I’ve traveled close to 50k miles solo with my kids over the last two years, starting when my daughter was 4 weeks old. My son, who just turned 6, has flown around 100k miles (!) after taking his flight when he was 3 months old. Being married to a professional baseball player, travel has become second nature to all of us - from one city to the next, wherever he was playing, we’ve traveled everywhere from New York, to Oklahoma, to South Korea!

Because of that, travel has become second nature to all of us. I’ve been through more travel situations that you can imagine (good and bad), and I love sharing my experiences in hopes that I can encourage other families to travel, even when it seems overwhelming. From delays in the airport to the sweetest flight attendants on the planet, we’ve experienced just about everything.

We just got back from 10 days in Europe as a family. Midway through the flight from PHX to Paris, a cat got loose and started wandering around the plane. My son is allergic to cats, which we proceeded to find out on that flight. It made for an eventful travel day, to say the least - but it was one of the best trips ever. We are all already planning when we can go back.

No matter what happens, with the right prep, everyone can enjoy! Here are my current top tips for traveling with younger children.

MINDSET

First and foremost, mindset matters. Traveling with kids is not always easy - there may be delays, there may be frustrations and they may have a hard time being off of their schedules. I go into every trip knowing that even if the travel day doesn’t go as smoothly as possible, being on the plane is a finite amount of time and that all I can do is my best to keep everyone comfortable and contained until we reach our destination. And, even if your kids have a hard time, flight attendants and even fellow passengers tend to be supportive, as long as your kid isn’t relentlessly kicking their seat or being disruptive without the parent trying to remedy the situation. Many of them have kids and understand, and those who don’t can wear their headphones, tune out and watch a movie 🙂

Even after the longest (hardest) of travel days, I have never once regretted the trip. The more I travel, the more I’ve learned how to simplify the process, so here are some of my current favorite tips.

SIGN YOUR CHILDREN UP FOR AIRLINE LOYALTY PROGRAMS

Sign your kids up for frequent flyer programs. If they have their own seat, they bank the points - no matter how old they are! Here are direct links to do so with the major domestic carriers. Add your child’s birthday and then simply confirm that you are the child’s parent or legal guardian and are setting up the account on their behalf.

I created email addresses for my kids for things like this, but you can use any email address you want. The miles on some airlines (like Delta) never expire, and miles on other airlines (like American) don’t expire IF the member travels within a defined period of time (like every two years).

https://www.delta.com/joinskymiles/

https://www.aa.com/loyalty/enrollment/enroll

https://www.southwest.com/loyalty/enroll

https://www.united.com/en/us/fly/mileageplus.html

PACK EARLY, TWEAK AS NEEDED

Start packing early. I lay out suitcases around a week in advance. It helps me not feel rushed, and I can go little by little when it comes to my checklist and pack whenever I have the ability to. Will there be a change in climate? If so, destination clothes are packed first, since they’re already not wearing them at home. Underwear and socks go last so they’re not sitting in the suitcase when they need to be worn prior.

Charge devices the night before and then turn them off and pack them in their respective bags/backpacks. This includes tablets and headphones.

I tend to stay away from packing lists, since it depends on the destination - however some things are brought no matter what.

MY TRAVEL MUST-HAVES:

A LIGHT, FOLDABLE STROLLER. I travel with one that folds under the plane seat or in the overhead bin and is easy to fold down and carry up and down stairs or on public transportation. We have the gb Pockit+ All Terrain, and just recently purchased a Stokke Babyzen YoYo which is sturdy and has a little more storage, but is a splurge. The canopy also goes down a little further if your child will sleep in a stroller.

ZIPLOCK BAGS. You’d be shocked at how many things I use these for during travel. I put trash in them on the airplane so the trash isn’t falling on the floor or getting shoved in the seatback pocket. I’ve used them for snacks (or half-eaten snacks), toys, pacifiers and more.

TRAVEL DISH SOAP. Handy for so many things, including a water bottle or pacifier that falls on the ground on a plane. You can also get wipes that work in a pinch.

