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Coco's Caravan

13 Tips for Flying with a Toddler

in Motherhood, Travel on 07/31/19

I’ll be sharing tips on flying with a toddler. I’ve flown with my kids a couple times and wanted to share some things that helped me. I also reached out to my followers and asked them some of their favorite travel tips as well. Hope these tips can help make traveling with your toddler a little easier!

Table of Contents

  • Tip 1 For Flying With a Toddler: Get TSA Pre-check
  • Tip 2 For Flying With a Toddler: Car seats
    • Infant Car Seat Tips:
    • Toddler Car Seat Tips:
    • Do you do rear face or forward face the car seat?
  • Tip 3 For Flying With a Toddler: Bring their blanket
  • Tip 4 For Flying With a Toddler: Bring lots of Snacks
    • Snack Ideas:
  • Tip 5 For Flying With a Toddler: Get water before flight
  • Tip 6 For Flying With a Toddler: Activities/Toys
    • Toy Ideas:
    • Toy Hack:
  • Tip 7 For Flying With a Toddler: Electronics
    • Mini Ipad Case
    • Big Headphones
    • App Ideas
    • Disney Plus Shows
    • Netflix Shows (Downloadable):
  • Tip 8 For Flying With a Toddler: Have them wear easy clothes and bring an extra pair of clothing.
  • Tip 9 For Flying With a Toddler: Book your flight around nap-time
  • Tip 10 For Flying With a Toddler: Take advantage of pre-boarding
  • Tip 11 For Flying With a Toddler: Sit towards the back of the plane
  • Tip 12 For Flying With a Toddler: Wait for everyone to get off the plane before getting off
  • Tip 13 For Flying With a Toddler: Give each toddler their own backpack

Tip 1 For Flying With a Toddler: Get TSA Pre-check

The first tip for flying with a toddler is to apply for TSA pre-check. TSA pre-check is a faster line through airport security. You can pass through airport security lines without taking off your shoes, removing any electronics or liquids from your bag, or taking off your belt or jacket. 

As a parent traveling with kids this is worth every penny. It cost $85 for five years. If you have children under 12 years and younger they can go through the line with you. You can apply at a TSA pre-check location at your airport. I found this article helpful when I had questions about it.

Tip 2 For Flying With a Toddler: Car seats

The second tip for flying with a toddler is using a car seat. As many of you know your child does not need a car seat until they are two years old. I like to buy seats for my boys if I’m flying a longer distance or if tickets are cheap. The hardest part about buying your child their own plane ticket is bringing the car seat on the plane. Here are some tips to help make that an easier process.

Infant Car Seat Tips:

Its a lot easier to bring on an infant carseat. Its easiest if you have the baby already strapped in the carseat while you carry them on the plane. You place the infant car seat rear facing and belt them in as if you would in a car.

Toddler Car Seat Tips:

It can be annoying trying to get a big car seat through the airport, but its so nice to have your baby strapped in for a flight. I bought a cheap car seat bag on amazon so that I could carry them through the airport. I tested the bag at home and it was heavy and awkward.

I decided to buy a luggage cart roller instead. I strapped the car seat right onto the luggage cart and it was so easy to pull through the airport. You can also find car seat rollers that allow the baby to sit in the car seat while you pull. You can check your stroller before the flight and just use these rollers instead. I would have bought these, but they were expensive and I needed two of them.

I have the GracoExtend2fit and when I tried to roll it down the isle of the plane it DID NOT fit. It fit through first class, but as soon as I got to the main cabin it got stuck. It was heavy and awkward trying to carry it to my seat, luckily a nice man helped me. I would suggest taking the car seat off the luggage cart before entering the plane. I brought a foldable tote bag and put the luggage cart in the bag to store in the overhead bins during the flight.

Flying with a toddler

My followers suggested buying the Cosco Scenera Next Convertible Car Seat for flying. They cost $50 and only weigh 11 pounds. This way its a lot easier to carry onto the plane and around the airport. This car seat might be small enough to wheel down the isle of the plane.

Do you do rear face or forward face the car seat?

