Flying With A 3 Year Old – Tips for a Smooth Flight

Flying with a 3 year old soon and wondering how it’s going to go?  We are here to ease your mind and share all our tips.  We’ve flown lots with our daughter when she was a baby, a toddler, and now as a three year old on long-haul flights.  The good news is: traveling with a 3 year old is easier than we expected!

We’ve written many other guides on flying with our daughter, as every age is different.  This guide covers what helped us while flying with our daughter specifically when she was 3 years old.

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Flying with a 3 Year Old

Flying with a 3 Year Old – What to know when purchasing tickets:

1. Purchasing a seat for your 3 year old

The days of free flights are sadly over once your child turns two years old.  When flying with a 3 year old, airlines require you to purchase their own seat at the full fare.  You’ll certainly both be more comfortable with your own seats, anyway.  There are rare occasions when you may be able to get a discounted child fare, such as during special promos with certain airlines like Qatar, British Airways or Southwest, but it’s not the norm.

2. Seat selection

If you don’t want to pay to select your seat in advance, the airline will reserve seats for you to ensure that your child is seated with you.  Each airline is a bit different – some tend to reserve less desirable seats at the back of the plane as the “complimentary pre-selected seats”, others seem to seat families by the wing, and others let you choose your own seat (our recent WestJet flight let us do this)!

It’s also important to note that you won’t be able to sit in the emergency exit row when flying with a child under 15 years old (FAA rules).

What to pack when flying with a 3 year old:

1. Pack essentials in their carry on bag

We found what was “essential” differed when flying with a 3 year old compared to when flying with a toddler.  Snacks used to be a life saver when flying with our toddler, but, while still important, we found that our 3 year old was more into her tablet at this age.   Also, don’t forget a reusable water bottle, and any chargers your 3 year old may need for their tablet and any other devices.

What’s great about flying with a 3 year old is that they are now capable of carrying some of their own things!  Our daughter wore her own backpack, and then we helped her with her carry on luggage.

If you’re looking for the best carry-on bag for a toddler, we highly recommend the JetKids BedBox!  It does triple duty.

Our daughter absolutely loves riding on it and we were able to transit through airports and train stations way faster by pulling her on it!  Not to mention we got lots of smiles and compliments on it.

The bag also comes with cushions and a blanket inside that transform her airplane seat into a miniature bed!  It’s genius and such a lifesaver on long-haul flights.

As for her backpack, she carried a Herschel Kids Heritage Backpack.  This is the same one she uses for preschool and she loves it because it has a sternum support strap, which makes it more comfy for her to wear and keep on.

Packing List for 3 Year Old Carry On Bag

• Tablet
• Tablet Charger
• Foldable Headphones
• Travel Potty Seat
• Wipes
• Hand Sanitizer
• Toothbrush
• Kids Toothpaste
• Hair brush and accessories
• Post It Notes
• Reusable Water Bottle (we bring this one and like it because there is no straw to clean.  It’s easy for our 3 year old to carry and open on her own)
• Power Bank
• Quiet Toy
• Comfort Item
• Change of clothes x2
• Book

2. What to pack in checked luggage

We were Team Carry On Only on all our trips while our daughter was 3 years old, due to the fact that at most of our destinations we were traveling by public transport and didn’t have enough hands to carry more luggage.

However, if you do plan to check luggage, the usual rules apply: pack any larger liquids in your checked luggage, extra clothes, extra pull-ups (if still being used), and whatever else you deem necessary for your particular trip.

Packing list for 3 year old’s suitcase:

• Sunscreen
• Kids Shampoo
• Swimsuit
• Underwear
• Pull ups (if needed)
• Pajamas
• Socks
• Clothes to last the trip
• Extra books

Do I need a car seat for a 3 year old on the plane?

No.  Airlines do not require kids to be seated in a car seat on the airplane, although it is recommended.  You have the choice of checking in your 3 year old’s car seat (for free) or bringing it onto the airplane to use in your 3 year old’s airplane seat.

