Last week, after being away for more than half a year (unplanned), I bit the bullet and decided that it was time to fly back to home to Italy with my toddler. Flying with toddler during COVID-19 was never on the cards. Especially not alone. We thought we would ride out this debacle in Taiwan (the safest place in the world) but 3 months turned into 4 and then 5 and then I started to worry my daughter would no longer even know her dad anymore.

I would have gone back sooner (okay, maybe by only a couple of weeks) but seeing as many airlines stopped flying direct or routes that would mean I would only need to make ONE transfer from Taipei to Milan, I had to wait. I wasn’t going to fly alone with a toddler and do multiple layovers during a pandemic. No, no… not my style.

I was so nervous about flying with my daughter who is now just a few days shy of 2 years old even though we had the luxury of flying business class on Emirates.

Which Seats to Get on the Plane When Flying Solo with Toddler during COVID-19

Having been a ten year diamond member of Cathay Pacific once upon a time before COVID-19, I was first of all confused as to which seats to get on Emirates. One seat for the two of us in first, or two seats in business? Seeing as flights these days should be quite empty, should I just get one seat in business and hope that there would be one spare seat next to me?

During a pandemic, the last thing you want is to be seated next to someone while you have a child in your arms. The first leg was 8.5hrs and it would be through the night. My daughter had never been a good sleeper on flights. So I was worried. The second flight would be 6.5hrs but my husband was going to meet us at the airport in Dubai just fo fly with us to Milan. So I didn’t consider that too much. As far as I had planned, 8.5hrs was all I had to be super prepared for.

We ended up getting two seats in business class on the 777-300ER plane (not the latest outfit, being that with the entirely enclosed first class ‘suite’). It ended up being perfect, even though I spent a couple of hours sitting on her footrest patting her to sleep. The first class seats on Emirates are a good few inches more narrow than on Cathay. I would’ve gotten 1 seat in first on a Cathay plane, but anyhow, I was happy with my choice. Without a fully enclosed first class suite, there would have been no benefit to getting that seat on Emirates. And really, I just wanted the enclosure to avoid the stares if my child for whatever unforeseeable reason decided to cry, shout, laugh, sing too loudly, or generally be a toddler.

What Worried Me About Flying With Toddler During COVID-19

1. Catching a cold before the flight – first of all, my daughter caught a cold two days before the flight. Think snotty, coughy, sneezy, nasal congested poor sleep. What if she cries and is uncomfortable throughout the whole flight?
2. What if she didn’t poo in the day and then would poo on the flight? How would I hold her over the toilet to do her business? Not an option. How the fuck would I deal with a shitty diaper on the plane? She’s too big to put on the change table in the tiny bathroom, and I don’t want to be touching anything in in the bathrooms on flights atm.
3. What if she touches something COVID-19 infected and then puts her fingers in her mouth to touch her teeth?
4. What if she is inconsolable and we disturb the cabin full of people. Sure, I’d only see them for those 8.5hours, but I really don’t know what I’d do.
5. What do I do if I need to go to the bathroom? Can I leave my child unattended? What if the bathroom is too small for her to come in with me? (btw, yes, it’s too small).
6. What if we get COVID-19 in Dubai airport which seems to be allowing every country entrance for layovers?

Preparation for flying alone with a toddler during COVID

I prepared like crazy and had butterflies and knots in my stomach for about 3 days prior to the flight. I had packed my bags a week in advanced. I’m not a newbie to flying. I used to literally fly long-hauls every month – but without a child. Hah. A child is a game-changer. I used to pride myself on just bringing necessities in my Neverfull “oh and a carry-on with clothes to change into after my shower at the lounge, or just in-case they lose my baggage,” after I’d heard that’s how Gisele Bundchen travels. Yeah, no. Nothing was chic about my travel accessories this time.

This time I had a huge Tumi Celeste or whatever that bag is called with everything I might need on the first flight – plus my laptop and liquids for easy transit security checks, plus masks, gloves, hand sanitizer and sanitizing wipes, and a roller with what I might need on the second flight and a Yoyo stroller.

