Traveling with a toddler (2.5 years) and a baby (6 months)

22 Aug 2026 | #parenting | #japan

We had our second child in winter, and just came back from a 3 week trip to Hungary. I wrote about flying cross-continental with a baby when we did it the first time, but two kids required more logistics so I’ll share how it went this time.

Summary

This post got a bit long, so here is the summary of what we did to improve our travel:

• send your suitcases between your home and the airport with Yamato
• go to the airport early to avoid stressing about time
• take a flight leaving at night so that the kids sleep
• the above two means you might want to take a shower at the airport, which is possible at most places
• airport lounges are great: they might have a shower, they have buffet-style food (great for kids), comfortable seats, maybe even a kids corner. And they can be comparable in price to an airport meal
• if your flight lands late, stay at a hotel near the airport
• having a stroller at the airport is super helpful. If yours is small enough to bring on the flight (e.g. Cybex Libelle) then that’s the best (as you’ll have it during your layover), otherwise ask airport staff for one

On the way there

I wrote about the difficulty (and price) of choosing the ideal flight, and in the end we got the following flight going there:

22:50 Narita –(14:15h)–> Warsaw (1:45h layover) –(1:15h)–> Budapest 9:05

Leaving from Narita wasn’t ideal as it is pretty far from where we live. To mitigate this, we have sent our suitcases with Yamato 2 days before, and they were waiting for us at the airport near the luggage drop-off/check-in counter.

On the day of the flight we had a slow morning, then took a train to the airport and had late lunch at the airport. Narita Terminal 1 recently opened a play space, KinderPlatz Narita Airport and we spent the afternoon there. This made the day fun and low-stress for all of us: the kids loved the place, and we got a bit of time to relax.

Around 7pm we took a shower at the pre-security shower rooms. The website didn’t make it clear if kids were allowed, but the counter just asked us to pay for two adults and then let all of us in. The room was wide enough to give shower to the kids without issues, and the shower was clean but a bit old. They provided towels and soap/shampoo, so we only had to bring change of clothes. And this was pre-security, we could later put the dirty clothes into the suitecases.

The shower costs 1500 yen per person for 30 mins, then 750 yen for every additional 15 mins. There is also a post-security nap-room. We originally wanted to do that, but they were all fully reserved already.

After the shower, we picked up our suitcases at the Yamato counter, and brought them to the check-in desk. Then went through security and passport check, and started looking for a late dinner. At 9pm the only place open was McDonalds making our toddler very happy (she even got a Hello Kitty toy with her happy meal).

We brought our Cybex Libelle stroller that folds up small enough to be brought into the cabin (smaller than a carry-on suitcase). This proved to be super useful past security and also during the layover: one of the kids was almost always in it.

We reserved the front-row seats in Economy where the baby bassinet can be attached to the wall. Our toddler (being over 2 years old) got her own seat, so we had all the 3 middle-section seats. We also got a Stokke Jetkids carry-on suitecase for our toddler which we used to make her seat longer and it gave her more space to sleep.

As soon as we took off and the seatbelt sign was off, a flight attendant installed the baby bassinet and we attached the Jetkids to the toddlers seat, and both kids fell asleep shortly. We got dinner and then we also went to sleep.

Kids slept for more than 10 hours, and woke up in good spirit. The airplane was still dark, but they played nicely a bit. Then the crew turned on the lights, served breakfast, and we were landing in Warsaw.

We went through passport control in Warsaw, but even with that the 1:45h layover time was more than enough to make our connection. The airport is small, but it still had a few playgrounds near the gates which our toddler enjoyed.

The flight to Budapest was super short and went without any issue.

In Hungary

Staying in Hungary went well, the kids loved spending time with relatives and friends. One thing we learned to avoid was driving long distances: we had a 4-5 hour drive, and even with stopping halfway to play and eat, both kids were really unhappy by the end of the drive. That drive was harder than any of the flights we took, especially as there is almost nothing you can do to help a crying baby while going on the highway, meanwhile on a train or flight you can mostly pick them up and walk around with them.

Vacation in the vacation

Spending 3 weeks with one’s family can be a lot, so we usually do a short trip within the trip. We listed destinations within Europe with a direct flight from Budapest, looking for places where the flight was leaving mid-day (most low-cost carriers fly from early morning to late night, so many flights leave at like 7am or arrive at 9pm, neither which is great with kids). In the end we went to Copenhagen and loved it. The 2 hour flights went like a breeze (they also overlapped with the kids’ nap time).

Copenhagen had a lot of playgrounds that the toddler greatly enjoyed. But we also learned that visiting museums or galleries is not something she enjoys, so we had to cut those short. Having the stroller with us was again great as both kids could use it.

