The Smith Family Circus

Now you may hear “oh man you have your hands full” when you are out and about doing normal things. Just think about what people say when you are flying with the twins and a toddler. I had so many eyes on me it was insane. Number one tip: BE AWARE OF YOUR SURROUNDINGS. Never EVER take your eyes off of your kids while in an airport.

So these are going to be my tips for traveling with multiple kids.

• When you are buying your tickets, even though you might be traveling with your spouse; BUY TICKETS FOR ALL THE KIDS. I understand that you are saving money by having kids sit in your lap, but no one can relax with 10-35lbs sitting on you. Babies normally sleep in their car seats right? When your driving in a car they normally sleep? Same thing for planes. Instead of trying to figure out who is holding who or anything. Just buy all the kids seats. Mind you, southwest you can have 2free checked bag PER TICKET! So we had 4big bags and two carry ons(our back packs).
• A couple days(3-5days)before your trip you want to make sure you pack everything you need; OBVIOUSLY!
• The day before your trip, pack your diaper bag with these items: pacifier’s(they are a must), bottles, two extra outfits PER KID, a tablet(for the older kiddos or for you), car seats, stroller, chargers/charger cubes, snacks, formula(if the babies are on formula), hand held pump if needed, a empty large water jug(mine was a hydrojug), diapers and a new pack of baby wipes. If traveling with a older child, they can have their own back pack with a toy, iPad, blanket, and headphones.
• Make sure if you have a connecting flight, that’s when the babies would/should eat. Because after they eat, they should sleep. Now if you have a long layover; right after a flight and right before the next flight they should eat.
• ASK FOR HELP! Make sure to ask the gate attendant if there is a way to get help while boarding. While we were waiting for our connecting flights, I had other moms want to help me. That was so sweet, but there are crazy people out there. Don’t leave your babies out of your sight.

• Before and after flights check list: check diapers, make new bottles, have pacifiers ready, make sure other kids use the bathroom, and make sure you have snacks!
• When boarding(if you do decide to buy seats for the babies)when you get to the end of the sky bridge, fold up the stroller and make sure you have a valet tag on your stroller. They will take it and put it in the bin for pick up at your destination(or each connection). Oh and make sure you check in all your bags except your diaper bag.

When taking off and landing, bottles or pacifiers are a MUST! Their little ears have never experienced the “popping” sensation so it will be sore. So them sucking on a pacifier or bottle will help tremendously!

When we got on our first flight, there were some pretty insensitive, immature, small minded people. The flight attendant saw the tears in my eyes and booted those people(3 guys)off the plane. The second flight, we had the same issue and those people were told that they should apologize to me. That was a group of men again complaining and started by saying “I hope everyone has headphones”. You have to keep strong. I will tell you this, I had 2 flights with the twins BY MYSELF with our 3yr old daughter. The best airline to travel with for families is Southwest Airlines. They were so worried that the babies would be crying and freaking out that at the end of each flight, they all were amazed. The only thing that wasn’t ideal was that if there wasn’t such nice people that sat with my daughter, i don’t know what I would have done. Since each side was 3 seats; Madison(our 3yr old) sat with older couple the first flight and made INSTANT friends with them. And the second flight she sat with a newly wed couple going on their honeymoon. They loved her! They offered their snacks to her and always checked with me ti make sure it was ok. Madison shared her iPad with them(watched sing 2).

Since we didn’t need to rent a car, my husband was already down here and had my car so I left the car seat bases in it. So that is one element that I’m not sure of.

This was all while it was just my toddler, twins and I. You got this!