The Ultimate Guide to Surviving International Flights with Small Children
Traveling internationally can be a challenge, and the ultimate level-up is to add toddlers to the mix!
We’ve been there. My husband and I did plenty of travel on our own before kids, so we know the ropes. But most recently, we flew to Asia with our 1- and 3-year-old—and lived to tell the tale. In fact, we even enjoyed the experience!
In this blog post, I’m sharing the top 6 things that made our trip with littles a success. I’ll be covering:
How we traveled internationally with our 1- and 3-year-old
How to plan ahead for your international flights with toddlers
How to get sleep (or not) on the airplane
How to manage screen time on the airplane
How to fly hands-free with a lap infant
The best toys and activities for toddlers
How long layovers are a lifesaver for parents of young kids
So if you’re worried about an upcoming international trip, or deciding how you could even make one happen, then you’re in the right place. You CAN have great international flights with your littles!
How we traveled internationally with our 1- and 3-year-old
When our kids were 3 and just-turned-1, we took a trip to my husband’s home country in Asia. This was a trip we had wanted to go on for years, but it had never happened. Finally, for once, I wasn’t pregnant or newly postpartum, and my husband’s visa status and job were in a good place, so we decided to go!
I searched for flights carefully, since we had three international fares to cover. We ended up with 1-hour, 12-hour, and 5-hour flights, plus a couple of long-ish layovers. (However, on our return trip, we were pleasantly surprised to realize that the long flight was only 9 hours—woohoo!)
I was honestly pretty nervous about keeping our youngest occupied on the planes, as she was just learning to walk and it was hard for her to sit still for long! She would be a lap infant, so she wouldn’t have her own seat, and that seemed like it would be tricky. Our 3-year-old was on the verge of being potty trained, so that was a little interesting to navigate, but I felt that he would probably be easy to occupy with the right set of activities.
I grabbed my computer and started to research what other people had done. I found some great toys and activities that would pack light, and spent the next couple of months compiling my stash of kids’ activities for our trip.
When we finally began our trip, our flights went through without a single logistical hitch - and the kids did so good too! I want to share with you the things that worked the best for us.
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Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash
1: How to plan ahead for your international flights with toddlers
Grab whatever works for you—a notebook or the notes app on your phone are great. If you need a guide, subscribe below for a free flight planner worksheet.
You’ll want to think about these things for your flight(s):
How many bags will you be bringing? How many of these are you willing to pay for? (Usually airlines don’t charge for international flights, but if you don’t book your flights together, you may have to pay for bags on domestic flights.)
What clothes & toiletries will you need on the airplane and in airports/transportation? Plan for your home climate, the cold airplane, and the climate you’re traveling to.
Where will you keep your valuables? We got an RFID blocking passport neck purse that also had space for our cash and cards. It was easy to hide under clothes or tuck into our diaper bag’s hidden pocket. Having everyone’s passport in one safe spot really helped us have peace of mind.
Write out your flight itinerary, and include what time you need to leave for the airport. Make sure to plan for any delays or bad weather. On our trip, it snowed 12 inches the night before we left, so we had to add an extra hour to our driving plans, just to be safe!
Which documents do you need to bring? If any members of your family are in non-citizen status in either country, make sure you bring the proper documentation. My husband had permanent residence, but his original green card had expired and was under review, so we had to bring the official letter that extended his permanent residence.
Does anyone in the family still need a passport? Get it made as soon as possible!
What visa and vaccine requirements are needed for the countries you will be traveling to? Plan to get any visa photos taken as needed.
Which electronic items will you be bringing? Do you need any adapters for your chargers?
How will you transport your toddlers? Stroller, baby carrier, etc.?
What food will you need for your trip? Plan for any snacks or meals as needed.
Do you need to download any movies/TV shows or books for your trip?
If you’re still searching for the perfect flights that are cheap enough for the entire family to travel, you have to check out The Ultimate Guide To Travel Hacking Cheap Flights. It’s only $7 and is packed with information on how to get flights you can actually afford!
Catching some winks on our short early-morning flight at the beginning of our trip.
2: How to get sleep (or not) on the airplane
Okay, so this is not an actual tip on how to get sleep, because let’s be honest, how much sleep do you even get at home? But here’s how my husband and I hacked our minds to feel like we got more sleep! (Does that sound like a toddler parent or what?)
I find it best to expect the worst - and then you will be pleasantly surprised if things go better than expected. I knew chances were slim that my husband and I could get much sleep on the flights, because our kids struggle to sleep in different places than their dark rooms at home. So, we just planned to not sleep at all for the next 24 hours. And guess what - we did get some sleep! Our 1-year-old had some nice long stretches of sleep on the planes that allowed us to get a few hours of sleep, which was great. (Jet lag was another story, but you have to count your wins…)
In my research, I did see little blow-up seat extenders that help kids sleep flat, but the airlines we were traveling on did not allow them, and I didn’t want to risk carrying something we couldn’t even use. I did use a hammock hack, however and other than stressing a little that the person in front of us would be upset that their seat was moving some, it was perfect for one or two naps.
