Flying with small children?

[tntgoodwin]

I was wondering who here has flown with small children lately? What is it like going through airport security?

 

We plan to fly this fall and will have a 5 year old, a 3 year old, and a newborn. I don't want to expose them to the backscatter machines or the pat-downs. We will be flying from Hawaii to Texas, so we can't drive.

 

Any personal stories?

[Amirah]

make sure you have a letter from your spouse giving permisssion for you to travel with the kids because i didnt and there is some law in some places where you have to have it

Edited April 8, 2011 by Amirah

[Punchie]

I flew w/both girls (4.5 and 10 mos at that time) on two different trips this past Dec and Jan. We did not have any problems at any of the airports (Lincoln, NE, O'Hare, LAX, and Buffalo). I accidentally got in the scanner line at O'Hare, and was told by TSA that I would not go through it b/c I had a baby and young child (DH was not flying w/us). I usually wear the baby, and there wasn't really an issue w/that either. One airport made me take her out of her wrap, one airport did not, but did pat me down once through the metal detector. The female agent was very professional, explaining what she was going to do before she touched, and did not touch inappropriately. No one touched either child.

 

ETA: The whole family flew at Thanksgiving (Omaha and Portland, OR), and we had no problems then either.

Edited April 7, 2011 by Punchie

[theYoungerMrsWarde]

This thread pretty much covers it all:

 

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=224291&highlight=flying+kids

[tntgoodwin]

Oh awesome thanks!

 

My wife will be with us too, we should be okay as far as that goes.

[Cinder]

Dh just came back from a trip w/our 3 kids--16yo, 13yo, and 6yo. Our 6yo dd is afraid of walking through the metal detector (she won't go through by herself) and apparently they let her go through essentially attached to dh's back. Last year I had to drag her through.

 

Remember to bring snacks and a comfort item for each child. Enjoy your trip!

 

ETA: if you haven't traveled over that many time zones before be aware that it's a lot harder to adjust to your new time zone when going from west to east. So you all may be a bit frazzled for a few days after you arrive. Going back to HI will be an easier adjustment. Just my personal experience from frequent travel to and from HI in my younger years.

Edited April 8, 2011 by Cinder

[tntgoodwin]

Thanks! I have flown that far or more several times (maybe a half-dozen) in my life, but I couldn't remember which direction was worse.

[Sugarfoot]

I've flown 6 times in the last 6 mos.---4 times with kids, twice without. When we've had the kids, we go thru the regular metal detector. DH carries DD4, I carry DS3, the big kids walk. When DH and I go alone, we're directed thru the other machines.

 

HTH,

[TheReader]

We did a trip from Brazil to Texas to Colorado (and then in reverse) with a 13, 10 and 6 yr old. (this past December).

 

In one location, DH was directed through the back-scatter machine but the rest of us were regular metal detector only all the times we went through. DH only had to do the scanner once in all of the times through.

 

We did have one airport where the guy hassled us over making each kid hand him their own passport/boarding pass for ID check (rather than us handing him the stack with all 5), and then he asked each kid his name and where we were going (but didn't actually look at their passport pictures, just the name on their boarding pass....). Other than that one guy, though, everything was smooth flying, no problems at all.

 

We've always encountered very polite, courteous, helpful agents all the way through.

[Punchie]

One more thing...I don't know if your wife will nurse or use formula, but if she's carrying either in containers, TSA might want to test them - I've been told to open the container so they could hold a strip over it and I've had them put the whole container in some weird machine. Then again, I've had them completely ignore it and do nothing. One thing TSA is good at is lack of consistency. :)

[Mrs Mungo]

When we flew from Hawaii to DFW in January we didn't have to go through the backscatter machine or patdowns. We just went through the regular xray machines. They were only picking a few people for the backscatter machines.

[tntgoodwin]

When we flew from Hawaii to DFW in January we didn't have to go through the backscatter machine or patdowns. We just went through the regular xray machines. They were only picking a few people for the backscatter machines.

 

Thanks! Hopefully if we do get picked, they just choose me, or my wife. We will be opting out of the backscatter machine, but at least my kids shouldn't be put through any of it.

[Murmer]

They are putting children through the scanners...and many airports are now using the scanners instead of the metal detectors entirely. I would check to find out if the airports you are using have the scanners and where they are located.

[JumpedIntoTheDeepEndFirst]

Based on my recent experience there is really no way to know which type of screening you will get and which members of the family will have which type.

 

My advice is leave yourself lots of time to check in and get through security. If you are bringing formula etc. keep it in one place to make checking it easier. And-they even want babies to remove their "shoes".

 

They do like carry-on car seats and strollers to go through the x-ray machine too.

[PeterPan]

Well we took our carseat with us on the plane, what a big waste of effort. So check everything you can, everything. If you are afraid of losing the carseat when checked, what you do is take it up to where you enter the plane and let them tag it. Then you get it when you get off the plane. That way you're SURE you have it when you go for your rental car.

 

I don't remember the scans being a big deal with ds, but then dh was probably watching him. You don't have to go through the really invasive scanning machine, but you need to allow 10+ minutes extra for a pat down. I got pat downs both ways, no biggee. Oh, just think through the logistics of it. That soul doing your pat down can only do one at a time, so if you don't want your kids scanned and they want to do pat downs, you'll need time for each person. And you can't go back to the others once you have been patted down. You can only go forward. It's a logistical nightmare.

 

Don't do what we did and plan to fly overnight. If the dc don't sleep and you need to, let's just say you'll be stinkin' tired and likely not notice when you whomp a lens out of your glasses and are driving with only one eye through some state in the Union you've never been in before...