hi, i'm allegra!

As a Registered Dietitian, International Board Certified Lactation Consultant, Postpartum Doula, and fellow mom, I am passionate about helping moms thrive postpartum. I want you to feel confident about breastfeeding and your overall health. 

traveling with a toddler

Table of Contents

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My little Audrey, now 17 months, just flew on her 10th trip since she was 2months old. If you haven’t seen my “Flying with a Baby” post, make sure to check out my tips for flying with a baby. Flying with a toddler, is a whole new experience, but I feel like we’ve mastered it and have figured things out. My little girl is a busy body and just wants to be on the move. It’s been somewhat challenging, as the majority of these trips I was flying alone, but with my tips and tricks, we’ve made some pretty seamless trips. So check out my tips for flying with a toddler and be sure to download my checklist!

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Travel Tip 1. Check your carseat at the check in counter and KEEP your stroller

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In my Flying with a baby post, I recommended checking in at the checkout counter, BOTH your carseat and stroller and baby wearing your baby the rest of the trip. However with a toddler, I recommend only checking in the car seat and keep the stroller with you!! With a toddler that loves to look around and be on the move, I’ve found that keeping the stroller is so helpful to contain them, but also walk around, especially when they start getting heavy. Putting your extra bags or purse on the stroller as you walk around the airport, is also a nice break.When you’re about to board the flight, you’ll leave your stroller at the  door, and they’ll take it down below, then once you get off the flight at your new destination, they just bring it out to you.

Check your car seat at the check in counter, so you don’t have to lug it around the airport. We bought a car seat protector bag and after 10 round trip flights, we haven’t had any issues with our car seat getting cracked or losing it. It’s so nice not having to lug it around the terminal, plus it’s free check in.

If you are concerned about something happening to your carseat or you’d prefer to keep it with you throughout the terminal, then I would suggest keeping the stroller too, especially because you can put your diaper bag or personal items on the stroller. There was one trip we did keep just the carseat with us, and it was so annoying to carry around, so I suggest checking it.

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Travel Tip 2. Wear a diaper bag BACKPACK

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I learned this the hard way. I have both a diaper bag backpack, and a side bag that goes across your chest, and I prefer the side bag because it’s more stylish than the backpack I have (oh vanity haha), but oh my goodness, it was so annoying! It kept getting in the way, and with occasionally carrying my toddler, while trying to get your boarding pass or just do anything else, it’s pretty annoying to have a bag across your body. So my next several flights, I used my not so pretty back pack and it was amazing! My next baby, I’m buying a stylish back pack =P

But definitely try to have your things out of your way, especially when your toddler is running away from you (ugh haha)

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Travel Tip 3. Try to get a window seat

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Toddlers are so inquisitive and want to see everything that’s going on. Getting a window seat and seeing outside, is so fascinating to them. They’ll be entertained for awhile. You can also get them window stickers, which is a great fun toy (see next point)

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Travel Tip 4. Bring cheap toys (bonus if they’re new cheap toys) and pull a new toy out every 20-30 minutes

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Before your trip, go to the dollar store and get some cheap new toys for the trip. Toddlers love new things, but they also love to drop and lose things, so buying cheap toys from the dollar store is a great trick. It won’t matter if they accidentally drop it in between the seat, because it was so cheap. I brought a bunch of new cheap toys, but Audrey was more interested in touching strangers and pulling the pamphlets out of the folders in the seat *sigh*

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Travel Tip 5. Be one of the last ones to board the flight

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So usually airlines will first board families with babies and toddlers, before everyone else, but once you’re on the flight, you have to wait about 30 more minutes until everyone else boards the flight. This kills way too much time on the plane, when they could otherwise be running around or you could walk around with them in the stroller. I try to not be on the plane any longer than I have to. Yes there’s the concern about not getting enough overhead space, but I find that I can pretty much fit everything I need, into just the backpack, which I end up putting under my feet. If you’ve got just way too much stuff (like diaper bag, plus toys, plus pump and pump parts, try to just consolidate as much as you can, and usually you can find some small area in the overhead bin).

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Travel Tip 6. Find an empty terminal and let them run around!!

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If you have a connecting flight, try to find an empty terminal to just let them run around and stretch their legs and burn some energy! After getting off of my flight (or if I got to the airport to early and needed to kill some time), I would push my toddler in the stroller, then let her out at the empty terminal and let her just run around. We played tag and I would chase her and she loved it. There weren’t many (or any) people to bother, so that was nice! It was also nice to put all my stuff down on the empty chairs and not worry about people touching it, while I ran around with my toddler.

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Travel Tip 7. Bring lots of snacks if they’re eating solids

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Bring lots of snacks!!! Can’t stress this enough! Snacks and food are great distractors and can’t use up a lot of time on the plane. I hardly ever give Audrey puffs or those teether foods, but when I fly, it’s like candy and she’s entertained for a good while. When Audrey gets restless and wants to start screaming or move around, I pop out the snacks and she is super happy! Don’t worry about those puffs or cheerios going all over the place. The main thing is that your baby stays happy and doesn’t scream 🙂

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Travel Tip 8. Wear comfortable clothing

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I used to travel in flip flops, but after having several layovers and walking around the airport or chasing a toddler, I’ve found that sneakers are now my go to (ugh I’m officially a mom with mom sneakers haha). You can buy stylish comfortable walking shoes, which I ended up buying. I also recommend wearing pants with pockets!! I use to fly in leggings, but it was rough, not being able to quickly put my phone in my pocket, or have my boarding pass ready. I had to keep reaching into my backpack and it was just annoying. So now, I fly in jeans, or a dorky fanny pack (bring back the 80s please!)

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Travel Tip 9. Accept help from people!

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Accept help from people! If someone offers to help you carry your bags or put something in the overhead bin or even put your seat belt on for you (this happened to me), accept their help. People want to help and it makes them “feel good” when they help, so accept it!

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Travel Tip 10. Keep calm!

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And lastly, Keep calm. I think we over analyze and go over everything that could go wrong. We also stress more about what other people think or how we’re making other people feel, when we really should  just be thinking about our situation. Don’t worry about what others are thinking. You’re doing the best you can. So try to relax and keep your cool, because your baby will mirror your emotions.

If you’d like support or have specific questions, please do not hesitate to contact me

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What traveling tips do you have? What did/didn’t work for you? tell me in the comments

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