well, for the life of me i couldn't figure out how to post this in infants and toddlers.  hopefully it will be seen in the general category.

dh and i are going to FL next week with our 2yo twins.  we have 4 seats on jetblue, no extra legroom, back of the plane.  ouch.  ;)  looking for logistical and survival tips for travel!  i have some specific questions too - would love feedback.  tia!

i'm thinking we should bring our cheap umbrella strollers for getting thru the airport and to the rental car via the shuttle bus, even though we otherwise won't need them (there are strollers where we're staying) - thoughts?  don't know what to do about in-flight entertainment for the kids - any suggested toys?.  they don't watch tv yet, but maybe we should make an exception?  also, are regular plane seat belts enough (i'm not so concerned about safety, more concerned about restraint when we need the children to sit still) or should i use a harness thing that mimics a carseat's straps (my SIL has some i can borrow) (we are renting car seats when we get there).  can we bring milks and other foods thru the security screening?  also, this is OCD of me but i cringe at the thought of dolls/etc. being all over the airport floor and then in the kids hands/mouths - yuck - i guess i just need to get over that?  or buy a huge package of clorox wipes?  ;)

thanks again.

(eta - maybe this did post in the infants and toddlers category?  so confusing!)

We took DD to FL when she was 15 mos. We brought the umbrella stroller, and used it to keep her contained in the airport. Going through security was really easy.  They put you at the front of the line and everyone was really nice to us. We popped the stroller on the belt, and I carried her through while DH took care of the carry ons. JetBlue has a play area so DH went to buy breakfast and milk while she ran around and climbed in the play area. We only had liquids on the way home, but they allowed milk and water in her sippys and just swabbed the cup. We borrowed a portable DVD player so she could watch Sesame Street on the plane. I just packed a ton of new toys and lots of snacks. Sesame flash cards with the characters on them, a book that had a small magna-doodle on the top, a coloring book and crayons. Anything that your kids love or would find new and exciting. The Target $1 bin is good for this stuff too. We rented a car seat as well, and although it was a cheaper brand, it was brand new. DH got a little frustrated installing it, but we stopped and actually read the directions and it worked. Ha! Have a great trip!

Stefani, check out TSA's website for info on what you can and can't bring, and how it should be packed:

http://www.tsa.gov/traveler-information/traveling-special-items

You can also mouse around the TSA page for more info. GL.

Yes, make an exception for TV and yes, you are overly worried about germs.

The regular lap seat belts for two year olds will not be ideal (they will slide out easily unless they are unusually large children.  I am assuming your SIL has the CARES harness... I would recommend taking thosneed they are small and better to be prepared than sorry.

Lots of little toys and snacks. If your kids like unwrapping presents, wrap some up (don't need to be new, even an old toy wrapped up can be fun). I find snacks that can be doled out a little at a time (Goldfish crackers, fruit chews, cheerios, etc.) are better than larger snacks. And the snacks served by the flight crew are big favorites with my DD. I also like to bring lolipops to suck on during take off and landing, to help with ear pressure equalization. Plus they are a pretty rare treat at home, so it makes travel seem extra fun.

I prefer to bring the carseat for DD, although now at age 4, I am debating about it for our next trip. At 2 I would strongly recomend it for the containment and familiarity, but I don't know about the harness things, and for portability, two carseats will be a big hassle. You can gate check the strollers, and if you are connecting, I like to have them, especially if you don't have a long time between flights, but DH finds them to be more hassle than help, and you actually might want the kids to walk around and get their energy out before a long plane trip. 

Some of the things I like for DD are the crayola color wonder markers - you need the special books, but I got some at the grocery that were half-off, and you can find them at Target, as well. The $1 bin there is a great resource for fun small toys/books. I have made "craft kits" with foam stickers and foam butterflys I found in the $1 bin to make on the plane.

I reccomend bringing a change of clothes for each kid in a ziplock bag. In fact, I love to organize my carryon with lots of ziplocks, to be able to find things, keep like items together (toys in one, snacks in another, diaper change kit in another) and to keep things that get dirty segregated from the clean. If you are truly germ phobic, keep a few clorox wipes in a (you guessed it) ziplock, but I wouldn't really be too worried. I wouldn't bring liquids through security, you can buy water and milk once you are through, just leave space for it in your carryon (Since each kid has a seat, you can bring their stuff in "their" carryons, even though it will be you or your DH carrying it.)

