How to Travel by Plane with Babies & Toddlers

I’ll let you in on a secret…traveling with a baby or toddler can be FUN! I’ve been traveling internationally and domestically by plane with my kids for 10+ years now and have learned several tricks that make traveling during this season of life enjoyable.

Hold up! We’ve all seen the dad in the back of the plane desperately rocking his baby, whispering “shhh,” as he feels the eyes of everyone on him. Surely this isn’t what I mean?!

I’m not going to promise you that you won’t find yourself there someday, as there are certainly circumstances outside of your control when you put yourself at the mercy of any airline, but there are ways to plan ahead to be prepared for your flight and take a proactive approach. I’ll start by building the basics on what types of tickets to buy and exploring how to take all the baby gear you need, then delve into some tips that are baby-and-toddler-specific.

Types of Tickets

Age 2 & younger: If your child will be age 2 or younger for the entire duration of your trip (departure AND return flights), you have the option of traveling with your child in your lap. When traveling domestically in the United States, this option is 100% free. When traveling internationally, you’ll play a very small airport tax fee, which will be determined by the country you’re traveling to. (As an example, we paid just over $17.00 in mid-2022 for our 7-month-old to fly roundtrip with us from Iowa to Cozumel, Mexico). If you would like your child to ride IN their car seat during the flight, you’ll need to purchase a full price ticket for them (see next section). Please note: You CAN NOT pre-check with a lap child. You’ll be required to get your tickets issued at the ticketing counter prior to your flight, so this may involve showing up a bit earlier than you would otherwise. This is a great time to ask for special accommodations, such as if there’s a seat available with an extra seat beside it, ask for a seat closer to the front of the plane if you have a connecting flight, etc. They may tell you no, in which you can ask at the gate (see below).

At-the-gate-counter tip: If you’re traveling with a lap child, I’d recommend approaching the gate counter (this is at the gate where you will board your flight) as soon as an airline representative appears to begin boarding prep. Kindly let them know you’re traveling with a lap child and you would be forever grateful if they seat you with your travel partner (if traveling with someone you don’t have assigned seats with) and/or where there might be an extra seat next to you. Trust me – a happy baby on a plane makes all of the passengers happy, so they will accommodate this if it’s possible. Also, smiles go a long way. 🙂

Age 2 & up: If your child will be age 2 or older, including if they will be turning 2 during your trip, you’ll need to purchase a full price ticket for them. The advantage clearly is that you’ll have extra space, but the disadvantage is the need for an additional full price ticket for a child who may end out spending their flight sitting on your lap regardless.

Boarding tip: Most airlines will allow families with young children to board immediately after priority level members. This can be a great opportunity to get your baby gear gate-checked, your luggage stored in overhead bins and your little one settled before the majority of others board. This is a great way to reduce your stress while boarding!

The Gear: Strollers, Car Seats, Diaper Bags & Pack ‘n Plays

Strollers

Every airline we’ve ever flown with has allowed free stroller check, either at ticketing (when you arrive) or at the gate (when you board). Unless you have to rush for a connecting flight (less than an hour is cutting it to close for me), there’s nothing better than having a stroller in the airport to hold your baby, carry some of your extra personal items and, of course, your coffee. 🙂 If you choose to gate-check your stroller, you’ll take it through security and go directly to your gate, then at some point before getting on the plane they’ll call for gate-checked items to be tagged. When you de-board, you’ll need to wait immediately outside of the plane but still inside of the gate before walking back up to the airport. After a few minutes, airport personnel will deliver strollers, car seats, etc., to this area.

Car Seats

You can always fly with a car seat for free, as long as you check it (if you’ve purchased a full seat ticket for your child, you should be able to bring it on board for them to sit in, but check with your airline). Similar to traveling with a stroller, you can choose to check it at ticketing or at the gate. I typically opt to check the car seat at the ticketing counter, so I don’t have to deal with it through the airport and it’s one less thing to mess with when I’m trying to board the plane. If you’re not taking any checked luggage, however, you may want to simply check it with your stroller at the gate to avoid the trip to the luggage pick up area.

