Little Flyers: Must Haves When Traveling With Kids

(Disclaimer: Parts of this post are sponsored. All images are my own or that of the company in which I’m representing. All thoughts are my own and my honest review of the products. Thank you to Cuddle and Kind, JetKids, LilGadgets, L.L.Bean, and Stuck on You for sponsoring this post! Post contains affiliate links.)

After a doozy of a first trimester, sick kids, sick mama, suddenly the trip that was off in the distance is but a month away! Soon our little flyers will be taking off and I’ve pulled together some must haves when traveling with kids. The list isn’t super long, but each item has a very important function, whether it be for sanity or practicality.

Flying with littles can be stressful, but as a girl who saw her own mama master the international flight with many littles on her own, I have seen what needs to be done and how it needs to happen. I hope sharing these pieces will help ease your worries about traveling with little flyers and allows you to sit back and enjoy an in flight movie!

First up: traveling while pregnant! Before we even get to the attire aspect of flying while pregnant let’s talk health for a second. Flying while pregnant is safe. However, everyone’s personal health varies and while what can be safe for a “standard” pregnancy may not be for someone else. Always check with your OB to make sure that you are medically cleared to fly. Then, check to see if the airline you are flying with has a pregnancy policy. Most airlines will not allow women to fly past a certain weeks gestation, while others simply require a doctors note. Better to check before you arrive at the gate and are told you cannot board. NOBODY wants that!

Now on to the fun part. Flying while pregnant, again while safe, can lead to swelling and leg discomfort from sitting for so long, especially on long haul flights. With compression socks not being my jam, I immediately went on the search for the perfect pair of maternity leggings. The Blanqi Maternity Leggings are by far my favorite leggings! I have two pairs already and have worn them, non stop! They are tighter than your usual leggings around the legs, allowing for slight compression, while allowing your stomach to expand without feeling constricted. They also have built in back and belly support which is ideal for a long day of traveling. This paired with the Blanqi Support Tank – you have one supported mama and bump!

Good walking shoes are super important, but so is a pair one can slip on and off easily going through TSA security and customs checks. The Gola Harriers which I recently shared on my insta stories have become my go to slip ons.

An aspect of flying during the holidays which may be overlooked is packing for the weather, especially if you’re traveling anywhere where it’s cold. If any of you have flown and had Heathrow as a hub, you know that you get a lovely trolly ride to the tarmac and a lovely snot freezing walk to the aircraft. Being as my children and I tend to catch colds like honey catches flies, we will need to be appropriately bundled.

Now here is the tricky part with that – so will every other passenger on your flight. Cabin bins will be filled with carry ons and coats and who wants to run the risk of having to stuff the extra bulk under your seat? Not this mama! So I once again did my research and found the perfect solution to my, must stay warm, but must pack wisely plan.

Meet this lovely little coat family by L.L.Bean!
1. Men’s Ultralight 850 Down Hooded Jacket 2. Ultralight 850 Down Coat, Long 3. Kids’ Ultralight 650 Down Jacket 4. Infants’ and Toddlers’ Ultralight 650 Down Jacket

Bar being incredibly well designed and warm, these coats (with the exception of my own) all fold into their own pocket! This can be easily stored in a carry on bag or even used as a spare pillow! Now did I mind that my coat doesn’t fold? No! Why you may ask? Because mine is also bump friendly with a zipper that also comes up from the bottom allowing for ultimate bump comfort! All of these coats are machine wash and dry –  durable yet lightweight!

Now for our carry on items. Thanks to JetKids the kids each received a BedBox, the coolest in flight invention for little ones! It not only acts as a carry on, with space to hold their own little goodies, like some colored pencils and an activity book from Stuck on You, but they can sit on it and ride it as mom and dad pull them through the airport! “But wait! There’s more!” Once onboard their rideable carry on turns their seat into a bed! Giving them more space to spread out and get comfy! Which as anyone knows, trying to get comfortable on a long haul flight isn’t always easy, then take a little one out of their environment and it can make it even more difficult for them. This allows them to feel more at ease and hopefully sleep during the 7 hour flight!

If you’ve ever flown you know that the headphones provided are not the greatest, nor do they fit little heads all too well. To spare the “mom they keep falling!” meltdown for all around and their own frustration, I did my research and found an amazing brand that creates headphones for kids! LilGadgets has the greatest headphones for little ears. They have a volume cap not allowing little ones to raise the volume too loud, and a they’re collapsable making them easy to travel with! Another cool feature is that you can connect the headphones to each other, so let’s say you have one screen during a layover with only one jack, you can connect the headphones allowing all of your kiddos to listen and enjoy the fun!

