Traveling with Twins

I would book seats 2 & 2, not you with the two kids in one row. I have 2.5 year old twins and we did that once (don't remember the airline) and we were told once we boarded that 2 young children could not be in a row together with one adult because they cannot put their oxygen masks on themselves. This may have been just an uppity flight attendant but they had to move a bunch of people around so we were each with one child and we ended up 20 rows apart. That made it very difficult to access the one diaper bag with all the snacks, toys, diapers etc. Now we always book a window and and middle seat in rows next to each other and always pack two different bags.

Have fun!

If you can use a DVD player or some other electronic device, it might work to have the kids next to each other. If you know they will fight with each other if forced to be in close quarters, separate. You and your family will probably move and switch several times during the flight, anyway. If I were you, I'd put my husband in a row of 3 with the kids and myself as far away from them as possible!! Good luck, you will be fine!

I decided to respond since I didn't notice this suggestion. My husband and I have 3 kids, and we have flown many many times, across the country and such. We have tried many different configurations. Our favorite is for me to take the youngest and the oldest and sit behind my husband who sits with our middle child. Not across the isle. I feel like we could talk to each other easier, since all I have to do is lean forward. It's easy to pass things back and forth. It's also easier if the smaller kids get bumpy with their feet I don't worry about bothering some stranger in front of them by kicking the back of the chair (since people are OFTEN rude and mean to people traveling with children.......which totally sucks). They would just kick the chair my husband is in or my other child....It works for us better than anything else.
Also I would buy them special little toys, like cheap things that haven't seen before and bring them on the plane. Then surprise them and make it fun, they are only kids once and should be able to enjoy flying too. If you turn it into a really positive experience, they will think it s a treat, and you both win! Oh, and food too, don't run out of food. :>)
God Bless!

Hello!
My husband, sister and our twin 16 month old twin girls recently flew from Las Vegas to Portland, OR. Originally we had 3 seats total for myself, hubby and sister with the girls on one of our laps. We were unaware that the babes couldn't be seated in the same row due to the lack of oxygen masks for each person so we had to split the party up with one baby in one row and the other in a row behind us! That actually worked out better because the twins weren't able to take toys/snacks away from the other (they are at that stage where if one baby has something, the other of course wants THAT toy/snack) I would definitely get seats in front or in back of each other so that you are able to pass toys and snacks to each other. If you are seated in one row, your boys may fight or it may be more difficult to hand objects to your hubby or vice versa. Hope this helps and good luck! Our girls did very well, they didn't cry at all! We bought a backpack with a lot of zippers and pouches (Target $14.99) and packed them with new toys they've never seen before. They loved the compact etch-a-sketch and coloring book with stickers.
Take care and enjoy!
K.

Split them up...one with you and one with him, sitting behind you. We flew from L.A to Ohio last summer with our 4.5 month old twins and our 5 year old. Initially I was going to put one twin on my lap, but realized it would be too hard to deal with all the kids and have no lap free. Because the twins were in their infant seats, they had to be by the windows. We were told it was because no one would be able to get out past them in an emergency if they were in the middle or aisle seats. My husband is disabled and I worried about him with one twin, but he did fine...and so did the baby! We're not planning to fly again until the twins are 2.5, but I'd choose the same seating the next time: husband with one child and me with the other two. I sat in front of him and could wake him (husband) if the baby got fussy or needed to eat. It was a little stressful for me because it felt like I had 4 kids to take care of, but it went really well. Have a great trip!

My personal opinion is to split them up. You shouldn't have to deal with both boys and your husband get a relaxing plane ride. They might behave better if they are apart. Good luck!!!

Because we had two kids before our twins we always split-up when flying. My husband would take our older son and our boy twin and I would take our older daughter and twin daughter...we did it several times and worked great. We both had responsibility of two kids and we did the side by side (across the aisle from one another). Worked just fine!

Depends on if you are bringing a dvd player :0) I always had one for my kids for the long trips (they are 2 years apart). So we sat 3 in a row & my hubby/I would trade who got to sit with them (I'll be honest and say it was mainly me with them - LOL). But this worked really well for us ...

They are a great age to really enjoy the flight and all that goes with it from the plane, to actually flying and running (oh, yea, walking :0) thru the airport ...

Great photo to get is the kids in front of the the Huge Windows with an airplane parked :0)

Hi Jess-

My first thought is to have one w/ you and the other one w/ your husband. That is how my family has always done it. But after reading the other ideas I might be rethinking that. If you are bringing a DVD player then everyone should be together. Also, like one mom wrote, bring out the DVD player when you need it, try lots of stuff first.

Some suggestions I have with traveling with kids that size is bringing their carseats, if you can afford it. The kid's are already used to traveling in the seat and won't be gempted in running around. The other thing I always did was buy a cheap backpack with a ton of pockets ( one for each twin in your case,) and in each pocket have a new toy, or a book, or crayons... Only let them open the each pocket every 1/2 hour or so. Make sure you have goodies for the way home as well! Anyway, that always worked for me.

Good Luck!

2 rows next to each other, that way if the plane isn't full the 3rd person in your rows will likely move and then you'll have 2 whole rows for your whole family. Depends on how nice the flight attendants are, they will sometimes try to move people around to make it more comfortable for your family.

Sitting behind each other is a good idea but what if one of the boys wants to switch seats? Going in and out of isles is sort of a pain.

I just flew from San Diego to NY last week and we wished we had done 2 and 2 (middle and isle) in rows across from each other.

Good luck

Get bulkhead seats. This will help a lot.
3 and 1 are perhaps better than 2 and 2, but the
seat on the aisle is very nice. Even with out children, we always go for aisle seats rather than sitting together. At this point I won't even go overseas unless I have an aisle seat.
Good luck traveling with kids is fun if you see it as fun.
B.

we go 2 and 2 but on the same side and at the window. we flew red eye direct from LAX to orlando and my kids never got up. They slept the whole time.

You need to find out what kind of airplane you'll be flying on and what the seating configuration is. If you haven't made reservations yet, try to get tickets on a wide-body airplane such as the 767. Many of the wide-body configurations are 2 - 5 - 2, so you can get 4 seats together in the middle section and your problem is solved!! Many airlines use the bigger, wide-bodies between LAX and NYC.

Boys together with a parent. My kids ALL sit together and we bust out the iPad for TV shows (or movies for longer flights), games, etc....they take turns and it fosters their closeness. My husband and I switch seats, but usually, he sits with them...and I get to read!!!! ;)

My further advice is save the DVD player for when it is needed, so have them play games, draw with crayons, play with Hot Wheels, snacks, water...and then a DVD player. We tend to wait an hour into any flight....so on shorter flights, there's no media and they actually get a chance to see out the window and keep themselves busy, rather than going brain-numb with constant media....but that's us! LOL