I asked my followers this question on my instagram and I got a lot of responses. If your baby is in a infant carseat it will need to be rear facing. If your child is in a convertible car seat the answer was still unclear. Some of my followers said rear facing and some said forward facing.

Tips for Flying with a toddler

After reading through everyones comments I came to the conclusion that forward facing is just fine. One of the main reasons for rear facing a car seat in a car is because of the threat of getting hit from behind. You don’t need to worry about that on a plane.

I liked having them forward facing because it was easier to install and they could watch the tv. You just want to be mindful of their feet kicking the seat in front of them. I would suggest doing what makes you feel most comfortable, these are just my opinions after reading through everyones comments.

Tip 3 For Flying With a Toddler: Bring their blanket

The third tip for flying with toddlers is bring your child’s favorite blanket. Each of my boys have their own blanket they use during naps or bedtime. They associate their special blanket with sleep and it will help them sleep during the flight if they have it.

Tip 4 For Flying With a Toddler: Bring lots of Snacks

The fourth tip for flying with toddlers is to bring lots of snacks. Each of my twins had a gallon zip block bag with lots of different type of snacks inside. When I asked my followers about snack ideas they said to make sure the snacks are not sticky or messy. Someone also suggested putting the snacks in a tackle box to make it more fun. I found that apple sauce pouches were perfect for take off and landing because they had to suck to get the apple sauce out. (Sucking helps prevent ear issues)

Snack Ideas:
  • Apple Sauce pouches
  • Cheerios
  • Toddler Cookies
  • Freeze dried Trader Joe’s blueberries and strawberries
  • Fruit Snacks
  • Suckers for take off and landing (for older toddlers)
  • Raisins
  • Veggie Strips

Tip 5 For Flying With a Toddler: Get water before flight

The fifth tip for flying with a toddler is making sure you get water before the flight. I used the water to make them a bottle or fill up their sippy cup. It’s important for their ears to be swallowing during take off and landing. Sometimes the flight attendants are dealing with other things when you board and they don’t have enough time to get you water. I always bring an empty water bottle and fill it up at a drinking fountain before the flight. If I can’t find a drinking fountain I make sure to buy water.

Tip 6 For Flying With a Toddler: Activities/Toys

The sixth tip for flying with a toddler is having activities for your kids. I found myself rotating through toys and snacks to keep my twins happy. Some of my followers suggest going to the dollar store to get new toys. This way if you drop or lose them on the plane its not a big deal. Also if they have new toys they will be more interested in playing with them.

Toy Ideas:
  • Magnetic Toys
  • Window Stickers
  • Matchbox cars
  • Coloring Books and Markers
  • Boogie Board (no mess!)
  • Doodle Board
  • Fabric books
  • Magnetic Board
  • Magnetic Book
  • Water Wow Book
  • Magnetic Wand Maze
  • Travel Toyz bag
Toy Hack:

I like to use a pacifier strap to clip their toys to their car seat. This way you won’t lose toys when they try and throw it over the side.

Tip 7 For Flying With a Toddler: Electronics

The seventh tip for flying with a toddler is using electronics. I brought my mini iPad on the plane and filled it with movies and games before I went. I downloaded Netflix shows on my tablet so the boys could watch them without wifi. You can also download shows and movies off the Disneyplus app as well. I made a list of some ideas below.

Mini Ipad Case
Big Headphones

Cozyphones Headphones

App Ideas

Head over to my blog post “The Best Toddler Apps” where I list some of the my favorite apps the boys have been using. You just want to make sure the apps you choose for the flight can be used without wifi. Most of the apps I did list will work during flights, but double check before you go.

Disney Plus Shows

Head over to my blog post where I list the best Disney Plus downloadable shows for toddlers! I’ll even show you how to download them so you can watch them later without wifi!

Netflix Shows (Downloadable):

Head over to my blog post where I list the best Netflix shows for toddlers. I’ll even show you how to download them so you can watch them later without wifi!

Tip 8 For Flying With a Toddler: Have them wear easy clothes and bring an extra pair of clothing.

