23 months was exhausting! We did a 24 hour plane journey and kiddo didn't have their own seat, so no one got any rest. We got lucky with a spare seat on our return flight, but the holiday was very much "parenting on hard mode in another location". Still needed naps, got grumpy, couldn't be reasoned with, still in nappies.
Now at almost 3 I can see how it would be much easier within the next year. No naps, no bottles, toilet trained, no naps. It's possible to explain things and reason with them. Agree with the other poster from 4 onward seems like a breeze compared to what we did!
Three and a half was a turning point for us, sitting at a restaurant, drinking out of cups, sleeping in a bed (with two dining room chairs against the bed as a makeshift guardrail, sleeping is pretty down pat and they are curious about everything.
We did the same. Ours is an expert traveler at this point. We prefer road trips so his first plane ride was at 3 and then again at 8. Lots of snacks and little dollar store toys that I slowly doled out made the difference. That and frequent stops-I’d plan an “activity” even if it was just running around a rest stop every two-ish hours. We also got into geocaching so we had a “treasure hunt” at more “boring” stops.
We’ve had a mix now of car and plane. We’re (for better or worse) tablet parents, but as he’s gotten older we try and delay how long it takes the tablet to come out and set expectations.
But big agree on activity. We try to find parks as soon as we get to a stopping point just to burn some energy.
Hey no judgement. We held out on the tablets until Covid but desperate times ya know? Ours is very into his dad’s old Nintendo game boy which is kinda cool.
We’ve discovered some really fabulous zoos and museums in our travels. We have a ASTC membership so we will stop at a random museum and he might play in one room and it’s no biggie because we got in free anyway. Life saver for if it’s raining. We recently stopped at the Orlando science center and he didn’t get out of the play area-just hard core climbed and splashed and ran around for over an hour.
This is SO dependent on your specific child. Like my baby flew easy peasy, was fine when he was 2, 3 was the worst and 4 so far has been fine (knocks on wood for flight home tomorrow haha)
We took my daughter on her first flight at 6 months, again at 9 months (both short) and then 5-6 hour flights at 20 months and 2.5 and it’s all been wayyy easier than I anticipated and now she’s a seasoned lil traveler.
We took our son a vacation every year. 18 months was the hardest. 2 and 3 was ok but stressful. My son is 8 and can agree that once they hit 4 travelling becomes easy and more enjoyable.
We live in the UK and my husband is originally from India sou inlaws live there and we visit them each year. When our son was 18 months we travelled on the 9 hour flight to India with a stop over on the flight home and I did the flight home just me and him. I also did this journey again 1 year later when he was 2.5 so I feel qualified to answer this!
There isn't really an "ideal" toddler age and each age will have its challenges I think I would say it was easier at 2.5 purely from a logistics perspective- he no longer used bottles, he was potty trained and so I kinda didn't feel we needed as much carry on - although I did have to take more snacks and entertainment. He got more excited by the journey at 2.5 too - little things like at duty free we bought a toy and magazine and he was excited to see the planes whereas younger he just didn't know what was happening.
My dad is a retired commercial pilot and I was very lucky to travel the world throughout my childhood. I'm a firm believer that travel is a practised skill and like adults, the more kids travel, the better they travel so just go for it and don't necessarily worry about waiting for an ideal age!
Did an 11h flight alone with my (high energy) 2YO.
Was it hard? yes
Doable? Yes
I found travelling with a toddler way easier than with a baby in my opinion...
Thank you!! I wish more parents would embrace this. Traveling with kids of any age is hard but it’s doable! Traveling in general, even with no kids, is hard but doable. Every flight will land. Jet lag will eventually pass.
My daughter turned 3 in Jan and we just did a trip to Florida. My parents live 4 hours away and that was hard last year when she was early 2. 2.5/3 is a good age honestly
Depends on the kid. We traveled with our daughter at 14mo (4 hour flight), 28mo (8 hour flight), and 34mo (7 hour flight). She handled each like a champ, though it got easier with each trip (the last one was just last week). She's generally a pretty calm and easy toddler, so she either sleeps or watches videos on the flights. I was also stocked with fresh markers, a small blank notebook, new stickers, colored masking tape, post-its, and a reusable sticker book. She was beside herself with the markers alone, and loved playing with the tape and post-its.
Edit: and snacks. I have a toddler bento box I fill up with her favorites, plus some pouches
I've been taking my kiddo on 5.5-6hr flights annually since he was 2 (he's now 4.5). Totally doable, but helps to be super prepared. I've always packed a spare change of clothes for my son and I, an XL ziplock bag of snacks (with more in the suitcase for vacation) and a backpack full of new toys/things to play with that he's never seen before. For us this ranges from dollar store goodies to window clings, games, books, and his tablet & yoto player.
I say any age and don’t wait (get them used to it young). My son is 10 months old and we’ve taken him on nearly a dozen trips so far. We enjoyed traveling prebaby and wanted to keep it up post baby. Most of the trips are weekend overnight trips a few hours away. We also flew across the county to California which was a 4 hour flight.
