I was that mom. Other than the role of mommy, my occupation is flight attendant. You would think of all people to know how to travel with children, it would be me. Well let's put it this way, you can plan and plan, but never expect the unexpected.

We have two daughters. One is about to turn two years old, and the other is only five months. The trip we just took was a short, three day visit to grandma's house; a three hour plane ride. The following items we had with us: a double stroller, two car seats (one with a base), a "pack and play," and a luggage dolly, a roller bag, a small child size suitcase and a back pack.

I figured out how to rig the double stroller (a sit and stand type), to be able to hold both car seats locked in so the girls could still ride. The roller bag has a hook that the back pack hung from, and the small suitcase sat on top of the roller bag. The car seat base hooked onto the back of the stroller and the "pack and play" bungeed on the luggage dolly. I pushed the stroller with the girls riding along, while my husband pulled the luggage and "pack and play." We still have to get through airport security.

Now with all the regulations that have changed regarding liquids and getting through security, we had to have a game plan. Each ticketed traveler can have one quart size "Ziploc" bag for liquids/toiletries under 3oz. Our allowance was four bags. To make it easy, all four bags were stuffed into the side mesh pockets of the back pack.

As for bottles, you are now allowed to have a "reasonable," amount of prepared bottles. You need your children visually present to confirm the need. You or your children will not be asked to sample the liquid to prove it can be consumed. Our "reasonable" amount was a small can of powdered formula, three 4 oz. bottles of water, four 8 oz. bottles (two with milk, one with juice, and one prepared formula bottle).

Now through security; children must be out of their car seats and either walking or carried through the screening arch. My husband was in charge of the girls and I was in charge of getting all our stuff through the machine and put back together. One rubber bin had all bottles, four "Ziploc" bags and the contents of our pockets (cell phones, wallet, keys, sunglasses and change). The next rubber bin, held all our shoes. Then on the conveyor went the "pack and play" and luggage dolly, the car seats and stroller. In Orlando, everything fit through the machine; in Manchester, the stroller and large car seat didn't fit and had to be screened separately. Then finally the suitcases went through.

My husband waited until the last item went through the machine before he took the girls through the arch. Everything piles up quickly on the other side, so I had to move fast to pull everything off of the belt and get things back together. The stroller with the car seats was put together first so that my husband had a place to put the girls down and collect his stuff as well as get his shoes and the girls shoes back on. I grabbed the bottles and the "Ziploc" bags and got them back in to the back pack. The girls were strapped in, suitcases where hooked back together and off we went to check in at the gate.
We still had to get our boarding passes, since we were non-revenue passengers. Once we had a flight, all that was left to do was tag our gate checked items. We needed tags for our stroller and "pack and play." You are allowed two "carry on" items. On the plane we had the roller, the small suitcase, the backpack and the dolly. Car seats don't count towards your "carry on" items.

From my experience, next time we will gate check the large car seat and the base or the carrier. There was no room for our two year old's legs between the car seat and the seat in front of her on this Boeing 737. As for the carrier car seat base, it was a different story. The lock to the seat belt got lodged in between the base and the infant carrier. When we landed, we couldn't get the infant carrier unlocked, and they had to call maintenance to come and remove the entire seat belt from the airplane seat.

Boarding the plane has even changed. Families traveling with small children are no longer considered "pre-boarders." Those families now board after the first boarding group. As noted before how all of our items were organized, we made it down the jet bridge with our next plan ready. This plan included my husband taking our two year old along with the roller bag, small suitcase and back pack and find a seat. I was left in the jet bridge to fold up the stroller and leave it with the "pack and play." Then I had to attach the base to the carrier and figure out a way to get both car seats on to the plane. I had help from ops agents on both flights thank goodness.

I found my husband on the plane and started buckling in the seats. We were trying to stay out of the aisle as best we could while we negotiated which seats to actually occupy. The large car seat was buckled in next to the window, then the carrier was buckled into the middle seat and I sat on the aisle. My husband decided to sit in the seat directly behind me. My two year old wouldn't sit in her seat since there was no room for her feet. The whole flight, my husband and I took turns entertaining her and passing her back and forth between us. My five month old slept from the moment her bottle touched her lips until we landed. Speaking of bottles if they are "Avent," and they are on their side in the overhead bin, where your husband put them without knowing what was in the bag they'll leak
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So as I mentioned before, I was that mom. I was the mom in the aisle drying up spilled apple juice. I was the mom trying to mix a formula bottle while my two year old squirmed on my lap waiting for me to start the Elmo video. I was the mom that got up when the fasten seat belt sign was on because my child had to go "potty" for the fifth time. I was the mom that kept pulling the bag out from under the seat in front of me and bothering that passenger while they tried to sleep. I was the mom that desperately tried to keep my two year old from waking everyone up to say "hi." I was the mom who finally got her child to take a nap 10 minutes before we landed. Finally, I was the mom that organized, planned and plotted pampered, soothed and consoled assisted, apologized and got creative. I was that mom!