Traveling with Toddlers
Traveling with a toddler is different than traveling with an infant. I feel there are tons of articles and checklists when traveling with a baby and not many for toddlers. I just flew by myself with a two and three year old and it went great! Mind you it wasn't there first rodeo and I packed a carry on full of "tricks". I even got to read a book on the flight!
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My bag of tricks includes their favorite books, activities and snacks. Snacks are huge life savor, especially candy! I am not above bribing the kids with a sucker if they are having a melt down. It is definitely a last resort but it is good to have options. I also download new apps/shows/movies on our ipad- that way it is all new and they are excited about it.
I have made the mistake of over packing and I highly suggest not to.You want the experience to be easier on you too, and hauling a heavy carry on throughout the airport isn't fun. The first time I flew with the kids I packed toys, puzzles, 8 million books, etc. One piece of advice is to pack things that you know will entertain them for a while (like stickers and wikki stix). Olivia loves to look at kitty photos and I literally took 20 screen shots of kitten photos so she could scroll through them on my phone during the flight.
When I first board the plane I sit both kids in their seat and let them look at the airline magazine, I don't whip things out of my bag of tricks until I need to. I also make sure they snack on gummy snacks when departing and landing. Then, I literally rate the toys (the least entertaining to the most) and give them one at a time until they get board then off to the next toy/activity. On the last flight they were entertained with a "level B" toy for 2.5 hours (wikki stix- highly recommended)! Every flight is different but as long as you can distract them with a new activity when needed, I found it to be key. And if not, you have suckers :)
I have made the mistake of over packing and I highly suggest not to.You want the experience to be easier on you too, and hauling a heavy carry on throughout the airport isn't fun. The first time I flew with the kids I packed toys, puzzles, 8 million books, etc. One piece of advice is to pack things that you know will entertain them for a while (like stickers and wikki stix). Olivia loves to look at kitty photos and I literally took 20 screen shots of kitten photos so she could scroll through them on my phone during the flight.
When I first board the plane I sit both kids in their seat and let them look at the airline magazine, I don't whip things out of my bag of tricks until I need to. I also make sure they snack on gummy snacks when departing and landing. Then, I literally rate the toys (the least entertaining to the most) and give them one at a time until they get board then off to the next toy/activity. On the last flight they were entertained with a "level B" toy for 2.5 hours (wikki stix- highly recommended)! Every flight is different but as long as you can distract them with a new activity when needed, I found it to be key. And if not, you have suckers :)
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