Traveling to Europe with Kids： Long-haul Flight Tips for Kids and Babies

Traveling to Europe with little kids is absolutely 100% doable. Is it easy? No. Is it worth it? Yes, a thousand times yes. We just got back from Europe with our three-year-old and our 11-month-old and I'm already planning the next trip back. But before I dive into all the magic that awaits you on the other side of that very long flight, I want to give you all the real honest tips that made our trip so much smoother that I desperately wish someone had told me before we boarded that plane. This video will show you exactly what it was like for us, plus all of the tips and packing information that you need to know. Everything is linked down below in the description so make sure to check that out. Hi, I'm Tori from Tori Pines Travels, a travel blogger and YouTuber and I'm here to help you plan out your perfect family vacation. I focus on action-packed and culture-rich vacations, so if that sounds like your family then please like and subscribe to my channel. So let's start off with our actual experience flying to Europe with kids, because I think it's important to hear the real version and not just the highlight reel. We flew from Nashville with a connection since there are no direct flights to Rome from here. We had a short two-hour flight to Dulles, a quick one-hour layover, and then we were supposed to hop on our transatlantic flight to Rome. That first leg was totally easy and stress-free, honestly, which gave us a false confidence. And then we got on the second plane and it sat on the tarmac for four hours with a toddler and a baby. And then they de-planed us and they made us wait another four hours at the gate before ultimately canceling the flight entirely. I wish I was exaggerating. We were furious and exhausted and honestly pretty defeated, but by the grace of God we got on to another flight that night at 1 30 in the morning and we're finally on our way. By the time we actually took off the kids were so exhausted they basically slept the first six hours, which was kind of the silver lining honestly. It took more than 24 hours but we made it to Europe and it was 100% worth every single second of that chaos. For the flight home, no delays thankfully, but since you're flying against the jet stream the flight runs about an hour longer. We had a brutal four-hour layover in Newark and then we finished with our two-hour flight back to Nashville. Oh and the flights home are always during the day so the kids are wide awake and full of energy the entire time. So that's an experience. All that to say we know how to survive long flights from Europe with kids and we have so many tips for you. Let's start with tips for your toddler or older kid and we're starting with the most important one first. It's so obvious but pack the iPad like it's the most important thing you own because it is. Load it up with downloaded movies, shows, games, apps, everything your kid is obsessed with before you leave the house. Do not rely on the in-flight entertainment and get your kid their own pair of headphones. The airline ones are way too big for little ears. I'll link the ones that we love down below. Next up, snacks. Pack more snacks than you think you need and then pack some more. And if you haven't heard of a snackle box, stop this video right now and go order one from Amazon. I'll have it linked below. Fill with different snacks like crackers and pretzels and teddy grahams and M&Ms and all the things. The key here is to include some junk snacks that you don't normally let them have at home. The novelty of it alone buys you so much time and the variety keeps things interesting when you're on an eight-hour flight. Next, put them in pajamas. I know this is super simple but it really does make a difference. Dress them in cozy pjs before you leave the house and they're ready to sleep. Before your trip, get on Amazon and buy a handful of new toys for your child that they've never seen before. If you want, you can even wrap them to make it a little extra exciting and then stagger them out throughout the flight. We had things like sticker books, coloring set, paint with water books, different things that bought her a chunk of time and kept her engaged. And I'll have a list of our favorites linked down below. Another super important tip is to pack an extra set of clothes for your kid in the carry-on. Something will spill and be sure to always have an extra of it for yourself too. I tuck both in a wet bag at the top of my carry-on so I can grab it fast. The wet bags are perfect for containing the mess after you change too, so I really love them for travel. One more tip for traveling with toddlers that was a great discovery for us was to look for play areas in the airports. A lot of major airports have dedicated family zones with play equipment tucked into the terminal and they're worth seeking out. If you're finding this video helpful, please give it a thumbs up and subscribe because we have so much more Europe content coming your way. All the fun things we did throughout Italy like Florence and Cinque Terre. We went to Spain and South Palma de Mallorca and Barcelona and we even went to the French Riviera. Drop a comment below if you have any questions, I'd love to help. And I have an entire video going through each and everything we packed for this trip so be sure to watch that one. I'll link it here. If you like to read more details be sure to read my blog posts on