Are you planning to fly with a baby or toddler anytime in the near or distant future? Yes? Then you need a pair of CozyPhones headphones. Period.
There are very few products that I tote as an absolute travel necessity, but this is one. Read on to find out why I feel so strongly about them, and if there are any good alternatives out there.
Note: This is an honest CozyPhones review on a product that I purchased myself (years ago!). I did not get anything for free to review… I’m just a big fan of smart products.
What are CozyPhones?
CozyPhones are headphones that are built into a soft, fleece headband. Seems pretty straightforward, right? But there are some technical aspects to headband headphones that CozyPhones got right, making them the best toddler headphones for plane travel:
- Super thin speaker: you can lay your head on the speaker and barely feel it. In other words, when your toddler falls asleep with these on, she’s not getting poked in the ear and she’s not waking up with a sore, red ear.
- Braided, tangle-free cable: this is a lifesaver when you’re constantly shoving these into your bag on the go.
- Volume limited to 90 dB: protect those little developing ears. I will speak more to this later, as I know this is a concern on a plane.
- Portable: easily folds up to stick into any pocket, unlike structured headphones.
- Adorable: they come in a wide variety of styles, with everything from unicorns to Paw Patrol to sharks to Sesame Street and Batman. There’s something for every kid.
- Durable: we bought our first set about 3 years ago, and they are still in great shape and still fit my daughter’s head.
CozyPhones come in kid and adult sizes, and the adult ones have a lycra option to help keep you cool while you sleep or workout (two perfect uses for headband headphones).
Why you need CozyPhones
Babies don’t really like to keep stuff on their head. On our first trip during which our oldest was old enough to enjoy watching a show on the plane, we tried to use standard headphones with her. Even though she wanted to hear the show, she kept fidgeting with them and pulling them off. So we tried earbuds, but she would play with the cord and they would fall right out.
After that trip, we wanted specific baby headphones for flying, and that’s when we bought CozyPhones.
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE
We’re not a big screen-time family. In fact, we watch very little TV at home. But in the air? We have a no-limit approach to watching shows. We load our phones up with kid shows, and we have no shame about it. Our preschooler loves to fly and behaves like an angel the whole time because it’s the only time she gets to watch unlimited TV.
But if she is going to have something on her head for hours at a time, I want it to be comfortable. And I want her to love wearing it.
We let her pick out her style of CozyPhones (honestly the green monster would not have been my first choice but whatevs), and she would wear this thing everywhere if we let her.
CozyPhones are also great in the carseat. We will use these for days when we’re driving from one destination to the next, and they’re a cozy way to pass the time and take a nap.
Are CozyPhones loud enough to use in an airplane?
This was my biggest concern about the CozyPhones before I bought them. I’m in some family travel facebook groups, and CozyPhones come up a lot in discussions around kid’s headphones for plane travel. While most people recommended them heartily, there were always those who said the volume limiter was a problem with the airplane noise.
The first time I tried them, I though – oh no! They’re right!
But I was wrong.
The genius thing about Cozy Phones is that the speakers move around within the headband, so you can adjust them to be right over your (or your child’s) ears. If they are not adjusted right over your ears, and there is significant ambient noise like an airplane, you won’t be able to hear.
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE
But if you line them up just right, you will be able to hear. We’ve sat right by the engine, and I tried them out and was able to hear fine. I always check in with my daughter and ask if she is able to hear, and she is.
The one downside to that is that you will need to adjust them pretty much every time you put them on your child. And throughout a long flight with a squirming toddler, you’ll probably need to adjust them every hour or so. But it’s easy to do, and with practice, I’ve gotten good at adjusting them without taking them off my children’s heads.
Are there good CozyPhones alternatives?
For toddlers or babies? Not really. I mean, you could get the cheap knock-offs that are all over Amazon, but for a product that is high quality and priced really well already, why would you? I’ve also noticed that the knock-offs that I’ve seen on Amazon do not have a braided cord, and that is an important feature. I would wonder where else they skimped on quality, and they’re seriously about the same price. No thanks!
I have the unique, kindergarten teacher experience of having tried out tons of different brands of kids’ headphones. Because they always break. The speaker cover comes off, the cables rip, the structure itself breaks, the sound stops working… standard kids’ headphones just aren’t made to last.
But CozyPhones are. They have served us well for years, and I have no doubt we will continue to get great use out of them for a long time.
Look, the sound quality is not perfect. These aren’t audiophile headphones, and the price clearly reflects that. But does your toddler need premium sound quality to watch Daniel Tiger? I’m guessing not.
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE
If you really wanted to, you could find top-of-the-line noise-cancelling headphones for your baby or toddler. But good luck getting them to stay on a squirmy little head, especially while relaxing in an airplane seat.
CozyPhones toddler head phones solve so many problems, and it is truly one product that I will not travel without. I can’t speak highly enough of these things, because they have saved me so much stress on so many flights. A happy child = a happy mama, and these baby headphones make that possible.
When are Cozy Phones no longer the best option?
My oldest child has outgrown her toddler earphones for plane travel now. She continued to wear them until she was 5, but by then, her original pair did start to get worn out and lose elasticity. We traded her up to “big kid” headphones. My youngest was 3 at the time, and while she would have been fine to keep wearing her CozyPhones, she decided to upgrade them both at the same time (to avoid “shiny new object” jealousy issues).
By 3, she was old enough to properly use regular headphones without needing my help, so that was a good time to switch. At that age, I’m less worried about something they can fall asleep in and wear comfortably in a car seat. Once that is the case, the work needed to adjust the CozyPhones is not really worth it. So while we used them until 5 with one child, I think moving on to big kid headphones at 3 or 4 is better. But for headphones for toddler or baby, CozyPhones are absolutely the way to go.
So there are all the reasons that I think CozyPhones are the best baby headphones for plane trips. Have you found an alternative that you think works just as well? Have any questions about the best headphones for toddlers and babies? Let me know in the comments!
to pin for later:
Originally published June 2020. Updated April 2022.
