Air travel is challenging under the best of circumstances, but add children and/or pets and things can get hairy fast, not to mention smelly, messy, and noisy! So how can you be best prepared for this adventure? Never fear. Here are some tips to help you survive and hopefully enjoy your travel day too.

1. Be Well Rested. Get enough sleep the night before. If you're like me and time always slips away from you, set your target bed time for an hour earlier than the actual time you want to get to sleep.

2. Go Slow. This will be repeated in some other tips, but this overarching piece of advice is something you should strive for throughout your travel day. It is probably the most important step. This leads to our next tip.

3. Be Early. Allow plenty of time for unexpected mishaps. Leave your house early. Plan to arrive at the airport early. Your worst case scenario is you arrive with a lot of time to spare. That's ok. That will allow you to take things slow and....

4. Enjoy the Day. Make a point to enjoy the day. Let your perspective be that this is a fun adventure, not a stressful event. Imagine that all parts of the day are experiences to be enjoyed with your companions. Drink it all in. Experience the day with a child's sense of wonder. If you follow steps 1, 2, and 3, this should be easy.

5. Use Curbside Check-In. Check as much as you can with the Skycaps, except the carriage. Hold on to that. Don't worry about waiting for luggage on the other end. Save yourself the hassle of carrying extra bags onto the plane when you have little ones to handle. The customary tip is $1 per bag.

6. The Carriage or Cart. If you have a carriage, bring it. You can keep your child or children safe from wandering away and you can load carry-on bags onto it too. This will make walking to your gate so much easier. Right before you enter the airplane, fold up and leave the carriage at the end of the ramp. The carriage will be checked for you and when you get off the plane, it will be there waiting for you! Pretty nice, huh? If you don't have a carriage, either bring or rent a cart for wheeling any carry-on items you may have.

7. Security Check Point. The main advice here is to go slow. That means don't worry about the people behind you who are in a rush. Wish them blessings in your mind, but go slow. You can only do one thing at a time. Don't get stressed out. Take it one thing at a time. If your children are old enough to help out, coach them while you're in line about what you would like them to do when you get to the check point. And then go slow!

8. Carseats. You can bring these on the plane. Check the label on your carseat and also check with your airline to make sure that yours will meet FAA regulations. Carseats are recommended for safety, but not required. Children under 2 years old can fly for free on most airlines if they sit on your lap. Consider the length of the flight before taking advantage of this. Holding a baby or small child on your lap for several hours is harder than it sounds.

9. Entertainment. Bring plenty of items that will pass the time for children such as books, favorite small (non-noisy) toys, music players, coloring books, etc. If you have headsets of your own, bring those too as many airplanes have TV's these days. Children have a need to move around a lot so find ways for them to move that are safe. If you find your children getting antsy, try making a game of hand raising, wiggling, and other stretches such as "Simon Says." Instead of trying to make them sit still, find ways to meet their movement needs within the bounds of safety and courtesy of others. With creativity and a positive outlook, this can be accomplished.

10. Snacks. Pack some healthy snacks that will also help with the dehydrating airplane environment. Fruits like apple, pears, and bananas are great. Whole grain crackers are good too. Bring your child's empty sippy cup that you can pour complimentary drinks into it. Even if your child is beyond sippy cups bring some type of empty water bottle to avoid spills. For yours and your child's sake avoid snacks with caffeine or too much sugar.

11. Baby Drinks. It's always best to check the latest rules ahead of time, but for right now most airlines will allow you to bring baby formula or breast milk on board. You are not allowed to bring an ice pack so instead use ziplock bags with ice cubes. You can use them up until the security check where you'll need to dump the ice. When you get on the plane or when you land, you can always get more ice to put in the baggie to continue to keep the baby drinks cold. Also if you are bringing your breast pump on the airplane, remember to take the icepack out first and put it into the luggage that you will check.

12. The Ear Thing. During landing and takeoff make sure that your child or baby is doing something that involves swallowing so that their ears will adjust. For babies nurse or feed them a bottle. Wait to start until the moment that the plane starts racing down the runway so that the baby doesn't fall asleep before the air pressure is changing. For young children get them to drink and/or eat. Older kids can drink, chew gum, or suck on a mint. If a child or baby is sleeping during the descent, you'll want to wake them up so they can eat or drink. If you don't there's a good chance your child will wake up screaming in ear pain. You don't want that. You could ask the stewardess to let you know what time the descent usually starts so you can be ready for it.

13. Pet Travel. When you book your travel, you'll need to make sure you book passage for your pet too. Most planes have a 20 pound weight limit for bringing a pet on board with you. If your pet weighs more than 20 pounds your pet will need to be in a airline approved crate and will travel in with the luggage.

14. Pet Carriers. If your pet will be joining you on board, you'll need to have a airplane approved carrier that will fit under the seat in front of you. In order to make the event go smoothly it will help to give your pet plenty of "practice" ahead of time. Have your pet travel in your car inside the carrier similar to how it will be on the airplane. You can also make their carrier into a day bed in your home so that they will be familiar with sleeping inside there. Make a bed by leaving the carrier open and gently encourage them to sleep there during the day by making it comfortable with blankets.

15. Relaxed Pets. If you think your pet may become very anxious or noisy, check with your veterinarian ahead of time to discuss whether some type of sedative would be helpful for your pet while flying.

16. Going Potty. This applies for both kids and pets: try to have them go potty as close to boarding as possible. For pets, they will obviously need to do this outside so bring pooper scooper bags. You should also prepare for the worst in case your pet has an accident while on the airplane. You might want to bring wee-wee pads, ziplock bags, and clean up supplies just in case of a mess. For children that are potty trained, it never hurts to bring an extra set of underwear and pants just in case. For both kids and pets, be sure to feed a normal diet the day before and the day of traveling. For pets, stick with plain dog food. For kids try to feed them a well rounded diet that includes healthy fiber sources such as fruits, vegetables and whole grains. Airplanes are dehydrating and if you're not getting enough fiber on top of that you can get constipated. Avoid constipation with healthy fiber and enough liquids.

17. Wear Comfortable Shoes. When flying, people's bodies can sometimes retain water which will show up in your feet swelling a bit. If your shoes are not comfortable, you could experience foot pain. On a long day of traveling don't underestimate the amount of energy that tight shoes can steal from you. Comfy slip-on type shoes equals a happy traveler. While you're at it, wear comfortable clothes too!

18. Go Slow. (repeat, I know) This can't be emphasized enough. Enjoy each moment of the day. Don't worry. Be happy!

What are your best kid and pet travel tips? Did you ever have a bad experience that taught you something you'll never forget? Please share! We'd love to hear from you!

Written by K. Stone of Life Learning Today.