You’ve booked your dream family holiday or you’re heading to see family and friends in a different country. We may be so excited but our little ones probably have no idea what they are doing today, let alone getting on a plane where they need to sit for a long time, depending on the flight. For older kids, the travel journey may be an exciting one, especially when they are at the airport seeing the planes boarding passengers. For younger children, toddlers and infants, the surprise may come when they walk into the aircraft and sit on their seats. So, for us parents and caregivers, how do we make the journey as smooth as possible? Here are my top tips for taking long haul flights with toddlers and young children.
If you want to see my top tips for overall travel, click here 🙂
Pack Snacks
If you have picky eaters like mine, you will need to pack snacks with you. Long-haul flights make us all restless so packing some healthy snacks such as crackers, rice cakes or dried fruit can ease the stress of making them eat airplane food. Even packing some not-so-healthy snacks can make the kids excited once they start to get bored or restless. If you feel like you don’t have enough snacks, pack a little more, and then a little more.
Bring an Extra Change of Clothes, Even For Older Kids
Bringing a change of clothes may seem like a given for toddlers and infants, but bringing a couple of changes of clothes for older kids can also save you the hassle when juice spills on them (yes it’s happened to us). The last thing you need is for your child to feel uncomfortable during the flight. Pack two extra shirts and pants and one jacket for when the temperature on the plane cools down.
Schedule’s go out the Window
This is something I had to learn the hard way when travelling with young children. Don’t be too concerned and strict with sleep and feeding schedules. Kids generally sleep well on the plane due to the white noise but don’t expect them to sleep the same as they would have at home. My first child would only sleep for 2 hours at a time on planes and my youngest slept on a red-eye flight for 6 hours. Every child is different. Also, if your child sleeps for longer than what they normally would, let them sleep! The last thing you want is for your child to wake up grumpy and miserable for yourself and everyone else on the flight.
Pack a Play Backpack For Fun Activities
Packing a little backpack with their essentials inside will not only entertain the kids, it will also bring a sense of independence on their travel journey. We packed their backpack with their iPad, colouring books, little books and some of their little favourite toys. We used wind-up/down crayons to save us from marker lids flying around the plane, pencils can also work fine too. Don’t be too strict with their screen time. Pre-download a bunch of educational and awesome shows for your little ones that will keep them entertained. My toddler loved watching The Wiggles and my older child loved Science and Arts and Crafts shows such as Emily’s Wonder Lab.
Choose Your Seats Wisely
Now this can vary for every parent based on what you want from the flight. We always booked our seats with a bassinet and extra leg room, however, some parents have also said that booking the last row was also a massive win. Parents and the kids can recline their seats without thinking of the people behind them when choosing the last row. Plus having the bathroom behind you comes in handy for quick nappy changes or when your child needs to use the bathroom.
Check-in Early
There’s nothing more stressful than being late to board the plane. Now think of doing that with young kids in tow. Checking in early can ensure that all paperwork is finalised in case of anything going wrong and it can also give you time to ask for extra upgrades or seat changes if you need it before everyone else checks in. Once you’ve checked in early, you can have enough time to enter security smoothly, grab a bite to eat, and give your toddler their last nappy change and bathroom breaks for the rest of the family.
Use a Travel Stroller or Carrier
We have used a travel stroller and we also used the airport strollers and we found that having our own was so much easier and more manageable travelling through the airport. If your infant is younger, a carrier is a must through transit and will make it even more easier to drag your carry-on and backpacks around. If you don’t have a travel stroller and are planning to use the airport strollers, ask the information desk or any airport workers as soon as you disembark the plane. When checking in, ask the check-in assistant where the closest stroller station is. Strollers are free to use in most Airports, however, some airports do not provide strollers but allow normal strollers to be carried through to the gate.
Be One of the Last to Disembark the Aircraft
We have all seen it. As soon as the seatbelt sign turns off, all the passengers start standing and swarm the overhead locker to get their bags. I have found when flying that this is probably the most stressful situation. Also, even though you and your little ones may be eagerly ready to get off, allowing other passengers to disembark before you can give you peace of mind of taking your time by getting everything sorted and making sure you don’t forget anything on the plane. Plus the kiddos can walk through the aisle without having the bump into people waiting to leave.
Travelling with toddlers and young kids may seem stressful, but just remember. This will soon be over (in a couple of hours!). Embrace the change and keep your focus on making the journey as comfortable as you can for yourself, your children and the other passengers. Absolutely no one will judge parents for letting loose on some rules to keep their kids entertained during a long-haul flight. Enjoy your travels 🙂
Blog That Travels xx