Christmas Travel: Getting Through the Airport

You've checked in your suitcases and made it through security, coming through with all your children and carry-ons intact.  If you're late for your plane, all the better!  Rush for your plane without having to worry about how to corral wiggly children in a very large, very public building.

But what if you're early?  Or worse, what if you have a long layover or two en route?  Ugh.  There are things you can do to make this most difficult (for me) part of travel a lot less stressful.  Traveling alone with children as much as I have, I've developed some "interesting" methods for getting through the airport, often at high speed with enormous amounts of carry-on luggage.

1.  Travel with a stroller.  Almost anything but an umbrella stroller works beautifully.  My youngest will be four and a bit the next time we fly; he WILL be in a stroller.  A stroller is much more than a place to securely store a child. 

*The basket underneath can hold a minimum of two backpacks; I usually manage three.

*Loop the shoulder strap of your laptop over the stroller handle, and, if you've got a nylon strap (see #2 below), you can also tie a fourth backpack to the stroller handle.

*Traveling with a car seat?  Turn it upside down over the handle of the stroller.  This one requires some finessing, and it won't work with all car seats or strollers, but it's definitely worth a serious try!  (One caution:  this tends to make the stroller top heavy and it could tip over -- with kid inside -- if you let go of the handle.  I know; it's happened to all three of my kids!)

*In a pinch, on a sturdy stroller, you can put the youngest in the stroller and the next youngest on top of the canopy -- this shortens the life of the stroller, but does that matter when you've got three terminals to cover in the five minutes before your flight departs and you really need to run at adult speed?

*Or, put the second youngest in the stroller, lean it way back, and put the littlest in the older child's lap.  Obviously, this won't work with infants or large children, but I've made it work with a six- and a three-year-old!

My typical stroller load -- for a normal, one-child, Graco stroller -- looks like this:  two kids, four backpacks, a laptop, a purse, and a car seat.  The only thing not in the stroller is my eight-year-old.  We can make serious speed with this configuration!

2.  Have you found that nylon strap with a loop sewn in one end?  I mentioned it in the "How to Pack" section.  Here are just some of the things you can do with it.  Place the strap over the handle or frame and pull the loose end through the loop, and it's securely tied to the stroller.  With the free end:

a.  Use it to tie a backpack, other bag, or car seat to the handle of your stroller or on a luggage cart.

b.  Use it to tie a child to the stroller or to you!

c.  Or, have any walking children hold a strap, or part of a strap that's connected to the stroller, and make a train.  This encourages 'sticking together' and 'moving quickly,' two important concepts to master in an airport.

d.  Run the free end of the strap through all the handles of your carry-ons while you're waiting at the gate (make sure the strap is also attached to your stroller), and tie it securely.  This makes it impossible for anyone to make off with any of your bags, giving you a bit of extra freedom and lowering your stress level.

e.  Often, when I'm traveling alone, I have too many things to push (luggage cart and stroller) and not enough adult hands.  I use my trusty nylon strap to tie the bar at the front of the stroller to the back of the luggage cart.  Believe it or not, the stroller will follow obediently in line.  Or, slightly older children can be encouraged to help "push" or guide the stroller (while connected); that way you know where that child is too.

f.  Or the strap can just be tied to the front of the stroller and it can be pulled that way -- either by an energetic older child who needs exercise, or by mom if the older child wants to push.

3.  If you have any freedom in choosing which airports your layovers are in, do some research ahead of time to find one with either a children's play area (as in the wonderful, marvelous, I-love-it Minneapolis airport) or a "family room".  Not many people know about family rooms; all the better, that means they're often deserted.  They usually have at least a crib, often a bathroom and sometimes a rocking chair or a few toys.  They're small, safe, secure areas where your kids can decompress or lie down for a while during a layover.  I love them, but not all airports have them.  Newark airport, for example, does not.  Houston International airport has a couple.  Check on-line for a map of the airport when you're making reservations; there's usually a "family" looking icon to denote a family room (mom, dad, kid holding hands).  Just don't confuse these with the family bathrooms!!

4.  If you have to layover in a place where there's no family room, and you really need a quiet place to decompress a while, my slightly heretical suggestion is to go to the airport chapel (Newark airport does have a nice chapel!).  MAKE SURE IT'S DESERTED BEFORE MOVING YOUR FAMILY IN TO QUIETLY DECOMPRESS!!!  Please do NOT disturb anyone at worship!  Chapels, naturally, require a slightly different etiquette than do family rooms, but with a bit of common sense, kindness, and respect on your part, a chapel can provide a real haven for your family, and, if your trip has been particularly hectic, it's as good a place as any to pray those prayers that the storm lets up and the de-icer continues to work!

5.  Last but not least:  if you have to eat in the airport, do that first.  It always takes longer than you think it will!  For our extremely picky eaters, we've also found that airport fast food is usually much more palatable than airplane food, so we make a point of feeding our kids at the airport if we haven't been able to pack them a lunch.

6.  Above all, stay calm.  Even if your four-year-old has just thrown up on you, the oldest is lying on the floor asleep, the baby is caterwauling and you have to cover roughly the distance of the New York Marathon in 15 minutes.  I've learned the hard way that if I break down or lose my temper, so does everyone else.  I'm an adult; I'll pull myself together eventually and realize we need to move on.  Jet-lagged four-year-olds do not have this ability and will not pull themselves together until well after the plane has left the terminal!