Traveling can be stressful and when you add a child, that stress increases by a 10-fold! Within the years, I have learned a few hacks when traveling with my kids. In fact, this year I challenged myself and completed the longest trip thus far with an infant! This time we did a 12-hour flight across the world. Surprisingly, I acquired new hacks to share with you all!!

Many traveling hiccups and lessons learned when traveling with an infant

We decided on a summer adventure and did extensive planning. Even with all of the planning, we still did encounter some surprises along the way. For those who don’t know I have been traveling with my children for quite some time. Fun fact: I’ve been traveling with my kids since my first born was 4 weeks old. With that being said the farthest distance, I have done in an airplane trip has been 4 hours max. Because of it you may say that I have previously done a flight with an infant, but this time was slightly different.

I managed to become an expert in solo traveling with my first 2 kids. Interestingly enough we did trips in cars, bus, trains and airplanes. Specifically, I travelled from Texas to New Jersey with just my 2 little ones, in a 40 hour direct crazy road trip! (No judgement! I was young LOL). Nevertheless, those were fun times. I survived them all YALL!!!

Let’s continue on my traveling Crazy experiences with an infant!

There was a time that I intend on doing a long haul with my oldest ones. During that specific time, the 2 toddlers were quite active and on a very difficult stage. In general, it was quite difficult to keep them entertain. That one trip I learned the most, and ever since I always plan ahead and pack their bags loaded with things to keep them busy and with tons of snacks.

Nevertheless, thanks to the airline mishap, that particular 6-hour flight turned into an overnight 24hr ordeal. Important to realize, I was not prepare for all of the chaos and craziness with that dang airline mishaps. As you can imagine, I was beyond frustrated and exhausted by the time I reached my final destination.

The entire trip was very chaotic for example, I was not able to communicate with my family that was waiting to pick us up on my final destination. Consequently, they were worried and with no way of reaching out to me. On top of that, our luggages were lost in transit.

To finalize and put the cherry on top, I ended up having to advocate for myself and find a different route. We had to use a Portuguese airline to make it to our destination (lifesaver!!). But it came with a small hiccup-no one spoke English or Spanish LOL. For that reason, we ended up communicating via some sort of sign language and a small little girl that was learning English came to my rescue and translated for me.

In truth, that one experience left me so bitter that I took a pledged never to do it again. We ended up arriving at 4am in the morning. I have yet to travel using that same airline (Never again!).

My love for traveling

But as you can imagine by the number of kids, I now have (LOL), I picked up traveling again. In spite of my past experiences, here I am now as an experienced 12-hour flight with an infant, nevertheless! As I have previously mention, I do mindset prep even before purchasing traveling tickets. Read all about my stress-free traveling guide. Truthfully, I feel like I can take any traveling challenge now. You might be questioning, “like girl, WFT?!’. But let me explain.

I have come to understand that planning ahead is vital. Directing the focus to my baby and their comfort during the trip is my number one priority. Coupled with being able to manage my emotions when things get out of hand. In conclusion, I just love to travel and experience new experiences with my kids!

Taking into account my traveling experience, you’ll need to know that traveling with kids is not for the faint of hearts. With that being said, you need to be prepared for chaos, meltdowns, and possible things out of your control. No matter how much you plan, things can still go wrong. Especially, if it’s your first time traveling with an infant! Be graceful with yourself and have some patience.

When taking a flight with an infant you have to consider how busy an airport can be.

My latest traveling trip- 12-hour flight with an infant adventure

During our trip to Turkey, I did some research and planning ahead. For example, I decided to purchase flights that had layovers instead of direct. The reason for this, was because I was a bit scare of doing just direct flights to and from. In essence, it was going to be the baby second time on an airplane. But more so, because I was traveling with the entire family.

To better understand, my oldest kids are very independent and adapted to traveling abroad. This makes it much easier for me, to be able to focus my infant. For the most part, I’m a very chill traveler and aware that many setbacks can happen. But yet, I was still not ready to do a direct 12-hour flight, or at least I thought.

