Five Tips for Traveling with a Toddler

1. Stock your carry-on with LOTS of diapers, wipes, changes of clothing (both for Baby and you - you don't want to fly around the world in a shirt that has hmmm... smelly stains on it!). These are items you don't want to run out of.

2. When buying the ticket, confirming the flight, checking in, ask for the bulkhead seats. Then ask again. However, what we learned is that seating is actually decided on the plane! We have been given awful seats despite our requests on the phone and on the ground at the airport, then thanks to some wonderful attendants, we were moved to cool seats or given an extra seat on the plane.

3. Take LOTS of interesting, small, non-messy and relatively quiet toys. Put them in zip-lock bags or wrap them up separately and present them one by one to your Munchkin. Legos, books, play dough, and Daddy's earplugs have proved very entertaining for O. Also, a combination of his old and loved toys and a bunch of new ones works the best. Just don't spend hundreds of dollars on this project - borrow from a friend! (Thanks, Debbie Lemmon! :)

4. Snacks, snacks, and more snacks! There are no "mealtimes" on the plane for our family. Just snack away! Our strategy is to give Oliver goldfish one by one - the more time it takes, the better! They do give you food on the plane, but little kids typically don't get a separate meal; and by the time take off, security presentations, etcetera are done, your toddler may lose patience, which is the last thing you want to happen!

5. Last but not least at all: PRAY! We are always anxious about flying with Oliver, but somehow the Lord provides for us, whether it is an extra seat, a wonderful stewardess, or a long nap for Baby O! :) This last trip I had prayed that there would be other kids on the plane so they would entertain each other, share toys, etc. Guess what? We were seated next to a Bosnian lady whose younger son was 4 days younger than Oliver! Talk about answered prayer!