In a controlled environment where there is a short end in sight, if your toddler has a meltdown, you remove him from the situation and strap him in his carseat and you leave. If you are in your own home, you have your own rules: You set the rules. You can send them to their rooms to cool off. You can't always control a toddler, but you have an endless supply of snacks and books and toys and space and snuggles and crafts (even if they are messy ones) and Netflix shows. You have options. It's hard for your toddler to get lost or inconvenience other people (or break things) when you're in that controlled environment. (So as an aside, if you don't have kids and you can't figure out why your friends with kids don't want to come over...that would be why: Because it might be cool that you have that pair of $100 shoes, but do you REALLY want them in your toilet? Because sorry, but you don't have door locks...or outlet covers...or a gate at the top of your stairs...)
In an airport or ::cringe:: airplane, the only options you have available are the ones you can fit in your carry on. And while 7 books, 6 episodes of Paw Patrol/Bubble Guppies/Clifford/etc., etch-a-sketch, toy alligators and snacks and milk to last a week for a normal person might SEEM like enough...it's not enough. It's NEVER enough.
Traveling with kids is one of the biggest nightmares I have, and it's not because my kids are even bad travelers! In fact, on the first flight, we got numerous comments about how wonderfully our boys did. And that was when we thought that they were being HORRIBLE. So...I guess it probably wasn't as awful for any of the other passengers as it was for us, but we made a rookie mistake traveling with kids: We had a half-charged tablet on a 4 hour flight and a phone with only 2 (15 minute) episodes of Paw Patrol on it.
Considering all that, the boys really were very VERY good.
So I thought I'd pass along some tips for traveling with two kids ages (just turned) 3 and 17 months.
Plan out ahead of time how you are going to work the airport drop off.
Mark and I decided how it would work almost a week ahead of time, to make things go pretty smoothly. We usually park at our corporate work's facility and take a taxi to the airport. This costs us $40 for a taxi ride versus approximately $140 to park at $20/day at the airport for a week.
We tried this process when we took Cashel with us to Hawaii in 2013, and it was nuts! See, the taxi drop off is way on the other side of the street, and you have to lug all your crap way over to the elevator, then across the road on the skyway, then down the other elevator, and then way down to the check in, and then, since traveling with a lap child and needing to check the carseat, hiking backpack, pack 'n play, 2 checked bags, 2 hefty carry ons, a pump, a laptop, and 2 carry ons, having to wait in the check in line. We learned after that that we would be buying a bigger suitcase and waiting to fly again until after no one needed a pack 'n play or stroller.
This time around we were smarter. Mark dropped me off at the curbside check in with the boys still strapped in to their carseat, but seated IN the carseat bags (with wheels!) just unzipped, along with the luggage aside from two carry on bags, then he went and did the cab thing while I got us all checked in with curbside checkin (for a $10 tip, it was SOOOOO worth it). It was a flawless process, and then I had just my personal item bag and two boys. He was back within about 15 minutes, and we were ready to head through security.
Easy peasy!
It was actually really easy to get from point A to point B with the boys strapped in an able to be pulled around with the wheels on the bottom of the seat: You just move one set of stuff, then the seats, then trade back and forth, until you reach your destination.
On the way back, we did the same thing, except here was our mistake: We overloaded our checked bag by NINE pounds. So I had to pull NINE pounds worth of crap out and I had nowhere to put it until Mark got back with the (under-loaded) carry on bags). Which meant that I had to sit there with the boys in their carseats for 20 minutes (after they had already been in them for over an hour) in the middle of the bag drop off area, which was crowded, and they were NOT happy campers. It set the entire day off on the wrong note. Make SURE your bags aren't over-loaded.
We tried this process when we took Cashel with us to Hawaii in 2013, and it was nuts! See, the taxi drop off is way on the other side of the street, and you have to lug all your crap way over to the elevator, then across the road on the skyway, then down the other elevator, and then way down to the check in, and then, since traveling with a lap child and needing to check the carseat, hiking backpack, pack 'n play, 2 checked bags, 2 hefty carry ons, a pump, a laptop, and 2 carry ons, having to wait in the check in line. We learned after that that we would be buying a bigger suitcase and waiting to fly again until after no one needed a pack 'n play or stroller.