On our departure flights, the 12 hours were split. On one leg with did one flight that was 8 hours and on the next leg of the trip it was another 4hours. For the most part, she did great on both flights after we got accommodated into our seats.

More on our summer trip to Turkey

In difference with my past traveling experiences, with this one I had my partner to lean on. Even so, the older kids were in teams, and they handled their own carry-on items. As for the baby, thanks to me and my packing strategy things went pretty well. Important to note, our infant slept her way through! Aside from my arms being tired from having her sleeping on me, everything else was smooth sailing.

With our departure flight being so blissful, I was not scared one bit of our return flight. For the most part, I had enough snacks and an empty water bottle on hand. This time, I even packed some lollipops (hard candies), to keep her busy in times of a crying meltdown. Even so, I had a small, light blanket, a change of clothes, and her painkillers and allergy meds on hands too.

When things get out of hand and no longer in your control

If you don’t know, my infant has food allergies, and because of it, we can’t just feed her whatever we eat. For that reason, I always carry snacks and foods that are fulfilling and free of allergens for her. For the most part, things go well, but I still carry Benadryl and am hypervigilance with her food intake.

Well, even with all the planning ahead and buying flights with layovers, things didn’t go as planned on our return trip.

During this trip, one thing we lost control of was losing our connection flight back and being stuck in Istanbul, Turkey. Yes, you’re reading that right!! In brief, because of it, we ended up having to buy a last-minute return flight, and it was a direct 12-hour flight. But surprisingly, my baby slept 11ish hours from the flight!!! In conclusion we survived that long, unplanned, haul! Now, I’m more confident in traveling with my kids and up to the challenges of traveling life, with some prepping of course.

My Planning and prepping Hacks!

  • Always make sure to plan ahead and know the times of different airport navigation transactions- What do I mean, you may be asking?! In effect, I take my departure time, time of airport navigation, TSA procedures, check-in process, including even parking all into account and time management.
    • Example: If my departure is an international departure- I will always plan to arrive to the airport at least with a 3-hour window. Then add about 20mins to find your gate, another 1+ for the TSA procedures (when you have kids, it’s always something with them). Followed, by 45mins for checking (in case of an unexpected line). Finally for the parking or even uber drop off, I add about 30mins.
  • Next, I always try to pack light and make sure to carry a minimalist carry-on. Here is what I mean, as for me I only carry-on the most essential, including a change of clothes, toothbrush, toothpaste, and lotion, all inside a Ziplock clear bag (TSA loves these types of bags). In which all goes into the baby carry-on.
    • As for strollers, etc. I take a light stroller (such as an umbrella). For this trip specifically, I did my research on getting a car seat once I reached my final destination. This worked for us, but if you can’t get a car seat at your final destination, my recommendation is to check in your car seat. It’ll be one less thing to worry about carrying along. Also, another option is to rent a car that comes with a car seat as an option.

More on the packing and carry-on items

  • Equally important, do not forget snacks and entertainment for your kids!! My infant was not into screen time just yet. This is were being creative comes handy and knowing your child! For this trip she did enjoy a good old, colorful magazine with lots of pictures.
    • I usually carry random small things that I’m okay and won’t worry too much about losing them. I’ve done from playdoh, to books, biting toys, squeezes plush toys. And don’t forget the headphones, and any electronics with an extra battery fully charge!

Conclusion

Another one of my favorite tips is to let your kids decompress prior to getting in the aircraft. In fact, I’m one to make fun small race while we wait to board. Another point is, I feed them prior to as well and take as many trips to the bathrooms as necessary.

Undeniably, my kids all enjoy traveling and are always up for an adventure. Overall, they do behave and make it easier for me to travel. I hope my tips do come handy and you too get to have a traveling with kids’ expert badge! JK. Happy traveling my friends!!! Don’t let kids stop you from your next adventure!