Travels With Toddler
ell we are just a few days away from getting on the plane for our trip to (Da Balaia Resort, Club Med), located in the Algarve area in Portugal. Am I looking forward to relaxing and getting away from it all with Jubby (aka Miss Zizi) and AdoringHusband? Well, no. I’m more freaked out about packing the right clothing, which stroller to take and how to entertain a 16 1/2 month old on such a long airplane ride.
The first thing I did was to buy the helpful book by Shelly Rivoli: Travels with Baby: The Ultimate Guide for Planning Trips with Babies, Toddlers, and Preschool-Age Children Shelly’s book had some nice tips for parents traveling with kids in many different ways. And even better, she has a website and a blog. I ended up sending her an e-mail begging asking for any specific tips for my situation.
Shelly was nice enough to actually turn my e-mail into a blog post:
Tip #42: Keep a Toddler Content Flying Overseas
My two cents:
As you say, it’s hard to keep children entertained with videos for too long at 16 months, though it can help some overtired toddlers finally settle in for slumber in flight. New toys, a Travel Magna Doodle, and board books will likely catch her attention for some amount of time, but one gimmick that never seems to fail for us is what we call the “bag of tricks.” I use some sort of a child’s purse, cosmetics or other small bag, preferably one with a see-through panel (a large slide-lock bag works wonders in a pinch), and fill it with an eclectic assortment of toys and gadgets. The presentation of the items–or perhaps the process of discovering them one at a time–seems to make the contents much more interesting to children in this age range. You might consider a couple of very small stuffed animals, a bath toy, a teething toy, a comb, a small (preferably baby-safe) mirror, and measuring spoons from your kitchen drawer. Ideally, you’ll have a second small “bag of tricks” to surprise her on the flight home.
Assuming your daughter’s car seat is a “convertible” model, you might consider installing it rear-facing for your flight (unless there’s a personal TV screen you want to utilize on the seat in front of her). It may be much easier to interact with her and keep her happy in flight if you are facing each other, plus you’ll have the added advantage that she can’t kick the forward passenger’s seat or obsess over the fold-out tray.
You might both appreciate a travel tray to attach to her car seat during the flight, since airplane trays are small and often don’t fold out at the right height to use with car seats. I’ve had good results with the “Snack & Play Travel Tray” that has a very large surface area (big enough for coloring books) with a tall edge around 3 sides that is very effective in keeping snacks, sippy cups, crayons, and various toys from constantly falling out of her reach and into the “Mommy! Mommy! Uh!” zone next to your feet. It’s very light and rolls up fairly compactly (also might work on your stroller and is helpful on road trips).
Also, be sure to plan occasional walks around the cabin to help her stretch her legs (it may do wonders for her digestion as well as her disposition) and be sure to take advantage of any strangers who show an interest in waving and greeting her, or playing peek-a-boo. If there are other toddlers on your flight, she’ll likely enjoy paying brief visits to them at their seats–and may even be willing to swap a toy or two.
So let me tell you what I’ve planned so far. We are taking our Maxi-Cosi Priori car seat on the plane. The good news is that the specs allow for it to be set up rear facing up to 30 pounds. This allows us to have Zizi face us, as Shelly suggests. I also purchased the Snack and Play Travel Tray: 
We got the GoGo Kidz Travelmate to easily transport the car seat (and Zara) through the airport, but then we realized that we would be taking a stroller as well. We have both an Orbit stroller with toddler seat:
and a much smaller and lighter Quinny Zapp stroller: 
The Orbit is a more rugged and versatile stroller (seat rotates and reclines for sleeping) but the Zapp can be checked and is a lot less delicate (yet you cannot recline or have any place for a sippy cup). So we think we’re going to end up taking the Orbit and will thus be wheeling both the Orbit stroller and the car seat/gogo kidz combo through the airport.
Of course there are a million other things that I am obsessing over:
- How much food/milk/juice should I bring on the airplane with me?
- Should I pack detergent to do laundry?
- Should I pack toddler meals in case she doesn’t like the food at the resort?
- Does she need a whole suitcase of toys to take with us?
- What else am I forgetting?
