Flying With Kids #takeyourkidseverywhere

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Lizzie Lau

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.

flying with kids and booster seats

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.

Flying With Kids - What the airlines want you to know

Flying With Kids #takeyourkidseverywhere

16 thoughts on “Flying With Kids #takeyourkidseverywhere”

  1. Look like you are really enjoying your tour. I like your content idea. Thank you for sharing this wonderful article.

  2. 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.

  3. 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.

  4. 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!

  5. 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.

  6. 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.

  7. 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.

  8. 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.

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