Travelling Internationally with a Toddler

Travelling with a toddler is no joke.  I didn't expect it to be easy but yeah it can be a lot of work.  Add in the traditional traveler fatigue and yeah it's a lot.  I'm no expert by any means (this wasn't our first international flight with Mara but our first long haul) but I thought I'd jot down a few of my thoughts for future reference.

1. Travel as light as possible

Yeah this seems difficult to do.  Kids require a lot of stuff.  There's the stroller and the carrier.  Wait do they have their own seat on the plane?  Yes so there's the car seat.  Add in the diaper bag and all the little toys and snacks to keep them entertained... Oh did you forget yourself.  You mean you actually need things for yourself.  We had the max bags per person for this flight and it was rough.  I really wish I had pictures of us lugging this stuff through the airports and onto the planes.  We got so many looks.  Is it possible to travel lighter probably.  In the future I will be taking the bare minimum on the plane!

2. If possible get children under 2 their own seat

I know plane tickets are expensive especially the long international ones but Mara having her own seat was gold.  When she fell asleep I could put her in her car seat and sleep myself.  The car seat even made a surprisingly comfortable pillow in a pinch!

3. Pack snacks.  Lots of snacks.

Sometimes it's really hard to find toddler approved food on the airplane and in the airports.  Mara really isn't a picky eater but turned up her nose at most of what was given to her.  We tried to order the kids menu on the plane but even that isn't available on all airlines.  I just tried to keep a stash of her favorites and not think too much about her eating an entire bag of gold fish for a meal.

4. Double team that

If possible fly with two adults.  I know we only have Mara right now but it was indispensable to have us both traveling together.  Not only could we manage the bags together but we could take turns being with Mara while the other cat napped or grabbed something to eat.

5. Get on the time zone as quickly as possible

This one is hard especially with a little one.  They don't understand why they need to sleep but aren't tired.  Our flight got in early morning and we went straight to bed till about noon.  We probably should have stayed up a bit but in the end it worked out.  The first few nights Mara woke at about midnight hungry.  We just tried to roll with it.  We all got up, ate and went back to bed.  Melatonin became our friend.