I’ve got decongestant for the ears and benadryl for sleep if necessary (she responds well). I considered Children’s Earplanes but felt that she would probably pull them out.
Gah, this is so much harder than any of my business trips! Help, everyone! 
I would contact the airlines about the amount of liquid you can carry on the plane. If they say only 3 ounces, then take dry packets of drink mix for Ms. Z and get bottled water on the plane. I would take small snack packs of a variety of things she likes. Think dry foods.
As far as toys go, I would only take her absolute favorite things that will fit in one bag. Then take the surprise bags like the travel lady suggested.
Make sure she has her favorite blanky or lovey if she has one, and plenty of pacifiers if she uses them.
Toddler meals…I personally wouldn’t do it. There has to be SOMETHING she will eat there, even if it’s just fruits and veggies. maybe take some baby vitamins if she’s super picky and won’t eat.
Hope that helps!
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If you read the regulations on the FAA website, they do allow stuff for kids, it just has to be in a separate bag from the 3 oz thingies and has to be declared. Baby Formula, Breast Milk, Juice, and Other Liquids
Medications, baby formula and food, breast milk, and juice are allowed in reasonable quantities exceeding three ounces and are not required to be in the zip-top bag. Declare these items for inspection at the checkpoint. Click here to learn more about 3-1-1
All items including formula, breast milk, and juice will be inspected, however, you or your infant or toddler will not be asked to test or taste breast milk, formula, or juice. Our Security Officers may test liquid exemptions (exempt items more than 3 ounces) for explosives.
I would print the FAA regulations to be on the safe side.
We got the go go Kidz thing and S loved riding in it (over a stroller.)
One of the things about putting the seat facing backwards is the person in front will not be able to recline their seat. When we took S on his first trip, he was in a baby seat and the person in front kept freaking trying to recline his seat (like it’s going to change @@).
We actually got a CARES harness for our trip (leaving Thursday) http://www.faa.gov/news/press_releases/news_story.cfm?newsId=7381 It is FAA approved and HOPEFULLY it will eliminate the problem of him kicking the seat in front. We had that issue on our last flight and I had to hold him.
He wasn’t much interested in toys (THREW his cup across teh aisle) But overall did pretty well. It was a short trip though (3 hours)
Good luck!
I’m afraid of starting her off in the CARES harness for such a long flight since she is more used to her car seat than the airplane seat. We will see how it goes. And yeah, I know about the seat recline thing. It happened when we went to Hawaii with the Orbit. We’ve got to see how it works here: no recline or kicking, though she isn’t normally much of a kicker.
Thanks!
I just want to add that we have the go go kidz travel mate. We took it to Hawaii and it did work great in the airport but….it didn’t fit down the isle to roll and we had to take it off the car seat in order for us to buck the car seat on the airplane. Then we had to store the go go kidz on the plane and try not to forget that along with all the other stuff. Someone later told us that we could leave it on the car seat but that it sat very close to the seat in front of it. That was the only time we used it, the other times we just put the car seat on the stroller and took it around the airport that way, so then we had to carry child or child walked. It was a nightmare, trying to roll the cart that carried suit cases, and push stroller and push car seat…..I think we ended up with the car seat on top of all the suit cases. Good luck!!
I don’t know if Zizi needs warm milk, our daughter still does and she is 5 years old….I know I know. But when she was younger I took breast milk storage and I would put 1% or whatever the airline had and then would ask for hot water, I would then heat up the milk that way to her liking. Just a thought……Have a lot of fun!!!
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I really like your article and template too. It’s personal touch….
Keep posting,
TODDLER TOYS
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We traveled most recently last month with our 15 month old. I ended up taking a whole carry on bag of food - dried fruit, crackers, etc., but I did take some fresh blueberries and cheese and threw a freezer pack in with them. My worst fear was being stranded on the plane or in an airport for an extended period of time without access to food. Also, I do not as a rule give my child candy. But as a last resort I packed a few lollipops for in case we had a meltdown. Which happened after we had a delay of 3 hours at the gate. Everyone around me was pretty happy I had those lollipops.
I wouldn’t worry about taking enough food to have toddler friendly stuff at the resort, if there’s anything about human na