Updated March 21, 2024
Flying with kids is something new parents get stressed about, probably because not that long ago they were the young, single, or newlywed couple on the plane wishing kids weren’t even allowed on board. Once you get over the fact that you will be judged, no matter what, just relax and try to make it as easy as possible – on the child, as well as on the rest of the cabin. Traveling with your kids is worth it.
My daughter is 13 and has been on 68 flights. To be honest, she’s been a dream to travel with, and I probably can’t take much credit. When she was a baby I kept her quiet and happy by breastfeeding her, and as she got older she was just into flying. Chill and excited at the same time. We always talked about behavior expectations before each flight, and I looked for connections with at least a couple of hours layover so she could run around and get the wiggles out before boarding. Teach your toddler burpees – I’m not joking.
Here’s another terrific article on Traveling with Babies and Toddlers.
Once she was buckled in, she never tried to unbuckle and climb around. She never had any issues with her ears, and even now we check in during takeoff and wiggle our jaws to start a yawn which opens our Eustachian tubes. We do it every time we start to feel the pressure adjust. When she was little, I always brought activities and snacks to keep her occupied. Now it’s even easier, she packs a book and downloads some of her favorite Netflix shows.
Become a Trusted Traveler
One of the best things I did to simplify travel was apply for our Trusted Traveler Status. With Nexus cards we go into the TSA Precheck line at over 200 participating U.S. airports. With TSA Precheck, you don’t have to remove your shoes, belts and light outerwear, you can leave your laptop and clear zip-top bags of liquids and gels in your carry-on luggage.
Make sure you always enter your trusted traveler number when making your reservation, otherwise TSA Precheck won’t show up on your boarding card.
HELPFUL LINKS FOR FLYING WITH KIDS
Here are some links to the TSA and major airline sites that will answer most of your questions about flying with kids.
TSA - Traveling with Children
This page goes over Children with Medical Conditions, Disabilities, or Mobility Aids, traveling with Formula, Breast Milk, and Juice, Screening of Children’s Items, Screening Technology, and Screening your Child.
Air Canada - Traveling with Children
Helpful information about family seating, early boarding, family check-in, strollers, child-restraints, and more.
Air France - Families and Children
Air France is committed to the comfort of you and your child during your trip.
Air Transat - Families and Children
Air Transat offers a wide array of services and information for families and children.
Allegiant Air - Traveling with Children
Everything you need to know about flying on Allegiant with kids.
American Airlines - Traveling with children and infants
Details on traveling while pregnant or with children or infants on American Airlines.
Family Travel with British Airways
Family travel on British Airways means looking after strollers, providing child seats and advance boarding.
Delta Airlines - Children & Infant Travel
Know the details about traveling with an infant, flying with children internationally or unaccompanied minor travel on Delta Airlines.
Frontier Airlines - Family & Pets
Frontier is committed to making your travel experience stress-free and fun.
jetBlue Traveling Together
Jetblue works hard to make family travel enjoyable and memorable from the get-go.
Lufthansa - Flying with the family
Lufthansa is a family-friendly airline and makes flying with children even more enjoyable from booking to landing.
Qantas Information for Parents
Information about baggage allowances, departures taxes, health requirements, strollers and more when traveling with children.
Southwest Airlines - family travel
Information from Southwest Airlines on travel with infants and children.
United Airlines - Traveling with children
United knows traveling with little ones can bring up some unexpected challenges. Here's more info about traveling with infants or children.
WestJet - Children, infants and expectant mothers - Travel info
Details to consider when booking as a family, such as how to book for guardians or unaccompanied minors, and baggage allowance.
Look like you are really enjoying your tour. I like your content idea. Thank you for sharing this wonderful article.
This is terrific info. It’s wonderful that children of any age can have the opportunity to travel.
I travel with my kids a lot and love your tips. The pre-check is an absolute godsend!
This is the perfect guide for parents who are travelling for the first time with their little ones. It’s good to research ahead of time and know what’s needed.
These are great tips, these are useful too. If I fly to India it takes almost 24 hours flight. I traveled with 1 year old now they are 11 and 8 .still it is hard to travel with kids as they can’t get any food which they like.
I wish that I could take my youngest on a plane ride. Maybe one of these days, I can make that dream come try. It’s been so long since I have even flown anywhere too.
Thank you for this! We want to fly with our kids sometime this year.
I’ve only flown once and never with kids. These are all great tips.
This is interesting. I’ve never thought of flying with my kids even know that they are out of toddler stage.
We flew Delta from the Philippines when my son was only 7 years old, but we didn’t even check about this. Thanks for the info.
I will share this with my sister. She will fly out with my niece from Canada and it will be a long flight. Thank you for this!
We fly with our kids often and have always had a pleasant experience, as far back as I can remember. This is great for parents who plan to fly with their kids for the first time.
This is such a great post for people who are travelling with kids. I’ve only been on a holiday that I needed to fly on once, I would love to see more of the world one day.
This is an excellent resource for anyone traveling with kids by airplane. I have only flown 3 times in my 38 years of life, I think 3, maybe twice? NYC, NC …. yeah so twice. I haven’t actually flown with my kids but two of three do want that experience some day.
Good to know. I am glad my kids are older now. I remember when they were smaller how it could be difficult. I try to always be kind to those with crying small kids. I mean, most of the time they can’t help it.
I can clearly remember trying to quiet my baby boy from crying when we flew and it was so hard. We do not do much traveling now but the kids are older and we are now the ones who don’t want to hear a crying baby.