DO: Pack snack bags for each kid and adults. My sister had the idea for the kids' bags. I had just brought stuff we could toss in one of the carry ons. She already had bags started for each kid with their names on them. Since each kid has preferences, it came in handy to have their names on them. Here's what were in the kids' bags: graham crackers, fruit pouches (Go Gos, Smashems, etc.), fruit roll ups, fruit snacks, raisins, Goldfish crackers, Crackerfuls. Things that were relatively compact and easy to manage. Adults had similar items, plus Twizzlers. Don't forget to pack cups with lids for the kids (with or without beverage in them - TSA will let you through with them, but they will test the contents).
DO: Remember any medicines you might need for you AND the kids. Both the toddlers were on antibiotics the whole trip and their meds needed to be kept cold. We packed a soft cooler with ice packs and their meds and a baggie full of clean medicine dispensers. Yes, TSA needed to check their meds, but that was fine by me. We also brought along sinus meds for adults (air pressure can wreck havoc on sinuses!) and Children's Tylenol for the kids, just in case. My sister also brought Dramamine.
DON'T: Get on the plane hungry! Your snacks will be gone before you know it!
DO: Put the kids in similar/matching shirts. This was my idea for the trip home. While in Oregon, we went to the Portland Children's Museum. The day we went happened to be tie-dye day, so we let each of the kids make a shirt. I thought it would be cute if they all wore them on the trip home. Well, let me tell you, it was quite nice to be able to look up and do a quick tie-dyed head count!
DO: Pack extra t-shirt and pants for each kid (and at least a shirt for yourself!). My sister saved my butt on this one because I didn't pack extra bottoms for my youngest, but she had packed extras for her oldest. Both little ones had unfortunate diaper incidents before getting on the plane at 6:00 am. Which leads me to the next DON'T:
DON'T: Book a 6:00 am flight! Yes, we saved some money. Yes, we got to Portland with a lot of daylight left. But, we were an exhausted, hungry, virtually decaffeinated group of parents with 4 kids under the age of 8 who were able to nap at various points of the trip (never all at once!) and have energy to spare once we landed. Granted: they were as well behaved as we could have asked them to be under the circumstances, but still...okay, so really it was the parents who had a harder time with it.
DO: Try to get seats together at the back of the plane! This worked wonderfully for us! We were as out of the way as we could be, next to the bathrooms and near flight attendants should we need anything quickly. The older two sat together and kept each other occupied, while the younger two sat with me and my sister or brother-in-law (whoever my nephew wanted at the moment). Since planes don't go 4 seats across (my daughter was still a "lap baby" at just under 2 years, so that worked out well for us), my husband got a seat in the row directly in front of us (he's not a huge fan of flying so he really tries to get a window seat). This was helpful because he was close enough to us that I could hand our daughter over the seat to him if I needed a break or she needed a change of scenery.
DO: Pack books, DVD players/laptops/iPads with movies, small toys, crayons and coloring books, as well as a sweater for everyone. Pack a camera (either on your phone or an actual camera) to capture wonderful moments such as these (Note: only climb up into overhead bins, visit the cockpit and explore the galley with your flight attendant's permission!):
DON'T: Expect there to be room in the lavatory to help your little ones go "potty". Unfortunately, some airlines have bathrooms the size of a nickle, and there's no room to help your little one navigate getting pants down, sitting etc. You may just have to change some diapers while they stand up on the toilet seat, or change them at your seat if they can't stand up (i.e. infants. Our airplane did not have a handy changing table in the lavatory, like some other planes I've been on do).
DO: Bring your own car seats! Unless you have seats waiting for you at your destination, bring your own car seats! The car rental company wanted to charge us $65 a seat for the week we were in town! Highway robbery! For that price, we could have bought new seats when we got there. It was worth carrying our own seats to the check in counter and having them checked. It does not count against your luggage count and they are free to check at the counter or the gate. At least with our airline it was. Check with your airline before going.
DO: Spend the few dollars it might cost for those luggage carts at the airport. You may not want to, but when trying to wrangle toddlers, you need all the hands you can get. Get a cart, stack your luggage and car seats and have one person push that while others takes kiddos' hands and/or strollers.
DO: Bring a stroller if you have toddlers. Especially if yours has a storage basket under the seat. If you have a couple of kiddos, have the youngest in the seat and the other holding onto the stroller, or walking next to it.
DO: Give older kids jobs, like holding hands of younger children or pulling a rolling suitcase. Our 7 1/2 year old was very helpful when it came to walking through the terminals - he held hands with his cousins and little sister, gladly carried his little sister's carry on, loved pushing the stroller - he loved being useful.
DO: Make sure you have enough time between flights, if you have a layover. I prefer at least an hour and a half between flights to give everyone a chance to stretch their legs, use the restroom, get a bite to eat and have time to get to the gate on time. Rushing kids is no picnic. On our flight out to Oregon, our plane landed, but we did not have a plane change. There was only 1/2 hour between other people disembarking and new passengers boarding, so my sister and I sent the husbands off for snacks, and we stayed on the plane with the kids. I feared for mine and my sister's sanities. Fortunately, we had an AWESOME flight attendant who let us play on the plane while we waited. She was patient, inventive and fun (see above shenanigans pictures). We will never forget Flight Attendant Kate!
DO: Have fun! Yes, it was stressful at times, but on the whole, we had good flights!
There you have it! I hope our experiences from flying this summer with multiple children are helpful to your future flying adventures. It was certainly helpful that we had one-on-one coverage, but well thought out and planned flights can be fun and successful, even if you run into some turbulence on the way. Bon Voyage!
