Traveling with Twins

We are planning a trip to California this summer and our twins will be 6 and a half months. DH and I are kind of freaked out about flying and are wondering is it alright at that age to take them? How do you manage security? Should we buy them seats or have them in lap? My DS is a refluxer big time and I am not sure if things will start getting better by that time. He is on Prevacid and is a fussy eater. I am sure that will make things more difficult. How can you warm up milk on the go, at the airport or on the plane? We are thinking about going for 6 weeks, will that totally screw up their somewhat of a schedule they have now by being in a new place (i.e. DD is finally starting to sleep through the night, more nights than not). Is that too long of a time?

Sorry for such a disconnect in the questions. There are just too many that I have. Any advice or suggestions or information on traveling with twins will be much appreciated.

 

I just got back from a trip with my 4 month old twins. Security was a pain, but my double snap and go stroller did fit in the x-ray thingy. I found it useful to have a front pack when boarding the plane, as then one of you can hold both babies while the other person stores the carry-on luggage. Unfortunately, they only have enough oxygen masks for one lap baby in a row, so if you want to sit together you will have to buy at least one seat for the babies. Or, you could get seats across the aisle from one another, but if you get stuck on one of the smaller commuter planes, some of them only have the extra oxygen mask on the right side of the plane. Everyone was more than happy to help us, though. And at 4 months the babies didn't mind being held by the flight attendants or the passenger sitting next to us if we needed help. I don't know if your babies have stranger anxiety or not. As for the sleeping, I took my eldest when she was 7 months old on a one month business trip with me (my mom came with). She did great with a portacrib, but then ended up sleeping in that afterwards when we came back home. She didn't want to go back in her real crib.

 

Our twins first plane trip was at 6 months, they did great. We had them in the bjorns and they let us take them through security like that. It was very simple. We did not buy seats for them, but we were just going from new york to chicago, so a 2 hour flight. We were across the aisle from each other which was fine. We didn't take any baby gear (stroller, car seat, etc), we just rented car seats with the car. We took powdered formula and bought water at room temperature once we got through security to make bottles on the plane. We are heading to charlotte this month and hope it goes equally well. I see you are in charlotte for a trip from charlotte to california, I might buy one seat for the kids. That is a long time to each have to hold a baby. Good luck! I am sure you will do great.

 

We are about the same age and do formula either cold or at room temperature. They do fine with it. So you can buy those individual bottles of formula that you just open, pop a nipple/ring on and serve. Or you can take powder formula in those formula dispensers and just mix when they are ready to eat.

I would take mine right now--I actually think it is a good age to fly since they are not eating every 2 hours but also not walking yet. I would definitely buy them seats though--not only is it much safer if you encounter turbulence, but having to hold a baby for that entire flight is going to be tough. You won't be able to sleep or do anything but sit and hold.

 

We are planning an international flight in Dec. By then our twins will be 7 months. Hopefully we are not being too optimistic.
We always travel with a starbuck thermos in our diaper bag. We filled up the bottles about two third of the quantity we need then pour in hot water from the thermos. We like to keep the formula a little on the warm side.
Good luck!

 

Yes - you should definitley go now. It only gets harder to fly as they get older. I think the 9-18 month time period is the worst. We flew a lot with DS1, but I probably will pause flying with these two after 6 months. If you can afford it, definitely buy a seat for one of the babies so you can install a car seat. That way, one baby can be sleeping in a car seat while one of you entertains the other one and the other person can get things out of the diaper bag. Like PP said, be aware that you cannot have two lap children in the same row. Confirm your seats before your flight so there are no last minute surprises. The double snap n go was awesome for traveling. I made sure that we could fit our carryons in the basket. That way, one person toted our suitcases and the other pushed the stroller with all the carryons in it. The time change thing stinks, but since you are going for 6 weeks the babies should adjust quickly. My first always had a really hard time with going West (would wake up at 3am for an entire week), but did ok with going east. Good luck and have fun!

