surviving an international flight with kids

We’re doing it. In six days we are flying to the south of France with four kids ages 6, 3, and two 14 month olds. This trip has been years in the making and in between “the making” of this trip we went and “made” two more babies. But despite everyone telling us how crazy we are, we decided to finally. do the trip this year. To some it might seem like the most stressful vacation ever. I just call it parenting in a different location.

This isn’t our first trip with all four kids, but it’s our first flight with all four and our first International flight since becoming parents. I have learned a few tricks along the way from past trips and from speaking with others.

There are a few things I am packing to make the flight go as smoothly as possible. Of course there will be some bumps along the way but I am hopeful some of this will help:

water books // inflatable toddler bed // Eye Found It game // Magnetic take away puzzles // kids headphones // dream blanket // mini back pack // tablet // airplane pillow case // spinners for babies // snack dispenser // travel bottle warmer // water bottle //

The biggest form of entertainment for the older two will be their tablets which I have uploaded new games and videos. We love these tablets and cases that we bought last year on Amazon Prime Day for super discounted rate! In addition to the tablets I will secretly pack new Water books, puzzles, coloring books, and card games and will reveal to them sporadically along the way as a new “present” to keep their interests peeked! For the babies I haven’t packed many toys, but these spinners that suction to the seat back tray are always really fun.

The majority of the kids clothing will be in checked luggage bags (which by the way, we bought these airtags to track them in the event that the airline loses are checked luggage) but they will also carry their own little book bags. I love these mini book bags for traveling.

Another key to traveling with kids is snacks, snacks, and more snacks. All four of our kids love to eat and I am happy to ignore all meal time habits and just keep the snacks flowing. I bought a few of these snack dispensers to keep it entertaining as well as organized. These water bottles that have been tried and tested in our home for preventing spills even with the messiest eaters. And this bottle warmer for the 15 month old twins who still drink bottles. I am also still breast feeding so I will definitely be using that to comfort the babies as needed but for daddy and grandma who have the other baby in their laps, a warm bottle of milk might be necessary if and I just want to be prepared in case it’s needed.

For sleeping, someone recommend these inflatable foot rests that turn the seat into a bed for young kids. I ordered two for the older boys. I am also packing Bear’s favorite blanket that he sleeps with every night, although Delta does provide blankets for kids I think he will like someone familiar. The airline also provided pillow but I slipped in two small kids pillow cases just in case the airline pillows aren’t as clean or comfy as we hoped for. As for the twins, we were lucky to reserve two of the airline seat-back bassinets for the twins and we will have bottles for helping them fall fast asleep. Or at least that’s how it goes in my head. We will see how that goes… 🙂

That’s all I have for now. I am sure this will be too much stuff or possibly not enough. The general rule for traveling with kids is always keep your expectations really low and prepare for the worst that way you can never been too disappointed. Wish me luck! xx Priscilla