Flying/Traveling with 3 kids 5 & under and special needs, too!

Lists

The biggest thing I’ve found is lists. I brake the lists into bags. To get the FREE list, shop below. You can plug in your family’s names, number of items, and so on.

Packing Prep

Practicing

We had the kids practice using their headphones, carrying their backpack, and Nolan went to the Wings for Autism event to prepare. Practicing and prepping really helps kids feel more confident in what they are doing. If you are introducing some new concepts (for us it was headphones) practice before so it isn’t a lot of new stuff on the big day. (also if you are doing new toys to keep their interest on the plane, unpackage them before hand. You don’t want garbage or the time to do it on the plane or in the airport.

Unpacking

I took our diaper bag and made sure to remove everything from every pocket. I didn’t want liquids hanging around to stall the security process. I unpacked the whole bag and put any liquids in there we needed in the diaper bag liquid bag.

Setting up the electronics

I knew we would be in airplane mode on the plane and I didn’t know if we would have free wifi in the airports so I made a folder of all our apps they can do that work in airplane mode and indicated it with an airplane icon. Then I didn’t have to keep saying, no not that game, that one doesn’t work, sorry we don’t have internet to make it work. It worked very smooth.

Printing tickets

You can check in as early as 24 hours before your flight leaves. We checked in online, printed the tickets at home and then cut and taped them all to 2 sheets of paper. Then they can just scan down the line. Security and the airline LOVED it and we needed 2 pieces of paper instead of 5. SO NICE.

Carry on Packing

Originally I had planned on each person having a back pack plus the diaper bag (since this was allowed by our airline). This proved difficult when one of the kids couldn’t carry their backpack because of weight, and then the diaper bag being an extra bag, there was one time when boarding I was wearing Bryce, wearing my backpack, wearing the diaper bag backpack on one shoulder, and then my hands on Nolans shoulders in front of me. I got stuck and had to stop Nolan and re-situate . The way home we drastically reduced.

What I recommend:

• Have a bag for each child able to carry their own bag – make sure it light enough for them to carry.
• When a diaper bag is involved, have a parent combine their things into the other parent’s or the diaper bag so it is not an “extra” bag.

Diaper Bag

The diaper bag was our go to bag. It held all the “emergency” materials. We had the Easy Baby Travelers and this helped so much! I felt very organized and found everything SO easily.

In the kid’s bags

On the way there we were over packed. On the way home, we narrowed down what we had based on what they used. In the end, what we needed was:

• iPads
• Headphones
• Starburst (for chewing at take off and landing-taken out of the food bag once through security)
• small sensory bag for Nolan
• a book for Stella
• a rattle for Bryce

Wrist straps were great to keep the kids in our reach. There we handles for adult size and kid size. The go around the wrist and then you can hold hands with the kids or attach it to something so they cannot stray too far. We weren’t sure if we would need it for Stella, assumed we would need for Nolan. It was really great for Nolan. He could move about but not get too far. He even had the freedom to play in his body sock still. It was a life saver.

Security

Guidelines require all liquids to be 3.4 oz or less and fit into a quart sized bag. Though a regular quart bag would work, I find the reusable TSA approved ones to be more sturdy and a shape that fits more. They also stay zipped better. TSA requires the quart sized bag to be pulled from carry on and placed in a bin. Food needs to be pulled out to go in its own bin as well. All electronics larger than a cell phone must be pulled into a bin as well. Shoes (adults) must also be removed. We also had to remove our baby wipes as well. If you have baby formula, ice packs (BRING THE FROZEN KIND NOT THE GEL KIND), and medications larger than 3.4 oz, these can be brought but are subject to more substantial scanning.

What I recommend:

• Have all liquids in the parents bags and condense as small as possible (we had one in mom’s and one in diaper bag)
• Have all the food on one grocery bag in one person’s bag
• Each kid has their own iPad, pull that out and place their backpack on the belt (make sure to tell your child they will get the bag and iPad back to avoid tearful panic we had)
• We kept the baby wipes on the outside pocket so they could be tossed in a big and then back in the diaper bag easily.
• We had ice packs on some of our medication larger than 3.4 oz. We made sure to announce the icepack and that it was the frozen solid kind not the gel. This was in the diaper bag as well.

For tickets and identification, I had the kids birth certificates in an envelope with our return address stamped on it so if the envelope got lost it was known where to return. I kept this in a hidden pocket of my backpack.

I had a ring sling clutch hooked on my backpack. I had my ID, phone, and all the tickets in there.

TSA Cares

If you {or you have a child with} special needs, contact TSA cares. They work with you to find out what you need and then help you get through security. We notified we had extra liquids, Nolan is a flight risk, and he is impatient. We got assigned a one on one security agent and they helped us get through quickly. It was SUPER helpful.

Mobility-Getting around

Bryce is able to sit in and even sleep in the wagon. This means all 3 kids would fit in the wagon (or a various number of kids and bags). This made our Folding Radio Flyer Wagon our go to. It. Worked. Amazing. We could also strap our diaper bag to it in the airport during the layover/delay and while out and about on our trip. The ONLY thing we would do different, is purchase the wagon that has the canopy next time so our kids would be in the shade out and about (but check the top for the airport). I did call and confirm with my airline they would accept the folding wagon as a stroller and a gate check. We did gate put in a gate check bag to protect and to help it stay together. Though this bag is a carseat bat, it fit the wagon perfectly.

I wore Bryce in the airport, on the plane, and out and about. The Wildbird carrier was amazing. Security (we traveled from EXTREMELY small airports) was willing to let me try to wear him through the metal detectors, but since he was awake and I didn’t want to delay Nolan more, I was willing to just remove him, put my sling through the belt, and carry Bryce through. My wildbird sling was another life saver.

Bathrooms, pull ups, & diapers

Nolan is PETRIFIED of public restrooms. We cannot get him to even go by a door with out panicking and having a meltdown. Bryce is obviously still in diapers. Nolan we had pull ups for and we changed in him standing between me sitting in a chair and the wagon as a barrier. Bryce had a changing pad and I changed him on the floor with the chairs and the wagon as a barrier.

Checked items that were helpful

**We had a very unique situation in which our family traveled to the same place by car. My future sister-in-law actually drove our car with our “checked” luggage and carseats down. We did not actually check any bags or carseats and did not need to rent a car. ** It was an amazing blessing. If checking, Bryce would have had a large checked size suitcase and we would have put the other essentials in his bag. Carseats would have been brought and checked to go in a rental car.

Sleeping essentials: We brought a twin air mattress, his Boston’s Bed Soxs, his weighted blanket, and the air pump. It really aided in sleep. Pack N Play we had delivered to my dad’s house down there and left there. A child cot was brought for our nephew. Sound machine, charging station, extension cord, power strip, and night light were also great tools to have.

• Boppy– Helped me nurse with out a rocking chair and helped Bryce sit up in the wagon. It also made a nice bed in the wagon.
• Carseats
• Activity table (fold/breaks down)

I hope this list is able to help you organize, pack and get on your trip as smoothly as possible! Questions? Ask! I would love to talk to you about our experience to help you get out the door and to your destination as smoothly and stress free as possible!