Flying with a toddler can be one of the most stressful and unpredictable parts of traveling with kids. They are energetic, often mobile, and if you are taking your child as a lap-rider, they don’t have much room to themself. But flying with one of these tiny savages is possible!
We recently took a week long vacation for a family reunion along the U.S. West Coast. We flew from Salt Lake City to Oakland, drove for a week, and then flew back to Salt Lake City from Portland, via Phoenix. All of the flights were between 1 1/2 and 2 1/2 hours long, which was plenty long with a very active toddler. I had never flown with a young child before, and I definitely learned a lot before and during our trip.
PACKING FOR THE PLANE
When traveling with a lap infant/child, most airlines allow you to bring a diaper bag in addition to your carry on and personal item. For Calvin and I, I chose to bring a Classic Fjällräven Kånken for myself and a Kånken Mini for Calvin. I counted these two items as my personal item and diaper bag, leaving my carry on slot free for when I chose to store my stroller in the overhead bin, instead of gate checking it (more on that in just a moment).
In my backpack, I packed:
- A small packing cube with diapers and wipes
- One quart sized plastic bag with sunscreen, diaper rash cream, and one purée pouch for Calvin
- My Klymit Static V Luxe inflatable sleeping pad
- My Sakura Bloom Onbuhimo carrier
- A 32 ounce HydroFlask, filled with water after security
- My Kindle Paperwhite, loaded with several books (fiction and nonfiction)
- My Airpods
- An external battery and iPhone cord
- Chapstick
- Sunglasses
- iPhone
- Mask (to comply with federal airport mandates in place in August 2021).
- My wallet with my photo ID, credit card, and emergency cash
- Calvin’s birth certificate
- My boarding pass and Calvin’s Boarding Verification Document (BVD)
In Calvin’s backpack, I packed:
- A 12 ounce HydroFlask, filled with water after security
- A sandwich sized plastic bag with trail mix, fruit leather, fruit bars, dried blueberries, gummy bears, and lemonheads
- A snack cup filled with yogurt bites
- Half of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich
- A binky
- Toddler headphones with an aux to lightning dongle attached
I also took our Mountain Buggy Nano travel stroller (read my full review here if you would like more insight on it) through security and to the gate as my carry on. I gate checked it for the first flight, but the Return to Gate tag got torn off in transit and we didn’t get it back until baggage claim in Oakland. I didn’t want that happening again, so I brought it as my carry on for the two flights home and stored it in the overhead bin. It fit easily and was super handy to have instantly available when we landed.
CHECK IN AND SECURITY
Many airlines require notification of lap riders before boarding your flight as well as proof of name and birthdate (to make sure they are eligible). We were flying Southwest, so when I was getting the tags for my checked luggage, I added a lap infant to my ticket, printed out my boarding pass and his boarding verification document, and added a checked car seat to my two pieces of other checked luggage. Some airlines may require you to acquire the infant boarding document at the customer service or ticket counters. Make sure you check the requirements with your airline well before you leave on your trip.
Before you travel, I highly recommend checking the airport security guidelines for the region(s) you are going to be flying into and out of. In the United States, moms are allowed to wear their young children in a carrier through security, going through the metal detector and a pat down, rather than through the x-ray machine. If you want to use your stroller, you are welcome to, but you have to remove your child from the stroller and send it through the x-ray machine with all the other bags etc. before you can proceed (I’ve never done this method, that’s just what I understand happens).
I chose to wear Calvin in my Onbuhimo carrier through security. Being pregnant, I was going to opt for the metal detector/pat down method anyway. I carried Calvin on my chest, carried my backpack on my back with his backpack strapped to it, and carried the stroller (folded up). Calvin’s bag had no electronics or liquids, so it went through as it was with my shoes. I removed my phone, Kindle, external battery, and liquids bag from my backpack and sent that through. Then my stroller went through on the conveyor belt. Calvin and I walked through the metal detector, had our pat down, and then collected our belongings.
Once we were through the TSA checkpoint, I unfolded the stroller and moved Calvin into it from the carrier. Then his backpack went in the basket below, my backpack went on my back with my shoes on my feet, and we were off! Everything went smoothly. The biggest things were making sure I would access my ID and boarding pass easily, our water bottles were empty, and that all of my electronics and liquids were super easy to access so I didn’t have to undergo any extra security attention.
AIRPORT WAITING AND LAYOVERS
Between all of our flights, we had several hours to kill in the airport (including a three hour evening layover in Phoenix). This can be challenging with a toddler. There are lots of people, lots of luggage and other things they can’t touch, and they need to be supervised and pretty much in arm’s reach at all times.
Calvin is a very active toddler. He almost never stops moving unless he is physically strapped into a car seat, stroller, or carrier. He’s even an active sleeper.
The first method we used was to strap him into the stroller and walk him on laps all around the airport. He loves going for long walks at home, so he was pretty content with that for an hour or so.
The second thing we did was feed him. Snacks and meals were absolutely not skipped on travel days. In fact, Calvin probably ate twice as many snacks as usual when we were traveling. But snacks kept him happier and more easy going, even when he was overtired and not allowed to roam.
Lastly, about thirty to forty-five minutes before boarding, we took turns holding Calvin’s hand and letting him run out some energy and wiggles before our flight. Calvin absolutely loved the moving walkways. He spent all the time he could running back and forth on the walkways. He thought it was so cool that he could move so fast. He was always holding one of our hands while on them and we made sure not to bother or interfere with any other airport patrons.
BOARDING
Because Calvin is under the age of six and we flew Southwest, we were able to boarding during the “Family Boarding” time between boarding groups A and B. This allowed us to get seats together and to have a little wiggle room while getting situated.
