Traveling with a Toddler

In May, my son and I had the opportunity to fly to Northern California to visit my brother and his family.

With my husband having just started up their granite business this year, he wasn’t able to come with us on this trip. 😭 (But we survived the week without him, with lots and lots of praying.)

Thankfully my parents were going out too and I was able to get the same flights there and back as them. So I wasn’t completely alone while flying pregnant with a toddler.

But let me tell you what that trip taught me.

#1. My husband does more for me than I realize or even give him credit for. So if you want to appreciate your husband, take a week long trip with your toddler alone and you’ll understand what I mean.

#2. Go for easy food that you know your toddler will eat and like while on a trip. Don’t try and give him new foods and end up with a hangry toddler. If we knew we were going to eat something he wouldn’t eat, I would either try and make him a sandwich or grab some chicken nuggets for him.

#3. Free up space on your phone so you can take as many pictures as you want.

#4. Just relax and have fun. Enjoy each new experience with your toddler.

I did a lot of Pinterest searching before this trip because I knew I had a mobile toddler and last time we flew he wasn’t completely mobile. So I was extra nervous about him not wanting to sit on my lap during the flights and just wanting to run down the aisle.

I looked up different ways to distract him with new toys, apps, even food. But I was overly prepared, like always.

The tackle box snack pack was a hit for my son because he was free to choose what he wanted and it didn’t take up much space in my diaper bag.

Next time, I’ll make sure that I only put in snacks he likes because a third of it he didn’t even touch.

Another thing he enjoyed was having an iPad with his favorite movies on it and some kid headphones.

His favorites right now are Despicable Me 3 and Ferdinand.

As you can tell in the picture, my son takes a bottle of milk. So I made sure before each flight to get fresh milk for him and sometimes even after depending on how he was acting.

I also made sure to change his diaper right when we got on the plane so he had a clean one on for each flight. We boarded during family boarding so there wasn’t ever anyone on yet and I would just change him on the seat next to us.

My son also has to have his “nana” with him for comfort. Especially to go to sleep. His “nana” is just a cloth diaper that we used as burp clothes when he was little but he became attached and now has one with him all the time. I usually don’t let him take them out of the house or the car, but for traveling I made the exception. The other nice thing about his “nana” is he isn’t attached to one certain one. He can have any of them, so I made sure to pack extras in our suitcase and diaper bag, just in case. So if your toddler has something that comforts them, don’t forget to bring it. That little comfort from home goes a long way when your toddler is exhausted.

The other thing we made sure to do when traveling was let him stretch his legs as much as possible. Before, in between and after flights, we made sure to let him walk around as much as possible. I bought my son a backpack with a leash, this way I couldn’t loose him while we were out and about especially in the airport.

But what we discovered last year, after taking multiple trips back to back with our son, was that we needed to take time out of our vacation to one, take naps and to two, let him play. We like to try and find a park for him to play at or a field to run around in when we are traveling to let him get some energy out. We enjoyed our trips a lot more when we made sure to do those two things each day because our son got the attention he needed and we got a happier son the rest of the time.

The last thing I have learned from traveling with my toddler is to let them explore! Don’t make your trip so jam packed with activities that your toddler can’t take his time exploring and enjoying everything around him.

My son loves the movie Ferdinand, like I mentioned earlier, and if you haven’t seen Ferdinand, it’s about a bull that is a huge softy that loves to stop and smell the flowers. My son is just like Ferdinand and I have come to realize that that is a good thing. Every time we walk past flowers, real or fake, he has to stop and smell them. So remember while you are traveling with your toddler, family, husband, friends, or just by yourself, don’t forget to stop and smell the flowers.

These are just some of the things that I learned while traveling this past time with my toddler that I hope will help you on your next big flying adventure.

What are some things you have learned from traveling with a toddler or kids of any age?