and landing. If Elias is old enough let him have gum, helps with the ears. Get a portable dvd player it’s worth every penny. Then he can watch his favorite dvd’s as much as he wants. Bring his favorite book or maybe a new book (from library maybe) for him to explore. Make sure he goes to bathroom right before you take off so he won’t have to go on the plane (unless he’s not potty trained yet of course ;0)..). Have a baby carrier or sling for baby to free your hands for Elias. Have a magna doodle or note book to color in. I always get my kids some small new things, like sketch book, pencils, stickers, new movies for dvd player if traveling by car or using portable dvd player. And for yourself: wear comfortable clothing, good shoes. And maybe most of all: don’t tell him you’re going on a trip until the day before so he won’t ask you 100 times a day for a month if you’re going on your trip yet! ;0)……………Hope you’ll have fun. And thank you for having such a great blog and sharing so much with your readers!
Forgot to say bring plenty of snacks!!!!! It’s amazing what a simple snack can do in a time of need! ;0)
Bring snacks that are new to Elias too. Things he may have not tried or that you don’t usually allow. I always bring the 100 calorie snack packs as they are prepackaged and not a huge amount. Also, if Elias doesn’t usually wear headphones, start practicing with those now. He will need those to watch DVDs unless he doesn’t care about sound.
Good luck! I second everything that the others have said. One last thing, plenty of diapers and a few changes of clothes for the baby.
Sticker books and “I Spy” books are great for trips. Kids of all ages love them. And I live in WI. Wish I could meet you while you are here. Enjoy your time with your family!
I don’t have advice for traveling with two and I know you’ve flown a lot with Elias already, but we just flew to Italy and back (from California) with our almost three old and I wrote a blog about the thing that kept her entertained:). Pretty much the same things I bring when we fly to WI to see family but a few extras for the longer flight:)
Playmobil little figures (put them together ahead of time – my bad I didn’t do that:). We had a motorcycle guy and a mom/baby/stroller combo – small and fun pretend play.
Markers and coloring book – we used it so much in flight and once we were there.
Magnetic play scenes – we have a train one:)
Collegium like play scenes – ours are on Amazon from Mudpuppy – LOVE them:)
Sticker books especially the kind I had as a kid where you get packs of stickers and have to figure out where they go – found a Cars one on clearance at Michael’s the day before we left – awesome!
Tattoos – we got back Sunday and she and I still have tattoos everywhere:). Again Michael’s clearance – 88 cents for 50 Cara tattoos – cut them apart and put them in a Ziploc for the trip and applied with a baby wipe on the plane – fun:)
Magnetic dolls – I think ours are Mudpuppy brand
Portable DVD player though we actually hardly used it in spite of flying 10 hours each way to Italy plus the 4.5 hours to/from Chicago as well – she was entertained by the other stuff just fine:)
Have fun! You’re a pro at traveling and Adeline will probably just sleep and nurse, so you’ll do great:)
Auto- correct! Colorform like play scenes, not whatever that word is:)
Nix the big stroller and take an umbrella stroller for Elias and a sling/front pack carrier for Adeline. I found this the easiest way to travel and get on and off the plane quickly and efficiently. And I agree, lollipops are a great, long lasting distraction;P (for times like this!) Have fun!!!
I agree with the umbrella stroller and baby carrier. A lot less bulky and easier to get through security.
I have flown with 3 (ages 5, 2, 3mo) You’ll be fine!