Tips for flying with twins

I just wanted to list some tips that I found after flying with my two boys over Thanksgiving. We flew from South Florida to Connecticut. We were there from Thursday through Monday. Below is info that worked well for us:

- Book seats across the aisle from each other. I had booked the middle and the aisle seats for my husband and I and we held the boys on our laps. The plane that we took had three seats on each side of the aisle. There are only four oxygen masks on each side of the aisle so they would not allow three adults and two babies in the same row. They had to do some rearranging to accommodate us.

- Dress babies in comfy clothes without shoes. I read somewhere that they make babies take off their shoes. Not worth the effort...just put them in socks.

- Give them a dose of Infant Tylenol. This is going to be a really long day for them and it can help keep them a bit more comfortable.

- Check car seats with bases. We wrapped a bungee cord around the car seats and the bases so they wouldn't get separated.

- Pack two large suitcases and check them. Because the car seats counted as two of the four bags that we were allowed to check, we could only check two more suitcases, so we made them big ones.

- Use curbside check in. We splurged and used curbside check in to get rid of the car seats and the large suitcases ASAP.

- Use one double stroller. My husband would have loved to use two single strollers so we could maneuver more easily and split up for walks to pass the time in the airport, but there were not enough adult hands to push a SmartCart of luggage plus two single strollers, so we went with the double stroller. You can wheel the double stroller right down to the door of the airplane and do a gate-side check in and the stroller is waiting for you right as you get off of the plane. Note that they will make you collapse the double stroller and put it through the x-ray screener.

- Pack 24 hours worth of formula, in case you get delayed. I packed filled bottles of formula for the feedings that I knew that we would definitely have to do while traveling. I packed a small ice pack to keep them cold. Then I packed enough of the little 8 oz cans of Enfamil to get us through 24 hours. I planned to rinse out the used bottles if needed and pour the cans of Enfamil into the rinsed bottles. I skipped cereal and veggies and just fed them formula until we arrived at our destination.

- Pack two diaper bags rather than one huge one. If you and your husband get separated on the plane, at least you will have what you need to make it through.

- Pack in the diaper bag: Clean outfits, burp cloths, receiving blankets, toys, diapers, wipes, Desitin, pacifiers, bottles with formula, small cans of Enfamil, Infant Tylenol, Baby Orajel, saline drops for noses.

- Dress yourself in comfortable clothes. Consider bringing an over layer that you can put on over your shirt when you get spit up upon at 27,000 feet.

- Pull out all of your formula, meds, ice packs, and baby food at security and put them in a separate gray bin. We had 8 gray bins in total .

- Divide and conquer...each of you should be in charge of one baby to get through security. You must carry the baby in your arms through the metal detector.

- Buy one large cup of coffee at the airport instead of two small ones. This frees up one more adult hand .

- Try to time your feedings so that they match the assent or decent. Otherwise use a pacifier to help them with ear pressure.

- Rental car...after you collect your checked luggage, one of you should stay behind and watch the babies and luggage while the other one gets the rental car. Then the person driving the rental car swings back and picks up the other adult, the babies, and the luggage who are waiting at baggage claim. When you book your rental car reservation, only put one person's name on the reservation so that both of you don't need to be there to pick up the rental car.

- Send a grocery list ahead of time, and be specific. We arrived on Thanksgiving day, so I knew that all of the Walmarts and grocery stores were closed. I emailed my mom a grocery list of: diapers, wipes, formula (2 kinds), rice cereal, veggies, and Desitin. I also copied and pasted photos of each of the items that I needed from other websites (OK, a little over the top, but it really helped specifying that she buy Stage 1 rather than Stage 2 veggies). My mom hadn't purchased baby products (or gone down the baby aisle in the grocery store) in over 25 years, so she said that the pictures really helped her be sure that she was buying the right stuff.

Safe travels!!!

 

I just wanted to list some tips that I found after flying with my two boys over Thanksgiving. We flew from South Florida to Connecticut. We were there from Thursday through Monday. Below is info that worked well for us:

- Book seats across the aisle from each other. I had booked the middle and the aisle seats for my husband and I and we held the boys on our laps. The plane that we took had three seats on each side of the aisle. There are only four oxygen masks on each side of the aisle so they would not allow three adults and two babies in the same row. They had to do some rearranging to accommodate us.

- Dress babies in comfy clothes without shoes. I read somewhere that they make babies take off their shoes. Not worth the effort...just put them in socks.

- Give them a dose of Infant Tylenol. This is going to be a really long day for them and it can help keep them a bit more comfortable.

- Check car seats with bases. We wrapped a bungee cord around the car seats and the bases so they wouldn't get separated.

- Pack two large suitcases and check them. Because the car seats counted as two of the four bags that we were allowed to check, we could only check two more suitcases, so we made them big ones.

- Use curbside check in. We splurged and used curbside check in to get rid of the car seats and the large suitcases ASAP.

- Use one double stroller. My husband would have loved to use two single strollers so we could maneuver more easily and split up for walks to pass the time in the airport, but there were not enough adult hands to push a SmartCart of luggage plus two single strollers, so we went with the double stroller. You can wheel the double stroller right down to the door of the airplane and do a gate-side check in and the stroller is waiting for you right as you get off of the plane. Note that they will make you collapse the double stroller and put it through the x-ray screener.