Car Seat Protection Tip: If you decide to travel with a car seat bag to protect your car seat from potentially getting beaten up when thrown in with all of the other luggage (such as this one, from Amazon), tie ribbons on it and write something big with a sharpie marker to distinguish your bag from others. We’ve had the experience of someone else taking our car seat and not getting it back for a couple of days (thankfully, airlines have loaner car seats for these types of situations). The irony is, we were traveling with an infant car seat, and they had a huge 5-point harness. Not sure how they didn’t notice…

Diaper Bags

Every traveler, even those under two who fly as a lap child, can take a personal item for free. This is how to get your diaper bag on board! Make sure it will fit well under the seat in front of you, as you should with any personal item. I’d highly recommend a backpack for traveling! They’re easy to carry around before you get reunited with your stroller. Make sure to pack a couple of diapers, a pack of wipes and an extra outfit (jammies with covered feet work well as planes get cold) at the top. I cannot tell you how many times we’ve boarded our plane and settled into our seats, only to have our child dirty their diaper prior to takeoff. More times than I can count on one hand, that’s for sure. It’s much less stressful if you don’t have to dig through your bag for what you need. Also – keep pacifiers/toys/snacks/essential oils you plan to use on the flight handy at the top of your bag or an outside pocket!

Pack ‘n Play

Many airlines will allow you to travel with a pack ‘n play as one of your checked items or pay a checked baggage fee. If a checked bag isn’t included with your ticket, be careful, because these fees can be steep ($30 or $40 departing AND returning, costing you $60-80+). Oftentimes, you can purchase a pack ‘n play online (such as this one) for less than the cost of baggage fees. If you’re traveling to an Air BnB or a friend’s home, simply ask if you can have it mailed to the house a day or two prior to your arrival. We have donated pack ‘n plays to several Air BnB hosts, and they have always been grateful – and we’ve saved money and the stress of traveling with a big bulky pack ‘n play in the process!

Airplane Travel Tips: Travel with a Baby

When traveling with an infant (we’ll say birth thru 1.5 years old), you’ll want to be prepared to create a restful environment for your baby. This can be done simply by bringing:

• 2-3 blankets
• Pacifier
• Access to milk for take-off (prep a bottle immediately before boarding, or wear nursing-friendly clothing & have a nursing cover handy)

Your best luck for a comfortable, sleeping baby during a portion of your flight is to feed your baby during takeoff. The impact of air pressure in the cabin can be relieved by sucking, so if they’re not hungry you’ll want to have a pacifier handy. Make sure you, as the parent, are breathing deeply and as relaxed as possible. Babies will absolutely pick up on how you are feeling about the environment, so if you’re tense and not relaxed, they won’t be either. After they finish eating, try to get them into a comfortable position immediately. I like to swaddle them up (even if they’re “old” for swaddling – they will be shifting around enough and will be comforted by being contained) and lay another swaddle blanket between my knees to use as a makeshift pillow for their head to rest comfortably (see picture above) while they lay on their backs with their feet toward me. All of my babies have slept this way in airplanes over the years.

For awake time, make sure to bring:

• Pacifier
• Baby books
• Chew toys/any of their favorite toys

At the end of nearly every flight I have ever taken with my babies, I’ll undoubtably have a passenger in a nearby seat behind me stand to get their luggage and say, “Wow! I had no idea there was a baby on this flight! They did such a great job!” Preparation and making sure you stay relaxed are keys to making this happen!

Airplane Travel Tips: Travel with a Toddler

Traveling with toddlers (we’ll say 1.5-4 years) is more involved than flying with babies. This will not be a flight about you, so put aside any fantasy about reading a magazine or taking a nap (or even a rest). It’s likely not going to happen. Your time will be focused on your little ones, keeping them comfortable and helping them enjoy their experience. Some helpful things to pack with young children and toddlers include:

• Little packets (prepackaged or in Ziplocs) of snacks that won’t produce crumbs (gummies, beef jerky, veggies, fruit strips, some kinds of granola bars, etc.)
• Chewing gum – absolutely let any child who can safely chew gum have some for takeoff and landing! It will help their ears release pressure, which will avoid most of their potential issues with flying.
• Books they enjoy, or new books they haven’t read before
• Balance essential oil for motion sickness or irritability (available here)
• Sippy cups – have flight attendants give you bottled water to pour into these, or refill them at the airport filling station prior to boarding
• Little sets of toys or a baby doll to play with
• Coloring books & crayons (but not too many!) in a gallon or oversized Ziploc bag for older kids

If you don’t need the extra room to pack, consider letting your toddler bring a pillow as their personal item, and put a special blanket and stuffed animal inside. This will allow them to get much more comfortable on the flight. Simply bring a backpack as your own personal item and carry all of the items mentioned above in it. Remember – you don’t need magazines, books, or anything to pass your time. 🙂

These are all tips and tricks I’ve learned over the years through personal experience and wish someone had shared with me! I would love to see more families traveling with their little ones and loving it!

Bon voyage!

xoxo Angie