Classically Abby - How To Fly With A Toddler WITH NO SCREEN TIME!

00:00:00.000 I just flew with a toddler without using any screen time, and I'm here to tell you how you

00:00:06.100 can do it too. Okay, here's the truth. I'm not an expert. I haven't flown a million times with kids

00:00:12.780 or have had success in a bunch of different ways, but I did just fly with my toddler and we had

00:00:19.760 kind of a complicated travel day, and he did amazing, and we used no screens. So I thought

00:00:26.280 I would share with you guys a few tips and tricks that I used and share with you how we were able

00:00:31.780 to have a really easy, successful travel day without resorting to any screens. Now what I will

00:00:38.040 say, there is kind of a caveat, which is that we never use screens. We don't do screen time really

00:00:43.740 ever, so it's not like we're dependent on them generally, and it's not like my son is used to

00:00:48.980 having screen time, so he would crave it if we were flying. But we were considering before we did this

00:00:55.460 flight, maybe giving him some of his first screen time on the plane if things got out of control.

00:01:01.680 But we really tried to avoid it. We came up with a bunch of different ideas to make this a successful

00:01:06.800 flight, and it worked. So I really want to share what we did with you all, and I want you to leave

00:01:12.100 a comment down below if you have any tips and tricks that you have used in the past so that we can all

00:01:17.180 benefit from each other's knowledge. I apologize if the sound on this video is a little weird. I'm using

00:01:22.340 a different mic in a different setup. I am currently traveling. As I mentioned, we are not at home. So if

00:01:27.640 the sound is a little off, that's why that's the issue. As well, if you aren't already subscribed to my

00:01:33.820 channel, I would love if you would consider subscribing. It's absolutely free, and you'll get a ton more

00:01:38.020 motherhood and lifestyle content. Okay, so let's just hop right in with my first tip, and that is try if you

00:01:46.380 can to get in a full or at least a good nap. So our flight was at two o'clock in the afternoon. My son

00:01:54.420 takes one nap a day, usually at 11.15 and till about 1.30. So this was not going to happen. We were not

00:02:01.100 going to get a full two-hour nap in because we would have to be going through the security line

00:02:05.400 at that point, but I knew I really wanted to try to get in some form of a good solid nap before our

00:02:11.540 flight. So we actually decided to drive to the airport about an hour before we had to get there

00:02:16.780 so that he could fall asleep in the car, and then we could drive around until we needed to be at the

00:02:22.100 airport. That gave him a solid hour nap. Now, he does better with two or two and a half hours. That's

00:02:28.040 really what's standard for him, but even just getting a full hour nap in made a huge difference for the

00:02:33.860 rest of the day because he didn't have an exhaustion about him. He wasn't just overtired and struggling.

00:02:39.800 So with that one-hour nap, if you can fit in a nap, whether it be at the airport, maybe it means

00:02:45.840 you have to walk around with the stroller for an hour before your flight, whatever you have to do

00:02:50.520 to get in that nap, do it because it will make a difference if your child is rested. Number two is

00:02:57.320 put your toddler in comfortable clothes. I know it's kind of obvious, but I did want to mention it.

00:03:02.560 I think it can be easy to just throw on a pair of pants and a shirt, and that's okay. We actually put

00:03:08.220 him in kind of a romper, and that was just really comfortable for him. He was in just really soft

00:03:13.440 cotton, and he could move around easily. So choose an outfit that is comfortable for your baby. And as

00:03:18.860 an additional tip, choose something that's comfortable for you because you are going to be

00:03:22.800 on your feet or just dealing with a squirming toddler the whole day. Okay, number three is a trick

00:03:30.140 that I saw online that we definitely used, and our son really enjoyed it. So basically what you're going

00:03:36.220 to do is you're going to find a bead box or a box that you would use for fishing or maybe even a pill

00:03:42.080 box, and you're going to empty that out and put in a bunch of small snacks so that snack hunting

00:03:49.620 becomes the game. Your toddler will love being able to pick items out of each box because, at least for

00:03:57.140 us, our son is very interested right now in containers and in putting things into other things. And so

00:04:03.220 having snacks each in its own little container was just a really entertaining way for him to both eat

00:04:08.240 and have a distraction. And we could kind of pull that out, put it away, pull that out, put it away

00:04:13.600 as needed. We used that in the airport. We also used that on the plane. We've used it even just

00:04:19.220 driving from place to place while we are on vacation. On top of that, make sure you just bring

00:04:24.700 a million different snacks because food and offering a bunch of different foods is part of the fun.

00:04:31.660 Having just a lot of different kinds of things to eat means that your baby's constantly interested

00:04:37.340 in looking at something different. So we brought Cheerios, we brought pretzels, we brought tea

00:04:40.820 crackers, we brought chips, we brought apples, we brought snack packs, we brought a lot of different

00:04:47.000 things. Just be okay that your child is not going to be eating very healthy that day. It's just too

00:04:52.820 difficult to try to get like a really nutritious meal, especially if you're trying to distract your

00:04:58.720 child so you don't have to use screen time. That means you're going to be using a lot of

00:05:02.220 different foods. Now, of course, you can find some, you know, a healthy alternative to pretzels

00:05:06.920 at the store. So you can find something like that. Maybe that would work for you. But just

00:05:10.920 it means you're going to be doing a lot of snacks and that's okay because you're doing the best

00:05:15.240 you can. And the truth is your baby eats healthy probably most of the time. And for one day for them

00:05:20.660 to have a treat while they're flying, I think is absolutely fine. Number four is buy a bag

00:05:26.940 and fill it with new toys and then only pull out each toy once they're done with the first one.

