So let me start by saying that yesterday was the worst day of my life. Part of me is thankful that I haven’t had worse things happen, but then the other part of me is still traumatized from it all. Can I just say something that seems obvious? I’m going to because it screwed us over big time. Always research airline policies. You don’t wan’t to pay $25 for your bags on the way out and have to pay $270 on the way home. Yep, that was us, I thought my husband was going to have an aneurysm. Then our flight was delayed for 20 minutes, that turned into 3 hours. The best part was we were told after the 20 minutes that the problem was fixed and they were completing paperwork, so the paperwork lasted 2 and a half hours I guess. Hilarious. My poor sleep deprived child was having meltdown after meltdown in the airport. Then they lost our car seat. Our car seat you guys! Meaning that we couldn’t leave the airport with our child. I just can’t even think about it all again because I might go into pre-term labor. I did compile a list for you guys of do’s and don’t I learned on our trip, so I’ll stop complaining and share those.

5 Do’s & Don’ts When Traveling with a Toddler

• DO have a way to restrain your child while in the airport, no matter how well they usual listen. We used our Ergo 360 and strapped Elouise to Daddy’s back.
• DON’T show up the “suggested amount of time” before your flight, get there earlier. With all the extra baby items your are lugging and then checking in, the process may take a while longer than usual. You don’t want to be sprinting to your terminal as the plane is boarding, yes I did that and then couldn’t move for an hour. Then we were delayed 3 hours, so it was all for nothing. Dumb.
• DO have a variety of options in your diaper bag to entertain your kiddo, I’m talking Mary Poppins status. Elouise was super into a few of the things I but needed variety, especially when we had three hours to kill while we were delayed.
• DON’T rely on snack foods to keep your kiddo full during the flight, fill that belly up good either right before you get to the airport or in the terminal before boarding. On the way to WA we did not do this and ended paying an arm and a leg for a dumb little snack pack that Elouise hated, so she ate about 10 bags of free mini pretzels. On the way home we didn’t even get water for free, let alone snacks so thankfully I had gotten her food in the terminal during the delay.
• DO have a fully charged electronic device with pre-downloaded shows or movies for your kiddo to watch. Believe me, its the only thing that saved us during that delay.

Those are just a few of the things that we picked up during our short trip to and from Washington. Traveling with a toddler is seriously tough, and traveling at 32 weeks pregnant is no cake walk either. Luckily I got to watch one of my oldest and dearest friends marry the man of her dreams, so it was all worth it.