Our Complete Guide to Traveling on an Airplane with Babies and Toddlers

Let's Fly!

Now that things are “opening” back up since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, you might be considering getting on a plane with your toddler for perhaps the first time in two years (or perhaps, ever!). If that’s you, kudos! What an amazing privilege to have the opportunity, resources, and good health to travel again.

You may find yourself wondering,
“How the heck do I do this, again?”

No doubt your tot’s preferences and temperament have undergone a lot of development since the last time you were on a flight with them. But fear not–we got you! Here are BBA’s top tips for (revisiting!) air travel with your familia, especially during the ongoing pandemic:

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Check out our favorite tried-and-true picks, including car seats, strollers, carriers, and on-the-go activities for your littles!

Let's begin with some caveats

It's important to acknowledge the drawbacks of air travel

As of this writing, children under 6 months of age cannot yet be vaccinated against COVID-19. As caregivers, we should carefully consider our comfort-level with bringing our kids into crowded indoor places, where there is a risk of being exposed to COVID-19, especially for extended periods of time. That’s a call only you can make.
Some countries are cracking down on international travel and may have additional restrictions for those traveling to/from the U.S. Check with the Embassy of the country into which you plan to travel.
Consider that airplane travel causes more pollution than road travel.

Before the Trip

Preparation is just as important as anything you do on the trip itself

Try to mentally prepare your family, well in advance of your trip. This is not only good practice for becoming more educated about your destination, but also around flying itself. Read books or watch videos about air travel with your tot (Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood is always a fave)
If your destination is in a different time zone, try to slowly inch your child’s bed/wake-times closer to that of your destination to help ease their inevitable sleep transition. Ideally you can start this process the week or so in advance of your trip.
Pack your diaper bag and/or hand-carry (see our packing list!). Children under-2 who travel for free don’t get carry-on baggage allowance like regular passengers, but you are able to carry on a diaper bag. Unless you’re traveling with another adult who is able to help, we don’t recommend hauling any extra carry-ons that must be stowed in the overhead compartments–too much to handle!
If doing screentime on the plane, download your favorite shows/audiobooks before you leave and fully charge your ipad or tablet. Don’t forget the headphones!

Traveling Internationally?

Ensure your passports have at least 6 months before they expire (from the date of your return flight). Passports expire every five years for children under-16.
Call your airline and request a bassinet for your children under-2. This will seat you at the front area of your section where you face the wall, to which bassinets are attached. Be aware that this seat isn’t a guarantee and may be subject to availability, even when the airline may have already confirmed with you! This was the case on our full flight from Paris–we were bumped from the bassinet seat to another random set of seats in the middle of the cabin. For those of you with large kiddos, keep in mind that bassinet sizes vary – depending on the size of your toddler they may or may not fit in the provided bassinet.

Diaper Bag Packing List

Copy of birth certificate for kids under-2 without paid tickets
Food/snacks/milk
Activities and toys (bring a couple options in case something strikes out)
Favorite lovie or cozy
1 book or iPad/Kindle with media downloaded
Disinfectant wipes
Hand sanitizer
Masks for those 2 and older in your family; invest in some K95s for the flight/airport
Headphones (if doing anything AV)
Change of clothes for baby (and you!), plus diapers

Packing Tip

Not to advocate overpacking, but if you’re looking to shift some weight from your regular luggage (just a tad), you could consider moving items to your checked bags that hold your car seat or stroller! We usually put our dirty laundry in there on the way home from trips when we’ve picked up some extra souvenirs.

Airport Check-in

If your kid is under-2 and does not have a paid seat on the plane, have a digital or paper copy of their birth certificate to prove that they are, in fact, under-2 (much to our surprise, airlines don’t seem to care about ID otherwise, at least for domestic flights).

At this point check in your car seat! and/or stroller, too, if you plan to carry your kid in a soft carrier like an Ergo. You can check one stroller AND one car seat for each kid, for all U.S. airlines (yes, even on the cheapie airlines). If traveling internationally, double check with your airline about whether this is the case.

Airport Security

Children under-12 go through a slightly altered screening TSA screening process.

Milk – you may bring milk in a glass or plastic bottle through the security checkpoint–indicate to the TSA officer if you’d prefer that the milk not be opened or x-rayed
Break down your stroller or wagon and push it through the x-ray machine along with your other hand-carry baggage
Pull your carseat out of its carry bag for screening (thanks for the tip, mamiga Arielle!)
Children under-12 can keep on their shoes, headwear, and light jackets (with TSA Pre-check, you can, too!)
Small children can be carried by hand (outside of their carriers) through the metal detector rather than the advanced imaging technology, even without TSA Pre-Check. In this case, a TSA officer may pat you down and check your hands for any residue from explosives.

WHEW! You made it through security!