This time around we were smarter. Mark dropped me off at the curbside check in with the boys still strapped in to their carseat, but seated IN the carseat bags (with wheels!) just unzipped, along with the luggage aside from two carry on bags, then he went and did the cab thing while I got us all checked in with curbside checkin (for a $10 tip, it was SOOOOO worth it). It was a flawless process, and then I had just my personal item bag and two boys. He was back within about 15 minutes, and we were ready to head through security.
Easy peasy!
On the way back, we did the same thing, except here was our mistake: We overloaded our checked bag by NINE pounds. So I had to pull NINE pounds worth of crap out and I had nowhere to put it until Mark got back with the (under-loaded) carry on bags). Which meant that I had to sit there with the boys in their carseats for 20 minutes (after they had already been in them for over an hour) in the middle of the bag drop off area, which was crowded, and they were NOT happy campers. It set the entire day off on the wrong note. Make SURE your bags aren't over-loaded.
Also...have a plan for when you arrive at the next airport
Our plan, which works for us, is that since we were getting a rental car and getting in late, as soon as we got all our baggage in place, Mark headed to pick it up right away so as not to waste time trying to load everything into a rental car and occupy babies while standing in line with all our luggage. It's also a heck of a lot easier to beat all the other people going to get a rental car if you don't waste the time lugging everyone along. You get in line first (or maybe second), and typically get on the road faster.
Check as much as possible
I know that it stinks these days having to pay for each checked bag: I get it. But one of the things I hate the most about flying is what's left to lug around the airport after you check your bags. I told Mark that next time we will be checking two large bags and just taking a small carry on bag otherwise. Or maybe just a personal item. When you are traveling with toddlers, it SUCKS when you have to end up carrying your kid (who moves at the pace of molasses OR runs off and you have to chase them) on top of lugging a carry on and a bulging personal item (because, you know, you're supposed to dress in layers, yet no one wants to wear their sweatshirts...and you have to carry 4 sippy cups and snacks and (heaven forbid) everyone elses' boarding passes.).
See, when you want toddlers to actually go where you want them to, that pretty much means you are carrying them. And two 30+ and 40+ pound kids get HEAVY when you have to carry them across an airport on top of lugging two carry ons and two personal items chock full of crap.
Fifty bucks round-trip for that extra bag is SO worth it (or at least that's what I'm telling myself for next time haha)
See, when you want toddlers to actually go where you want them to, that pretty much means you are carrying them. And two 30+ and 40+ pound kids get HEAVY when you have to carry them across an airport on top of lugging two carry ons and two personal items chock full of crap.
Fifty bucks round-trip for that extra bag is SO worth it (or at least that's what I'm telling myself for next time haha)
Take the bare minimums, but don't skimp on the necessary stuff.
You don't want to have too little when you're flying with toddlers, but there's no reason to have an enormous bag full of crap you won't need. The first 20 minutes or so before take off (and then right after take off) are fairly easy, because they're so excited to explore, but that wears off soon after, and then you have to actually entertain them (or risk irritating the passengers around you) for the next 3.5 hours. (Or if you're smart, you wouldn't book a flight that long unless necessary). And really, it's not bad if you have some movies or shows on a tablet, interesting books, decent snacks, and plenty to drink. And diapers. DON'T forget about 2 diapers more than you think you'll need...with extras in your carry on too.
Did I mention to bring GOOD snacks?
I don't know about you and your kids, but when traveling, my kids refuse to eat pretty much anything. Do you know what that means? Their snacks are what they eat for the day. That's it. Snacks. So don't forget to pick up stuff like a fruit cup or cheese or crackers at the little (extraordinarily over-priced) newsstand cafe place before boarding. Or, if you don't live 3+ hours from the airport like we do, bring it from home - if it's for your kids, they're pretty good at letting it through security, at least at the airports we've been to with kids.
But also pack special snacks that they only get on special occasions...just in case.