While boarding the plane, I wore my backpack, Calvin wore his backpack, I carried Calvin, and I pulled his collapsed stroller behind me (or a member of my family carried it for me). Once we picked our seat, the stroller went up in the overhead bin, both backpacks were stowed under the seat in front of us, and we took the window seat.
The family boarding option and the extremely compact nature of our travel stroller made boarding really easy and painless. Also, having two bags that fit under the seat together meant we still had our leg room, and everything was organized and easy to access.
THE FLIGHT
Here’s the main reason for this blog post, but I think all of the other stuff is important too. The entire airport experience is new and overwhelming for really little kids, so being prepared to be their advocate and ambassador is so important. And to not lose your own cool in the meantime. I’ve broken this section down into four of the main things I dealt with with Cal on the flight.
ENTERTAINING THE TODDLER
Entertaining Calvin was my primary goal on our plane rides. If he was entertained, he was still and quiet. If he was bored, he was wiggly and noisy. Cal also got his binky for the flight to keep him calm and to help his ears adjust.
Calvin was fascinated with the window shades, the safety brochure, and the tray on the back of the chairs. The window shades and brochure were easy and fine for him to play with, but the tray was kind of annoying. Between my legs, my pregnant belly, and Calvin, there wasn’t enough room for the tray to be down completely and it was just Calvin putting it up and letting it down, over and over.
I also had several of Calvin’s favorite movies downloaded to my phone for his viewing pleasure. Calvin mostly gets his screen time in the car and on weekends during these warm, light summer days, so he really enjoys his movies when he gets to watch them. At home, he watches and I listen to the movie, but I didn’t know if the other passengers would take very kindly to Soul during their flight. I found these Cozyphones Child Headphones on Amazon and they were fantastic for the flight. They have a standard aux cord on them, so I had to bring a dongle to plug it into my phone. The cord comes out of the back of the headphones, so it didn’t bother Calvin. I looped the cord behind my back so we didn’t get tangled in it. I also could have plugged the headphones into Calvin’s white noise machine if I wanted/needed to for his sleep on the plane. I was very impressed with these headphones.
If any of our flights had been much longer, I likely would have brought window clings, a couple new sensory bottles, one of those popper toys, and a couple of new cars to entertain Cal when he got tired of watching movies on my phone.
KEEPING THE TODDLER CONTAINED
I found the window seat to be the best one for a lap rider. I didn’t have easy access to the aisle if I needed it, but neither did Calvin. There was only one way for him to escape and it was fairly easy to block. I let him play on the floor once the seatbelt sign had been turned off, but otherwise he stayed in my lap.
SEAT KICKING
Probably my biggest worry on the plane was Calvin kicking the seat in front of us. I’ve had the misfortune of sitting in front of the kid who wouldn’t stop kicking my seat and it wasn’t pleasant.
For the first two flights, there was a stranger sitting in front of us. The easiest way to keep Calvin from kicking was to have him sitting on my lap sideways or facing me. It would have been easier without my 5 1/2 month pregnant belly in the way, but those two positions were great (when Cal would sit in them).
We finally wised up for the last flight. Since we were traveling with a few extra adults (my parents and sisters) and Southwest doesn’t assign seats, we put my mom in the seat directly in front of Calvin and me for that last leg. I still tried to keep Cal from kicking the back of her seat as much as I could, but when I failed, I didn’t feel near as bad knowing that it was my mom sitting there and not some stranger than was going to give me the evil eye while we were deplaning back in Salt Lake.
SLEEPING ON THE GO
Calvin will fall asleep when tired in the crib and the car seat and the stroller, but without being contained somehow, he kinda struggles with it.
He didn’t sleep at all on the flight out (in fact, he didn’t sleep until we got the rental car late-ish that night). I kind of expected that since he got a nap before we left for the airport and dozed a little in the car on the drive.
On the first flight home, he was running about two hours late for his nap, so he was tired. He stayed awake for taxiing the plane, but once we took off, he fell asleep in my arms about ten minutes into watching a movie on my phone and stayed asleep until we made our descent into Phoenix. It was the first time he had fallen asleep in my arms (besides in his life jacket on boat during our Lake Powell trip) since he was like six months old.
On the last flight home, Cal fought and fought to stay awake for the entire flight, despite our departure time being after his usual bedtime. He wasn’t cranky or teary, but he was sure drowsy. Once we deplaned and got him into the stroller to head to baggage claim, he was out like a light. He slept through baggage claim, the car ride home, and the transfer to his crib at 1 a.m. when we finally got home.
DEPLANING AND BAGGAGE CLAIM
Deplaning was a little more stressful than boarding the plane, because I didn’t want to hold up the people waiting behind us. I made sure our backpacks were all packed before it got to our turn, I quickly put my backpack on, put Calvin’s on him, picked him up, and carried him out while one of my family members grabbed our stroller. If I had been by myself, I could have gotten the stroller myself before I picked Calvin up, but the help was nice.
Once we were off the plane and outside the gate (back in the airport) we unfolded the stroller for Calvin, stowed his backpack in the basket, and headed off to baggage claim. Once we arrived at our carousel, one more travel trick of mine (well, technically, it’s Colter’s trick) came into play.
Before checking my bags, I tied a yellow ribbon to each suitcase and to the travel bag of the car seat. Lots of luggage looks similar and if anyone else had purchased the car seat bag from the airline like I had, they would have looked identical until we read the tag. I also had a yellow ribbon tied to my backpack, so I knew exactly what to look for, and I had an example ribbon to tell my family what to look for as we waited for baggage.
I think that’s all of the prep and tips I have for flying with a toddler. I hope I answered any questions that you may have, but if I didn’t, please feel free to get in touch with me via email, comment, or message on Instagram! I hope your travels go well!
BARREL OF MERRELL'S 
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