When I tell people that I fly from the US to Asia alone with two kids they look at me with a mix of awe, admiration and fear. I understand all of these emotions because I feel them about myself…I am in awe that I am dumb enough to consider such a feat, have admiration in my own ability to forget all past experiences and go into each trip with a positive attitude and fear, well fear for a lot of reasons, but mostly because I know the kind of person it takes to travel for 30 hours with two children under three and have everyone arrive in working order. It takes the patience of a saint, a creativity for new games and a calming demeanor to help distraught babies deal with absolute confinement. This is where the fear comes in, I am none of these things! We therefore have to assume that I get through the journey based on tyrannical control and mental domination – my husband is reading this and nodding, that sounds much more like me.
Other than total domination there are some tricks to traveling alone with kids: 

1. For the day before the trip do not spend time with your kids. Find a nanny, a babysitter, some random daycare, it doesn’t matter, just don’t be sick of them before you begin the journey.
2. Get a good night’s sleep the night before. I have never tried this as I am always doing last minute packing, sending final emails and, on at least two occasions, moving house, but about half way through the flight I always wish I had slept more the night before.
3. Eat a lot. Eat dinner the night you leave, eat again at the airport before getting on the plane and eat every meal offered on the plane. A tired AND hungry mommy is dangerous. (Insider tip: If they deliver the meal and you have a kid asleep on your lap, then ask the flight attendant to keep it warm for you and you can ask for it later once they have woken up.) Take snacks and put them where you can reach them. I have never hated my beautiful sleeping baby boy more than when there was a Snickers in my bag in the overhead compartment, but he was asleep on my lap!
4. Be prepared. I have more carry-on luggage than most people check, but I know where everything is. When I first get on the place everything gets put in its spot – bottles in the seat pocket, blankies on the seats, a Snickers HIDDEN (you do not want this found by anyone other than you!), pacifiers in each pocket, kids snacks at your feet and bottles water next to each of you.
5. Normal rules are out and plane rules are in:

      Kids Rules

• 1. No yelling, ever!
• 2. Have as many bottles of formula as you like, constipation is a welcome side effect.
• 3. No getting up, the flight attendants will get you…what do you think the mystery meat they serve is?
• 4. Just tell me if you are hungry, you can have as many snacks as you like.
• 5. Only necessary trips to the bathroom. Using ‘I need to go potty’ as an excuse to get up is punishable with a diaper and you having to make like a crazy astronaut.
• 6. Everyone takes turns on mommy’s knee, whining for your turn will forfeit it.
• 7. You can watch the movie. (Callie thought Juno was “Great”.)

Mommy’s Rules

• 1. No books allowed. If you start to read a book and a kid wakes up you will hate them…no book, no hate.
• 2. No headphones for the movies. If you can’t sleep you may watch the movie, but you may not listen. This way you are less invested and less likely to physically harm whichever child wakes up in the middle of said movie. 

6. Take advantage of layovers. Let the kids run and have a ball and some blocks packed, fetch is great…you sit, they chase. Layover are also a chance to regroup. Change everyone’s clothes, including your shirt, do this in the middle of the terminal, you have paid your dues with small toilets and who doesn’t love naked baby buns. Eat something. Even though everyone is tired and can now stretch out this is not the time for naps, we have more planes to catch people. Clean all the bottles out so you are ready to start again and repack you carry-on so you know where everything is again.

7. Finally, do not think of your arrival as the end of the journey. Your kids are going to be tired, jetlagged and disoriented by their new surroundings, in other words, they are going to want their mommy! Understand that for the first few days after arrival you may be off the plane, but you are still trapped in a triangle of need, accept it and there will be less hate.

Happy Travels!… Read more »