Tips for Long Plane Trips with 2 littles

July 18th, 2022


Flight to Montreal 2.5 hours

Montreal to Tokyo 13 hours

Tokyo to Hanoi, Vietnam 5 hours

A daunting travel itinerary, even without children. Yet, we were about to do it with two under the age of three.


3 Totes

3 large bags

2 carry on bags (well they were intended to be carry on)

a stroller

car seat

a wagon

3 bookbags

other loose things (blankets, stuffed animals and snacks).


They say you pack way more when you travel with children but we may have gone overboard.


This is what we faced on the last leg of our summer of transitions. One last push to fly to the literal other side of the world and then we would be in our home for the next 2 years.

We were comfortable about the idea; having lived abroad before, the unknown of a new country wasn't that scary, but having two children in tow posed challenges I'm not sure we were entirely prepared for.


With our experiences, I have collected a series of tips I'd like to share with you.


Traveling with kiddos TIP #1
Pack diapers everywhere! You can live without wipes but not diapers.

Pack more diapers EVERYWHERE… I had diapers in the diaper bag and in both carry on bags, but when I was forced to check those bags my brain didn't think "grab diapers" it thought "you a-hole… who are you to make me do this"

During our first flight I realized I only had 1 diaper for each child left and I still had 19 hours of FLYING time left.

I ran through the whole Montreal airport looking and asking for diapers and couldn't find any. Finally on my way to my gate I spotted another mother with an infant and toddler. I approached with tears in my eyes and a sense of urgency (my flight was currently boarding) she was happy to give me some and then another mother chimed in and I thanked them sincerely and ran off. It was a beautiful moment of solidarity in motherhood.


Traveling with kiddos TIP #2
To all the mom's that are breastfeeding and pumping: I thought I was prepared… I thought my 5 month old would breastfeed more and bottle feed less but the opposite happened. He would NOT even consider breastfeeding, therefore, I had to pump around the clock to provide for him. I was prepared for this. I packed a cooler, and a ton of batteries for my Medela pump. When my battery pack started to crap out on me I got worried because guess where was my hand pump? Yup, on my carry-on that got checked.

Here is what I packed

A good pump bag- it flies for free as a medical bag

All my pump parts and only two Medela bottles

Medela wipes to clean those parts

Medela milk bags

Cooler

Ice pack- make sure it is 100% frozen when you go through security

2 battery pack for my pump, they held 8 batteries each

Lanolin

Gallon zip lock to hold clean parts

2 feeding bottles of choice



Traveling with kiddos TIP #3
Get yourself a blow up foot rest. This thing is a game changer especially for long flights or flying during nap time. It was easy to blow up and put at my toddlers feet. He was able to sleep soundly for several hours because we laid down our baby's nest on top of the blow up and seat. We were also able to lay down our 2 year old, buckled him in, and then add his favorite blankie and stuffies so he could sleep comfortably.

Traveling with kiddos TIP #4
When you travel with an infant in arms make sure you request a bassinet seat. I was confused about when and how to request it, so I called the airlines (Air Canada) where I was on hold for 2.5 hours, just to be told they would take care of it at the gate. This information did not sit well with me so I did some reading. I found out that the bassinets only hook up in the bulkhead rows. These seats are highly sought after because you have a lot of leg room. I also found out that they are first come first serve, but I also read that the youngest infant gets one before an older infant. The night before our flight Nick checked us in and made sure we were in the bulkhead for all three flights. For our first flight our plane was too small for one.

Our second flight was more complicated. Nick couldn't book us all together because someone had claimed the middle seat in the row of 3. When we arrived to Montreal Nick went to the desk and asked for us to all sit together and for the bassinet. They happily changed our tickets and we boarded the plane to find another mom in the middle seat requesting a bassinet. Her husband was sitting the other side where Nick and Odin were also supposed to be. I showed her our tickets and how we were all together. She moved over with her husband and the next flight attendant got an ear full. We were super sweet as we explained the situation. He asked about our babies and how old they were. She had a 7 month old and I had a 5 month old. We were told to stay where we are and they were going to move people around so the other couple could have the other bulkhead area. I was happy with Air Canada as they shifted people around to accommodate families with babies.


What we learned about using the bassinet:

-it holds up to 14kilos

-you can only use it when baby is sleeping

-you can't use it during take off and landing

-you can't use it when there is turbulence

-it's a baby jail, once inside you have to Velcro and snap it shut so if there is unexpected turbulence the baby can't fly out.

-even though you are in that seat for the bassinet you have to request that they bring it to you.


Traveling with kiddos TIP #5
Pack some toys and things to keep your kiddos busy. For our toddler we wrapped up different cars and construction vehicles and the plan was to give him one every hour, however, that did not work. He wanted to unwrap all of them one after the other. He threw a huge tantrum and it caused more trouble for us, so we let him unwrap them all and put them in a bag. Then, he was able to select which one he wanted to play with. This kept him busy most of the trip even though I packed books, water painting books, stickers, and his tablet. Which brings us to traveling with kiddos TIP #5a: be flexible with your plans and procedures.

Our infant just chewed on his hands and played with his Eric Carol Lady bug!

Traveling with kiddos TIP #6
This one might seem like a duh-red-truck, but pack a lot of snacks. Our toddler did not like the airplane food and so he ate peanut butter crackers and cheese. I had all of his favorite things in little snack bags and we did not regret it taking up the space. In fact when we arrived to our destination it was the snacks that got us through until we could go grocery shopping. I packed extra in my carry-on bags that got checked.

Traveling with kiddos TIP #7
What to do when you are overwhelmed, kids are crying/ throwing a tantrum.... this happened several times especially around nap time or bed time. Atticus would be asleep and then woken up by Odin screaming or vice versa. These were the hardest times and we learned quickly to pick up the one that was upset and go for a walk. This helped keep the other asleep and give a new view to the screamer. People will stare, people will be upset, but you have to do what's best for your kiddo.


Traveling with kiddos TIP #8
Totes!!! our military friends told us that they use black totes with yellow lids when they move because they are heavy duty and you can zip tie them shut. They worked amazingly well. If you decide to use them to travel abroad make sure you include extra zip ties inside in case security or customs open it.


Traveling with kiddos TIP #9
The WAGON!!! The wagon was a last minute add on to our stash and it made all the difference when traveling to your gate or between flights. We checked our stroller and car seat and just used the wagon. It held our 2 year old and some stuff while my husband held the baby in a carrier. It was AWESOME!