The eighth tip for traveling with a toddler is putting them in easy clothes. When my boys were younger I put them in zip up onesies and it made diaper changes a lot easier on the plane. I did not want to deal with snapping a bunch of buttons. Now that the boys are older its easiest to do pants and a t-shirt.

Also don’t forget to throw in an extra pair of clothing. You never know if your child will have a blow out or throw up. Its always good to be prepared.

Tip 9 For Flying With a Toddler: Book your flight around nap-time

The ninth tip for flying with a toddler is booking your flight around nap time. I know this isn’t always possible, but try to do it if you can. We did this for our flight to Florida and they slept a good part of the flight.

Tip 10 For Flying With a Toddler: Take advantage of pre-boarding

The tenth tip for flying with a toddler is pre-boarding. If you have young children you are able to pre-board the flight. I used to think that families with kids were the first ones to board, but that is incorrect. Every airline is different in the order they allow people to board the plane. The last couple times we have flown Delta they didn’t let us board until after first class. Every airline is different in their order so just ask the front desk at the gate when you get there.

I like to board early if I’m going to carry on a car seat. They are so big and heavy I don’t want to have to worry about hitting people as I carry it down the isle.

If you want to know how to gate check your Baby Jogger City select see my blog post HERE.

Tip 11 For Flying With a Toddler: Sit towards the back of the plane

The eleventh tip for flying with a toddler is towards the back of the plane. Some people suggest sitting in the very back row, but I did not like that. The back row is always right by the bathrooms and people are constantly coming and going during the flight. My boys kept waking up every time the doors to the bathroom would open or shut. I like to sit in the back, but not to close to the bathrooms.

Tip 12 For Flying With a Toddler: Wait for everyone to get off the plane before getting off

The twelfth tip for flying with a toddler is waiting for everyone else to get off the plane. I only recommend doing this if you do not have a connecting flight. If you are rushing to get to a next flight this obviously wouldn’t be the best choice.

When we are not in a rush I always wait for everyone to get off the plane before I get off. People who are flying are always impatient and not always in the best mood. It helps me to stay calm and happy when I just wait. This way I don’t feel rushed and I’m not worried about people waiting behind me.

Tip 13 For Flying With a Toddler: Give each toddler their own backpack

The last tip for flying with a toddler is to give each child their own backpack for the flight. I had a diaper bag for each of my twins filled with everything they needed for the flight. They each had their own toys, snacks, clothes, sippy cup, etc. Once they are older they can have their own backpack full of stuff and be in charge of what they want to do on the plane.

Packing for a flight

I would love for you to comment below with anymore tips you have with flying with a toddler! Hope these tips can help you as you travel!

This post may contain affiliate links. See my Full Disclosure for further details.

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Comments

  1. Heatherburton says

    July 31, 2019 at 9:19 pm

    All great tips. When traveling with my spouse I have him entertain our toddler at the gate while I pre board with our carseat and all carryons. It gave me the extra room (whole row to myself) and time to get everything organized. Even got the tray tables and everything in reach sanitized and myself to the restroom on the plane. It was so much less stressful then having to juggle my son and my husband. They were the last to board and literally worked so smooth both times. I did to nicely explain on both flights that I was bringing my husbands bag on with me. As I looked like a sherpa with roller bag, a carseat on my back and a diaper bag of essentials. But once the gate attendants realized I was getting everything set up they were awesome about it. I did reduce the amount of cartons we had so that I could handle bringing everything to the seats myself.

    Reply
    • cocoscaravan says

      July 31, 2019 at 9:42 pm

      I did read that somewhere and almost put that, but I have never done it personally! That is a great idea!

      Reply
  2. Eileen says

    August 2, 2019 at 3:43 pm

    Did you fly on your own with the boys? Or did you go with your partner? I’m planning a trip in November with my one year old boys. I’m a little scared that both could cry at the same time and that the other passengers will get angry.

    Reply
    • cocoscaravan says

      August 6, 2019 at 4:45 pm

      No I had my mom and my cousin with me for this last flight. Just bring lots of snacks and activities! My boys never really cried because were were always distracting them with stuff!

