People say that everything changes when a munchkin arrives in a family. If you also have this misconception then let us tell you that, you are simply wrong.
Gone are those days when the packing rituals used to be super easy. All you need to do that time was go for last-minute packing, sit on a plane and chill out. But now the scenario is different.
Packing for everyone is similar to a mini world cup. This is because you not only have to land your baby safely into the destination but you also have to keep him or her as happy as possible.
And for this, you have to be well prepared with your little one’s basic things. Having said that you don’t want to overpack yourself as it can make your journey burdening.
Yes, it can be challenging if you are travelling for the first time with your baby. But over a period of time, you will become an expert.
In this article, we created this detailed guide on toddler travel tips that will answer all your questions.
Tips To Travel With Toddler
Follow these simple toddler travel tips for having a great journey with your young ones in a flight:
Prefer Going In a Direct Flight
Being a parent of a newly born child, it’s painful to keep changing the flights in the connecting airports.
Moreover, frequent landings will trouble those soft ears, which eventually cause pain making the baby cry on the flight. The less time you spend in transit, there will be fewer chances to face the mid-flight tantrum.
Also if you book a connecting flight, we would advise you to schedule extra time on the ground for a minimum three to four hours.
You cannot run with your baby and his or her essentials at the airport.
Getting extra time in connection airport will allow you to change the diaper and grab non-flight food, also your munchkin will feel relaxed in the open space.
Visit Washroom Before The Departure Time
As a travelling Mom, you obviously want to board a flight with your baby with a dry diaper.
Thus, you have to ensure this by visiting the washroom one last time before waiting in the long queue.
Also, put your munchkin with a double diaper so that there won’t be any leakage while travelling.
This act as one of the best toddler travel tips. It is always better to avoid going for a tour in-flight lavatory as you have already visited changed your baby’s diaper in the airport.
Book A Separate Seat For Your Little One
While travel with toddler, prefer booking a separate seat for him or her. Yes, you can carry your child on your lap for free.
But booking a seat will be way safer and it will allow you to feel free and relax and enjoy a hassle-free journey. Plus if your child is above 2 years of age, you have to pay for his ticket too.
So its better to book an adjacent seat as it will be very hard for your child to seat for hours on your lap.
Don’t Get Panic
If you are a new Mumma, it a common issue that you may get panic if your little one fuss and cry at times.
But in such cases, there are many fellow passengers who are actually understanding if they see that you are giving your best to manage a particular situation.
Even if you are not able to manage then you can ask a small apology for bringing an infant on the flight.
But if things go out of your control, just sit and relax and ask for help if you can. In such cases, the flight attendants and gate agents will always be there to help you out to get over the situation.
This is because the airlines also allow travelling with various dog breeds which are also difficult to manage. The airline authorities have strict rules for each and every one.
Book An Aisle Or A Window Seat
If you are going with your baby by carrying him or her on your lap then we would suggest you book the window or aisle seats and leave the middle one open.
This is because the middle seats are the last options which are rarely filled during the offseason. This can make both of you comfortable from the jam.
Aisle seat immensely helps to give a comfortable way to go to the bathroom, so never give up that seat to anybody when travel with toddler.
Research To Get The Best Flight Deals
This toddler travel tip is related to the previous point.
As booking an extra seat for your young one will be expensive and may limit the travel capabilities of yours, we would recommend you to research to get the best flights deals.
There are many websites which frequently provide attractive offers when it comes to travel with toddler.
You can go through those sites and subscribe to their newsletters through which you can get regular alerts about deals and discounts.
Related: How to find cheap filghts
Baby Gear Will Reduce Your Burden
Most airline companies allow to gate-check baby gear such as car seats or strollers without any additional cost.
But for this, you have to request gate check tags from the attendant at the airline’s gate.
Ensure to fold the baby gear before boarding and after landing all your baby gear will be provided to you.
We will advise you to check the airline before the flight departure regarding their gate-check policy.
Renting Basic Supplies Is Also Better
If you don’t want to spend extra charge on baggage fees on carrying baby gear then renting the baby gear is also a better option and this can act as one of the genuine toddler travel tips.
Once you rent all this equipment online, you will get the car seats, cribs and high chairs delivered at the landing airport or hotel. Yes, this service also exists all across the world when it comes to travel with toddler.
Carrying lightweight baggage is all that we want when we are heading over for a trip and this tip will help you to achieve your goal.