I enrolled in YouTube Premium and downloaded every Cocomelon video, Babyshark, and QiaoHu that I could find. I then went to get a pair of noise cancelling headphones that would fit my child. Finally, the day of our flight, after exasperating my whole family in Taiwan with my attitude while packing and worrying, I took an afternoon nap. I was supposed to go to work to arrange my desk but I decided I wasn’t going to be getting sleep that night on the flight seeing as I would be flying alone with a toddler during a pandemic so my time would be better spent getting in some shut-eye in the afternoon.

What was in my carry-on luggage

TUMI

• 3 bottles
• 3 packs formula
• thermos
• passports
• glasses & contacts
• laptop, ipad, chargers
• snacks for toddler (sultanas, pumpkin seeds, crackers, seaweed)
• toddler’s water bottle
• STRAWS
• Pens
• Headphones for iPad
• Wet Wipes
• Disposable changing mats x 2
• alcohol wipes 1 pack
• alcohol spray
• masks 5 for me, 10 for toddler
• 2 bibs
• 4 baby handkerchiefs
• 1 change of clothes, daughter (used it) – these are so good on the plane. They are warm enough for the A/C in the plane, without being too hot. This and the uniqlo singlet. Perfect.
• light jacket for me
• light jacket for daughter
• thin reading book for daughter
• thin sticker book
• medicines and liquids

ROLLER

• 4 bottles, 8 packs of formula (in case of flight cancellations etc.)
• wallet
• travel wallet
• laptop charger
• more snacks for daughter
• toys (peppa pig puzzles, quiet book, reading books)
• 2 changes of clothes for child (used one)
• 1 change of clothes for me (did not use)
• warmer puffy vest for me (did not use)
• 2 sleeping plushies for daughter

The Actual Struggles of Flying with A Toddler During COVID-19

The first difficulty I did not anticipate

My mom accompanied us to the airport check-in. Then to the door you go through to enter security check. As she said “bye,” my daughter didn’t realise that she meant “bye” for a while. Flying is just not simple anymore. People can’t just fly into Italy from anywhere. So there was my daughter, busy looking around, excited to be on this adventure together. We were ushered to a shorter line for families, but then had to wait while those in front of us got sorted.

That’s when my daughter turned around looking for my mom. She started crying as she continued calling out for her and then after looking at me with an expression of “you tricked me, how could you,” she wanted me to pick her up. Honestly I was heartbroken and almost started crying too. But one hand for the stroller, one hand for my carry-on luggage which had my TUMI bag on top… means no hands for baby. Thankfully the security check many at the airport was kind enough to help me as soon as he realised I was travelling solo. Note: you can carry water in a thermos for making bottles if your child is under 2 years old. But not for older kids.

Somehow, I convinced my daughter to hop back into her stroller while we made it to the gate.

The second thing I didn’t anticipate was how many people were on the flight.

Damn. It was quite hopeful to imagine that the flight would be empty. But it was looking quite full, and there were 3 or 4 people coughing up a lung which made it all the more nerve-wracking. Nevertheless I told myself, just like my daughter, they might just have a cold. Taiwan has no community spread of COVID-19, we’ll all be FINE.

Get onto the plane (and if you have a Yoyo, you can stroll that thing through the aisles of planes – JUST. You need only watch out for your kids fingers if they like to hang onto the edge of their seats). Onto the plane, how to roll stroller and bags up to the seat? Thankfully, a lovely Emirates air hostess who was NOT the one that checked my tickets upon boarding, told her colleague “I’m just going to help her with her bags to her seat” the second she saw me starting to struggle. What an angel.

Third Issue

Changing baby’s wet diapers on a flight. My toddler is actually toilet trained but as I wasn’t about to bring a toilet seat reducer on a flight, I decided pull-up diapers would be best. Thankfully she did her poo in the afternoon at home [sorry for TMI], so for the next 24 hours we were on the road, she would be fine. It was still quite stressful with the diapers in the tiny plane bathroom though. I had her stand on the closed lid of the toilet seat, held her and told her NOT to touch anything. Naturally, she proceeded to touch everything, walls, lights, towels in her toddler defiance. I let out a “DON’T TOUCH!” in a tone I never use with her, so loudly that I assume people outside would have heard… and probably totally understood, given the times.

Out of the bathroom, I sanitized her hands and my hands like crazy and then pretended that never happened. Strangely this outfit of Emirates plane doesn’t have a disabled toilet like you find of Cathay even in Business class, which is quite a lot more spacious and less anxiety provoking while flying alone a toddler during COVID-19.