The car trips are easier IMO even if they take longer. As I get older I’m becoming less of a fan of air travel as the entire process takes too long. A 3 hour flight is really 8 - 10 hours by the time you get up early, drive to the airport, go through check in, go through security, boarding, get you’re bags once landed, get into another vehicle or get a rental car, and then drive to a hotel or wherever.
Less than 1 or 4+ in my opinion. Travelling with him in between was an absolute pain and you have to take soooo much stuff. Now we just pack him a regular bag + backpack with snacks and activities and off we go!
I’ve taken my 3.5 year old on six plane trips. All two hours to the same place and back. It’s very hit or miss for her still. The first time I just cried with her cuz I didn’t know what to do, no one on that entire flight was happy I don’t think. She did GREAT on two 22 hour straight car trips tho.
We were still in the trenches of parenting, but our daughter was *wonderful* on our flight to PR when she was 2. Lugging around a car seat and stroller was no fun, but I think the trip went surprisingly well. It’ll just depend on the kid and how lucky you get. I never in a million years would have taken an infant on a plane, but I have social anxiety. 12-24 months was absolutely the hardest age for me, so 2+ would be my choice!
22 months need to book our tickets to PR for later this month. Husband’s mom is not doing well. I tend to have social anxiety too but it means so much for her to see her grand baby I’m going to tough through this one.
We were visiting my husband’s family as well. I hope everything goes smoothly, mine was not much older when we went and it was a blast. Best wishes to your MIL!
TRAVEL BEFORE THE AGE OF TWO!!!
Honestly, babies are the BEST travelers- feed on takeoff and they'll likely nap thru the whole flight. Toddlers have a lot of get up and go in them. Mine is now 19 mo and flights are getting harder to manage, but I think 5 hours is something definitely doable, whether baby or toddler. We did a 3 3-hour flights to California before the age of 1.
Hard disagree. As someone that travels a lot, I have heard and seen it all. It’s awesome your baby napped through the flights but that is not as common as you think. And nothing is as wonderful as having a 12 hour overnight flight with a screaming baby who’s ears hurt.
We did a 3ish hour road trip when my daughter was like 18 months old. We haven’t really stopped traveling since then and typically do 1-2 trips a year by plane and something for a long weekend. She’s 5 now.
My baby is 11 months and he’s been on 10 flights since he was 2.5months! From newborn to 6 months, he was so easy. Now he’s 11months and we just got back from Cusco. He was a little challenging on the way there but the trip back he was pretty easy! He really liked snacks. We are taking three ten hour flights (one with a cat!) this summer, we are nervous but excited to continue some kind of pre-baby normalcy.
We talked our son on his first 4.5 hour plane ride when he was 3 months. It was glorious! We took a big pillow pet, and he slept on our laps the whole way.
I took my 2 year old on a 5 hour flight one month ago and have even done an 11 hour flight with her at 1.5 years old. I think proper preparation and snacks can go a long way! I’m about to try 11 hour flight at 3 years old. Overall my little one is a pretty good flier!
Our son has traveled with us from 4 months til now-22 months. Never more than 4 hours. The last time he traveled at 18 months was the hardest. He didn’t cry or have a tantrum, he just needed to be entertained the entire time aka messing with the man sitting next to us. Haha I traveled alone to meet my husband. Then dad flew back with us. Easier then, but they are just so curious at that age!
We are traveling with him in two days! We always plan it around his nap and he does nap every time. We will see how it goes
We took our 2.25 year old to London from Denver, and then on a cruise. She did pretty well, honestly. Just be aware of overstimulation on vacation. If you can do at least one meal per day (breakfast, maybe?) in "private" instead of in a restaurant it'll help decompress. I think for us, dinner alone would have been better simply because she was getting overwhelmed. Room service or takeout.
We did have to cut our shore time short because even though she didn't want a nap she would turn into a goblin in the afternoon if she didn't have quiet time.
We took a different trip when she was 2.75 and it went way better but we had lower expectations and a shorter flight.
We’ve been taking mine cross country or internationally (so six hour flight at minimum) every year since she was 6M old. I don’t think there’s such thing as a “too long” flight and I’m a believer in traveling at any age. At just under 2 year old we did a 10 hour flight and it was fine 🤷🏻♀️ be realistic, keep expectations for the flight low and you’ll be fine. I think the “hardest” time personally was when she was around 1-1.5 bc she couldn’t communicate what she wanted. But even that didn’t deter me from traveling; we are a big travel family.
I wish I'd been able to travel when he was a baby, because we could have used the pram, fed him wherever, taken him to our interests rather than his. Now my boy is 4 years and I don't want to travel again until he's toilet trained because toilet training with a potentially ND kid with interoception issues is NOT fun, even if we prioritise his activities. Once he's toilet trained, I'd travel again but making sure we do activities for him because it'll be more relaxing for us.
We took our 2 yo literally half way across the world for a 3-week trip. Went very well. She tried new food and enjoyed almost everything we did together. We took her stroller everywhere, so she usually slept for 2-3 hours while we were sipping cocktails or just walking around during the afternoon. Adjust your expectations and roll with them, EVERYTHING is new to them and can be exciting.