Keep Double The Baby’s Necessities
Here we would give much importance. Being a parent of your newborn baby, you have to be extra cautious.
Always ensure to bring twice the quantity of the basic things such as baby food, bottles, milk, bottles, diaper and babycare products.
This is because you are going to sit too long on a flight and sometimes the flight landing times are also not favorable, so keeping extra stuff is required.
Comfortable Outfits Always Keep Your Baby Happy
Being a parent of a little munchkin, its obvious that you want to make your baby look adorable with cute outfits.
But when it comes to travelling, you have to give prime importance to the comfort as well as convenience of your baby. Here you need to select lightweight clothes that are extremely easy to change.
However, if you are going to a cold place, then make your baby wear comfortable warm clothes.
Although at flight, they have the temperature control but still its always better to maintain the safety of your baby.
This is one of the best toddler travel tips. On the other hand, if you are a breastfeeding mom, wear some sort of protective shield which can act as a nursing cover.
Protect Your Baby’s Ears While Flying
When travel with toddler, follow this step strictly. Chewing and eating something can make your baby’s ears feel relief from the pressure changes in the flight’s cabin.
This is why we recommend you to bring pumped or formula breast mile and provide a bottle to your little one before taking off and landing.
In case your baby is not interested to take bottles then you can also give a pacifier or Sippy cups which also works.
Sucking and chewing something will keep the toddlers buckled up. To give extra protection to the little sensitive ears, give plastic earbuds for reducing the pain and pressure.
But make sure to take the advice from your paediatrician a day ahead to the flight departure.
Don’t Hesitate To Ask For Help
Among various toddler travel tips, this is also an important point that you should never ignore. Never ever think that you are the first person who is going to fly with an infant.
As there are many airline companies that have special arrangements for young families.
So in case if your munchkin is not ready to take the cold bottle, then the flight attendants are always available to help you by warming up the same.
Before feeding that milk to your baby, make sure to heat test as you do it at home.
Pack Your Baby’s Medication Accordingly
This is the primary step when travel with toddler that never ever forget to pack the medicine as well as required prescriptions for your baby in your bag.
Having said that liquid medicines are exempted from certain liquid limits. You have to keep them with its packaging so that the flight attendants can immediately identify it.
You can also pack the medicine in the diaper bag for getting it easily from the bag.
Keep Your Baby Distracted
Gone are those days when you were enjoying reading a magazine or watching a thriller movie after boarding a flight.
Now you will spend your time playing with your baby. This equally means playing over and over again with your baby with the same toy.
For this, you have to bring the right travel toys and then help him or her play actively with the same. You can also distract your baby’s mind with smart apps and devices.
In a nutshell, you have to keep your little munchkin happy when you are in your flight and for this, you can use whatever means you have but by maintaining the safety.
There are also many airplane kits available for baby which you can pack before heading towards your journey.
Don’t Care The Negativity Around You
When travel with a toddler there are times, after taking care of everything cautiously, your baby starts crying loudly on the flight.
In such cases, you can give him bottle or snacks, watch movies and narrate stories, change the outfits and diapers or you can do everything that is needed on the list that we have mentioned above to keep a toddler happy while flying.
But still, your child is crying like anything. In such times, don’t care about anything but your main concern will be your baby. We will advise you to take care of your little one and ignore the haters.
Download Audio Books
Its always better to download the books in the form of audio as compared to apps, TV shows or movies. This method will immensely help the mind of the little ones in keeping engaged.
However, they are not overwhelmed by the screen in the entire flight duration. In such cases, you can even try listening to him with different audiobooks.
The airlines allow to take the computer and other such electronic gadgets to its travellers, so you don’t have to worry about downloading the audiobooks.
Food Is A Great Engagement Activity
Eating food while seating on the flight can be a great time-consuming task for your baby.
If he or she is done with listening to audiobooks or playing with toys, then you can also allow him or her to eat something tasty for a while.
Toffees are one of the great flight foods because it takes lots of time to finish. You can also pack extra baby snacks before taking off.
So these are all the useful tips if you are planning to go somewhere with your little one. Make sure to use these tips practically in future.
If you are flying within the country then the journey will be very short and you will land in the destination very soon. So there is nothing to worry.
Moreover, the airlines’ staffs are very helpful in terms of baby care and they have strict regulations which are made to maintain the safety of toddlers.
So remove all your worries and tensions from your mind and enjoy the trip with fullest. We hope the abovementioned toddler travel tips were helpful to you.
Let us know in the comments section below.