It has been a busy week. We’ve had in-laws visiting for BabyC’s birthday, and yes – a first birthday celebration! This was immediately followed by a 4-day trip to the East Coast for a wedding and a quick visit with my brother. I love visiting with family and celebrating momentous days, but I’m exhausted. More than that, I feel all off-kilter and out of balance – mainly because I’ve missed writing, I think. I’ve missed the daily routine of writing for a quiet hour with my cup of coffee in the morning. I had so many ideas for blog posts during the past crazy week, little bits of inspiration as I whipped up BabyC’s birthday cake late at night or lay awake in a strange hotel room or stood in line to board yet another plane. I was left just feeling frustrated at not being able to sit down and form the words to realize these ideas. I tried to jot them down, making little notes on my phone when I had a chance. But of course, now I am home with piles of laundry, Thanksgiving dinner to prepare, and a manuscript that MUST be edited by next week. The blog will continue to be neglected.

I did spend the better part of an hour on our O’Hare –> Portland flight laboriously typing out travel tips on my phone, thinking maybe they’d make a good post. These were fresh in my mind, since we were at the tail-end of what was probably our toughest trip with BabyC yet. We’ve taken BabyC on 7 plane trips in the last 8 months, but traveling with a toddler introduced us to new challenges. (I know, I might have to come up with a new name for BabyC now that she is no longer a baby – why didn’t I think of that before?)

Here are my top tips for traveling with a baby or toddler, most of them learned the hard way.

1. Pack several small novel toys and books that your child hasn’t seen before. The best bets for travel books at this age are ones with lift-the-flaps or touch-and-feel textures. Consider swapping toys with a friend so your child has something new and exciting without buying more toys.

2. Come armed with your child’s favorite low-mess snacks.The pureed foods sold in a tube are great for travel – older babies and toddler can suck them right out of the tube, saving you the trouble of messing with a spoon.

Self-serve snack cups are convenient and entertaining. We gave BabyC one of these for her birthday, and it was her favorite gift! Fill them with animal crackers, puff snacks (like Pirate’s Booty), or goldfish. Cheerios are a little too small and easily spilled through the opening.

3. Use technology. No shame in entertaining your kid with a movie or a new app to get you through a long flight, though at 12 months, this has yet to be interesting to BabyC. More important to me is to remember to bring entertainment for myself. In the off-chance that you get super-lucky and end up with a baby sleeping on your lap for part of the flight, you will not want to be wrestling a New York Times and risk disturbing the gift of slumber. Having some reading material or a new game on your phone or tablet will save you from boredom.

4. Dress your baby for quick and easy diaper changes. My favorite combo is a onesie with leggings, which gives you quick access to the diaper without removing socks, shoes, pants.

5. Call the airline before your trip to make sure they have your lap-child registered for the flight or check-in at the ticket counter. Before you go through security, your infant will need her own boarding pass or a special note on your boarding pass. This seems obvious, but we were caught without a boarding pass for BabyC once when we were traveling with multiple carriers. We had a boarding pass for her for the first leg of our trip but not the second, and we had to run back to the ticket counter during our tight connection.

Some plane seats are off-limits for a lap child because they don’t have an extra oxygen mask – yet another reason to call the airline before your trip. Last-minute seat changes at the airport mean you run the risk of being seated apart from your spouse, which would just all-around suck. We’ve had this experience, though the people around us were kind enough to switch once they saw BabyC flailing around and boobs getting exposed.

6. Bring a birth certificate, especially if your child could be mistaken for a 2-year-old by any stretch of the imagination. Once your child is 2, you have to pay for a seat for her, and the airline would be happy to charge you for that.

7. Wear your baby. We’ve always opted to leave the stroller at home. Using a carrier means that your baby can happily continue napping as you get on and off planes and rush to the next gate. A recent rule change allows you to wear your baby through security, so you don’t have to disturb her if she is sleeping. They just do a quick swab of your hands (to check for explosives, as if a mother has time to fiddle with making a bomb) once you get through. Just make sure you aren’t wearing a jacket underneath the carrier – I was asked to take mine off, which of course meant taking off the baby and carrier.

8. Gate check your car seat if at all possible. On this last trip, I actually witnessed a car seat fly off of one of the those luggage trolleys zipping around between planes. It bounced a couple of times and then slid to a stop on the wet tarmac. The driver of the trolley didn’t notice and kept going. I wondered if that car seat made it to its destination at the same time as the baby that needed it, and probably more important, if it was damaged during its collision with concrete. If your plane happens to have extra seats available (like that ever happens anymore), you may also be allowed to bring the car seat on board with you.

9. When booking plane tickets, if you have a choice between a 30-minute or 90-minute layover, choose 90. Husband and I were never scared of tight connections when it was just the two of us, but we need more time now to change diapers, stock up on snacks, and play. Get to the gate early and blow off some steam. Even a young baby can benefit from stretching out on a blanket in between flights. Wakeful time at the gate can optimize nap-time on the plane.

10. Many airlines don’t do family boarding anymore. Just an FYI:( Elite Super-Travelers and Premium Business Select and Extra-Special Suits come first. You are not one of them (unless you have paid extra) – you’ll board with everyone else.