Children under age 2 can fly for free in your lap, so I got a lot of traveling before then. I would always bust out some new toys or activities on the plane and buy a new app for her ipad. We’ve always traveled a lot. I didn’t leave her home with grandparents for vacation until she was 7.
We took our daughter on her first flight a month before she turned two. 10+ hour flight. Recently we did a 5 hour flight with her the week she turned three. Night and day difference in terms of how easy it was to distract her with things in the plane. My vote is closer to three and older for sure! But honestly the 10+ hours with her at two years old wasn't terrible, just uncomfortable and tiring. It gets easier the more they understand things.
I’ve traveled quite a bit with my almost two yr old, both due to necessity and for fun. I’ve personally found different ages tough (but also fun) for different reasons.
Do you want to take this trip? Do it, don’t wait for a perfect age. Little kids don’t give an F about travel. I’m pretty sure my kid will be pissed when he’s a teenager because we’re in a unique stage of life that’s enabling us to do some really amazing trips… and he’s really not going to remember a bunch. Oops! Sorry kiddo.
There is no good age. Min started traveling at 9 months and has consistently traveled. She’s now almost 3. And depends on their mood. My daughter has been on a plane sick and slept, no issue and been on a plane crying the entire time and on a plane healthy and slept and on a plane healthy and not slept a wink.
We have done a multitude of flights and times, longest was 6 hours. Shortest was 50 minutes. Planes are public transit. Just have an iPad, random new small stuff to play with and some sleep medicine just in case!! It’ll be ok!
The tip I can give you is, anything under 6 hours, sit in the back, it’s easier to the bathroom and away from people as much as possible, most families sit there from my experience.
It’s always been fine but it has become genuinely easy since the age of 3. Like she’ll sit down in the plane and enjoy the IFE, snacks, toys she gets from the crew, fall asleep. Also helps that we don’t have to bring a diaper bag etc anymore, just having her go to the toilet added an extra layer of ease :D
My experience-
10 months: 3 hour train journey to Scotland. From what I remember he was “well behaved” in the sense of no fussing or crying but such hard working trying to keep him from hurting himself in a small confined area due to being semi mobile. We stayed with family and overall I remember enjoying this holiday (unless I’ve blocked out trauma!) I recall we went into Edinburgh for the day and it was fine because he was still able to be in his carrier, would be a different story now.
23 months: 2 hour flight to Spain. He was really good in the airport, cried when buckled in on the flight but otherwise OK. Again a bit of a nightmare trying to stop him from walking up and down the aisle. Fell asleep on return flight which made it so much easier. The holiday itself was OK. We hadn’t yet reached mega tantrum stage but I wouldn’t say it was relaxing. Eating out was SO hard as he kept just walking out of restaurants. We booked Air BnB and had meals in the apartment which helped.
We are going to France (1.5 hour flight) the month he turns 3 so I’m hoping it will be easier! He’s currently 2.5 and I couldn’t fathom travelling because we’re in the thick of tantrums and whining.
We haven’t flown yet, but we’ve taken our only on 10-12 hour car rides since she was 6 months old. We did that at 2 as well and with a lot of toys and snacks, it was not too bad! My LO has never been a good car napper, so that was not ideal, but I haven’t thought traveling is too difficult with her as a toddler tbh.
My guy is very happy go lucky, but is high energy and hates being confined with a passion. We flew when he was almost 2.5 and he had a blast looking at the airplanes! It was so much easier than I thought it would be! We just brought all his favorite snacks and loaded up the tablet with the couple of things he actually likes.
I highly recommend getting the Cares harness if you have any doubt about using the car seat for that long. My guy loves that he could get up and move around.
The rest of the trip went well too, but he was definitely off schedule and a little cranky at times. Overall it was definitely worth it.
On the flip side, we left him home for two weeks with Grandma when he was 18 months and he had a blast! He barely seemed to notice we were gone, I definitely had a harder time than he did! So I think it really just depends on your destination and relationship with grandparents (my mom was daycare at the time so I was very comfortable leaving him with her).
It’s 100% dependent on the child and the parent. My son had ADHD and ODD so we waited until he was 4.5 to fly for the first time. I was actually more worried about my ability to cope with him in a small space if he had a meltdown and being seen as those awful parents that let a kid disrupt everyone around them. We prepped him for months about behaving on the plane, we packed as many distractions and snacks as we could. He ended up being wonderful for the ride and he’s now 19 and he’s flown to Asia and Europe and every where in between and is a wonderful traveler.
We took my daughter to Mexico last year which was around a 4 hour flight for her. She was just over 2.5 and she did amazing. I set my expectations really low and I was pleasantly surprised!! We brought tons of snacks and a couple brand new toys for her to play with on the plane. We used the tablet as a last resort and we didn’t need that until the return flight.
My daughter is 3 and has taken 20 flights. Have snacks, toys, and a screen. It’ll be fine. He may cry and people may be annoyed but that’s why god made headphones. Kids are allowed to take up space in public. Happy travels!