 

alright at that age to take them?
That's a great age, because they are pretty contained and not getting into everything, yet they aren't eating all the time either!
How do you manage security?
We flew with the twins at 10 months, we took our combi double stroller for in the airport, we had to take them out of the stroller, take off shoes and jackets, put the stroller through the scanner or roll it around back for them to wand it down, walk through the scanner, then reassemble everyone afterwards. Pain in the butt, but unfortunately necessary.
Should we buy them seats or have them in lap?
I'm not one for spending what I consider unnecessary money, I wouldn't buy seats for the kids. We flew with our 4 kids, with only 4 seats, from Charlotte to Toronto Ontario, and then across to Regina Saskatchewan. One flight was 2 hrs one was 3.5 hrs. Lots of snacks, toys and a built in tv screen helped pass the time.
How can you warm up milk on the go, at the airport or on the plane?
You can either fix bottles with room temp water and see if they will eat it (mine won't) or ask the flight attendant or someone at one of the airport restaurants to run the bottle in warm water for you. The downfall is someone warmed our bottles too hot and I had to run them under cold water in the water fountain to cool them back down! Just know that if they don't eat good that day, they'll get back on track the next, one day of not eating very good won't hurt them!
We are thinking about going for 6 weeks, will that totally screw up their somewhat of a schedule they have now by being in a new place (i.e. DD is finally starting to sleep through the night, more nights than not). Is that too long of a time?
Regardless of whether you go for 5 days or 6 wks, it's going to disrupt their schedule. Try to keep them on the same schedule and they'll adjust very fast, within a day or two. But don't forget to adjust for time change if it's a big change.

The twins were 10 months old and although they didn't really love flying, they didn't have a problem with it either. Since they were mobile, when we got to the airport we found a quiet corner near our next gate and let them crawl all over the place. It let them stretch their legs out and get their wiggles out, so they weren't so fussy on the plane.

 

We flew with ours at 5 months, and it was so surprisingly easy. However, it was a much shorter trip for us, only about an hour so I am not sure it compares other than the airport issues. For feeding we brought bottled water at room temp and pre-measured formula powder (I have found little snack bags work better than the plastic formula dividers). You can either buy water after you go through security or bring your own and let them know it is for a baby - they'll test it without touching the water. We also brought those 2oz nursers, and TSA almost made me open each one to do the fumes test over the top of the bottle! But I told her it would all go bad an hour after opening, and reminded her that items under 2o do not have to be tested.

One silly trick I use for warming bottles sometimes is putting them against my skin in my bra. I do it with breastmilk when we go to the doctor, so they can have it body temp after a shot (I pump but dont feed from the breast). Don't know if it would work with a whole bottle of formula though...

With my LOs, I was afraid for their ears at take off and landing so I had a bottle ready to give them at each. However, they were totally fine. J was asleep before we even moved both times! D didn't sleep but she was happy as a clam. The roar of the engine is the best sound machine you'll ever buy.

Also you'll be surprised (at least I was) at how much people will want to help you! People are amazed by twins, and always want to help, especially if you're polite about any inconvenience.

We were surprised to find that we were not allowed to sit beside each other, they wouldn't allow more than one infant per row. So I'd be sure that each of you has your own bag with whatever supplies each baby will need.

Oh - and bring lots of antibacterial wipes! Wet Ones makes some good ones, and there are a few other brands that are made for babies/kids. Those and burp clothes, plus a baggie for trash, will help a lot.

Sorry if I repeated pp's suggestions, I wanted to respond quickly while I could. HTH! Good luck & Enjoy!!

 

Thanks ladies for the great advice and tips.

A couple of more questions: Does the Combi twin stroller fit through the xray machine? If we take the 2 oz ready to feed bottles, does TSA make you open them? Would it totally be off the wall to bring a bottle warmer like the Avent and warm up the bottle in the terminal before take off? What else can you do if your LO's don't take the bottle during take off and landing and their ears hurt or they are just crying? My son will take a pacifier, but my daughter won't.

I think, as you suggested, since it is a long flight from Charlotte to California buying at least one seat will be good and that way we all can sit together. Any recommendations as to whether to take a red eye or not or layover or not?

Thanks again! I wish I had all of you with me then I would be 100% confident in traveling.

 

Even if you buy one seat for the babies you may not be able to sit together, you may be across from each other or one behind the other. Some planes only have the extra oxygen mask down one side of the plane, and since you both have an infant, there's only 3 masks to a row of two seats. Some DO have them down both sides, so you'll have to ask when you make your reservation or you can wait and ask when you get your tickets. They were very accomodating for us and helped us work with the other people flying to get our seats arranged to where it was safe.

Our combi fit through the Charlotte xray machine but not toronto or Regina, but it's no big deal they just take it around the side, pat it down, wave the wand over it, and toronto did a swab test on it (just swabbed a gauze pad on it and then ran it through a machine of some kind). About the only stroller smaller is the jeep wrangler side by side umbrella, which may work if you have to buy one since it's cheaper. Also you could take 2 umbrella strollers easily. We preferred the combi because we have 2 older kids to wrangle, so one of us pushed babies and one of us wrangled the big kids.