traveling to Europe with kids, Europe packing, and all the info from places that we went in Italy, Spain, and France with our kids. Okay, now let's talk about baby tips because flying with a baby is a whole different conversation. First and most practical, feed the baby during takeoff and landing. The change in pressure is Next, get yourself an inflatable nursing pillow for the flight. It is genuinely 100% the best thing that we brought for this flight. It gives you a supportive comfortable surface to rest your baby on for hours. It clips in the back and it has a little raised pillow up top that keeps the baby contained and close to you on your lap. I seriously would not have gotten a single minute of sleep without this thing. Another life-changing tip for flying internationally with a baby is to call your airline before your trip and request bassinet seating. On most international long-haul aircraft there are bulkhead seats at the front of the cabin with a foldable bassinet that attaches to the wall in front of you. It's a little infant bed on the plane and when you call and request it, at least from our experience, most airlines will move you to those seats at absolutely no extra charge even if they normally cost more. There are 11 months old somewhere to lie down and sleep and honestly sit and even just like play and eat. One more baby tip, wear your baby carrier through the airports and onto the plane. So much easier than the stroller and tight spaces and help keeps your hands free to hold your other kids hands, bags, whatever it is that you need to do. My absolute favorite baby carrier is the Maybe Monarch carrier and I have worn this thing for hours and hours on end without any discomfort. I wore our daughter all throughout the airports onto the plane and even during parts of the flight to help her relax and fall asleep and then of course I wore it all throughout Europe. It's also so cute which does not hurt the cause. I am an affiliate for them and I have a discount link below so be sure to use that before you purchase. Okay hear me out on this one. Stock up on baby snacks before you leave the U.S. This is a hard lesson that I had to learn. I totally thought that we could just bring enough for the beginning and then we'd buy more once we got there. Finding baby food and snacks like puffs was way more difficult than I expected. We went into a grocery store in Europe and we looked all throughout the airport and there was nothing like what we're used to and honestly the airport didn't have any baby snacks that we could find at all. Let's talk about what to expect when you land in Europe. Families with young children, especially if you have a stroller, get to fast track most lines. I'd heard about this being a thing but I honestly wasn't sure how true it was and when we landed in Rome and headed to border control they pulled us right out of line and they guided us to a separate much shorter family line because we had a stroller and kids. It was amazing. We never had to wait in long lines the entire trip so if you're on the fence about bringing a stroller that is a very good incentive. The other thing is to think about car seats. Since public transportation is so accessible throughout Europe we decided not to bring ours and it was so much easier not to have to lug them around. We exclusively took trains and buses and walking for the whole vacation and it worked out perfectly. That said if you plan to rent a car you can add a car seat rental through the rental car company for an added charge which is another really good option that you might want to consider but don't get me wrong you definitely can bring your own car seats. Okay now to tell you a little bit about the rest of our travel day once we landed in Rome. So since we had been switched last minute to a different flight they sadly were not able to transfer our suitcase onto the new plane so we landed in Rome eight hours late and without any clothes. We were supposed to take the train to Florence as soon as we landed but obviously we missed that train and all other trains were fully booked for the rest of the day. It was a mess. So we booked a new train ticket for the next morning and we got a last minute room at the St. Regis Rome for the night near the Rome train station. It is an incredible hotel we highly recommend if it's in your budget. We grabbed some food from and walked over to the hotel. After we showered and got settled in the room we were off to look for new clothes. We walked around Rome for a few hours which I was not mad about because I love that city so so much. We found a few pieces of clothes we saw the Victor and then UL the second and headed back to our room to get as much sleep as possible after a very long 24 hours. All the rest of my Europe content is coming soon in future videos like traveling to Florence with kids and all the different stops along our seven-night Mediterranean cruise on the MSC Grandiosa. We went to places like Palma de Mallorca, Spain to Barcelona, the French Riviera, Cinque Terre. It was incredible so make sure you're subscribed so you can see all those videos but traveling to Europe with kids and babies is one of the most adventurous exhausting and genuinely rewarding things you can do as a family. The flight is hard I'm not gonna lie. There will be moments that test you. We had a flight canceled on us and still made it to the other side and I would do every single bit of it again and again and you can too. Good luck!