      Reply
  3. Christina says

    August 8, 2019 at 6:07 pm

    We actually use a foldable wagon when we fly. You can throw the car seat, bags, back packs diaper bags etc in it. Fold it before getting on the plane and store in overhead bin or gate check the wagon. Works amazing and then my daughter could sit in her car seat in the wagon through the airport.

    Reply
    • cocoscaravan says

      August 13, 2019 at 9:05 am

      Love this idea!

      Reply
  4. Denise says

    June 17, 2020 at 10:45 am

    Hi, you talk about sitting with toddlers at the back of of the plane. Other than disembarking last and not holding up other passengers, is there specific reasoning for this?
    Thanks

    Reply
    • cocoscaravan says

      June 17, 2020 at 4:10 pm

      I don’t like sitting in the very last row because its super loud with everyone going to the bathroom. I like sitting towards the back so if we need to go to the bathroom we are close. Also like being away from most of the other passengers.

      Reply
  5. Sahal says

    March 14, 2021 at 1:58 am

    She is a single mum plz.

    Reply

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welcome
Hi I’m Jenn, but my friends call me Coco. I recently lost the love of my life to cancer. I’m now a single mom of IVF miracle twin boys. I hope to help others as I share my journey as a new widow and mother of twins.

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🎉New Blog Post🎉 Toddler swim must haves for 🎉New Blog Post🎉 Toddler swim must haves for this summer! I learned from my mistake last year and started buying swim stuff now. Last year I waited until summer to buy things and everything was out of stock. Now is usually the time to buy stuff for summer! Check out my blog link in BIO!
Thanks for a the sweet birthday wishes for the boy Thanks for a the sweet birthday wishes for the boys! They had so much fun! My sister was putting them to bed last night and she asked them “what was your favorite part of the party?” Marshal said “blowing the candles on the cake” ❤️❤️

I will for sure do a blog post on the party and how I put everything together! ❤️
Happy Birthday Marshal and Everett! Turning three Happy Birthday Marshal and Everett! Turning three years old today! 

The boys are OBSESSED with anything cars. They know the names of every character on the cars movie! So I of course had to do a cars themed bday!

I’ll be posting a blog post on their birthday in the next couple of weeks! 🙌
At the time these two were born I truly never thou At the time these two were born I truly never thought I would become a widow/single mom. Even though Justin was terminal I always had hope and thought he would be here. 

I didn’t know this at the time I took this picture, but I would soon realize how much I needed them to survive. They are my little life savers! They give me so much strength! 

Can’t believe they turn three tomorrow! I’m so happy to be their mom!
“It’s a boy, just kidding it’s two” I wrot “It’s a boy, just kidding it’s two” I wrote blog post all about our reaction when we first found out we were having twins. We even recorded ourselves after finding out. The video is also on my blog! [link in BIO]

Because of in-vitro we knew we put in one embryo so it was a total shock when we saw two little babies on the ultrasound.
Sorry birthday week so it’s been a picture overl Sorry birthday week so it’s been a picture overload 😬 This is one of my favorite pictures of Justin and the boys. It was truly a miracle that Justin was able to live long enough to see the twins born. I feel so grateful that we were able to spend a couple months together as a family. 

I think those few months together as a family really helped me to be able to keep moving forward. I love that the boys will have some pictures with their dad and know that he tried so hard to be there for them even though he was in so much pain. They will look at pictures like this and know their dad loved them so damn much! ❤️ He wanted to be here so badly! He would have been such a great dad to these two boys! 💔❤️
The boys turn three years old on Saturday so I apo The boys turn three years old on Saturday so I apologize in advance for all the throwback pics I’ll be posting this week! I just can’t believe how fast it has gone and it’s fun to look back on older pics. ❤️

These were some of the last pictures I took before giving birth. Twin pregnancy was sooo hard! The last couple months I had extreme anxiety about going to bed because it was so painful. I would just cry all night and it was so hard to breath. The icing on the cake was getting preeclampsia the weekend before I gave birth. The swelling was so bad I could barely walk or sit. Sooo not fun! 

I made it to 37 weeks and 3 days! I was more than happy to be induced and get the boys out! You can read my full birth story in the link in my BIO! 