- Pack 24 hours worth of formula, in case you get delayed. I packed filled bottles of formula for the feedings that I knew that we would definitely have to do while traveling. I packed a small ice pack to keep them cold. Then I packed enough of the little 8 oz cans of Enfamil to get us through 24 hours. I planned to rinse out the used bottles if needed and pour the cans of Enfamil into the rinsed bottles. I skipped cereal and veggies and just fed them formula until we arrived at our destination.

- Pack two diaper bags rather than one huge one. If you and your husband get separated on the plane, at least you will have what you need to make it through.

- Pack in the diaper bag: Clean outfits, burp cloths, receiving blankets, toys, diapers, wipes, Desitin, pacifiers, bottles with formula, small cans of Enfamil, Infant Tylenol, Baby Orajel, saline drops for noses.

- Dress yourself in comfortable clothes. Consider bringing an over layer that you can put on over your shirt when you get spit up upon at 27,000 feet.

- Pull out all of your formula, meds, ice packs, and baby food at security and put them in a separate gray bin. We had 8 gray bins in total .

- Divide and conquer...each of you should be in charge of one baby to get through security. You must carry the baby in your arms through the metal detector.

- Buy one large cup of coffee at the airport instead of two small ones. This frees up one more adult hand .

- Try to time your feedings so that they match the assent or decent. Otherwise use a pacifier to help them with ear pressure.

- Rental car...after you collect your checked luggage, one of you should stay behind and watch the babies and luggage while the other one gets the rental car. Then the person driving the rental car swings back and picks up the other adult, the babies, and the luggage who are waiting at baggage claim. When you book your rental car reservation, only put one person's name on the reservation so that both of you don't need to be there to pick up the rental car.

- Send a grocery list ahead of time, and be specific. We arrived on Thanksgiving day, so I knew that all of the Walmarts and grocery stores were closed. I emailed my mom a grocery list of: diapers, wipes, formula (2 kinds), rice cereal, veggies, and Desitin. I also copied and pasted photos of each of the items that I needed from other websites (OK, a little over the top, but it really helped specifying that she buy Stage 1 rather than Stage 2 veggies). My mom hadn't purchased baby products (or gone down the baby aisle in the grocery store) in over 25 years, so she said that the pictures really helped her be sure that she was buying the right stuff.

Safe travels!!!

 

Thanks so much for sharing. Those are great tips. I'm glad your trip went smoothly!

 

Thanks for the tips. We are flying to Disney World on Saturday and are a bit nervous about it.


quote:
Pull out all of your formula, meds, ice packs, and baby food at security and put them in a separate gray bin. We had 8 gray bins in total .


Does anyone know if we can take basically a carryon bag full of formula and babyfood for 7 days and 2 babies? We will not have a car down there so I am hoping to take it all with us. I don't want to pack it in my luggage for fear it would get dented or broken.

 

Great list!! Now I just need hints for flying by myself with 2 infants and a toddler in January!!!!!!
Good thing to know for flying in the future about the o2 masks in the 3 seater per side!

 

Wow, what a great list! We just finished flying the twins out to see the inlaws, and yeesh, was there a lot to organize just to get through the airport!
One addition--for those that don't want to carry ready made formula, we used the plastic one-shot formula bags made by (I think) First Years. I premeasured the dry formula for each bottle into each bag, and then just pulled out a bag when it was time for the next bottle. Worked fairly well.
Oh, and the pacifier for ascent/descent is a must-have. If you're bfeeding, I found that nursing worked really well too for keeping the little guys comfortable (with the added bonus that they were well-fed!).

 

This is great!!! You should save it to a word document or something and use it for the many threads that come along through the year!!

Threads eventually get purged after they move down so far....just FYI! I think this is really good!! Thanks!

 

This is fantastic!! Does anyone have any suggestions for doing a 30 hour trip with 10 month olds?? Ill be travelling to Australia with my boys next May and am looking for any suggestions you may have....TIA

 

I am flying to Australia in just over a week. GULP!!! Scared but excited. I will let you all know how it goes when I get back in late January (my Dad's computer is ancient, dial up and slow as anything) . This list rocks. I am going to cut and paste and review in a few days. I thought there were restrictions on the amount of liquid you could take? Sounds like you had no problems.

 

Thanks for the compliments! I spent a lot of time thinking about how to manage this, so I'm happy to share .

I actually went to the TSA website and printed out a hard copy of their rules so I could bring them with me and refer to them if they tried to give me any issues .

The info on the TSA website says "To ensure the health and welfare of certain air travelers there are no limits on the amounts of the following liquids, gels and aerosols you may carry through a security checkpoint:
- Baby formula and breast milk if a baby or small child is traveling..."

This info is posted on their site at:
http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtravel/pro...ited-items.shtm

Summerfun (Amy) PMed about bringing 7 days worth of formula as a carry-on. According to the TSA website, this should be OK. I offered her two other suggestions that I figured I would share with the group:
- Carry-on the formulat that you will need for that day and then order the formula online and have it delivered to the hotel so it is waiting for you at the hotel when you arrive. Websites like www.1800diapers.com and www.cvs.com allow you to order formula.
- Call the hotel ahead of time and explain your situation and see if they have any suggestions. Ask if the hotel provides a courtesy shuttle that will bring you to a local grocery store or hire a taxi to take you from the hotel to a local grocery store.