Whether you’re travelling with your kids for the first time, or if you are seasoned pro at travelling, we all can use a few good suggestions to make a long flight a bit more enjoyable.
If you are travelling with kids, as some point, they’re going to cry, fuss, go ballistic, or get bored at some point. How they behave when they do is what we as parents can control.
I was once on a flight when the drink cart prevented me from returning to my seat and I had to wait. From the back of the plane, I swear to you that my already fussing 2-year-old daughter looked at me over the seat, and realized she had a one-on-one with my wife. I could see the fire in her eyes at the very moment she went insane and screamed, fussed, kicked and cried until I could get to them… My wife still has bite marks on her head.
Ok, so what can we do to handle situations like this better? Answer: prevent them from happening in the first place if you can!
Feed your kids before they get on the flight. Stuff them. Have a full meal before your flight if you can. Kids with a full belly are way better travellers, why? Because they sleep!
Carry plenty of snacks that your kids like. This is not the time to introduce broccoli-seaweed-dirt balls. Pack the good stuff.
Have a water bottle for kids to drink from. The last thing you want to do is have them drinking sugary drinks and then try to maintain good behaviour while trapped in an airline seat.
Movies on the tablet. (You might just say ‘anything’ interesting on the tablet…) It’s the lazy man’s solution to all problems with kids… Just shove a tablet in front of their face… I know, it’s not what I would normally do, but extraordinary circumstances call for extraordinary solutions.
Chewing gum. Yep, bring chewing gum that your kid will like. Sometimes the adult peppermint flavours are too much for little tastebuds. As the flight begins it’s decent, shove a few sticks of gum in your kid’s mouths and they can chew away the painful ear popping on the way down.
Bring sanitizing wipes. Make sure your kids wash their hands before, during and after a flight. Catching flu or cold is pretty easy on a crowded flight, so bring some sanitizing wipes to keep hands clean and germ-free.
Flights are fun if you think ahead and plan. This list is really short, and there are so many other great ideas for flights. Let me know if you have any other sure-fire tricks for a great flight with young kids, or add to the comments here! Happy Travels!
Bonus: If you are travelling to a country with a new language for yourself and your kids, you can practice saying common phrases in the new language. “Please, thank you, may I have… , I will pay…, May I have a beer, please” are all great phrases to know and practice!