On the way back

Our flight back was similar:

17:35 Budapest –(1:15h)–> Warsaw (4h layover) –(12:35h)–> Narita 18:30

The flight from Warsaw was leaving at 22:50, the exact same time our flight from Narita.

Flight from Budapest to Warsaw went without issues. In Warsaw we had 4 hours, so we went into a lounge. Since our flight was leaving from the non-Schengen area, we went through passport control first then had two options:

• Lot Business Lounge ‘Mazurek’
• Etiuda Executive Lounge

The former had better reviews (bigger, more food options) but it was also more expensive. We wanted to take a shower, so we decided to first ask both of them to see if their showers were free (to avoid having to wait a lot), and decide based on that (both had reviews complaining about being crowded).

At the LOT lounge they told us that they only allow business class passengers, and as we were flying Economy we can’t enter even if we pay.

Luckily the Etiuda Executive Lounge was right next to it. They allow any passenger and usually charge 210 Polish złoty (around 9,000 yen) for adults (kids under 3 are for free). But they also accept various lounge-passes, so I checked in the Revolut app and found that I can buy the lounge pass there for 5,280 yen per adult (so almost half price). Even better, I upgraded to Revolut Premium (freely cancellable with the first 14 days) which brought the lounge pass down to 3,480 yen per pass. So in the end we payed 6,960 yen for our entire family to enter. (Revolut charged me for one month of Premium, 980 yen, but they fully refunded it after I cancelled the plan a few days later.)

The lounge had a shower and they provided us with towels and soap/shampoo. The shower however opened from the bathroom (so men’s bathroom started with a room with the sinks, then a room with the toilets, then the shower room). But the lounge was almost empty, so after I checked that nobody was in, we all went into the shower room. This made it easy to give shower to both kids and me, then we waited in the main room while my wife took shower in the women’s bathroom. (Online reviews said that the lounge only provides papertowels, but it seems they listened and we got proper towels. They even asked us if we wanted extra towels for the kids, and they gave them for free.)

After the shower we had dinner at the lounge. Food options were indeed limited (as reviews said), but for an airport dinner it was more than enough and we all found something that we liked (their Polish dumplings were great). Also comparing to a usual restaurant, the buffet style is much easier with the toddler: she can look at the food and choose what she wants. She can change her mind, get seconds, etc. The lounge even had a play corner with a few toys that the toddler enjoyed. And it was nice to share a glass of wine with my wife before the long flight ahead.

Considering all of this, we got a great value for our money. Having just dinner (without the shower) would have certainly be more expensive than the 6,960 yen that we paid here.

Overall I highly recommend going into a lounge with kids if you have a long layover. It can often be comparable or even cheaper than a restaurant at the airport, and overall it provides a much more comfortable environment. The naming (executive lounge / business lounge) can sound discouraging, but for example this lounge specifically said “Children are welcome” and the staff was also very welcoming. Reading about this online, most people say that business men doing Zoom calls on speaker is way worse than kids being a bit noisy.

The flight from Warsaw to Tokyo went similarly to the flight here: we had the same seats, and the kids slept most of the way.

After arrival

Our flight landed at 6:30pm in Narita and it was 8pm by the time we got through passport check and got our luggage. The train from Narita to home takes 2 hours, but at this time the Skyliner only goes every 30 mins, so it easily becomes more. Knowing this ahead of time, we booked a hotel at the airport and went home the next day.

After getting our luggage and going through custom, we went directly to the Yamato counter and sent 2 of our 3 suitcases. The 3rd one had the clothes for the next day, so we took that to the hotel.

Our booking was at the Narita Tobu Hotel Airport which offers a free shuttle bus every 20 mins from terminal 1, so we picked up dinner at the konbini at the airport, and took the shuttle bus to the hotel. (Later found out that the hotel also had a konbini.) By 9pm we were in our room having a late dinner, and getting ready to sleep. We booked the “Hollywood Quadruple” room on Booking.com (it had 4 beds that we pushed together), and (being a random Friday evening) it was only 20,898 yen including breakfast. Pretty good deal in my opinion.

Breakfast was good. We sent our last suitecase from the hotel front desk, then took the shuttle bus back to the airport and the train from there back to Tokyo. (We could have spent the suitecase from the airport’s Yamato counter and then it would have arrived faster, but it didn’t matter for us and this way was easier.) To help get over jetlag, we decided to stay in the city center for the day and only went home in the afternoon.

Staying in the hotel at the airport was a great idea, and I definitely recommend for anyone in a similar situation.

Conclusion

Overall, traveling long distances with two small kids can be pretty enjoyable if you put in the extra time and effort to mitigate the biggest sources of stress - like hunger, exhaustion, and running late. I hope this post helps ease your mind if you’re in a similar situation.