We are flying around Christmas and while S has flown once before (at 6 months) this is the first major flight for all three that they can remember. In hopes to make things even more special for them I reached out to my friends at Cuddle and Kind, a brand that donates 10 meals for each doll sold, and they sent over three adorable little travel buddies for the kids! As Santa is going to be delivering the kids gifts to Italy this year, I thought how fun would it be if Santa sent some reindeer to help them in their flight? So in come Elliot and Violet the fawns! My goal is to have a flight attendant help me and sneak these little guys onto the aircraft before we board so that they can be a surprise waiting for them. Magically placed on their seat! Fingers crossed that this mama can pull it off!

Now for the mom bag! The bag that holds it all. There is no need to bring everything but bringing the right things is super important! You want a lightweight bag because something that is already bulky will only weigh more when filled with the essentials.

One necessary essential is the sippy cup! Airline cups are not exactly kid friendly and are asking to get liquids everywhere. So simply pack some of those cheap Take n Toss sippy cups and you can be spared a lot of wet seats and unhappy littles!

I stumbled upon the perfect bag just the other day at Target by JoyLab. It’s super floppy and lightweight, and big enough to fit it all. One of my favorite features is that it has a drawstring and buckle vs a zipper. As someone who knows the “shove it all in the bag we need to GO” rush, buckle closure is a lifesaver.

Next, you want something that can keep all of your important documents together and organized. Traveling with 5 passports and for us also medical papers to prove the need for the kids inhalers, you need something to help you find things quickly. You don’t want to end up in a foreign country down one passport…

I found two great passport holders/wallets. The first a super cute light blue one from Anthropologie that holds up to 7 passports and all other necessary items. The second is one EM found on Amazon. The Zoppen Multi-purpose Rfid Blocking Travel Passport Wallet is a great option for someone who wants a more multi use item. This however only holds one passport, which for us isn’t enough – but I’m debating getting this too only because it can serve as a clutch when out and about in Italy.

On the mom front, and as anyone who has followed me for a while knows, I couldn’t possibly travel long haul without skincare! Airplane air is dry and filled with grossness, leaving my skin dry and yet somehow oily. Being able to remove my makeup, do a quick cleansing and moisturizing routine on board can make a huge difference.

A clear zipper pouch which I picked up from Target, filled with some of my favorite skincare products from TonyMoly, like the makeup remover wipes, cleanser, toner, and moisturizer – will help keep my skin from rebelling like a hormonal teenager.

Pregnant or not, being stuck on a plane for 7 hours isn’t the most comfortable of situations so an amazing neck pillow, and lumbar support pillow are a must have! EM picked up this Cabeau Evolution S3 Travel Pillow from Target the other day and mercy I am converted! I have never liked neck pillows as I find them horribly uncomfortable, but this pillow is amazing! This memory foam pillow has a flat back allowing you to sit upright, AND it attaches to the seat so you don’t bobble around. It then rolls up nicely into its own little pouch for portability.

Now flying with little ones means you need to prepare for all events, which for a mom means bringing meds! However meds can easily surpass the liquid allotments, so find chewable versions! This also means less mess! Win, win! Along with possibly needing meds, packing some lollipops for kids to suck on while taking off can help prevent the ear pain from the pressure change.

Lastly I wanted to share what we are doing stroller wise. Italy is notorious for narrow streets that are far from stroller friendly. So I spent hours reading reviews for different umbrella strollers. We will be brining two because when we are in Italy we walk a LOT, far more than our little ones are used to. Evelyn will be in the carrier, but the boys will need a place to rest their legs as well. However, double strollers are simply too big for many of the doors in Italy as well. So what is our solution, two umbrella strollers and stroller connectors. The clips allow you to join the two strollers but if we need to sneak by a narrow street we simply unclip them and boom, singles! We decided to go with the Summer 3Dlite Convenience Stroller. After reading countless reviews from travel bloggers, but mostly those who took the time to leave amazon reviews, we found that the Summer 3Dlite is the best for what we need. We need sturdy strollers that can handle cobblestone streets, and I’m excited to give these bad boys a whirl!

I know this was a lot of info, but I really hope it helps anyone who may be debating or getting ready to travel with little ones. Traveling with little ones doesn’t have to be an ordeal, it can however be a time to create memories of a fun adventure. So take the time to plan and then enjoy the ride!