I’m sure it’s a twin pregnancy thing, but I did not enjoy being pregnant. I never look back and think “aww I miss that.” It was so hard, but soooo worth it! 

Did you enjoy pregnancy or miss it? How about my twin mamas did you have a hard time as well?
Happy Easter! 🐰🐰 Hope everyone has a wonderf Happy Easter! 🐰🐰
Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend! 

Suits are from @kindhumanco ❤️
Finally finished my blog post and my travel vlog f Finally finished my blog post and my travel vlog from our trip to Texas. See more pictures and the rest of this video on my blog! [link in BIO]

It was such a fun week! Missing the warm weather!
I saw this quote the other day and it hit me like I saw this quote the other day and it hit me like a ton of bricks. I felt this so deeply and really felt like I needed to share it. There have been times where I have received a message from a picture I had posted saying “you look like you’re doing so well” or “you look so happy.” Where yes there are days I’m doing well, but that doesn’t mean the pain is gone. That doesn’t mean I struggle to get out of bed some mornings. The “heaviness” is always there, I just choose to keep moving forward. ——- continue reading on my blog [link in my Instagram BIO on the homepage]
A day in the life! I made this forever ago and for A day in the life! I made this forever ago and forgot to post it! 🤦‍♀️ I’ll post things on Tik Tok and then forget to post them here! Lol Thought it turned out pretty cute! ❤️
We had so much fun visiting San Antonio last week We had so much fun visiting San Antonio last week for spring break! My sweet cousin @sumwilde came and helped me out with the boys! When I was hugging her goodbye I said “thanks for being my husband for the week!” 🤣 
It was so nice of her to help me out and I’m sure the older the boys get the easier traveling will be. 

We went with my parents and my sisters family! We did the Riverwalk, the caverns and even went to Sea World. The boys had so much fun swimming and playing with their cousins! ❤️ It was a nice break from life! 

I’ll post a blog post about our trip next week! 🙌 Make sure you are subscribed to my blog so you don’t miss it! ❤️
8 years ago 💔 He asked me to marry him and I th 8 years ago 💔 He asked me to marry him and I thought we would have a lifetime together. I wonder if his tumor had started growing when we took this picture. 💔 We just had no clue what was about to come. I’m not going to lie it can be hard to look at these pictures sometimes. We were so happy and so excited for our future. I can’t decide if I love or hate Facebook reminders.
Happy St Patrick’s Day! One of my fav pics of th Happy St Patrick’s Day! One of my fav pics of the boys! 💚💚

Check out @lia_filtermeplease for some awesome presets for your photos! Use COCO10 for 10% off
Double the fun! ☀️☀️🕶🕶 Double the fun! ☀️☀️🕶🕶
My sweet cousin @sumwilde came along to help me ou My sweet cousin @sumwilde came along to help me out with the boys! It’s so fun to hang with her and the boys absolutely adore her! 

 We are very much enjoying the warm weather! ❤️
Colorado is getting a big snowstorm this weekend s Colorado is getting a big snowstorm this weekend so we weren’t sure our flight would make it out. We woke up this morning thinking we would have tons of snow on the ground, but there was nothing. I’m pretty sure our flight was one of the last to leave the Denver airport for the weekend. It started to snow when we boarded the plane and we barely made it out of there! 

As much as I love a good snowstorm I’m ready for some sun! We are headed to Texas for the week. 🙌 The boys struggled wearing their mask on the plane and I swear I lost 5 years off my life stressing about it. 🤣 The phrase “I’m going to take your iPad away if you don’t put it back on” may or may not have come out of my mouth.. 🤦‍♀️🤷‍♀️🤣 

Thank heavens our flight attendants were great and didn’t say anything. We literally just fed them snacks the whole time 🤣  So glad we made it! 🙌 The boys were beyond thrilled to be out of the house and see a plane! 

