Be it screaming infants who hate flying, travelling with toddlers who just want to explore, or difficult journeys with young troublemakers who simply get bored after the first thirty minutes, here’s our top travel tips for flying with children.
1. Study airline charges in advance
There’s nothing worse than showing up at the airport for a long-awaited holiday only to be presented with a whole list of extra fees and charges to pay. While many airlines allow toddlers under a certain age to travel for free, others will make you pay for a full fare adult seat. The same goes for over-sized baggage such as baby strollers or car seats, which you may be travelling with. You need to research in advance what is free of charge and what isn’t, making sure you maximise your cabin baggage allowance.
Most airlines will give free priority boarding to parents travelling with young children, so be sure to go straight to the front of the queue at the boarding gate so you can be the first to board the plane.
2. Plan activities throughout the flight
When travelling with a toddler or young kids, it’s important to have enough activities, books or toys to keep them entertained for the entire flight. This means you should break the flight down into fifteen-minute activities, so around ten activities for a three-hour flight. Pack a few children’s magazines, picture books, colouring books, puzzles or anything else you can think of to keep them happy and occupied.
3. Reward your child with secret gifts
One way to make a flight with toddlers or young kids a lot more pleasant is to reward your kids with small gifts if they are well-behaved on the flight. Think small snacks, gingerbread men or even small toys from the Euro Store. Kids will love being rewarded for their good behaviour and the process of receiving, unwrapping and playing with new toys will keep them occupied for a while. If you happen to be flying with your kids over Christmas, you can even hand out small gifts to other passengers and ask them to present them to your children as they make their way down the aisle! This way children will think Santa has come early!
4. Get a portable DVD player or tablet
While it might seem expensive, or you might believe your kids are too young, giving children an iPad or tablet to keep them occupied on a long flight will almost guarantee happiness. They can watch movies, play games, have access to a range of their favourite applications and on many international flights they might even be able to get internet access (this can sometimes come at an extra charge of course). Portable DVD players are also a good option, however as they require actually bringing a set of DVDs too, it means a lot more space gets taken up.
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5. Download some kids’ games or apps
Be sure to download some games or apps that you know your kids will love before boarding your flight. Don’t rely on WiFi at the airport, and get everything downloaded and set up ever before you leave home! Be it on your phone (if you’re willing to part with it!) or your tablet, a few games will keep the little ones happy for most of the flight. You can even download language learning apps or chess if your kids are a little older and want to make the most of their time. For the super young ones, games like Bubbles, Toddler Cars and Peppa Pig are some great choices.
6. Go for walks and meet the pilots
Simple things like going for short walks up and down the plane is a great way to keep your children both entertained and happy. Going for walks is particularly important on long flights to give both you and your children a chance to stretch your legs and to prevent any sort of leg or foot cramps. You can also walk down to the back of the airplane and chat with the air stewards and you can even request to do a cockpit tour and to meet the pilot once the plane has landed. To do this simply ask an air steward nicely and then wait for all other passengers to disembark the plane first before making your way up to the cockpit.
7. Take a pillow
Sometimes the small things can make a huge difference. A travel pillow will make flights much more enjoyable for both you and your child. They can use it to lie down and go to sleep on your lap, to rest their tablet or toys on, or they can sit on it to make it easier to see out of the window and watch the world go by. If you have space, a small travel blanket will also come in handy as it can get chilly on overnight flights, especially when they turn the cold air up.
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8. Bring some sweet treats
While a hyper active child running up and down the aisle screaming and jumping does not make an ideal flight, a few sweets can certainly do no harm. In fact they will come in handy as the plane is taking off and landing, especially chewy sweets that will prevent any earaches or discomfort both for you and your child. Lollipops can also do the trick, as can chewing gum if your children’s ears pop as the plane takes off or lands.
9. Allow extra time
Having children should never stop you from travelling, no matter how stressful you might believe it to be. When travelling with infants and young children, you just need to allow lots of extra time for every step of the journey. There will need to be extra toilet stops, time to buy snacks, and time to give tired little feet a short rest.
Be it allocating enough time to get to the airport, to walk to the terminal or to catch a connecting flight, no matter how much time you usually allow you should try to allocate a little longer. It’s better to be early and have time to relax than to find yourself dashing through the airport with your bags flying in every direction and potentially leaving one kid behind, Home Alone-style!
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10. Play games with your children
While this may seem quite obvious, sitting next to your children on a flight and playing simple games is a great way to pass time. Think easy-to-play word games or guessing games such as “20 Questions”, “I Spy” or the “Yes or No Game”, which all children love. You can also talk about the destination you are going to and if you have more than one child, prepare a little quiz where everyone guesses answers about famous places in your holiday destination. You can even have a prize for the winner.
*Updated January 2019. Information correct at the time of publication and is subject to change.
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