How to Survive Flights With Kids

It doesn't have to suck

Photo by Hanson Lu on Unsplash

Helllllllo from the Poconos. I got the honor of being an artist in residence at the Buck Hill Falls community in the Poconos this week so we are staying with my wonderful friend Tara and our kids are in the camp here while I am teaching writing workshops and talking about The Sicilian Inheritance (grab a sopy or seven today).

While I’ve been busting my ass on a book deadline we have also been frolicking in waterfalls, finding swimming holes and having lots of pool time.

I also got to do a great interview with the ladies of The Brightside, the daily podcast from Hello Sunshine all about The Sicilian Inheritance podcast and the book. Give it a listen here:

We are staying close to home this summer because I do not want to get on a plane with my bossy 20-month old. She actually broke a piece off the plane on our last trip to Milwaukee. But I know we will be flying again soon which is why I got sucked into the book Kids on a Plane: 101 ways to entertain babies, toddlers and little kids on a family travel day. Elizabeth Bagwell is a mom of four in Manchester, England and her tips are gold!

I’m letting her take over the newsletter today with her top tips for hopping on a plane with littles and I want to hear about all of yours in the comments!

---

For many people, travel with kids, particularly plane travel, is not the norm and can be really intimidating. I want to make every family feel free to travel as they want to and to make any individual trip less stressful and —hopefully—even kind of fun. Here are some of the things that have worked for me.

Slow all the fun right down

Once you’re on a plane or in the car or on the train there’s no way to make the trip go faster by being more efficient. In fact, the quicker you speed through activities the more time you’ll need. So if you have a kid who likes to name each raisin, describe its family and tell you its life story before eating, pack lots of raisins and put a podcast on in one ear. At home, if lunch takes an hour it may wreck nap time or school pick up - on a flight, it’s brilliant.

Pick ONE number for all the toys

It’s generally better to have a few of several things (a few dinos, a few cars, a few little dolls). You can save your sanity and have a better chance of leaving the plane with all the things if you pick one number for all of them. I find 3-6 is about right depending on the number of kids. I have 4 kids so I will probably put 4 cars, 4 dinos, 4 mini pots of play dough, 4 fidget toys and 4 books in my bag. If we have 3 of anything when we leave, I know I need to check under the seat.