Flying with Kids: What We Pack.featured

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After 43 flights with at least one child, 37 of those with two children, and all with at least one lap child, I thought I’d share some of what we’ve learned and what gets us confidently back in the air time and again.

Unsurprisingly, we take a minimalist approach to flying. On Molly’s first transatlantic flight at 11  months old, we packed an entire back pack of “plane activities.” We never used a single item. Her favorite activity apart from trying to charm any passenger who would make eye contact with her was pulling a single wipe out of the case over and over as I put it back in. One wipe. Even before we were nominal minimalists, we realized how much simpler flying with a baby could be, and it unintentionally became one of our first experiments in minimalism.

Without further ado, what we pack and use on flights:

  • A water bottle. After a few delayed in-flight services, we’ve realized that this makes flying infinitely easier. It’s one of the girls’ favorite items day to day, and travel days are no exception. If we don’t bring one of our own, we make sure to get one with a pop up top to avoid constantly taking the lid off and searching for it after it inevitably drops under or between the seats 1,000 times. I have searched entire terminals before purchasing to get a pop up top.
  • Books. We pack 4-5 books each trip. I choose a variety of counting/ABC/activity books that can be used for entertainment and favorite stories for bedtime or quiet time.
  • Light blanket. I have forgotten to pack this on our last several trips, and to be honest none of us noticed. Despite that, I think it’s a wonderful, multi-use item that we love when we do have it, so it’s back on our packing list. We’ve used it for peek-a-boo, reading/resting tents (attached to the tray table), sleeping, and blocking out some degree of distraction.
  • A small snack. Depending on the timing of the flight, we will skip this, but it’s especially useful on longer flights.

What we don’t pack:

  • An iPad. For shorter flights, the girls are content to people watch, look out the window, and read. Since we’ve never set the expectation, they know that movies are only for longer flights, where we use the in-flight entertainment system.
  • Toys/activities. Flying is a sensory dream and overload for kids. We’ve found that at their young ages they get frustrated with toys because their play is constantly interrupted by something more interesting happening around them. Some airlines provide small coloring pads or sticker books, and we use them if they are interested, but the time this kind of activity holds their interest isn’t worth the payoff in extra baggage.
  • Extra clothes. It’s cheating a little to say we don’t pack extra because we have access to everything we pack in our carry ons. We have yet to need a full outfit change on the plane, but it’s available if we did.
  • Anything new. One of the most common tips I read about traveling with children is to bring a new activity for every hour of travel. As I mentioned above, flying is already exciting and taxing for kids, and airplanes bring a world of interest and distraction. We bring our most loved, used items to provide a bit of comfort and stability. We also let them lead in how time is spent in flight and play along with whatever interests them. I can’t remember a single time when they’ve asked us to provide additional entertainment.

Flying for the first time with children is nerve-wracking, and it’s easy to get caught up in preparing for every scenario of how your child might act. What we’ve come to realize is that meltdowns, refusal to sleep, and every other traveling parents’ worst fears will happen regardless of the supplies on hand. Keeping what we pack simple reduces our stress because we’re not managing a bunch of items that will need to be repacked. It also reduces the potential for the girls to become overwhelmed by more stimuli.

Certainly this list is not meant to be an exhaustive, one size fits all claim for what is necessary for a peaceful flight with kids. I mean it to be an encouragement when Pinterest overwhelm sets in that you can happily and peacefully fly with young children without adding to the cost and planning already involved.

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