Traveling with a Toddler

Traveling with a Toddler on a plane can be daunting! I was terrified about how our first fight with Moose was going to play out. Luckily for us it went amazing!

First, I did a lot of research on local mommy groups to get help and suggestions on how to prepare. Our local airport is small and known for being backed up. So we got there early to check our baggage and get through security. We got lucky and got through it all in about 40 minutes. However, this meant we were in the airport for 4 hours before our flight as it also got delayed. Moose did fantastic!

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We let Moose run around where we were sitting and he “played” with some of the other young kiddos around us. Melvin and I took turns walking with him around the airport and just trying to keep him busy. We had some small toys for him but I wanted to save those for the plane.
Finally, it was time to board and this is where my research came in. We picked seats near the back of the plane. I did this in case we needed to use the bathroom or if Moose got upset hopefully we wouldn’t disturb as many passengers. I made sure to pack lots of snacks of different varieties. We had fruit snacks, mini cookies, raisins, mixed fruit, chips and fruit pouches. Moose enjoyed that we let him pick his snack… with some guidance.

I also found some cheap toys from target to bring. Cheap ones just incase they got lost. He really enjoyed the sensory popping toy and imaginary ink coloring. Click on the links to see similar products.

Key takeaways that made traveling on a plane with a toddler easier

Our first flight with a toddler went great! A few key things that I think made it easier for traveling on a plane with a toddler were:

new (but cheap) toys
plenty of snacks
extra clothing for toddler and mom
something for toddler to chew or suck during take off and landing (Moose still has one bottle a day so we gave him that)

As worried as I was, I am happy to say we had a easy and stress free experience. Moose was definitely tired, as soon as he got in the car seat he was out like a light!

Stick around to find out more about our visit with friends in Maryland and exploring DC and the surrounding areas.