How to travel with a toddler by yourself
I just completed an international flight with my 14 month old BY MYSELF a few hours ago.
Flying from Manila to Hong Kong in the middle of the Christmas season was a lot for me to handle. And yes, the end of November is the middle of Christmas in the Philippines, considering they start celebrating Christmas as early as September!
Manila traffic during Christmas is no joke. What normally is a 20 minute drive can become a 1 hour 45 minute commute. Not ideal when you have a wiggle worm who’s impatient because they’re hungry and traffic is at a standstill.
Making my 8:30 AM flight meant leaving at 5:30 AM and hoping for minimal traffic. And although NAIA (the main airport in MNL) is no longer the worst in the world, it still isn’t a walk in the park, either. The baggage screening at the entrance had long lines at 6 AM, and the air con still left much to be desired.
To say I’m exhausted is an understatement, but in the spirit of trying to blog bi-weekly I figured this would be a great subject to write about.
To be honest, I do not recommend flying on your own with a baby at this age. But sometimes things happen and you have no choice.
I always try to travel lightly, so I only brought the following with me through security:
- Baby
- Umbrella stroller
- Baby carrier
- A backpack diaper bag
The diaper bag had the usual stuff I normally bring, with the exception of a spare outfit, enough diapers to last 1.5 days, plus a tablet loaded with toddler games.
The following are intangibles but highly recommended:
- Thoughts and prayers / good juju (if you don’t have any family or friends to help with this, I will gladly send good vibes your way)
- All of the patience
- A little bit of luck
In the week before flying solo, I mentally prepared myself for the inevitable stress. I made sure to get a lot of rest, and I just kept telling myself to remain calm and not lose it because being frustrated will not make the situation any better.
Here are some other tips, in no particular order, that can help you survive:
- Kill everyone with kindness. Seriously. From airline staff, to immigration, to the fast food employees, to your fellow passengers. Avoid acting like you should be entitled because you have a baby. If you remain cheerful towards others despite your little one’s meltdown, more often than not they will be compassionate towards you. And speaking of meltdowns…
- Expect meltdowns at the most inopportune times. This is why you mentally prepare yourself. Just accept it will happen and continue to remain calm. Be as loving as you can towards your little one, even if they’re inconsolable. They will stop crying… eventually.
- Buy food for yourself that doesn’t require utensils (and that you can preferably eat with one hand.) This would apply to you if your baby is like mine – gets fussy in his stroller while waiting for me to eat. As sit-down food establishments are not an option for me at this time, buying finger food was the compromise that helped us both.
- Give baby something to chew during takeoff/landing if they’re no longer nursing or don’t take pacifiers. I learned this one the hard way. When flying to Manila, my baby was fine on takeoff, but during landing he was inconsolable in the last 15 minutes. We knew it had to be his ears as the moment we touched the ground, he stopped crying and acted as if nothing happened. As I was worried this would happen again flying back to Hong Kong, I made sure to feed Xavier a soft, chewy pastry. Worked like a charm!
Next up – how to survive a 15+ hour flight with your toddler. Because Hong Kong to New York is happening for Christmas and I’m pretty sure the experience will age me 5 years!