If you need tips on traveling with infants, please check out my other post. For toddlers though, I have this whole new list of what I like to pack when taking long flights with toddlers!

1. Bottles and Sippy Cups: Since TSA allows you to bring liquids on board for your child that are a “reasonable amount”, you can take on juice or water or milk in a sippy cup. Give yourself a little extra time when going through security to allow TSA to open the bottles/cups and check them. What I like to do nowadays though is just bring empty sippy cups and buy juice at a shop at the airport, but know you have options.

2. Snacks: Any mess-free snack on a plane is good in my book. We go for animal crackers, dried fruits or fruit snacks, pretzels, or puffs like these.

3. Stickers! Our oldest loved stickers as a toddler and our two year old is also quite taken by them. I have been on multiple flights that I’ve been able to share sheets of stickers with other moms/kids on the plane and it has done the trick to distract crying children. I like these or these ones.

4. Coloring books and washable crayons. I also like any of Crayola’s “mess free” books like these.

5. An extra outfit or pajamas. Just in case there is a spill or vomit.

6. Technology. Some may frown on this, but when trapped on a plane for hours on end, I am never going to shame someone who pulls out their phone, ipad, etc. if it keeps their kid entertained. If you have a subscription to Netflix or Movies Anywhere, download those on your ipad and you’ll be good to go.

7. Headphones: Specifically the ones that cover their entire ears. Your neighbors on the plane don’t want to hear the theme song to The Wiggles or Bubble Guppies over and over. And the over-the-ear headphones are more comfortable for kids more than the earbuds I find. So save yourself a punch to the throat from your seat neighbor and make sure your kids wear headphones.

8. Books! I like the picture books that help them practice colors, shapes, etc. Some of my favorite picture books that help with this are ones like this one.

9. Toy: It could be their favorite blanket or lovey or stuffed animal that they like to cart around. For my oldest it was her pink baby blanket and stuffed white bunny. Side note, my favorite stuffed animals are made by JellyCat. They are just so much softer than the kind you can find at Target. Check some out here.

10. Play-Doh or modeling clay. I will warn you though, on our trip back from London, I had three small containers of play-doh in my backpack and TSA made me open them (even the sealed ones) and get them individually x-rayed before we could go through security. But it was worth it!

11. Dry erase books. My daughters both love these! And I love that they are easy to pack! Here’s a great one!

12. Wikki sticks! I love when restaurants give them out and so do my kids. They are no-mess, easy to transport, and fun. Get them on amazon here.

13. An adult sized pillow. Drape it across your lap for an instant mattress when it’s nap time for your toddler. This has saved us on many international flights. The only catch is that if you start to hit turbulence, the flight attendants will tell you to hold your toddler in your lap upright for safety reasons.

14. Your imagination! Play I-Spy, talk about what you see out the window, what you are going to do once you land, tell stories, and above all, keep calm and know that you’ll get through this long flight! The calmer you are, the calmer your kid will be. And be kind to flight attendants. They can be your saving grace!