00:05:33.680 So I went to Dollar Tree, I bought a bunch of toys and I just stuffed that in a bag with a zipper and

00:05:39.040 I had my son reach his hand in, pull something out, okay, you found a new toy and now we're going to

00:05:43.560 play with that for a while. And that gave him a lot of time of entertainment because he was playing

00:05:48.400 with different toys, seeing things he's never seen before, enjoying them, and then also doing that

00:05:53.740 container thing again. What's inside this container? Let's see if I can pull it out.

00:05:57.580 Let's see if I can put it back. And just buying cheap things that you don't mind if you lose

00:06:01.960 because you're on a plane, you're probably going to drop something at some point. And just being okay

00:06:06.500 with that, probably throwing them out when you get to your destination, but it's just a bunch of

00:06:11.520 interesting things for your toddler to be entertained by. Number five is something that I didn't do,

00:06:17.860 but I was reminded of it when I arrived. And that is, if you want to do this, because I'm sure this

00:06:23.180 would take a bit of time, is get a bunch of little boxes, put little toys inside, because this is an

00:06:30.060 alternative to the bag idea, and actually wrap them. Toddlers love ripping into wrapping paper.

00:06:36.120 That in and of itself is a game. So if you wrap a bunch of little presents and then open them up and

00:06:42.540 there's things inside, or just wrap the toy itself, then it will give them something to do before

00:06:48.800 actually playing with the toy. So that's another option. Number six is walk around the plane. You're

00:06:54.160 definitely going to need to let your baby get his wiggles out. So take him up and down the aisles, 1.00

00:06:59.380 allow him to walk up and down. We didn't do a ton of this because our son is super extroverted and

00:07:04.160 loves people and bothers them. So we did that a little bit, but eventually we needed to stop just

00:07:09.000 because we didn't want to bother the other patrons. But even just going up and down the aisle once or

00:07:13.220 twice is very helpful. Speaking of getting the wiggles out, number seven is something that I

00:07:17.620 should have mentioned earlier, but that is to get the wiggles out in the airport. Make sure that you

00:07:22.720 let your child run around as much as possible and get tired of moving by the time you get on the plane.

00:07:28.980 Again, this means a lot of exercise for you, but it will pay off because it means that your baby isn't

00:07:35.180 struggling to sit down, isn't getting annoyed at you, that they have to be, you know, immobile for as

00:07:40.720 long as they're going to be immobile. So make sure that you let them run around the airport and get

00:07:46.640 those, get that energy out. Number eight is once you're on the plane, let them look at other people.

00:07:52.100 My son stood on my lap, looked over my shoulder at the people behind us and thought that was the

00:07:56.420 funniest thing. And that entertained him for a good long while, letting him look at the people in the

00:08:01.180 aisle and just saying hi to everyone. That was very entertaining for him. So just allowing your baby

00:08:06.860 to kind of see what's around so that they can take it all in. It's a new environment, something they've

00:08:11.480 never been in before probably, or maybe not as often, and they are taking a look at what's surrounding

00:08:16.820 them. Number nine is one of the most important ones, and that is just be totally present. I know

00:08:23.700 we all struggle with being on our phones. I get it. I've been there. I still struggle with it

00:08:28.220 sometimes. This is not the time to deal with that struggle. Put your phone away. You have to be all

00:08:34.820 in with your child. And that's really going to make the difference between your child having a

00:08:39.060 good day, a good travel day, being a good sport, and not. Because they will love just spending time

00:08:46.240 with you. The fact that you are spending your time with them, the fact that you are giving them

00:08:50.980 your full attention, that is going to make the biggest difference. So when we were on the plane,

00:08:56.820 we only focused on each other and on him. And that was what we did. And he had a great time

00:09:02.060 because he was getting to spend time with his parents totally uninterrupted. And that brings

00:09:06.480 me to number 10, which is, if you can, bring your spouse. Flying alone with a toddler, I can't imagine

00:09:13.380 that would be easy. I think it would be really difficult. And having my husband with me made all

00:09:18.760 the difference. Just having that extra set of hands, having that other person who cares as much

00:09:22.180 about your child as you do, who wants to take care of them, who is going to also be incredibly

00:09:27.600 involved. It's exhausting doing this, even when you have both parents involved. But doing it on

00:09:32.940 your own would be really, really hard. So bring your spouse if you can, bring your husband if you can,

00:09:37.520 so that the two of you can invest as much attention as you can into your baby. And again,

00:09:41.520 your baby's just going to be happy to be with you guys. That's what we found. And it really made a

00:09:46.460 huge difference. Editing Abby here. I forgot to mention one of the best tips, which is to bring

00:09:51.780 painter's tape. Toddlers love peeling painter's tape off of everything. So stick it on everything

00:09:57.520 and let them pull it off. It's super fun for them. And it's also just great to bring painter's

00:10:02.260 tape because it's a useful tool. You can use it to like sort of baby proof things. You can use it to

00:10:07.360 cover outlets for your smaller children. It's useful to have, but painter's tape, really good tip.

00:10:13.220 So those are my 10 tips and tricks for traveling with a toddler without using any screen time. We

00:10:19.000 had an amazing travel day. Honestly, it was really fun and our son had a great time. And I

00:10:24.520 think if you take these tips and tricks with you, it might work for you too. So let me know in the

00:10:29.020 comments down below what you guys think. I hope you'll subscribe and check out my sub stack if

00:10:34.100 you're interested in more exclusive content. And I'll see you guys in my next video. Bye!

00:10:43.220 Bye!

Classically Abby - June 29, 2023

How To Fly With A Toddler WITH NO SCREEN TIME!

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