How to survive a 15 hour flight with a 15 month old

Flying with a toddler domestically? My thoughts and prayers go out to you.

Flying with a toddler internationally? Allow me to send all of the thoughts, prayers, good vibes, and good juju to you. Peace be with you! May the Force be with you!

While living abroad has it’s perks, I would argue that having to fly over 12 hours to get home isn’t one of them. When the holidays come around, it’s easy to say, “You know, let’s just stay home this year.” But after a while, that gets lonely.

Last Christmas, my baby was only 3 months old, and I was still tired AF after giving birth (I really didn’t feel “normal” 3 months after.) But this year, after doing a few flights and being homesick during the holidays, we decided it was best to go back to Connecticut for Christmas.

I recently did an international flight by myself with Xavier. One would think that Hong Kong to New York with a partner would be a better sitch than flying alone with a toddler… but for 15+ hours of travel? And to complicate things more, this 15 month old is a wiggle worm that loves his routine.

One option was to have Xavier take some Benadryl so he could sleep, but after doing some research I decided against it. So, how did I survive?

Well, there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to handling long haul flights with a toddler. But, here are a few tips I’ve picked up from my first-hand experience.

Avoid flying on the busiest days of the year

If you can, book your flight at least a week before the holiday, and your return flight at least a few days after the holiday. It’ll be less stressful as you won’t have to deal with overwhelming crowds at the airport, and if you’re lucky, your flight may not be full. This means you can take up an extra seat or two and spread your stuff around, because let’s face it – babies require a lot of sh!t.

Get the seat with the bassinet

Extra space means a more expensive ticket, and I understand that this may not be feasible for many families. But if you’re not buying baby their own seat, this would be your next best option.

I did a long haul flight in economy without the bassinet when Xavier was 4 months old, and that was HARD. This time around, my husband treated me to Cathay Pacific’s Premium Economy, and the bassinet seat had good leg room – perfect for Xavier to climb and play around in.

Let baby play a lot before boarding

If your airport is nice enough to have a play area for children, take advantage of it. Hong Kong International Airport has a nice play area between gates 23 and 25 in Terminal 1, and that was money for us. After experiencing the freedom to crawl around and play with the other kids, Xavier was so tired that he fell asleep right as we boarded the plane. (Then again, waking him up at 4:30 AM for our 9:30 AM flight could’ve been the real reason.)

Screen time is good

Throw your screen time concerns out the window. If your baby is fascinated with TV or your mobile device, let them have it. It’s worth it for the peace and quiet! And if that doesn’t work…

Let baby crawl or walk up and down the aisles

My baby isn’t interested in tablets yet, which I think is a blessing and a curse. As he can’t sit still for more than an hour, but isn’t walking yet (getting close, though!) I had no choice but to let him crawl up and down the aisles of the plane. Not ideal, I know. Trust me, I washed his hands as often as I could. I also kept telling myself that he should just be exposed to germs anyway – better for his immune system. Letting him crawl was better than letting him cry!

And, as I’m writing this almost a week after our flight, I can confirm that he didn’t get sick. I hope I don’t jinx it!

Make friends with the flight attendants

If baby is fussy, it might be worth taking them to the back and having them chat with the flight attendants. The Cathay Pacific crew were genuinely nice to Xavier. They even offered him a kid’s toy from their secret stash!

Chatting up the flight attendants is also a good opportunity to get brownie points from them, so when you need assistance they’ll be happy to help you.

I hope at least one of these tips are useful to you! If you have any more, feel free to leave them in the comments below. Here’s to many more safe and pleasant journeys!