Depending on the trip, we choose to either check our daughter’s car seat rather than carrying it through the airport and onto the plane, or forego bringing it altogether.  Our daughter has always done well on the plane without it and seems more comfortable just sitting in the regular airplane seat, especially in conjunction with her BedBox.  Just make sure to remember to bring a car seat bag to protect it when you check it in!

There is also the option of buying a CARES restraint system, an FAA certified child harness system specifically made for the airplane that can be used as a car seat alternative.  It is much more portable and easy to carry than a car seat.  We have yet to try it ourselves, however.

Best Stroller for 3 Year Old

Our daughter has long outgrown her stroller days, but it has still been invaluable on our trips!  We have the Babyzen YOYO stroller and we LOVE it.  It is seriously the perfect travel stroller and still the best stroller for a 3 year old!  The YOYO folds up in seconds and fits in the overhead bins of the airplane so it can count as a carry on bag if you don’t want to gate check it.  It has a shoulder strap and carry bag, which makes it super easy to carry through the airport, bus, train etc when not in use.

We recently brought the Babyzen YOYO around Europe where it quickly proved to be the best stroller for 3 year olds – almost everyone we passed on the street had one!  It is so popular in Europe, and we had no issue using it in the city, on the Tube, trains, old historic streets, dirt trails, etc.  With the drastic time change traveling from North America to Europe, our daughter was always falling asleep mid-day.  Having the stroller allowed us to still sightsee while allowing her to get a good rest.  She slept hours in the stroller, while Mom and Dad still got to travel around and check out the city!

What to do at the airport with a 3 year old:

Play Area

We never really noticed all the fun play areas in airports until we started traveling with our daughter!  These play areas are great for occupying a 3 year old until it’s time to board.

Eat

Keep your 3 year old well-fed and happy.  We fortunately have airport lounge access, which our daughter loves taking advantage of.

She loves the unlimited orange juice and snacks. Some lounges have windows where we can sit and watch the planes takeoff – a favourite past-time of our little plane-spotter in the making.

Use the toilet

Before boarding a flight, I make sure to bring my daughter to use the toilet.  I always bring our foldable travel potty seat in my bag so that she is comfortable sitting on any public toilet.

One important thing to note is the toilets in the airport and airplane are very LOUD when they flush.  They freak my daughter out, especially when they are automatic.  One of the best tips I received for flying with a 3 year old was to bring a Post-It note and place it over the sensor on the toilet so that it does not automatically flush while your child is sitting on it.  I always bring these mini Post-Its in my wallet now and they work like a charm!

Boarding the plane with a 3 year old:

Airlines generally allow those traveling with young children to board after priority boarding, before general boarding begins.  Listen to the announcements carefully so you can take advantage of family boarding, if you wish.

We did experience some discrepancies with this depending on the flight, however.  For example, WestJet announced that families with children under 5 could board early, but then on a return flight with WestJet, when we got to the front of the line, they said our 3 year old daughter was too old and could only board early if she was under 2.

How to keep a 3 year old entertained on the airplane:

Sit in the window seat

Our daughter loves sitting in the window seat and looking out.  This is especially helpful during boarding as she is entertained by watching the bag handlers load baggage and all the trucks and carts driving past, and seeing the other airplanes.  She also loves raising the window shade up and down, or pressing the window shade buttons on the 787.

Once up in the air, the window seat is also helpful as she doesn’t get woken up as much by people walking past in the aisle.

Food and a Kids Meal

Food and snacks are a great way to keep your 3 year old happy on the plane.  Our 3 year old is now old enough to appreciate the complimentary drinks and snacks that airlines hand out.  She loves to look through the picture menu and “order” what she likes.

On long-haul flights, did you know that you can request a kids meal?  You usually have to call the airline at least 24 hours in advance of your flight to request one.  These meals are geared towards kids and are easier for them to eat.

