Six unique tips to ease the stress when flying with kids
Flying with kids can be stressful, let us ease the anxiety and exhaustion that can come with flying with your kids with six tips you can use on your next flight! This post is a summary of a great interview with a Wander Mom named Beka. If you want to hear the whole conversation, check out the Wander Mom Diaries Podcast episode 3. In this episode, you'll hear how Beka makes travel a priority when she is with her girls, how travel has influenced her family, 6 genius tips on how you can ease the stress of flying with not one, but FOUR kids, and more helpful advice for parents everywhere! It's a fun episode, so check it out!
So let’s dive in!
Six unique strategies for flying with your kids (plus a bonus tip).
Dollar store surprises
The name is pretty self-explanatory, but all you would need to do is go to the dollar store and get one entertaining item per child but get one for every half hour of the flight.
Individually wrap them in some tissue paper and when the kids get bored of the item you give them (which usually takes around 30 minutes), then they can open another one. You can even stretch the items further if you have multiple children because they can trade toys and share what they have with their siblings.
This is an affordable and fun way to make long flights entertaining for your kids and bearable for you. You can also find quite small and light toys, coloring books, and other hodge-podge things at the dollar store, so check out your local one for your next trip!
Buddy system for the win
This strategy applies to parents reading this who have more than one child. Pair your kids up based on personality. Beka, who has 4 girls, pairs the oldest and second youngest and the youngest and second oldest because she knows they work well together.
They are “buddies” for every trip and hold each other accountable and are responsible for each other. This relieves pressure for the parents and also helps with that sibling bonding. Remember that the buddy system is to support each other, not to do things for the other sibling. For example, a sibling would remind the other one to be sure their water bottle is full, rather than just taking the bottle and filling it for them.
You can also use the buddy system with seating on flights. One pair can sit with one parent on the way there, and the other pair on the way back. Have a family discussion before the trip about what the buddy system means and what it entails. Having set boundaries and clear communication will allow for a smooth start when you try this for the first time.
Give kids agency in the airport
This strategy works with any number of children and is extremely empowering for them. Before you go on a trip, give your kids the responsibility of guiding the family through the airport. If you have more than one child, split the trip into different sections and assign your kids specific sections.
This empowers them to take ownership over the trip because they are responsible and the other siblings are not supposed to help or interject. Examples of responsibilities for the kids during their time to shine entail reminding and ensuring the family does the procedures correctly at security (take off shoes, take out liquids, separate phones, and tablets, etc.), finding the gate, figuring out the way to the gate, stopping for bathroom breaks, deciding when everyone should eat, when they should get in line to board, basically anything you do in the process of entering and leaving the airport can be assigned to your kids.
If they don’t know something, they can just ask you and they will learn better for future travels. You can even gamify the experience, like playing I Spy, or create a scavenger hunt to find the name of a city that is spelled differently in a different language. There are many ways in which to engage your kids in the airport, and the more you do so, the more they learn to be independent on their own travels in the future.
Things to avoid
Avoid unrealistic layovers and do your research of the airports before going if you do have a layover because there are many reasons why it could take you much longer to transfer planes than you realize, and when you have kids, it can take even longer.
To name a few, metal detectors can break down, there could be more than one security check, the airport could be much bigger than planned, and at the time of this writing, many airports are understaffed which can slow down the lines. Do your research about the airport ahead of time if you have a layover, especially with international travel.
This means finding a map of the airport, get an idea of the layout, how many security checks there are, how long it takes to get from one end to the other, how many different terminals there are and if there is transportation that could help get there. On the podcast, Beka shares an entertaining story that you can listen to about her experience traveling to Italy with her girls.
In the podcast, Beka mentioned Sky Scanner, an awesome app/website where you can easily find the cheapest flights at that moment in time!
Snacks snacks, and more snacks!
I know from experience with my 13-month old that snacks are the best. From puffs to crunchies, to squeeze pouches, yogurt drops, and granola bars, our diaper bag had mostly snacks and diapers and they were both put to good use!
For older kids, be sure to pack a variety of sweet, salty, crunchy, chewy, healthy, and junky. You can even sneak them in your kid’s packs so you don’t need to carry it all, but try not to rely only on the small snacks provided on the flight. Kids can even play games with snacks. ticktacktoe with skittles or M&Ms for example.
Every kid for themselves
"If you want it, carry it!" Starting this with your kids early is a great way for them to build responsibility and also rely on you much less for things. It can start off with a toddler wearing a small backpack with a toy and a juice box, to a teenager that carries all of their vacation gear.
It’s a lesson learned when they forget to pack something they wanted, or if they lose something. Every mistake can be a reminder for the next trip and things can always be replaced. They also may pack much less if they realize they need to carry it!
Bonus Tip
Give yourself grace. In the conversation on the podcast, Beka gives some words of wisdom every parent needs to hear and that is, “give yourself grace, you are human, and flying is not for the faint of heart.”
It is important to be sure that you teach your kids the emotions of traveling and that these feelings are real and how to recognize and address these emotions when they arise. If you get angry, upset, stressed, it is okay for your kids to see that but also be sure they see you recover and the strategies you used to recover.
Have a conversation with your kids about what happened and be sure they know there is a sea of feelings while traveling and these feelings and emotions are real, valid, and also very common. Any “imperfection” you reveal about the trip is an opportunity to teach your kids how they can handle it when it is their turn to travel.
Follow the podcast
I hope you enjoyed these six (actually 7) unique strategies you can use on your next flight with your children. If you found this useful, you may also enjoy listening in on The Wander Mom Diaries Podcast where we share inspiring stories and give helpful support for adventurous mothers.
This post was inspired by a wonderful interview with Beka, pictured below with her adventurous family! If you have a great story or helpful advice to share with other wander moms, reach out to me at wandermomdiaries@gmail.com, I'd love to hear your story!
- Mandie
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