Waiting at the Gate

At this point, it helps to get your kid to potty before you board, cause there’s nothing like waiting in line for one of a handful of bathrooms in a tight airplane aisle with your kid in-tow…

If your baby needs to be nursed, this is a great time to find a lactation room or quiet space to settle in. Airports are required to have lactation rooms, but some are better than others, and there might be a limited number of them, depending on the airport..

While you wait to board, ask the staff at the gate for a gate check tag for your stroller, wagon, or carseat (if you brought them this far).

Also take this time to let your kids toddle around, eat snacks, stretch their legs (if they are walking), and look out the window at the planes.

Boarding the Plane

Typically, after the first class and A-groups board, families with children under-five can board the plane. For Southwest Airlines this occurs between Group A and Group B boarding (and if you miss the first call, just go to the family boarding area/up to desk of the person scanning the tickets to wait). If you’d like to board earlier and are traveling with another adult on Southwest, it may be worth it for one of you to upgrade to Group A and then hold the other seats in the row.

Leave your folded stroller or other “gate-checked” items at the end of the boarding bridge right before you step onto the plane.

If your seat is assigned, you’re not concerned about getting overhead storage space, and you know that staying seated on the plane will be a challenge for your child, wait until the last minute to board. If you board too early you may be fighting with your kid to stay put while everyone else boards the plane.

Take a breath. You got this!

On the Plane

If you haven’t already, have your child over-two to put on their mask, if you plan to use.

Once seated, stow your diaper bag below the seat in front of you and take a load off! Let your baby get used to their surroundings. Fingers-crossed, you may even get some sleep in!

During take-off and landing

At take-off and landing, you are required to take your kiddos out of the Ergo (even if they are asleep! So unfair…don’t they know how long it took me to rock her to sleep?).

Nurse or feed your baby on the flight, but especially now. It helps the time pass, soothe baby to sleep, and may even help nursing babies with the change in air pressure. Flight attendants recommend that you start nursing as the plane starts to descend, not after baby starts fussing because the cabin pressure is causing discomfort (I guess it is too late then!).

Nervous about germs?

We haven’t really built a habit of doing this ourselves, but now would be a good time to wipe down your seats and tray tables with some disinfectant wipes

Keeping your kid calm

When you’re stuck for several hours in a metal tube in close proximity to your kid and hundreds of strangers, there’s only so much you can do to keep things chill and worry-free.

Different things will work for different kids in different situations (so helpful, we know). What’s worked for us is pointing to things out the window; doing new activities or playing with a new toy; having a snack; screentime (especially their favorite episodes); and on a long-haul flight to Paris we kept our kid occupied when my partner drew on the boogie board and had our kid guess the image (aka simplified pictionary :D).

Troubleshooting

Here’s a tip from my partner: Be willing to improvise–often, toys and other items you brought may not be as interesting to your kid as found objects (e.g., ice from the beverage service or the brochure/magazine in front of you!).

If you’re super self-conscious about your screaming baby in an enclosed space (like me!), wave that worry aside. Babies on planes are part of life, plus mostly everyone brings their own noise-cancelling headphones (so who knows who can actually hear them).* But I get it, things can get a bit tense, so do what you can to breathe, stay calm, and work with your partner or travel companion to help deal with the situation. If it’s safe to do so, you can try walking your kid up and down the aisle.

Off-boarding the Plane

Pick up the stroller as you exit the plane, and put your kid and bags all up in there. Once my kid turned 3, she’s even been able to help push the stroller (a few feet or so…)

CONGRATULATIONS, YOU MADE THROUGH A PLANE RIDE WITH YOUR KIDDO!
Now go and enjoy the rest of your trip 😉

Additional Resources

Check out the web pages of TSA, your airports, and your airlines for the most up-to-date information:

We hope this guide is helpful to you as you plan for air travel with your littles. While these tips can help with a more comfortable and informed travel experience, all sorts of things can go awry and off-course, so roll with the punches as best you can. Let us know how your flights have gone for you (including any horror-stories), and what other tips you would add!

*Once, my partner took our then-seven-month-old solo on a flight from Florida to the Bay Area (which he did very well, indeed). Naturally, our kid cried on the flight, so my partner did his best to quiet her. Out comes a young-ish woman from another side of the plane and asks, “Can I try?” He shrugged and handed our kid over to this stranger (can you tell this was pre-COVID?) and our kid proceeds to cry, cause why wouldn’t you quiet down if your needs weren’t being met and you were instead handed off to some stranger you have no relationship with? Lady proceeds to hand our kid back to my partner. “Worth a shot,” he says, shrugging. LOL

Angelica

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Angelica (she/her) is of Cebuano(Pilipinx)-descent and was born and raised in Huchiun Ohlone territory (the East Bay Area--pay your Shuumi Land Tax!), where she also now resides with her partner and their toddler. She loves to spend her time sipping on boba and dirty chai lattes (sometimes together), and eating pescetarian goodies at BIPOC-owned cafes and restaurants.