If you take the small 2 oz bottles and show them the pop top and explain it's formula you shouldn't have a problem. We had no problems going through with water, juice, and sippy cups filled with water/juice, I thought for sure they would test it or make us dump it out, but nope, they just waved it through!

I wouldn't drag the bottle warmer, just go to a restaurant and ask them to run it under hot water or give you their largest coffee cup about half full of hot water. It takes about 10 mins to warm up a cold bottle, less for a room temp bottle.

As for ears, we just used paci's for my babies, all you can do is take a paci along to try with your dd, she may take it if she realizes it helps her ears. Or try a bottle. It may not even bother them, it depends!

I would recommend a layover, chances are you won't get a flight without one anyways. I'll also recommend for shooting for about a 1.5-2 hr layover. Less than 1 hr means you will likely be RUNNING to your next flight, and quite possibly miss it if there are any delays, and more than 2 hrs makes for a long day for mom and dad! The babies will probably have a ball and sleep on the plane!

 

We took our first, and only thus far, trip on a plane when the boys were nine months old. We left for the airport at 12pm on a Monday-and got to our destination, at 12pm-on Tuesday. We flew to Italy. It was not a fun trip-but had nothing to do with the kids. Our flight from Boston was delayed. Due to that delay, we missed our flight in Rome...and had to wait a good six hours in the Rome airport, until another flight to our final destination.

We didn't buy seats for the boys. I didn't want to spend the money, as it's not cheap. But-we also had MIL and SIL on the plane with us. And on the way home, we had dh's cousin and his wife-so plenty of people to pass a baby to.

Security: DH and I each had a child. We had two single strollers-so just wheeled them through and was much easier than having a double stroller. Not sure if you could get some single strollers? We didn't want our bigger stroller to get ruined, so we bought cheap ones at BRU.

Feeding: I honestly can't remember what we did for bottles! I am thinking I had already filled their bottles with water-hot water before I left the house, and then had the formula premeasured.

Length of stay: I think that is fine. We went for just under three weeks-and they were fine. It was a HUGE adjustment for me though. My boys went to bed at 7pm. Every.single.night. They had a certain naptime everyday. I wasn't horrible to the schedule, but it was pretty darn close on a regular basis. In Italy? If they were in bed by 11pm-it was a miracle. Add to that-they were up at 7am-everyday, with no real nap....It was a horribly long day-for basically just dh and I, eventhough we were surrounded by family! But they adjusted really well to everything. We would take them in the car for naps during the day, so that helped.

My biggest piece of advice-is to have NO expectations. Because if you do, and things don't go as planned, you'll be disappointed. I had no expectations-and the boys were WONDERFUL(minus Nicholas getting car sick on the way to the airport...). Eventhough we were traveling for 24 hours straight, they were still good. And one had JUST started crawling before we left, and the other crawled a few days before we came back.

We brought lots of snacks, toys, books, etc. They may surprise you. There is so much to see on an airplane with people, noises, etc... they might be entertained!

In any case-go and have a great time! And good luck!

 

I have flown twice with my twins (at nearly 4 months and at 10 months) on 9 hour flights. My boys have been great both times. The first time was easy as they were so small that we could just hold them, the second time was more challenging as they were moving around a little more. The flight was very full, so as we hadn't bought a ticket for them we had to hold them on our laps, and they were quite wriggly. I made sure I had lots of snacks, and I had bought new books and toys that they hadn't seen before, so these kept the boys amused. There were also lots of things to look at, and people were quite happy to talk to them, so they had lots of things to do.

We carried them through the airport in our ergo carriers, and checked our stroller in with the luggage. We had to take them out at security and put the carriers through the scanner, but it was easier than having a stroller. Our guys sleep well in the ergo too, so when it was time to nap, we put the ergo on and walked up and down the aisle of the plane, and bingo, sleeping babies.

One flight we were seated next to a guy who had been a flight attendant for 30 years. He said that he could tell as soon as a family walked on board how the kids would behave, as parents who were relaxed had well behaved kids and those parents who were stressed out made their kids stressed out and they behaved badly. So try to stay relaxed - don't worry if they make noise as the plane noise blocks out a lot of the noise of crying babies.