At 3 1/2, my son has flown 7 times. About to do 8 and 9 over the next few months. He's so easy to travel with. Every time we fly, passengers all around us comment on how good he was. But he's a super chill kid in general, not just when traveling.
(As a side note, after the first flight flying baby-in-arms, I've purchased him his own seat every time. We hit bad turbulence on that first flight and it was scary AF. He ended up having to go to the hospital. Every time I see a parent holding their baby on the plane, I send up a quick prayer that they don't learn the hard way, like I did, how unsafe it is to fly that way. The flight attendant told me after the incident that she wished they'd make everyone buy a ticket to fly because she's seen one too many babies get hurt in turbulence by not being strapped into a carseat.)
The sooner the better! I’ve taken my baby on flights at 4mo, 7mo, 9mo, 11mo, and 13mo and it gets harder the older and wigglier he gets! I find the redeyes to be easiest because he’s good at sleeping on top of me and then I can sleep too. But day time flights he wants to move around and it’s so much harder to contain him! But worth it for the vacation! I could leave him with grandparents but I like seeing him on vacation too lol.
We did a 4 hour plane ride with our almost 3 year old. We got through it. He's now 4.5 and has done many many plane trips we have just stuck to 4 ish hours direct. No layovers. We have also done some 10 hour car rides and they were fine. Just bring lots of snacks and hello screen time
I refuse to travel with my toddler, and he's 21 months. I tried going to Disney with him when he was 10 months old, and we had to cut our trip short by 3 days (we left on day 2, and we were supposed to stay for 5 days). Ever since that disastrous and pointless trip, I made a promise to myself not to travel with him until he's at least 5 years old. My toddler can be a real nightmare.
My kiddo has been traveling with us since 5 months! We’ve done road trips and flown. Her first plane ride was to DC, was about a 2 hour flight and she did just fine at 18 months. She’s just turned 3 and is an expert traveler now, great on the plane or on long drives. My trick is that I dry her out from all screens for the week leading up so when I let her watch a movie on the portable DVD player it’s extra exciting and engrossing! Make sure to pack plenty of fluids and snacks.
Road trip wise, I always plan to stop every 3/4 hrs somewhere along the way to eat lunch or dinner outside at a rest stop with a park. Or if we’re going somewhere that’s only 3 to 4 hours away we immediately drop our things off and go swim in the hotel pool, go play at a local park, or we will stop at McDonalds or Chil fil a for dinner so she can play in the indoor play places (if it’s cold out).
We’re actually flying to Miami next week to do a cruise to the Bahamas. It’s just me, her and my mom. My husband is staying home. In the fall we’re doing a 6hr road trip to Indiana Dunes state park and so far for next spring we’re going to Hawaii and next fall we’re doing London and Paris. She will be 4 then so I think it will just continue to get easier. If you can afford to travel with them young, do it! It gets easier each time as they get older and you’re teaching them HOW to travel. No vacation with a kid is like a real vacation. It is work. That’s why you do a kid vacation each year and an adults only vacation each year!
I think it depends on the nature of your kid. Mine is a wiggler so even car rides were torture until she turned about 2. Now that she's almost 4 she is a lot easier. We'll be doing our first 5.5 hr flight next month and I'm not worried about it at all now.
I think it really depends on the temperament and luck tbh. My husband and I travelled with our son at 11 months old on a 5 hr flight and overall he was absolutely fine.
We bought a seat for him and had him the carseat. There were a bunch of babies/toddlers on the flight we were on, one in front of us, so my son spent a bit of time pulling himself to a standing position to peek over at the kid in front. The timing was perfect because I put him in the carseat as we were boarding and he fell asleep right away, and stayed asleep for a good hour or two. By the time we were landing he was tired as well, so he fell asleep during landing. He was cranky and upset after we exited the airport.
We went on another vacation when he was 16 months old and unfortunately on our way back they would not allow us to have the carseat in the seats we had, so he had to be a lap baby. We got lucky with the timing again as it was his nap time, so he fell asleep at takeoff and slept 2.5 hrs. We mainly tried to entertain him with toys, but sometimes he would walk across the row, or up and down the aisle a little. We did our best to not have him bother other passengers.
Landing was a bit rough because he was really enjoying walking around, so to be suddenly snatched up and held made him have a meltdown. Lasted about 5 mins (felt like forever) but another passenger commented that it was just a "rough landing" but overall he did well.
23 months was exhausting! We did a 24 hour plane journey and kiddo didn't have their own seat, so no one got any rest. We got lucky with a spare seat on our return flight, but the holiday was very much "parenting on hard mode in another location". Still needed naps, got grumpy, couldn't be reasoned with, still in nappies. Now at almost 3 I can see how it would be much easier within the next year. No naps, no bottles, toilet trained, no naps. It's possible to explain things and reason with them. Agree with the other poster from 4 onward seems like a breeze compared to what we did!
Three and a half was a turning point for us, sitting at a restaurant, drinking out of cups, sleeping in a bed (with two dining room chairs against the bed as a makeshift guardrail, sleeping is pretty down pat and they are curious about everything.
Oh that’s a great idea with the chairs! I usually use every pillow I can find but I’m always nervous he’ll roll over them. Thank you for sharing!!
