About Sara
Life is crazy with a baby and a toddler only 18 months apart. They keep me busy and my main goal is to keep them busy. Not only am I a Mom, but I am also a wife and when time permits I look forward to time with my husband. Occasionally I even get some time to myself. When I do find time to myself, I’m enjoying blogging and sharing our family adventures and day to day life.
Above all, family is everything.
Feel free to visit Sara’s blog at Mom On The Move for more great stories!
2 car seats, 1 double stroller, 2 suitcases, 1 toy bag, 2 carry-on bags, 1 lunch bag, 1 baby carrier, 1 computer bag, a 2-year-old, a 9 month old, and me. On a plane.
My husband’s family lives in out of province and we try to go at least once a year to visit. We had yet to take my son to meet his extended family and we were eager to introduce him. Because of work schedules my husband wasn’t able to go, but being on maternity leave I volunteered to take the 2 kids on my own.
Travelling with a 9 month old and a 27 month old by myself ended up being a lot less stressful than I thought. But that wasn’t just luck, I was prepared!
Flight Times
When I started looking at flights I knew I couldn’t just pick any flight time. My goal was to find ones that were during sleep times, either early morning or during afternoon naps. Although my daughter didn’t sleep, she was at least quiet and my son managed to sleep a little.
Bassinet
As soon as our tickets were booked I called and tried to get a bassinet for my son. Air Canada’s website says that they offer them on some flights and to call ahead as they are available on a first come first serve basis. My main thought was that by getting the bassinet we would have been guaranteed the bulkhead, which would have given us a bit more room. Unfortunately my flight didn’t have them.
Seat Selection
As for seat selection, I was up at 6:45am the day before our flight so that I could get on exactly 24 hours before our flight to check in and choose our seats. There are different theories on seat selection. My first thought was to go to the back of the plane so that if my kids are crying or screaming I don’t disturb other people. But I am now of the mind-set that everyone else has been through what I’m going through so I put the kids first. In that thought, I wanted something towards the front so that we could de-board as soon as possible. And I lucked out and got the bulkhead! Which meant extra leg space and as far to the front as possible.
Be Early
No matter how much we played everything out the night before we still ended up being late. I made a rookie-parenting mistake by forgetting how much longer everything takes with kids. But thanks to the Air Canada staff we made it to the plane, albeit we were the last ones boarded.
Distractions
Once we were on the plane it was all about distractions. Food, colouring, TV, soothers, games, etc. Whatever it takes. My daughter is only allowed her soother at bedtime, but this was a battle I wasn’t going to start. I knew it would keep her calm so I had no problem giving it to her.
We survived the flight, both flights with only about 20 minutes of crying (no not me). I was pleasantly surprised how easy it really was. My biggest piece of advice is to keep calm and remember that someone else has done it and survived!
Remember:
- Give lots of extra time when doing anything with kids!
- Request a bassinet if available
- Flight times during sleep/nap times
- Snacks, snacks and more snacks!
- Ease up on rules
- TV
- Flight attendants want to help you
What are some things you’ve learned from travelling with kids?
I fly all the time with my two little ones. Thank goodness the flight is only an hour and a half long.