You can see more of our travel day in my stories! Check out my travel section on my blog for travel tips with kids!
I can not believe it’s been one year since we al I can not believe it’s been one year since we all went into quarantine lockdown. After a long hard winter in Minneapolis the last thing we wanted was to be stuck indoors longer. We usually survived by going to the Mall of America or a kid play place, but we couldn’t even do that anymore. It was fun for the first week or so and then we all started to go stir crazy. The kids had a lot of screen time, but hey it was all about survival! 😂 

I took this pic maybe at week three of quarantine haha 😂 What was your quarantine experience like? Did you enjoy it at first?
This was last years Easter Photoshoot. I wanted to This was last years Easter Photoshoot. I wanted to save money so I learned to do these photoshoots myself.  It’s been such a fun creative outlet and I love doing it! I posted all the details on my blog on how I put this adorable photo together! Check out the link in BIO to see more! 

I wanted to share this now to give you time to take your own photos at home before Easter. I would love to see your pics so don’t forget to tag me if you post them! 🙌
Happy International Women’s Day. I just wanted t Happy International Women’s Day. I just wanted to add my thoughts coming from a perspective of a woman raising boys.

My mother in law did such an amazing job raising Justin and I hope that I can only do the same for my boys. Justin grew up cooking and even took his moms old sewing machine to college. He had so many different hobbies no matter if it was “manly” or not. He didn’t care! I never felt like I was supposed to do the “women” responsibilities in our marriage. We were equal! He never saw himself above me or I saw myself above him. We did always joked though about how he loved to cook and I didn’t. Then I love to play video games, but he didn’t. Like our roles were reversed 🤣

He always respected me and loved me for who I was and for who I wanted to be! He was the man I hope my boys will be some day! 

As a single mom and a woman raising two little boys I feel like I have a huge  responsibility. I want them to be able to sew, cook, clean, and play sports! I never want them to view something as “women only do this” and “men only do that” I want them to grow up seeing everything equal! I feel like if they can grow up with that mindset, they will learn to respect all people! #motherofsons
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🎉New Blog Post🎉 Toddler swim must haves for 🎉New Blog Post🎉 Toddler swim must haves for this summer! I learned from my mistake last year and started buying swim stuff now. Last year I waited until summer to buy things and everything was out of stock. Now is usually the time to buy stuff for summer! Check out my blog link in BIO!
Thanks for a the sweet birthday wishes for the boy Thanks for a the sweet birthday wishes for the boys! They had so much fun! My sister was putting them to bed last night and she asked them “what was your favorite part of the party?” Marshal said “blowing the candles on the cake” ❤️❤️

I will for sure do a blog post on the party and how I put everything together! ❤️
Happy Birthday Marshal and Everett! Turning three Happy Birthday Marshal and Everett! Turning three years old today! 

The boys are OBSESSED with anything cars. They know the names of every character on the cars movie! So I of course had to do a cars themed bday!

I’ll be posting a blog post on their birthday in the next couple of weeks! 🙌
At the time these two were born I truly never thou At the time these two were born I truly never thought I would become a widow/single mom. Even though Justin was terminal I always had hope and thought he would be here. 

I didn’t know this at the time I took this picture, but I would soon realize how much I needed them to survive. They are my little life savers! They give me so much strength! 

Can’t believe they turn three tomorrow! I’m so happy to be their mom!
“It’s a boy, just kidding it’s two” I wrot “It’s a boy, just kidding it’s two” I wrote blog post all about our reaction when we first found out we were having twins. We even recorded ourselves after finding out. The video is also on my blog! [link in BIO]

Because of in-vitro we knew we put in one embryo so it was a total shock when we saw two little babies on the ultrasound.
Sorry birthday week so it’s been a picture overl Sorry birthday week so it’s been a picture overload 😬 This is one of my favorite pictures of Justin and the boys. It was truly a miracle that Justin was able to live long enough to see the twins born. I feel so grateful that we were able to spend a couple months together as a family. 

I think those few months together as a family really helped me to be able to keep moving forward. I love that the boys will have some pictures with their dad and know that he tried so hard to be there for them even though he was in so much pain. They will look at pictures like this and know their dad loved them so damn much! ❤️ He wanted to be here so badly! He would have been such a great dad to these two boys! 💔❤️
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