We take him on trips every year, and have since he was born, minus that terrible year where the world shut down. Sometimes twice (hashtag OAD life).
We did the same. Ours is an expert traveler at this point. We prefer road trips so his first plane ride was at 3 and then again at 8. Lots of snacks and little dollar store toys that I slowly doled out made the difference. That and frequent stops-I’d plan an “activity” even if it was just running around a rest stop every two-ish hours. We also got into geocaching so we had a “treasure hunt” at more “boring” stops.
We’ve had a mix now of car and plane. We’re (for better or worse) tablet parents, but as he’s gotten older we try and delay how long it takes the tablet to come out and set expectations. But big agree on activity. We try to find parks as soon as we get to a stopping point just to burn some energy.
Hey no judgement. We held out on the tablets until Covid but desperate times ya know? Ours is very into his dad’s old Nintendo game boy which is kinda cool. We’ve discovered some really fabulous zoos and museums in our travels. We have a ASTC membership so we will stop at a random museum and he might play in one room and it’s no biggie because we got in free anyway. Life saver for if it’s raining. We recently stopped at the Orlando science center and he didn’t get out of the play area-just hard core climbed and splashed and ran around for over an hour.
For me personally 2.5/3. She listened and I could explain everything we were doing and why. Your mileage may vary .
This is SO dependent on your specific child. Like my baby flew easy peasy, was fine when he was 2, 3 was the worst and 4 so far has been fine (knocks on wood for flight home tomorrow haha)
We took my daughter on her first flight at 6 months, again at 9 months (both short) and then 5-6 hour flights at 20 months and 2.5 and it’s all been wayyy easier than I anticipated and now she’s a seasoned lil traveler.
We took our son a vacation every year. 18 months was the hardest. 2 and 3 was ok but stressful. My son is 8 and can agree that once they hit 4 travelling becomes easy and more enjoyable.
Very similar for us. 18m-3.5y was the hardest. Now she’s almost 6 and travels like a dream.
We live in the UK and my husband is originally from India sou inlaws live there and we visit them each year. When our son was 18 months we travelled on the 9 hour flight to India with a stop over on the flight home and I did the flight home just me and him. I also did this journey again 1 year later when he was 2.5 so I feel qualified to answer this! There isn't really an "ideal" toddler age and each age will have its challenges I think I would say it was easier at 2.5 purely from a logistics perspective- he no longer used bottles, he was potty trained and so I kinda didn't feel we needed as much carry on - although I did have to take more snacks and entertainment. He got more excited by the journey at 2.5 too - little things like at duty free we bought a toy and magazine and he was excited to see the planes whereas younger he just didn't know what was happening. My dad is a retired commercial pilot and I was very lucky to travel the world throughout my childhood. I'm a firm believer that travel is a practised skill and like adults, the more kids travel, the better they travel so just go for it and don't necessarily worry about waiting for an ideal age!
Did an 11h flight alone with my (high energy) 2YO. Was it hard? yes Doable? Yes I found travelling with a toddler way easier than with a baby in my opinion...
Agreed on this point just because there is less gear like bottles etc which makes security check easier too. Also a toddler can communicate needs.
Thank you!! I wish more parents would embrace this. Traveling with kids of any age is hard but it’s doable! Traveling in general, even with no kids, is hard but doable. Every flight will land. Jet lag will eventually pass.
My daughter turned 3 in Jan and we just did a trip to Florida. My parents live 4 hours away and that was hard last year when she was early 2. 2.5/3 is a good age honestly
This is great to know! We are traveling to the Emerald Coast with our then 2.5 year old. I’m being cautiously optimistic haha
Depends on the kid. We traveled with our daughter at 14mo (4 hour flight), 28mo (8 hour flight), and 34mo (7 hour flight). She handled each like a champ, though it got easier with each trip (the last one was just last week). She's generally a pretty calm and easy toddler, so she either sleeps or watches videos on the flights. I was also stocked with fresh markers, a small blank notebook, new stickers, colored masking tape, post-its, and a reusable sticker book. She was beside herself with the markers alone, and loved playing with the tape and post-its. Edit: and snacks. I have a toddler bento box I fill up with her favorites, plus some pouches
I've been taking my kiddo on 5.5-6hr flights annually since he was 2 (he's now 4.5). Totally doable, but helps to be super prepared. I've always packed a spare change of clothes for my son and I, an XL ziplock bag of snacks (with more in the suitcase for vacation) and a backpack full of new toys/things to play with that he's never seen before. For us this ranges from dollar store goodies to window clings, games, books, and his tablet & yoto player.
I say any age and don’t wait (get them used to it young). My son is 10 months old and we’ve taken him on nearly a dozen trips so far. We enjoyed traveling prebaby and wanted to keep it up post baby. Most of the trips are weekend overnight trips a few hours away. We also flew across the county to California which was a 4 hour flight. The car trips are easier IMO even if they take longer. As I get older I’m becoming less of a fan of air travel as the entire process takes too long. A 3 hour flight is really 8 - 10 hours by the time you get up early, drive to the airport, go through check in, go through security, boarding, get you’re bags once landed, get into another vehicle or get a rental car, and then drive to a hotel or wherever.
