Flight travel with babies/toddlers
As international mothers living in Germany, you probably want to visit your families living in your home country. This often involves long flights, which can be daunting with babies and toddlers, especially if it’s your first time.
We have travelled a fair amount with our daughter, so I wanted to share some of the things that worked well for us in this blog post.
Planning flights with babies
Why is it important?
One of the biggest fears that parents have when it comes to flying is, is my baby going to scream and cry the whole time and bother our fellow passengers?
How will you manage all of it?
I understand this fear because I felt the same the first time we flew with our little one. But since that first flight we took almost 3 years ago, we have had several long flights and the most important things are mindset and planning.
When I say mindset, I mean that your first priority is your child’s well-being. So if they are crying, I’m sure you also want to know why so that you can help them: do they have any pain? Are they uncomfortable? Once you’ve addressed the underlying issues, I’m sure your baby will stop crying and maybe even have fun. Most importantly, don’t panic, stay calm and keep a clear head.
Here are some of the things you need to take care of when making your travel plan:
- Packing list
- Food you need to carry
- Timings
- Local travel
- In-flight entertainment
Packing for airplane travel
In addition to the usual clothes you carry for your travel, you will also need to carry a lot of things for your child, especially for the journey:
Their favourite toys and books to look at and read with them while they are awake. Food is a good way to keep them busy: Formula, bottles, water, snacks, food (depending on the age of your child)
The good thing is that most airlines will allow you to carry food and water for babies. So if you want to carry water for formula or jars of mashed food, that’s no problem, as long as it’s sealed properly. Paper or cloth napkins and disinfection wipes are also good in case of spillage.
Another thing to pack for the journey is sufficient diapers, baby wipes and changes of clothes so that you’re prepared for blowouts and messy eating.
Which luggage to choose? Especially when it comes to your hand luggage, you can decide based on how your child is being carried. If you have a carrier and your baby is on your person, then you can carry a trolley suitcase. But if you have a stroller, you need both your hands, so a backpack is the better option.
At the airport with babies and toddlers
A lot of parents wonder how to keep their babies busy during long flights. Best case scenario: your child sleeps for most of it! But maybe the flight timings are such that they don’t coincide with your baby’s sleep schedule.
While preparing for a long flight, you want to make sure that your child is nice and tired so that they sleep as much as possible during the journey. One thing we do before taking getting on board is, to let our daughter run around at the airport and play, jump, explore, and just get rid of her excess energy. Of course, this is only possible if you have a toddler or a baby that at least crawls. Give your baby some food, show them some planes and all the exciting things happening at the airport.
If you’re traveling with a baby, you will probably have them in a carrier. Many airports will provide strollers for toddlers, which are free to use inside the airport and you would have to submit them at the gate. Depending on the kind of flight and airline, you might also be allowed to carry your own travel stroller with you. Some airlines will make you check them in while others will allow you to carry them to the gate and then submit them. So when you deboard, you can get the stroller at the destination immediately. These rules vary, so make sure you speak to the airline beforehand.
Most airlines have a policy of boarding families with small children and babies first. We never do that! We prefer to board last so that we minimise the amount of time we spend in the cramped space of an aircraft.
Speaking of cramped spaces: what about booking the baby bassinet seats? You should be able to book these for long flights when you have a baby below 2 years of age. Your child may or may not sleep in the bassinet but those seats always have extra leg room, which can be quite comfortable. You can keep your bags down there during the flight and let your baby play on the floor in front of you without bothering other passengers. So if possible, book it! And if it’s already sold out, when you’re on the flight, you can politely request the people sitting there if they would swap seats in case they don’t have a baby. We did this one and the mother and daughter sitting there happily obliged! You’re not entitled to the seat, so be quick while booking.
On the flight and after
Like on a train or in a car, it’s not possible to look out of the window and see exciting things for hours on end while you’re on a flight. They will only be able to see endless sky and clouds, which will probably get boring after a few minutes. If you’re traveling with a toddler, you can carry their favorite toys and books for the long flight to keep them busy.
Long flights means you are traveling to another time zone and will have to deal with jetlag. Your baby will probably be awake in the middle of the night and sleep during the day. It will take them a few days to get used to the time difference.
In this case, try to avoid letting them sleep according to their old times. Instead, slowly delay their sleep time to the new night hours of your destination so that they get used to it and then sleep on time in your new destination.
I hope this blog post helps you plan your next holiday or visit home to meet family.
I wish you an easy journey home to see your family and enjoy your vacation!
Did you like these tips? Share your tips and flight experience in the comments to inspire and help others.
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