Good luck, and have fun!

Stef-you'll need the stroller to keep the kids contained...so bring the cheapest one you have! It will get knocked around-but should come through mostly okay.

You can bring milk in a prepackaged container through security-but it is hit or miss on your TSA agent if you can bring it through with out testing it. On our way out of logan to orlando last month the agent insisted on testing it, so it was all wasted. On our way home the orlando TSA agent just let us through. Previously from Logan we never had a problem. It is totally hit or miss. So, I'd grab a few to bring, but be willing to toss them if they want to test them. We had a hard time finding milk in the airport or on the plane. (we had little time in the air port to go to every store/restaurant asking for milk.

Toys-the target $1 bin rocks. grab a bunch of stuff and have fun.

TV-yes, you bend the rules! When traveling you enter survival mode, you spoil your kids, you get through it. We let DS watch as many movies as he wants, if he's happy it's a happy flight and shorter flight. But Jet Blue as the TV in the head rest-they'll have fun just playing with the remotes.

Bring lots of snacks!

At 2 we did have DS use the CARES harness. It def helped us feel better. Now that he's older we don't have him use it. DD will start using it on our next trip.

Grab those clorox and wet wipes packagages from the travel bins at Target. There will be sticky places you will encounter and just want to give things a wipe. You may have to relax a big on the germs, but there is nothing wrong with giving the toys a wipe down after the kids drop them.

Yummy Earth makes good lollipops, they have the organic Vit C ones, we let the kids suck away on these as much as they want-again, I surrender any "good" parenting to get through the travels. It's hit or miss to find them at whole foods, but I can usually find a big bag of them at Homegoods.

Remember FL is only a few hour trip, you will survive. If you haven't flown with the kids yet, they will be so excited, explain the process frequently to them tell them what to expect. Make sure you and DH know your roles at the security check point-one person handles kids, the other luggage. One handles getting food, the other kids.

We've also found giving DS his own back pack and allowing him to take 3 small toys and books has helped. He has stuff he wants to play with that day. And he gets to be in control of a small back pack-he always wants to be a helper when traveling, so to keep him out of our stuff we give him his own. And he feels like a grown up.

Have fun!

The fastest way to find milk at the airport is to go to the CNBC or other news stands.  They always have tons of it [whole, 2%, chocolate, strawberry, etc] along w/ bottles of water. The lines are much shorter and faster than at restaurants and food stalls too. 

What about those hanging toiletry bags with clear pockets?  They roll up neatly and could hang on the back of the airplane seat ahead of you, I think...on the latch of a folded up tray, maybe?

sorry to be only partially relevant, but does anyone know about books about air travel that would show what it's like to be inside an airplane?

DD is familiar with airplanes as toys and seeing them fly overhead in the sky, but has never been in one.  When we took her on a ferry boat this summer, she was all excited, but then once we were inside the boat (inside, it's kind of like being in a large room with tables), she didn't really get that we were inside it and kept pointing at all the other boats out the window and insisting we needed to get on the boat.  So I envision a similar situation with the plane.

Not sure of any books, but I bet you could find some videos online...some kid character on a show must have gone on a plane and done the walk-through-explanation for the audience.  Maybe Sesame Street showed a pilot or attendant at work or something.  Or try the airline websites?

Good idea, pc - I took a look in YouTube and found this...unfortunately, no people, but it's a great video of the inside of an average jet's passenger cabin.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=plpp&v=0U7ZgQKGB6k

If you know someone who sells Usborne books, they make a book about traveling on a plane. It goes from getting to the airport, going through security, riding on the plane (they even get a meal!) and getting through customs. It isn't really detailed (it is for toddlers after all) but it might be the sort of thing you're looking for. 

http://www.usborne.com/catalogue/catalogue.aspx?cat=1&area=EY&subcat=EYFE&id=1718

and Alf is right about the newsstands - they always have waters, and most have milk. If not, Starbucks does. I've never had a problem finding water or milk in the terminal, as long as it wasn't for a pre 6am flight. Then it seems to be Starbucks or nothing.

Funny, there must have been a run on milk the day we flew from Orlando. None of the newstands had any. And if you have the time to wait through the lines, most fast food places will have it. International flights will carry milk, domestic won't even first class doesn't carry milk.

Caillou has a book about flying...if you can stand Caillou.