11. Not all airplanes have changing tables. You’re better off trying to get diapers changed at the airport so you aren’t left with the choice to change a poopy diaper on your lap or the floor of the plane. See #4 and #9.

12. If you are flying an airline that does open-seating, seat yourself next to other families. You’ll be surrounded by sympathetic people, and your child may be highly entertained by the kids seated behind you. If you are traveling with a baby or toddler, the best case scenario is to sit next to a family with kids in the 5- to 10-year-old set. These kids are young enough to be interesting to your baby and vise versa but unlikely to throw a fit that will wake up your baby if she should happen to surprise you with a peaceful nap. The former helped us survive SFO–>Charlotte, while the latter made Charlotte–> O’Hare tough. I actually found myself getting annoyed with a young infant who started screaming on that flight, just as BabyC was drifting off. And then I felt like a horrible person.

13. Feed on take-off and landing. Pressure changes can be so uncomfortable, and babies don’t know how to clear their ears on their own. Sucking and swallowing helps to keep her ears clear, which will keep you, your baby, and your neighbors so much happier. And breastfeeding is so convenient. Thinking about weaning before next month’s trip? Wait. You’ll be glad you did. No formula to carry, no need to buy a $5 mini-carton of milk in the terminal, and no need to worry about that milk going bad.

14. You simply can’t protect a baby, especially a mobile one, from germs while traveling. If it makes you feel better, wipe down your tray table and arm rests with a baby wipe. You will drive yourself and your child crazy trying to keep her from touching potentially germy surfaces, which is every surface on planes and in airports. Wash your hands and your child’s hands when possible. And for what it is worth, whenever I get on an airplane with BabyC and see that sea of kind faces from around the world, I am thankful that we have vaccines to protect my family from the world’s worst diseases.

15. Brush up on This Little Piggy and a few other lap games and songs. You might be called upon to repeat them over and over. Check out Momsicle’s post on Games to Play in Tight Spaces for more ideas.

16. On the plane, be open to opportunities for free play. Despite your efforts to pack fun toys, books, and games, your child may be much more interested in rotating the arm rest up and down, over and over, or ripping up your boarding passes and handing them back and forth to you. Go with it.

17. Book a hotel suite with a door between the living area and bedroom. We’ve found this to be well-worth the extra $20. Baby may need to go to bed several hours before you, and if you are all sharing one room, this puts you in the bathtub if you want to read a book. These rooms often aren’t available through travel sites like Priceline, so call the hotel directly to check on their options.

18. Skip the hotel cribs. We’ve found some really dangerous-looking hotel cribs out there. One of my all-time favorite baby purchases has been KidCo’s PeaPod. This is a genius little tent with a self-inflating mattress that provides a safe and cozy sleeping area for a baby or toddler. Best of all, it weighs less than 5 pounds and packs down to a 14″x14″ case that fits into our luggage. BabyC knows and loves her tent by now, and I think she appreciates the familiarity vs. sleeping in a different travel crib with different smells every night. We’ve even used it for naps on the beach!

Important note (added 11/16/12): KidCo has issued a voluntary recall for these travel tents after one baby died while sleeping in a PeaPod (cause was undetermined) and several babies became entrapped or distressed in the tent. The company is providing a repair kit. Some of these cases occurred because the mattress was not zipped into the secure bottom pocket of the tent (per the instructions). If you use this product, please do not place the mattress loose within the tent! I also wouldn’t recommend using the PeaPod for babies less than 6 months of age. My concern is that the opaque sections of the tent sides (green in the photo above) are not that breathable. I realize that I’ve probably discouraged everyone from using this product by now, but we’ll keep using it for BabyC (now two!) and I’d use it again with older infants. And I would still avoid hotel cribs, because I’ve seen some that seriously look like deathtraps.

19. Choose a hotel with free breakfast. They usually have good options for kids, and it is nice to do breakfast in pajamas. Eating at a restaurant with small kids is always a production and one that is hard to face first thing in the morning.

20. A cranky child has an unmet need. Expect your child’s needs to require more of your attention when you are traveling, though less sure would be convenient. Try to preempt crankiness by staying on top of your child’s needs for food, drink, a clean diaper, some time to play, some special attention, and sleep. Along these lines, have realistic expectations. Don’t try to do too much in one day. Try to plan some downtime for naps each day – even if it means taking a random drive down a scenic country road so your kid can catch a few more minutes of sleep. Enjoy the happy moments and try to roll through the frustrating ones.

Looking for more? Wandering Scientist has a great post on traveling with a toddler and a preschooler if you are looking for tips focused on slightly older kids and car travel. I just noticed that we have a few of the same tips, which must mean they are really good! And Momsicle has an entire Sanity Travel Tips Series which is chock-full of good advice, especially for traveling with toddlers. She even has an entire post dedicated to Games to Play in Tight Spaces.

What are your favorite tips for traveling with kids? What has surprised you about traveling with kids?

For more on our continuing adventures in traveling with a toddler, check out these more recent posts:

{I mention several products in this post and want to assure you that I was not paid to do so. These are just a few products that have made traveling easier for our family.}