Parenting at 30,000 Feet: My Best Tips for Flying with Kids
When “Are we there yet?” comes with turbulence
Flying with young kids is always going to be a challenge. No matter how many episodes of Paw Patrol you load up on the iPad, at some point they’ll get tired, bored, or just plain unruly. Since our son was born, we’ve taken at least three round trips a year to visit family and friends across the U.S., so we’ve had plenty of practice. While there’s no magic solution, here are a few tactics we use to keep our sanity intact.
Note: Most of these strategies work best for kids over 2.5 years old. For kids under 2, there’s no sugarcoating it — flying is just going to be rough.
Invest in Good Bluetooth Headphones
or kids under 3, keeping headphones on can be tricky. Even the smallest pairs tend to slip off, but the best option I’ve found is the BuddyPhones Cosmos+. My 4-year-old wears them consistently and understands that’s where the sound comes from. My 2-year-old will wear them occasionally, though they often slide around her head.
The BuddyPhones Cosmos+ offer a few key features that make them ideal for travel:
• Volume Limiting: You can set a maximum volume to protect your kids’ hearing. This works best over Bluetooth — volume limiting is less reliable with wired connections.
• Active Noise Cancelling: This helps block out airplane noise, so they can hear their show clearly even at lower volumes.
If you want to dive deeper into how volume limiting works and recommended volume levels, check out this guide.
Pro Tip
If you or your spouse use AirPods, make sure your kids’ devices aren’t signed into your Apple ID. If they are, you’ll want to bring a backup pair of headphones for yourself. Otherwise, every time you put in your AirPods, they’ll automatically disconnect your kid’s headphones. There’s no reliable way to prevent this — trust me, I’ve tried.
TSA Pre-Check is a Lifesaver
If you travel regularly, you probably know about TSA Pre-Check — but if you haven’t signed up yet, do it before your first trip with kids. The process is simple: a quick in-person appointment, then $80 for five years of convenience.
With TSA Pre-Check, you can:
• Keep Your Shoes On: Normally a small perk, but a game-changer when you’re juggling kids, bags, and possibly a pregnant spouse.
• Leave Electronics in Your Bag: At airports that require separate bins for every device, families can end up with five or more bins. Meanwhile, your toddler is trying to sprint through the metal detector solo — not ideal.
Pre-Check drastically reduces the chaos.
Always Bring a Stroller (Even If Your Kids Don’t Need It)
Even if your kids prefer sprinting through the terminal or sliding across the shiny airport floors (speaking from personal experience), always bring a stroller. Not for the kids — for your stuff.
A stroller is perfect for carrying:
• Backpacks
• Roller bags you can’t manage with only two hands
• Coats, snacks, and everything else you somehow ended up responsible for
If your kids are on the older side, consider a foldable wagon (like this one) or a cheap stroller you won’t mind getting banged up. Don’t worry about size because you’ll always have to gate check it, no matter how compact it folds. On the bright side, that’s one less thing to awkwardly maneuver down the airplane aisle.