8 Tips for Airplane Travel with Kids | North of Something (2024)

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This is an adorable lift-the-flap book perfect for airplane travel!

Stephen Joseph Airplane Backpack for Toddlers

If you don’t want the crayons rolling off the tray table, try some of these Triangular Crayons!

Or better yet, get one of these foldable travel trays for kids! (It also comes in blue.)

Melissa & Doug Reusable Sticker Pad: Vehicles – 165+ Reusable Stickers

100 Pipe Cleaners – Assorted Neon Colors

There is a short list of things that keep infants calm while flying… sucking, soothing, sleeping, etc. When we moved to Hawaii in 2012, my son was 11 months old and Iprepared for the 6 hour flight as if he were still a baby (bottles of milk, his favorite blanket, a few familiar board books). It was a disaster. He was bored, over-tired but couldn’t sleep, and all he wanted to do was crawl and bounce. By the end of the flight my husband and I made a pact not to fly off the island of Oahu until he was years older. But then my sister set a date for her wedding in Seattle a few months later, so I went to work researching how I could make 6+ hour flights more bearable. And now I have these 8 tips for airplane travel with kids to share!

First let’s talk about temperaments… Is your child good at sitting still or does he never stop moving? Will the loud noises scare him or help drown out his loud voice? You know your kid(s) best: some of these idea will work better than others, and you will probably know fairly quickly which ones. Others you may need to try out for yourself.These tips and tricks will be most helpful for airplane travel with kids who are 10 months to three years old.

For babies under 10 months I recommend this ebook from Lucie’s List.

1. Novelty is King!

New books, new candy, new (small) toys: these things will get you far. In the picture above right, my son is so tired and just DONE with the flight, but surprise! Here’s another shiny new book you’ve never seen! New experiences are like crack for toddlers. Whatever your kid is into these days, try to find some cheap, small versions that he or she has never played with before: matchbox cars, my little ponies, velcro sticks, finger puppets, etc.

Novelty in the food department is hit or miss at this age. I don’t recommend giving completely new food to your child on a flight HOWEVER, a surprise treat can be a life saver. A variation on a current fave, like a different flavor of Cheerios, or a new candy that you can slow play (skittles, nerds, or M&Ms) can buy you more time (which is the whole point of everything when you are flying with one or more kids). Make sure to bring lots of protein-filled snacks to make up for the sugar and to keep their bellies feeling full.For those that are younger, fruit pouches areeasy snacks. Just make sure they don’t over-squeeze and get it all over the place. If you’re not careful it will inevitably end up all over your shirt and their pants – just the way it goes.

It’s going to be a challenge. If you are used to flying solo for work or with your spouseon tropical getaways, this is going to be a completely different experience. I know you know this, but you will still feel that pang of unfairness while you are desperately doing finger puppet voices and your neighbors are gleefully browsing the in-flight magazine. You are probably not going to be able to read a book or watch your own movie, unless you have more than a 1:1 ration of parents to kids. Creating excitement about the flight, reading new books aloud, trying the new candy, enjoyingnew toys, these things will make your child feel excited too. Unless you have a little angel child, your first flight with a 10 month old or older might make you want to bash your head against the wall of the airplane. Knowing this ahead of time makes it easier on everyone.

One thing that worked REALLY well for us (and my friend Lynn) is to wrap small toys and treats you don’t want your child to see yet, and then dole them out one by one, which they can unwrap like it’s their birthday! You can wrap them in wrapping paper with plenty of tape. Or if you are worried about security finding your surprises questionable and demanding to unwrap them,you can use those paper sacks wine is wrapped in at the grocery store. You always risk security having to open up your wrapped items if they look questionable going through security. The key is to keep them out of sight, but wrapping them also gives them more stuff to do in-flight.

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It’s no surprise that kids love electronics. Even for those of you who restrict usage normally, having a new movie to watch or downloading a new game on your phone or iPad can buy you a lot of time. You might want to invest in kids headphones that are made to fit their little heads. Some even have noise canceling features that keep the decibellevel down in the loud plane. I recommend trying out different headphones beforehand. Some kids are ok with ear buds, but my son got extremely frustrated that they kept falling out, and screamed in frustration every time he re-situated himself and one would fall out of his ear. Not ideal. He also hated the shiny new kids headphones we bought for him, so sometimes you can’t win. In the photo above left (16 months) we played a movie with the sound playing just enough to hear it. Clearly my husband was more into Toy Story than my son. In the other photo he is ok with the ear buds (2.5 years old).

On our recent flight to Kauai we played a game where we tried to find dolphins, sharks, turtles, etc. in the ocean below as we came in for final descent. At about 300-400 feet in the air, the lady in front of me (who was listening in) exclaimed “I see a turtle, I really do!” Sure, lady. These “look and find” kind of games are especially fun for kids (I’m not sure why), even when he isn’t going to find many of the items I mention. I also included things to look for that he would find on the plane. For the older kids you could play a scavenger hunt or easy card games.

To red-eye or not to red-eye? For those that have good sleepers (sleep anywhere, don’t have to be lying down, don’t mind random bright lights or loud noises) booking a red-eye flight might be a good idea. For those of you with picky sleepers or those that have kids that get extra grumpy when they are over-tired, I would recommend a morning flight (right after they wake up) or an afternoon flight (after they have had at least one nap).

To keep all those baby/kid things organized, I pack things into both large and small ziplock bags. A couple of years ago I found this blogthat showed outfits packed into individual gallon ziplock bags and I have been doing it ever since. Throw one of those outfit bags into your carry-on for when they dump their juice over their head to protest not being able to move from their seat.

Some of the following items I have had great personal success with. Others have been recommended to me by my friends in the advice section below.

• Reusable stickers – these can be used in a sticker book andon the plane walls and windows. You might have to shrug off a dirty look from a flight attendant, because she doesn’t realize they will come right off, but let’s be honest it won’t be the only dirty look you get on the flight!
• “Lift the flap” books – only books they haven’t seen before so that each page and flap is a surprise. You can get these at the library or thrift store for very cheap.
• Color Wonder Marker and Paper – These markers will only mark on the special paper
• Triangle crayons
• Empty sippy cup or thermos – to be filled on the plane
• Pipe cleaners – These can be played with in so many ways! Also fun for the parents. For the toddlers that are still putting things in their mouth you just need to be careful as the edges are metal and pointy.
• Fruit pouches
• Suckers and gum – anything they can suck on that will help pop their ears.
• iTunes gift card – for new apps, movies, music depending on the age
• Kids headphones – this is definitely something you need to try on and practice with before the flight.

Other items to pack in your carry-on:

• Baby wipes
• Small towel or old burp cloth for inevitable spills
• Phone charger – for when your kid uses up your battery and it’s dead on landing
• Empty ziplock or wet bag to put wet clothes or towels in after cleaning up spills.

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