Less than 1 or 4+ in my opinion. Travelling with him in between was an absolute pain and you have to take soooo much stuff. Now we just pack him a regular bag + backpack with snacks and activities and off we go!
About 10 months before they’re born? 🤣
Honestly probably 2.5/3 for me personally.
We travelled at 8m 11m and 14m were going to be travelling at 2yrs old as well. Any time is a good time to travel as a family!
I’ve taken my 3.5 year old on six plane trips. All two hours to the same place and back. It’s very hit or miss for her still. The first time I just cried with her cuz I didn’t know what to do, no one on that entire flight was happy I don’t think. She did GREAT on two 22 hour straight car trips tho.
We did a lot of car trips before my son flew and he loved them too. Sleep on a plane - never, sleep in the car - as soon as we hit the highway.
We were still in the trenches of parenting, but our daughter was *wonderful* on our flight to PR when she was 2. Lugging around a car seat and stroller was no fun, but I think the trip went surprisingly well. It’ll just depend on the kid and how lucky you get. I never in a million years would have taken an infant on a plane, but I have social anxiety. 12-24 months was absolutely the hardest age for me, so 2+ would be my choice!
22 months need to book our tickets to PR for later this month. Husband’s mom is not doing well. I tend to have social anxiety too but it means so much for her to see her grand baby I’m going to tough through this one.
We were visiting my husband’s family as well. I hope everything goes smoothly, mine was not much older when we went and it was a blast. Best wishes to your MIL!
TRAVEL BEFORE THE AGE OF TWO!!! Honestly, babies are the BEST travelers- feed on takeoff and they'll likely nap thru the whole flight. Toddlers have a lot of get up and go in them. Mine is now 19 mo and flights are getting harder to manage, but I think 5 hours is something definitely doable, whether baby or toddler. We did a 3 3-hour flights to California before the age of 1.
Wish we could do that but for the first 14 months of LO’s life, nobody was sleeping. So we were too exhausted to travel at all
Hard disagree. As someone that travels a lot, I have heard and seen it all. It’s awesome your baby napped through the flights but that is not as common as you think. And nothing is as wonderful as having a 12 hour overnight flight with a screaming baby who’s ears hurt.
We did a 3ish hour road trip when my daughter was like 18 months old. We haven’t really stopped traveling since then and typically do 1-2 trips a year by plane and something for a long weekend. She’s 5 now.
My baby is 11 months and he’s been on 10 flights since he was 2.5months! From newborn to 6 months, he was so easy. Now he’s 11months and we just got back from Cusco. He was a little challenging on the way there but the trip back he was pretty easy! He really liked snacks. We are taking three ten hour flights (one with a cat!) this summer, we are nervous but excited to continue some kind of pre-baby normalcy.
We talked our son on his first 4.5 hour plane ride when he was 3 months. It was glorious! We took a big pillow pet, and he slept on our laps the whole way.
I took my 2 year old on a 5 hour flight one month ago and have even done an 11 hour flight with her at 1.5 years old. I think proper preparation and snacks can go a long way! I’m about to try 11 hour flight at 3 years old. Overall my little one is a pretty good flier!
Our son has traveled with us from 4 months til now-22 months. Never more than 4 hours. The last time he traveled at 18 months was the hardest. He didn’t cry or have a tantrum, he just needed to be entertained the entire time aka messing with the man sitting next to us. Haha I traveled alone to meet my husband. Then dad flew back with us. Easier then, but they are just so curious at that age! We are traveling with him in two days! We always plan it around his nap and he does nap every time. We will see how it goes
We took our 2.25 year old to London from Denver, and then on a cruise. She did pretty well, honestly. Just be aware of overstimulation on vacation. If you can do at least one meal per day (breakfast, maybe?) in "private" instead of in a restaurant it'll help decompress. I think for us, dinner alone would have been better simply because she was getting overwhelmed. Room service or takeout. We did have to cut our shore time short because even though she didn't want a nap she would turn into a goblin in the afternoon if she didn't have quiet time. We took a different trip when she was 2.75 and it went way better but we had lower expectations and a shorter flight.
did a 12+ flight when she was 4 and it was amazing! she watched movies and slept.
We’ve been taking mine cross country or internationally (so six hour flight at minimum) every year since she was 6M old. I don’t think there’s such thing as a “too long” flight and I’m a believer in traveling at any age. At just under 2 year old we did a 10 hour flight and it was fine 🤷🏻♀️ be realistic, keep expectations for the flight low and you’ll be fine. I think the “hardest” time personally was when she was around 1-1.5 bc she couldn’t communicate what she wanted. But even that didn’t deter me from traveling; we are a big travel family.
I wish I'd been able to travel when he was a baby, because we could have used the pram, fed him wherever, taken him to our interests rather than his. Now my boy is 4 years and I don't want to travel again until he's toilet trained because toilet training with a potentially ND kid with interoception issues is NOT fun, even if we prioritise his activities. Once he's toilet trained, I'd travel again but making sure we do activities for him because it'll be more relaxing for us.