For example, our WestJet flight served mac and cheese, which our daughter loved, with chicken salad, bread and a dessert.  And it was served in fun packaging, too!  The best part?  Kids meals are served first, before any of the other meals are given out!  Perfect for impatient or slow eaters, like our 3 year old.

Our 3 year old’s favourite snacks for the airplane:

• MadeGood Granola Minis
• Goldfish
• Cheez Its
• Quaker Chewy Yogurt Granola Bars
• Welch’s Fruit Snacks

Use the in-flight entertainment system

If you’re on an airplane with individual entertainment systems at each seat, you’re in luck!  Our 3 year old loved being able to watch some of her favourite shows and movies, such as Paw Patrol and Peppa Pig!

Read a book

Our 3 year old loves to read, so we always let her choose a book or two to pack in her carry on.  It’s a great quiet activity for on the plane.

Play with Sticker Books

Our 3 year old is really into stickers these days, so a couple sticker books kept her happy and busy on the plane for a while!  She especially loved this airport-themed sticker book and this pocket-sized one.

Play with a Magnetic Puzzle

Another activity our 3 year old is super into lately is puzzles!  So this magnetic puzzle was a favourite during our recent long-haul flights.

Colour on a Water Colouring Book

We brought this Water Wow book on every trip when flying with our 3 year old and it never got old!  She loves colouring it whether at the airport or on the plane.  Small enough to fit in her backpack and very entertaining for her.

Look through photos

When we needed to quickly entertain our 3 year old and didn’t have toys handy, such as when waiting in line or during takeoff and landing, we simply showed her photos on our phones.

Bring out the tablet

We try to reserve the tablet for when we’re traveling so that it is something new and exciting each time we travel.  Now that our daughter is 3 years old, she can fully appreciate the tablet and has a longer attention span to sit there and actually watch it for a long time.  It was a life-saver during our long-haul flights as it kept our daughter occupied and sitting still for long periods.  It’s a lot of screen time, but we let it slide when flying with a 3 year old so that we can make it through the long journey.

We make sure to download a few episodes of her favorite shows on Netflix before takeoff so that we don’t need Wi-Fi, as well as some games that don’t require Wi-Fi.

Sleep

Flying with a 3 year old can be quite exhausting, especially on long-haul flights travelling overseas.  Try to get your child to rest on the airplane as much as possible.  We flew some red-eye flights with our 3 year old, and made sure to turn off the screens, close the window shades, and set up her “bed in the sky” to try to get her to rest as much as possible on the flight.

Useful items for flying with a 3 year old:

These were all the items we brought with us on our flight with our 3 year old that we found useful!

• JetKids BedBox
• Herschel Kids’ Little Kid Heritage Backpack
• Amazon Fire Tablet
• iClever Kids Bluetooth Foldable Headphones
• Babyzen YOYO Stroller
• Anker PowerCore Slim Portable Charger
• Thermos Funtainer Stainless Steel Bottle with Wide Spout Lid
• Lysol Disinfecting On The Go Travel Wipes
• Melissa & Doug PAW Patrol Take-Along Magnetic Jigsaw Puzzles
• Little Airport Sticker Activity Book
• Melissa & Doug Water Wow! – Water Reveal Pad Bundle 
• 1000 Stickers: Pocket-Sized
• Gimars Non-Slip Folding Portable Potty Seat
• Paw Patrol Toddler Masks
• Purell Travel Size Hand Sanitizer
• GUM Monsterz Kids and Toddler Toothbrush, Soft, Ages 2+
• Tom’s Fluoride Free Children’s Toothpaste
• FridaBaby Fine or Straight Hair Detangling Kids Brush
• Post-It Notes
• Flushable Wipes
• Banana Boat Kids 100% Mineral, Tear-Free, Reef Friendly, Broad Spectrum Sunscreen Lotion, SPF 50
• L’Oréal Paris Kids Extra Gentle 2in1 Shampoo
• J.L. Childress Gate Check Bag for Car Seats – Air Travel Bag

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We hope our tips for flying with a 3 year old have been helpful!  Good luck and enjoy your flight!!

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