EYE MASK HEADPHONES. My daughter is just now getting to the point where she will sit still and watch a show on a plane, and when searching for headphones for her age, I came across these headband headphones that double as an eye mask - and when she got tired enough, I put them on her and when she fell asleep, turned on background noise on my connected iPhone and pulled them over her eyes which helped her sleep a little longer with plane lights and sounds. I tried a few brands, but these had the best audio quality!

EXTRA CLOTHES. I pack an extra outfit for each kid, shoved to the bottom of the diaper bag. With a really young baby, you may want two extra onesies depending on the length of the trip.

SMALL FIRST AID KIT. A few bandaids with a small tube of ointment, some Motrin, any medications they take, etc. Always pack this in a carry-on in case checked bags get lost.

LOLLIPOPS. Helpful for takeoff and landing or just for a little treat when they get restless. I like YUMEARTH, but I also like Beekeepers Naturals which include propolis, vitamin D, zinc and wildflower honey.

DISINFECTANT WIPES. I carry travel packs and wipe every tray table, armrest and headrest down before my kids settle in. Whatever I can wipe, I wipe it - and I also wipe their hands a lot, even just with baby wipes. These BoogieWipes are alcohol-free, or if you’re comfortable using Clorox or a stronger disinfectant, those come in travel packs as well.

NOZIN NOSE SANITIZER. Always ask your doctor before using a product like this, however this product has been clinically proven to lessen the risk of infection and has been helpful to travelers when used before a flight. It’s essentially hand sanitizer for your nose and I learned about it after a friend was recommended to use it by a physician.

ADDALOCK. This is a portable door lock that works on most doors, including in hotels. It adds a layer of security and gives me peace of mind.

JETKIDS BY STOKKE. This is a ride on piece of small luggage that converts any airline seat into a bed, or adds a leg rest. It has been huge for us - my 6 year old can ride it through the airport, and then we use it to extend the seat for my very busy daughter. It also has extra storage for blankets, snacks, toys, or whatever. Just make sure to check with the airline before you travel - we’ve had no issues using it domestically, but it was NOT allowed on our flights to Europe on Air France (nothing that extended seat space was).

CAR SEATS. You can check car seats for free on most airlines. When I bring them, I put them in this car seat bag which fits both my son’s booster and my daughter’s travel car seat (the Cosco Scenera Next). We’ve also used the Doona, the WayB Pico and the RideSafer Vest depending on the age of my child and the location we’re traveling to. Most of the options we use are also FAA approved for use on the airline, as well.

If you don’t want to bring car seats, car rental companies many times have them available to rent, or you can hire a car service that can have them previously installed.

SLEEP SCHEDULES

This next tip is a little controversial, but it has worked for us when flying internationally. I adopted it when my son slept for 30 minutes total during a 17 hour travel day to South Korea - but then went to sleep and slept all night on Korean time as soon as we got to our apartment at 11pm. With the exception of overnight times on the flight or a catnap during the day, we try to avoid letting our kids take long naps during the day when we arrive at our destination. On our recent trip to Europe, our destination was 9 hours ahead. We landed at 10am (1am our home time), they’d each slept for maybe an hour on the flight. They fell asleep for 10 minutes in the car on the way to our rental around 1pm, and then we kept them outside in the sunlight and stimulated until it was bedtime local time.

To make sleeping at the destination a little easier, we try to keep a sleep setup reminiscent of home. We bring a Slumberpod and stuffed animals for my daughter and a blackout stick up curtain and stuffed animals for my son - as well as their Hatch noise machines. With a dark environment, stuffies and the noise they’re used to sleeping with, they tend to feel more comfortable in their sleep space. When possible, we request a crib or travel crib from the hotel or wherever we are staying - but I’ve used the Guava Lotus travel crib with both kids, and it’s my favorite. Easy to put up and take down, and slightly longer than traditional travel cribs. My son slept in it on the road until he was 3 - and he’s in the 90th percentile for height.

CONCLUSION:

While this is certainly not an exhaustive list, nor is traveling with children a one size fits all situation, I hope that it has given you an idea or two when it comes to ways to make your travel a little easier! The memories made at your destination are sure to upstage the memories of the travel there.

What are some of your favorite travel tips? Let me know in the comments! Happy travels!