The Post About Traveling With Small Children

Starting with frequent road trips when Sophia was a few weeks old and then air travel when she was four months old, we have never shied away from traveling with the kids. In fact, we took advantage of flying as much as we could before they turned two and started requiring their own tickets. When Sophia was barely two and Amelia was four months old, I flew to California (about a seven hour trip with layovers) alone with them - and it's made me appreciate my husband on every trip since!

But aside from the normal hassles of air travel these days, traveling with young children doesn't have to be difficult. Here are some tips - I'd love to hear yours as well!

*For children one year and under, I would recommend bringing their car seat onto the airplane if it approved for air travel (and you can afford the extra seat). Kids are used to sitting in and sleeping in their car seats - Sophia snoozed happily in her Britax Marathon on several trips. For children older than 12-18 months, I would not recommend bringing the seat on board, just because you'll have more flexibility to let them move around. Whatever you do, you can't pack them in the suitcase.

*Bring an emergency bag... for infants, include Mylicon and (if they take it) an extra pacifier or other blankie or whatever soothes them. For older children bring a lollipop. This is the little bag that you pull out when nothing else is working, everyone is at the end of their rope, and your child is on the verge of breaking into a glass-shattering scream.

*Bring an iPod. There are audio podcasts available (like free Pinky Dinky Doo off iTunes), and if you have a video-capable iPod lots of movies (and free Sesame Street podcasts off iTunes) as well as tons of kids' songs that are GREAT entertainment for kids. Plus, when my kids are forced to sit still enough to hold the ear buds in their ears, they almost always fall asleep. I usually wait until books, crayons, etc. are no longer exciting before pulling out the iPod.

*Good plane/car toys are mini magnadoodles, Crayola (washability!) crayons and plain small drawing pads, those tiny cardboard books, Toob toys (they have animals, pirates, trains, etc.), Little Golden books (they're light and thin, but still sturdy), and flash cards (I got some great animal ones in the dollar bins at Target - the dollar store also has many).

*Bring snacks like dried fruit, sunflower seeds, Goldfish, and empty sippy cups - fill the sippy cups with water once you're past security. Also bring some emergency bagels or something... one time, we were planning on grabbing dinner during a layover in DFW, but our plane was delayed on the runway so that we had to RUN to our connecting flight - we were stuck on that plane right during dinner time, on a four hour flight, with a starving 15 month old. We purchased the snack boxes on board and poor Sophia had $14 worth of Cheesewhiz and crackers and beef jerky for dinner.

*Bring these awesome toilet seat covers - they are sturdy and big enough to cover yucky airport toilets (which your toddler WILL grab with her hands!) as well as some Wet Ones to wipe down your kids' hands periodically when the germ index gets too high.

*For a breastfeeding baby, nurse them during takeoff and landing. For older kids, give them a little salty snack right before, so that they will drink from their sippy cups during takeoff and landing. Bring a wash cloth - if their ears do start hurting, ask the stewardess to put some HOT water on the wash cloth and put it over your child's ear. It really does work.

*Bring a special treat - something with which to bribe your child, reward your child, and give you a few minutes of peace. This is one of those I-will-never things from before I had kids - but I'm keeping it real here... my favorites are candy necklaces and candy dots. You can also make a candy necklace that's slightly healthier by stringing Honey Nut Cheerios or Fruit Loops on some dental floss, but I believe there are some childhood joys that just need to be indulged.

*ALL children, including four month olds, must remove their shoes when going through security - so put shoes on them that are easy to remove (for infants, Robeez come off easily but stay on when you want them to). For toddlers and preschoolers, choose shoes that they can put on and take off on their own, but which are comfortable for walking (so velcro, not laces).

*For infants, I love my baby carrier, because it freed up my arms. Be warned, though, that you will be required to remove any baby carrier (even an all-cloth one) to go through security and during takeoff and landing, even if you have a very peaceful, happy, sleeping baby inside.

*Most airplanes have changing tables that fold down in the "lavatory" - I had NO idea about that until I had been on several trips with babies.

*Bring a blanket on board the plane - a large/thin one is best... you can wad it up and use it as a pillow and cover your child when it gets cold. Also, I've found that when I cover their laps with a blanket, so that they can't see their seatbelt, they tend to stay buckled up better.

Good luck and have fun!