Air Traveling with a Toddler

Today, we are off to visit my family in Montreal (my hometown) for a whole week! I will still be blogging, but I will be back to the usual crafty stuff next week on the 14th. I am so excited to get to share some of the little things I have forgotten that I miss about my home town.

Before I married and became a mom, I had air traveling down to a science. I would arrive at the airport wearing comfy, but cute clothing (usually in the form of a juicy couture tracksuit), no metal jewelry, easy to remove shoes, hair in a ponytail, a large bag with nothing more than reading material, an ipod and that was it. Ahhh.. how I miss those days…

And yes, I also used to be that same person who would see a mom with her crying baby and I would think to myself, “Wow, I feel sorry for whoever sits next to her!” We all think kids are cute, but lets be real – nobody wants to sit next to them on an airplane for 3 hours.

Then motherhood happened to me. And I have found out first hand what it’s like to be that mom.

So I’ve made a checklist to help get us through it with minimal pain to baby, myself and those sitting around us.

Toddler Air Travel Checklist:

I always make sure mine has a full tummy before getting on a flight. Hunger gives him a good reason to be cranky, fussy and all around difficult.

Quick to pull out diaper change kit – I keep mine bundled together for quick access. Nothing is worse than trying to root around your diaper bag in the close confines of an airline seat, with a squirmy toddler next to you.

change pad cover (cauz just the thought of my baby’s bare butt on an airport change table makes me shiver)
wipes in a small travel case
diapers (I Bring 4 or 5 as to make sure I don’t run out. Air travel may wreak havoc on your tot’s digestive system, and what would be worse than being trapped in a small space with a poopy diaper you can’t change?)

Special teddy bear or security blanket

Portable DVD player or laptop with the following on DVD’s:

Sesame street
Caillou
Yo Gabba Gabba
Little Einsteins

2 Empty sippy cups

1 for milk and 1 for juice or water. Drinking fluid helps in getting your ears to pop (I always buy milk or juice once I get beyond security, just to keep it simple)

Low sugar snacks like raisins or cheerios

Leap Frog Tag Reader & Books

My iphone or ipod. There are so many great children’s apps out there! I keep Scout’s ABC Garden from Leapfrog on my iphone.

Package of crayons and coloring book (I make sure to have extra wipes because mine will inevitably use the tray table as his canvas)

Umbrella Stroller. This is the one I have and I always use it for air travel because it was cheap and I don’t really care that much if the airline tears it up. And, yes. they have.

These are the things I do to help entertain my son while we’re in flight. I’ll be traveling alone with him too since the hubs had some work obligations. I’ll let you know how two four hour flights work out for us!