Finally

I hoped there would be some Peppa Pig or Cocomelon to be available on the inflight entertainment system. There wasn’t. For younger kids there was a lot of Disney though.

The Actual Flying-With-a-Toddler-During-COVID Situation

Flying with a toddler during a COVID, through the night was actually not too difficult thankfully. During take-off, I gave her a bottle of milk to help with her ears adjusting to the altitude change. Then, with her loaded iPad, and headphones, she watched a few Cocomelon songs before telling me “stop,” cuddling her plushy and laying down to sleep. I stayed perched on her footrest, patting her back until she fell asleep. Then I managed to eat something before getting a couple of hours of shut eye myself. I hadn’t brought anything in terms of physical books or hopeful notes to read or work to do for myself… so I read a book my kindle app before falling asleep.

When my daughter woke up, it was just within the hour of landing and she was very easy to take care of and well rested. Clearly her ears were popping from the descent but apart from pulling at them for a bit, she was fine. She didn’t eat anything apart from another bottle of milk and that was fine by me. She normally doesn’t eat throughout the night anyway.

Emirates is the only airline I’ve been on that provides (albeit small) plastic baby bottles in-flight. They’re Pigeon, a decent Japanese brand. I had my own formula but them providing bottles makes everything just so much easier. Washing bottles out in lounges or planes during a pandemic is just… no.

Just an interesting note, there wasn’t a touch of turbulence on the flight. Not even for a second. I sound like I’m plugging Emirates, but I was honestly pleasantly surprised as I had never flown with them before.

DUBAI Airport Terminal 3 During COVID-19

We arrived really early at the airport, where my husband was waiting for us already as he’d flown in on an even earlier flight. It was a very emotional reunion. 6 months apart. But I’ll spare you my life story.

The Emirates Lounge was really well laid out. Tables set at appropriate distances from each other. Bathrooms spotless with people cleaning them constantly. Theres a dedicated room for changing your baby in the bathrooms (where the water temperature is adjustable at the taps). They place cards on each table after they are sprayed down and cleaned after each sitting to let you know which ones are clean to use. They have staff that bring food to your table, menus via QR code instead of the buffet. It was really faultless. [Side note: the Indian breakfast is delicious in this lounge]. Presumably everyone who flies on Emirates needs to have taken a COVID-19 test within 4 days of flying, but you can never be too safe.

I saw a man pull down his mask, coughing into his hand before talking to a server at the buffet bar (which thankfully was covered), and that just reminded me that there are still those idiots who don’t quite understand what the purpose of a mask is during a pandemic. I really appreciated that lounge. We were there for a little over 5 hours after all.

Flying DUBAI TO MILAN with a Toddler – 2 parents.

The following flight was just as faultless as the previous, only with less people in the cabin. The staff were attentive and friendly. Without fussing over my beautiful baby (everyone’s own baby is the beautifullest-in-the-world), they made flying alone with a toddler during COVID very easy. It can be strange to see them in the PP gear, and everyone in masks. But these are the times.

Service was more or less normal. Food on board was good. Everything was served covered in plastic, even the glasses were covered in plastic. But we weren’t served just cold dishes or sandwiches. There was wine, there were hot drinks like coffee. The air stewards were upbeat and professional. It was really, really not that bad at all.

I put The Lady and the Tramp on the screen in front of my daughter for take-off and she happily watched, snacking on sultanas I’d brought along, tugging on her ears every now and then while we reach 10,000 ft. Then she managed to sleep for a bit on this flight too. And I ate. Of course I did.

My husband slept (HAH!) and at some point during the flight, while I went to the bathroom, my daughter hopped out of her seat. I came back to find that without touching my daughter, a hostess had cornered her and diverted her attention so that she couldn’t run down the aisle.

We arrived home, I sprayed disinfectant all over our luggage, bags, car seats – everything before bringing anything in the house. Threw all our clothes and shoes in the wash immediately and showered. As pain-free as the experience of travel was, we still can’t forget this is a pandemic.

After 4 days, we did our COVID-19 tests and everyone is fine. Quarantine will be another week but at least now our little family is all back together!