Travelling with Littles.

Travelling with little ones can be stressful. Strike that; travelling with little ones is stressful. This summer the girlies and I travelled back home to the Caribbean for a visit, after about 5 years of non-travel. The experience was a little different from what I remembered and I want to give you a few tips about what I learned, and relearned, from the journey.

Tip 1. Littles cannnot be trusted to pack their own bags.

Yes, I know this seems like common sense, but when they come to you with their sweet “I DID IT!!” smiles, you might be tempted to believe them. I trusted my 6-year-old to pack her bag under the supervision of my 16-year-old, and when we got to our Caribbean destination I found that half of her packed clothing were winter wear.

If you asked your little ones to pack on their own, let them make a list before packing, and then check and approve the list. After they are packed, double check their packing, or help them go through their list as they are packing. Doing it together can be a great experience, and it can help them get excited over the coming trip.

If you have multiple kids, consider doing a packing party. Pick a nice , clean, open area like a dining room table or living room carpet and ask them to bring everything they are going to pack. Once everything is laid out, its kind of easy to see what they might be missing. The other kids might spot something that they are forgetting as well. When that child is packed, move on to the next.

Tip 2. Make sure to pack their personal bag full of things they enjoy doing. And Pack Gum!!!

Many airlines allow you to bring a personal item like a purse or backpack, as well as a carry-on suitcase ,when boarding the plane. Items like card games, books, crayons, markers, and electronic devices, help time to go by quickly for your little ones. By packing these into thier personal bag (goes under the seat in front of them on the plane), they can grab them quickly during the flight.

When the plane takes off and lands, pressure changes in the plane can cause your little ones ears to feel blocked. Chewing gum works up more saliva, and swallowing it helps to unblock the ears. If swallowing doesn’t help, let them try yawning. If they are too little to chew gum, choose that time to maybe give them a bottle or a lollipop, and try not to let them sleep while the plane is taking off or landing because they won’t be able to swallow if they are.

Tip 3. Pack disposible disinfecting wipes and hand sanitizer.

Kids love to touch things. They touch, swipe, feel, and explore everything! It takes too much time to keep running them to a restroom to wash their hands, so have sanitizer or wipes ready to give their hands a good cleaning from time to time. Nothing is worse than finally arriving at your destination to find your little one has picked up a nasty bug. You can always buy sanitizer and wipes at the airport, but it will likely run you over $5 for a small pack of 20.

Tip 4. Take advantage of early online checking-in. If you have big bags to check in you can usually do this online as well, along with paying any associated fees.

We travelled with United Airlines and the online check in process was pretty easy, however, halfway through the process the site did bring up an error saying that we had to complete the check in at the airport. When this happened I gave it a minute, refreshed the page, and it allowed me to continue. Because I had so many travellers, 7, it gave me the same error at a second point, but my solution saved me again and I was able to complete the whole process online. The really nice thing that was available on this trip was digital boarding passes. I was able to load them all into my Apple wallet on my phone, and then scan my phone whenever boarding passes were necessary. It was so much nicer than having a handful of paper passes, but I had to be careful to watch my phone’s battery level.

Tip 5. Stick with the recommendation of being 3 hrs early for international flights even if you have checked in online, especially if you have kids with you.

3 hours seems like a lot of time, but it goes quickly when you are at an airport. We got to the airport exactly 3 hours before our flight. We had a bag to check, and even though it was checked in online we had to wait to put it onto the conveyor belt. The line through security was also long, so that burned through more of that 3hr buffer. At Toronto Pearson, when you are travelling to the USA, you have to clear U.S immigration right there in Canada before getting close to actually boarding a plane to the U.S. Again, another chunk of the 3hr headstart was gone. By the time we got through everything and got to the gate, there was a comfortable half hour before boarding. That gave us time to buy a couple drinks, hit the restrooms, and sit for a minute, after all the previous walking. There was a lot of tired little legs by that point.

Tip 6. Prepare for the security check. If you put everything they require into bins, you will not be held behind for manual bag checks.

No bottles of liquids over 100ml. You will have to take off your shoes, (kids under 12 years do not), so consider wearing something easy to slip off and on. You have to empty everything from your pockets, take off anything metal, remove all liquids from your bag, as well as electronics such as laptops, DSLR cameras, and tablets, and put them all into a bin. We had a few of our bags manually checked because we forgot to take out the cameras, and because we had quite a few charging cables. This put us behind by quite a bit.

Tip 7. Pack Snacks. Depending on how long you are travelling, pack small meals. Kids are always hungry and airport food is expensive.

I didn’t realize that you could pack snacks like carrots, tomatoes, and even sandwiches. My 16-year-old knew this but didn’t share this information with me, so while she was busy snacking, I was trying to convince myself that I could survive without that $16.00 airport sandwich. We did end up buying a bagel with cream cheese, which we split up to feed 3 of the kids.

Tip 8. Hold on to everyone’s passports.

One officer asked me why I didn’t let each of my kids hold their passports. It’s obvious…if one kid loses a passport everyone is stuck.

Tip 9. When on the plane, be as courteous as you can. Kids can be a lot, and even though you might love yours other travellers may not.

So this happened. We sat on the plane and there was a woman sitting in front of us with 2 young kids. The plane had 2 seats on the right, and 2 on the left. This passenger put her 2 young children in the seats on the left, and sat next to her friend on the other side. Child #1 , who was about 2-3 years, pulled down the table in front of her and then proceeded to bang it , over and over, trying to put it back into the original position. I watched as the passenger ahead of her shook with each table slam, and I waited for him to finally turn around and let the kid have it. Thank goodness he was a patient and forgiving man. Child #2, 6 years old maybe, was afraid of flying, but the mother decided it was a good idea to put him in the window seat. When the plane took off and he started to scream, she thought the best solution was to close the window that my kids were excitedly looking out of, so he didnt have to face his fear. Please, if you have young kids, sit beside them to comfort them if they are afraid. Also, when your kids are being an inconvenience to others, stop them , even if you think they are being cute.

All in all, travelling with kids can be stressfull, but it can also be an adventure. Find ways to make it fun and you can create memories that will last. Keep your littles close, keep them safe, and enjoy the trip.

This advice is based on my travel experience from Toronto Pearson International Airport, Canada, to the British Virgin Islands, via connections in the USA.