We seldom give our kids fruit snacks (we've been using them as rewards for potty training, and well...that hasn't been totally seamless just yet), but we went through an entire box of them on the way home from Miami. Twelve packages. When your kids get to that "just done" point of the trip, you do what you have to do to keep you and everyone around you sane and injury-free. If that means letting them watch the 5th episode of Paw Patrol and eat their sixth packet of fruit snacks on the 3 hour flight, then that's what it takes. And for Kendrick, it was walking up and down the aisle about 20 times in a row. And more milk. And more milk. And graham crackers. And raisins. And fruit snacks.
I kid you not when I say that probably half of my over-flowing personal item was filled with snacks. And we had a separate bag just for sippy cups with milk. Don't skimp on the snacks.
But also pack special snacks that they only get on special occasions...just in case.
We seldom give our kids fruit snacks (we've been using them as rewards for potty training, and well...that hasn't been totally seamless just yet), but we went through an entire box of them on the way home from Miami. Twelve packages. When your kids get to that "just done" point of the trip, you do what you have to do to keep you and everyone around you sane and injury-free. If that means letting them watch the 5th episode of Paw Patrol and eat their sixth packet of fruit snacks on the 3 hour flight, then that's what it takes. And for Kendrick, it was walking up and down the aisle about 20 times in a row. And more milk. And more milk. And graham crackers. And raisins. And fruit snacks.
I kid you not when I say that probably half of my over-flowing personal item was filled with snacks. And we had a separate bag just for sippy cups with milk. Don't skimp on the snacks.
Take MULTIPLE changes of clothes
Cashel is working on potty training right now, and he's in pull ups (thank goodness), but when we were standing in the security line, he suddenly decided that he HAD to go potty. And ya know, after standing in the security line for 20 minutes, it's not like the first thought in your head is, "Hey - let's just jump out of line and run you to the nearest bathroom". So, by the time we made it through the security check, the kid (who had been drinking milk and water all morning) now has wet pants. Change #1.
And then, while he usually naps around 2 or 3pm every day, this particular day he was out while watching Paw Patrol a whopping 2 hours earlier than anticipated, and we didn't realize it until he was already asleep. How the heck do you change a passed out 40lb toddler in an airplane bathroom is just beyond me. And this kid? When he falls asleep, you could let him go bungee jumping and he'd still be sleeping, so no way could we wake him up. By the time he woke up an hour later, his second set of pants (and the ONLY other long pants he had at all to make it home to the balmy 4 degree temps in Minnesota) were a little wet. Thankfully the pants weren't really that wet (just a tinge at the front of the top of the pants) and dried fairly quickly, but in reality, if we had another pair of pants, we would have changed him into them. So theoretically, this would have been change #2.
You never know what's going to happen when you're traveling with toddlers, but be prepared! And REALLY stay on top of the potty trips and diaper changes. It's easy to get so flustered and rushed (gate changes at the last minute, anyone?) that you forget before it's too late.
And then, while he usually naps around 2 or 3pm every day, this particular day he was out while watching Paw Patrol a whopping 2 hours earlier than anticipated, and we didn't realize it until he was already asleep. How the heck do you change a passed out 40lb toddler in an airplane bathroom is just beyond me. And this kid? When he falls asleep, you could let him go bungee jumping and he'd still be sleeping, so no way could we wake him up. By the time he woke up an hour later, his second set of pants (and the ONLY other long pants he had at all to make it home to the balmy 4 degree temps in Minnesota) were a little wet. Thankfully the pants weren't really that wet (just a tinge at the front of the top of the pants) and dried fairly quickly, but in reality, if we had another pair of pants, we would have changed him into them. So theoretically, this would have been change #2.
You never know what's going to happen when you're traveling with toddlers, but be prepared! And REALLY stay on top of the potty trips and diaper changes. It's easy to get so flustered and rushed (gate changes at the last minute, anyone?) that you forget before it's too late.
I know there are probably a thousand other things I'm forgetting, but these are the biggest ones we noticed this time. Next time (which is hopefully a LONG time from now) we'll be better prepared.