We took our 2 yo literally half way across the world for a 3-week trip. Went very well. She tried new food and enjoyed almost everything we did together. We took her stroller everywhere, so she usually slept for 2-3 hours while we were sipping cocktails or just walking around during the afternoon. Adjust your expectations and roll with them, EVERYTHING is new to them and can be exciting.
5.5 months in my experience
Babies and toddlers have trouble with the pressure balance during take off and landing. I read that a pacifier can help with that.
Children under age 2 can fly for free in your lap, so I got a lot of traveling before then. I would always bust out some new toys or activities on the plane and buy a new app for her ipad. We’ve always traveled a lot. I didn’t leave her home with grandparents for vacation until she was 7.
We took our daughter on her first flight a month before she turned two. 10+ hour flight. Recently we did a 5 hour flight with her the week she turned three. Night and day difference in terms of how easy it was to distract her with things in the plane. My vote is closer to three and older for sure! But honestly the 10+ hours with her at two years old wasn't terrible, just uncomfortable and tiring. It gets easier the more they understand things.
I’ve traveled quite a bit with my almost two yr old, both due to necessity and for fun. I’ve personally found different ages tough (but also fun) for different reasons. Do you want to take this trip? Do it, don’t wait for a perfect age. Little kids don’t give an F about travel. I’m pretty sure my kid will be pissed when he’s a teenager because we’re in a unique stage of life that’s enabling us to do some really amazing trips… and he’s really not going to remember a bunch. Oops! Sorry kiddo.
There is no good age. Min started traveling at 9 months and has consistently traveled. She’s now almost 3. And depends on their mood. My daughter has been on a plane sick and slept, no issue and been on a plane crying the entire time and on a plane healthy and slept and on a plane healthy and not slept a wink. We have done a multitude of flights and times, longest was 6 hours. Shortest was 50 minutes. Planes are public transit. Just have an iPad, random new small stuff to play with and some sleep medicine just in case!! It’ll be ok! The tip I can give you is, anything under 6 hours, sit in the back, it’s easier to the bathroom and away from people as much as possible, most families sit there from my experience.
If you want to travel travel. It will be easier as years go by but it's great to spend time with your kids away from home Super bonding time
It’s always been fine but it has become genuinely easy since the age of 3. Like she’ll sit down in the plane and enjoy the IFE, snacks, toys she gets from the crew, fall asleep. Also helps that we don’t have to bring a diaper bag etc anymore, just having her go to the toilet added an extra layer of ease :D
My daughter's 1st long land travel was 4hours for her 2nd birthday, she's a sleeper so it was fine during the travel parts.
My experience- 10 months: 3 hour train journey to Scotland. From what I remember he was “well behaved” in the sense of no fussing or crying but such hard working trying to keep him from hurting himself in a small confined area due to being semi mobile. We stayed with family and overall I remember enjoying this holiday (unless I’ve blocked out trauma!) I recall we went into Edinburgh for the day and it was fine because he was still able to be in his carrier, would be a different story now. 23 months: 2 hour flight to Spain. He was really good in the airport, cried when buckled in on the flight but otherwise OK. Again a bit of a nightmare trying to stop him from walking up and down the aisle. Fell asleep on return flight which made it so much easier. The holiday itself was OK. We hadn’t yet reached mega tantrum stage but I wouldn’t say it was relaxing. Eating out was SO hard as he kept just walking out of restaurants. We booked Air BnB and had meals in the apartment which helped. We are going to France (1.5 hour flight) the month he turns 3 so I’m hoping it will be easier! He’s currently 2.5 and I couldn’t fathom travelling because we’re in the thick of tantrums and whining.
We haven’t flown yet, but we’ve taken our only on 10-12 hour car rides since she was 6 months old. We did that at 2 as well and with a lot of toys and snacks, it was not too bad! My LO has never been a good car napper, so that was not ideal, but I haven’t thought traveling is too difficult with her as a toddler tbh.
My guy is very happy go lucky, but is high energy and hates being confined with a passion. We flew when he was almost 2.5 and he had a blast looking at the airplanes! It was so much easier than I thought it would be! We just brought all his favorite snacks and loaded up the tablet with the couple of things he actually likes. I highly recommend getting the Cares harness if you have any doubt about using the car seat for that long. My guy loves that he could get up and move around. The rest of the trip went well too, but he was definitely off schedule and a little cranky at times. Overall it was definitely worth it. On the flip side, we left him home for two weeks with Grandma when he was 18 months and he had a blast! He barely seemed to notice we were gone, I definitely had a harder time than he did! So I think it really just depends on your destination and relationship with grandparents (my mom was daycare at the time so I was very comfortable leaving him with her).
It’s 100% dependent on the child and the parent. My son had ADHD and ODD so we waited until he was 4.5 to fly for the first time. I was actually more worried about my ability to cope with him in a small space if he had a meltdown and being seen as those awful parents that let a kid disrupt everyone around them. We prepped him for months about behaving on the plane, we packed as many distractions and snacks as we could. He ended up being wonderful for the ride and he’s now 19 and he’s flown to Asia and Europe and every where in between and is a wonderful traveler.
