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Home / TRIP IDEAS / A-List Travel Advisors / How to Get Ready for Long Flights with Children

How to Get Ready for Long Flights with Children

2023-01-11  Tatiana Travis
Family at airport

 

It can be challenging to travel with young children, especially on a lengthy international flight, as they are not always cooperative with the necessary on-the-go practicalities of getting from point A to point B. There are several things you can do to encourage the best outcome if you want the trip to be as smooth as possible for your family and the other travellers on your journey. There are also methods for overcoming difficulties should things not turn out the way you had hoped or intended. To find out how to travel with young children on long-haul flights, continue reading our advice below.It can be challenging to travel with young children, especially on a lengthy international flight, as they are not always cooperative with the necessary on-the-go practicalities of getting from point A to point B. There are several things you can do to encourage the best outcome if you want the trip to be as smooth as possible for your family and the other travellers on your journey. There are also methods for overcoming difficulties should things not turn out the way you had hoped or intended. To find out how to travel with young children on long-haul flights, continue reading our advice below.

 

 

How to Prepare for a Trip
Get your kids involved before you even purchase your plane ticket. They will feel invested in the journey's result if they have some control over it. Learn about the things you'll be doing once you get there by doing some research together. Will you be adding any museums, distinctive restaurants, strolling tours, beaches, or cultural events to the itinerary? Showing your kids travel movies, letting them look through photography books, having them follow a recipe and prepare a dish from another country, having them practise a foreign language, or teaching them how to create some of the local art will all help to engage them in the planning process.

It will feel like there is a light at the end of the tunnel if you can talk about all the exciting things you'll be doing once you land during the flight. Additionally, you can prepare snacks and activities that go well with the nation you'll be visiting during the flight. If you knew how to create Peruvian wool bracelets, for instance, you might make some while you're in the air and give them to the flight crew or other passengers.

What to Do the Day of Your Trip
It must be emphasised again: If you're flying internationally with children and all of their equipment, you'll need extra time to arrive to the airport, pass through security, find your gate, and take care of your children's various needs. After making the effort to board the plane, you don't want to miss your flight because your rideshare was running late, your child needed to use the restroom, or there was an unanticipated meltdown at a snack bar. Instead of having to completely reschedule, it is preferable to arrive early and wait.

Also, be sure to allow yourself plenty of time to pack and double-check that you have everything you'll need to get your family where you're going with the least amount of stress, including passports, onboard activities, extra snacks, changes of clothes, and plenty of diapers or baby supplies.

How to Choose the Best Children's Airline Seats
Choose your seats carefully first. In order to ensure that you have chosen the nicest seats possible, inform the gate attendant of how many children you are flying with and their ages when you arrive. For instance, is a bulkhead row available so that your children won't kick the seats in front of them or irritate other travellers by repeatedly lowering and raising the window shades and tray tables? Exist any open seats with extra legroom so your infants have a little more room to move around while playing on the floor?

The extra noise and people in the galley will cause bustle and loudness, therefore it is not best to sit right in front of the restroom. In order to ensure that a stranger won't be bothered if a seat is bumped, it may be best to arrange older children in a row directly behind the adult seats.

How to Keep Children Amused on a Flight
Playdough is simple to prepare in advance and may be a lot of fun to play with while flying. Bring paper and washable markers for drawing. carry books. Give your kids a baggie full of Legos and ask them to use it to construct an Airbus or a scene involving travel. Bring workbooks that have word searches, mazes, and tic tac toe in them. Additionally, think about taking some practical equipment that is fully charged and filled with digital movies, games, and pictures. Just remember to bring your headphones!

You can also think about purchasing a few unexpected toys to give your children along the route. New finger puppets, sticker books, pipe cleaners, miniature building kits, colouring pages, or toys designed specifically for aeroplanes will be very popular with kids. You might even promise your children a special reward if they behave well enough to get to the halfway point.

Sleeping Your Children Through a Long Flight
Everyone in your family should, ideally, get plenty of peaceful sleep and awaken feeling refreshed as your aircraft is about to land. However, the ideal is rarely the case, therefore it is best to adjust your expectations and be ready for any eventuality.

Do your best to create a sleeping-friendly environment by bringing soothing items like lovies and blankets, staying away from sugary foods and beverages, lowering the shades, and more. Perhaps you put your kids to bed by reading them a book and singing a lullaby. To put your kids to sleep on the plane, employ the same methods you do at home. Maybe bouncing your baby while walking up and down the aisle will work. And if they simply won't fall asleep, just bear it, adapt, and don't forget to breathe.

4 Travel Tips for Children You Should Know
Baby crying on planes is frequently caused by their ears hurting. Wait until takeoff or landing to nurse or bottle-feed your child because sucking helps to relieve the pain brought on by the air pressure. Babies can also benefit from pacifiers. Give your older children a sucker, a bit of gum, or some candy.
Bring a Ziploc packet filled with a spare set of clothes. You will be able to quickly change your child's clothes in the bathroom and seal the soiled clothing in the sealed bag if they have an accident while on the flight or if they become wet or dirty from snacks and drinks.
Bring a range of snacks. In addition to keeping your children well-fed on lengthy trips, it can also be a good diversion from the monotony of being confined to a seat. Additionally, you'll have something you know your children will eat or drink if they're too finicky to eat the airline meal.
Consider providing a "peace package" of earplugs, chocolates, and a message apologising in advance for any discomfort if you worry that your babies pose a high danger of upsetting those nearby.


2023-01-11  Tatiana Travis