This Is The Best Time To Board The Plane When You're Flying With Kids

Anyone who's ever flown knows the drill: Airlines have boarding groups. It's like a hierarchy of sorts determined by a string of factors — your status with the airline, the ticket you've splurged on, how loyal you've been in the past, and whether you've sneakily nudged your way to priority boarding. When you're lugging toddlers along, you're also often a shoo-in for the "priority boarding" group, which means you can score those precious overhead bin spaces and buckle up before everyone else floods in. But just because you can board first doesn't always mean you should. It all depends on the situation.

When you're traveling with your kids, particularly toddlers, you want everything to go as smoothly as possible. But as opposed to going through the TSA as a family where a packing hack can simplify the process, it's a different story when you're boarding, which is admittedly one of the most stressful parts of air travel. While it's tempting to board at the earliest opportunity to avoid the chaos, consider a different strategy. If you have the advantage of traveling with another adult, let them board first instead. They can get your seating area organized and handle any pre-takeoff needs for your children. This system allows you and your little ones to board later, minimizing your time in the confined space of the aircraft and reducing the boarding drama. You're not only spared from dealing with the rush, but it also makes the whole experience more manageable and far less stressful for everyone — especially the kids.

You'll want to take a page out of Samantha Brown's book for advice on traveling with kids. The travel guru has been roaming the world with her twins since they were 2 months old, so if there's anyone who can dole out solid advice on keeping travel tantrums at bay, it's her. And, according to the "Samantha Brown's Places to Love" host, boarding last can be advantageous for your family when you've got another adult in tow.

Speaking with WTOP News, Brown said that sending the other adult ahead to sort things like securing car seats and stowing luggage allows you to shield your children from the stressful atmosphere that often accompanies boarding, preventing them from absorbing that tension which can later manifest mid-flight. "We now go from a big terminal to a tiny capsule, and the stress can be cut with a knife," she said. "A young child takes in all that stress and then we get to a cruising altitude of 50,000 feet and everyone else is calm, and now that child releases it. So, don't subject children to that. We are awful people during a boarding process."

On the flip side, if you're a solo parent, you may want to take advantage of your pre-boarding privileges. Doing so allows you to secure everything your children might need with the help of the flight crew, avoiding the hassle of last-minute preparations. After all, nobody wants to be the parent scrambling during the final boarding call.

To make flying a less daunting experience for your kids, especially if it's their first flight, you may also want to consider introducing them to the entire airport process well in advance. Airports are intimidating even for adults, so you can only imagine how overwhelming it can be for your kids to be suddenly thrust into that kind of environment. Pediatrician Jen Trachtenberg, an assistant clinical professor of pediatrics at The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, suggests gamifying preparation — and not just for the boarding part, but for the entire flight. "Play pretend airport [and] go through a security maze line, wait to board the airplane, set up airplane rows, and pretend passengers and toys are others in the row," she told Popular Science, adding that it's best if you covered everything from check-in to security, what snacks might be on the plane, and even what they'll feel when they're up in the air.

Echoing this sentiment, a parent on Reddit recommends taking the prep a step further by actually visiting the airport. When traveling with kids, you can never be too prepared. "Preparation is key. Take your kids to the airport and walk them through what it's going to look like on the day of," they advised. "Let them spend some time in the airport environment (we had lunch in the terminal one day in the lead up)."