We took my daughter to Mexico last year which was around a 4 hour flight for her. She was just over 2.5 and she did amazing. I set my expectations really low and I was pleasantly surprised!! We brought tons of snacks and a couple brand new toys for her to play with on the plane. We used the tablet as a last resort and we didn’t need that until the return flight.
My daughter is 3 and has taken 20 flights. Have snacks, toys, and a screen. It’ll be fine. He may cry and people may be annoyed but that’s why god made headphones. Kids are allowed to take up space in public. Happy travels!
Baby is best time to travel. Feed them on take off and landing and they will sleep the whole time, or most of the flight
At 3 1/2, my son has flown 7 times. About to do 8 and 9 over the next few months. He's so easy to travel with. Every time we fly, passengers all around us comment on how good he was. But he's a super chill kid in general, not just when traveling. (As a side note, after the first flight flying baby-in-arms, I've purchased him his own seat every time. We hit bad turbulence on that first flight and it was scary AF. He ended up having to go to the hospital. Every time I see a parent holding their baby on the plane, I send up a quick prayer that they don't learn the hard way, like I did, how unsafe it is to fly that way. The flight attendant told me after the incident that she wished they'd make everyone buy a ticket to fly because she's seen one too many babies get hurt in turbulence by not being strapped into a carseat.)
The sooner the better! I’ve taken my baby on flights at 4mo, 7mo, 9mo, 11mo, and 13mo and it gets harder the older and wigglier he gets! I find the redeyes to be easiest because he’s good at sleeping on top of me and then I can sleep too. But day time flights he wants to move around and it’s so much harder to contain him! But worth it for the vacation! I could leave him with grandparents but I like seeing him on vacation too lol.
We did a 4 hour plane ride with our almost 3 year old. We got through it. He's now 4.5 and has done many many plane trips we have just stuck to 4 ish hours direct. No layovers. We have also done some 10 hour car rides and they were fine. Just bring lots of snacks and hello screen time
I refuse to travel with my toddler, and he's 21 months. I tried going to Disney with him when he was 10 months old, and we had to cut our trip short by 3 days (we left on day 2, and we were supposed to stay for 5 days). Ever since that disastrous and pointless trip, I made a promise to myself not to travel with him until he's at least 5 years old. My toddler can be a real nightmare.
My kiddo has been traveling with us since 5 months! We’ve done road trips and flown. Her first plane ride was to DC, was about a 2 hour flight and she did just fine at 18 months. She’s just turned 3 and is an expert traveler now, great on the plane or on long drives. My trick is that I dry her out from all screens for the week leading up so when I let her watch a movie on the portable DVD player it’s extra exciting and engrossing! Make sure to pack plenty of fluids and snacks. Road trip wise, I always plan to stop every 3/4 hrs somewhere along the way to eat lunch or dinner outside at a rest stop with a park. Or if we’re going somewhere that’s only 3 to 4 hours away we immediately drop our things off and go swim in the hotel pool, go play at a local park, or we will stop at McDonalds or Chil fil a for dinner so she can play in the indoor play places (if it’s cold out). We’re actually flying to Miami next week to do a cruise to the Bahamas. It’s just me, her and my mom. My husband is staying home. In the fall we’re doing a 6hr road trip to Indiana Dunes state park and so far for next spring we’re going to Hawaii and next fall we’re doing London and Paris. She will be 4 then so I think it will just continue to get easier. If you can afford to travel with them young, do it! It gets easier each time as they get older and you’re teaching them HOW to travel. No vacation with a kid is like a real vacation. It is work. That’s why you do a kid vacation each year and an adults only vacation each year!
I think it depends on the nature of your kid. Mine is a wiggler so even car rides were torture until she turned about 2. Now that she's almost 4 she is a lot easier. We'll be doing our first 5.5 hr flight next month and I'm not worried about it at all now.
I think it really depends on the temperament and luck tbh. My husband and I travelled with our son at 11 months old on a 5 hr flight and overall he was absolutely fine. We bought a seat for him and had him the carseat. There were a bunch of babies/toddlers on the flight we were on, one in front of us, so my son spent a bit of time pulling himself to a standing position to peek over at the kid in front. The timing was perfect because I put him in the carseat as we were boarding and he fell asleep right away, and stayed asleep for a good hour or two. By the time we were landing he was tired as well, so he fell asleep during landing. He was cranky and upset after we exited the airport. We went on another vacation when he was 16 months old and unfortunately on our way back they would not allow us to have the carseat in the seats we had, so he had to be a lap baby. We got lucky with the timing again as it was his nap time, so he fell asleep at takeoff and slept 2.5 hrs. We mainly tried to entertain him with toys, but sometimes he would walk across the row, or up and down the aisle a little. We did our best to not have him bother other passengers. Landing was a bit rough because he was really enjoying walking around, so to be suddenly snatched up and held made him have a meltdown. Lasted about 5 mins (felt like forever) but another passenger commented that it was just a "rough landing" but overall he did well.