We’ve been on a lot of quick trips recently, so I thought I’d share my top 11 tips for short flights:
- Sticker books. Stickers somehow never get old. Stickers are the answer for everything.
- A car seat bag with wheels is worth its weight in gold.
- You can never have enough pouches or crackers.
- If you think your toddler is old enough or your flight is short enough that you can get away with out packing an extra set of clothes in your carryon, think again. (On our last trip Arlo managed to choke on a fry in the airport and puke it back up down the front of his shirt 🤦♀️)
- The Munchkin Cool Cat Water Bottle builds up pressure after take off and when you open it you will squirt water all over your neighbor! Fun!
- TSA does not respect naps 🙃
- The nursing lounge is everything. A room of quiet that comes with a changing table and comfy chair in an otherwise bustling hub of overstimulation? Magic. (I’m not sure if they’re all that well equipped but the one in SMF was a beautiful place for us to recover when TSA – fairly, I’m sure – decided Arlo’s stroller nap was over. 🤪)
- If you’re sharing a suitcase with your baby, and especially if you have one big family suitcase, packing cubes are a major game changer.
- Think you packed enough diapers? Pack more diapers. (We ended up needing to buy more on every recent trip and can never find our preferred brands on the go.)
- Schedules will almost certainly go out the window but the adventure is almost always worth it. 😊
- Gate checking your car seat (if you’re not bringing it on) rather than checking as a regular bag is worth it. We thought we could make life a little easier by checking it with our suitcase. Then we sat just above the baggage loading/unloading part of the plane and I’m still having nightmares about how roughly our car seat was thrown around. 🤦♀️ With gate checking at least it’s handled by fewer people. I really wanted to trust that they would be more careful with car seats given how important they are for keeping our kids safe.
– Katie, Santa Barbara, CA
For more tips for short flights, check out our tips section for traveling with children.