Photo by Alev Takil on Unsplash
3: How to manage screen time on the airplane
Our oldest child was at an age where the TV could keep him occupied for a considerable amount of time (it honestly bored our 1-year-old), but I chose to not let him watch much and saved it as a backup/limited item. The longer I could keep him occupied with less stimulating toys and activities, the more I knew he would be manageable and not have big emotions that would be hard to handle. It really wasn’t a problem for us. I did let him watch the Paw Patrol movie and probably too much of Lego City Adventures (while I took a nap), but we kept it to a minimum and he did fine.
The provided earbuds on airplanes do not work for little ears, so plan to bring your own set of headphones for kids. We got these for our 3-year-old, and he loved them! We still use them at home.
Our baby carrier was a lifesaver on this trip! I’m not sure how she was comfortable sleeping this way, but she was!
4: How to fly hands-free with a lap infant
If you have a lap infant, or even a toddler that will still fit in a carrier, BRING THE CARRIER!! This was one of the most unexpected gems on our airplane rides. We found that it was a challenge to hold the baby and nap while they nap. Enter the carrier! Our toddler felt safe close to us, it was easy to transition from standing up and bouncing to sitting down and napping - and it offered a hands-free nap. Perfect for watching something and being able to press the pause button, taking a nap and not worrying about whether they were going to fall off the seat, or just reading a book while they nap. (Just make sure you take a trip to use the bathroom first.)
This is a newer version of the awesome carrier we have used for both our kids—it’s so soft and comfortable.
Our 3-year-old had lots of fun with the play dough - and it’s so easy to pack!
5: The best toys and activities for toddlers
I knew I wanted to pack as light as possible, so I picked the toys and activities with this in mind. Here is what I ended up using for each of our children:
1-year-old:
This soft doll book. It is so cute and fun to “dress up” the little doll. I used a pacifier strap to wrap around the baby’s neck and clip to the book so it wouldn’t get lost.
Color Wonder markers and paper (cut in quarters so it would pack better)
Scarves stuffed into an empty and dry wipes package. This was so fun for our toddler to pull out and stuff back in! Not to mention, you can use the scarves to play peekaboo and other games.
These finger puppets were really fun to pull out - there were several so we could rotate which ones we played with. (Our daughter is 2.5 now and she still plays with these during church!)
3-year-old:
This LCD writing tablet has a rainbow background and comes with a pen. (We unfortunately lost the pen on our trip, but even just a fingernail or unclicked pen work fine for drawing.)
Reusable sticker books were one of the biggest hits, and they pack so well! These were our top favorites:
We enjoyed playing with water painting. Our 3-year-old was only a little into doing this, but on our trip I gave it to our 11-year-old niece and she had a blast with them!
Watercolor brush pens are the dryest way to go!
Play dough tools and animal figurines with some homemade play dough were a big hit!
This Tegu magnetic block set was a fun way to build without losing pieces.
Our 3-year-old enjoyed these magnetic puzzles. The pieces do tend to get lost though, so it might help to have a little baggie along to put unused pieces in.
Wikki Stix are a fun item to pull out, and they pack light.
Practicing 1-year-old walking skills in the Seoul airport!
6: How long layovers are a lifesaver for parents of young kids
Some people might avoid long layovers, but when you have small children, they can be such a lifesaver! In my mind, the pros greatly outweigh the cons. When searching for flights, I usually aim for us to have between 3 and 8 hours at a connecting airport.
Plenty of time to allow for unexpected delays
Time to get to your gate and figure out any issues that might have come up
Lots of time for little feet to run and explore between long flights (Many international airports have kids’ play spaces! We enjoyed fun play areas at Incheon in South Korea.)
Time for kids to snooze in a more comfortable position than in an airplane
Time to find family-friendly spaces (we really enjoyed the feeding/diaper changing/nap rooms at ICN!)
In some cases, time to exchange money and try out new foods (for mom and dad)
Time to find and use the airport family bathrooms. I have only recently discovered the wonder of family bathrooms, and they are a game-changer! No more toddlers peeking under the stall walls, or chasing multiple kids down in the bathroom. Nope—you can have all of you in one place, with room for strollers, bags, and diaper changes. It’s a total win for us! (This travel potty seat is awesome for little kiddos!)
I hope these tips have given you a place to start in planning for an upcoming family flight. I know you can have a great trip - a memorable one that you’ll enjoy reminiscing about for years to come.
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Happy traveling! :)
