With the summer holidays just around the corner and parents, grandparents and carers steeling themselves for travelling with children here’s our take on how to fly without getting frazzled. Good luck!
Make full use of the airport facilities
If there’s a play area near the boarding gate, stay there for as long as you can so that the children can expend the last of their energy there.
Never, ever, ever travel without your preferred brand of kiddie Paracetamol or Ibruprofen
Plasters with favourite cartoon characters can soothe woebegone kids. And pack baby wipes too. There’s very little a baby wipe can’t clean up! You can even use them as a towel to freshen up at the end of a long day.
Choose your books and toys wisely
Toys that double as pillows are a great idea for the snuggle factor on flights. Sticker books or workbooks with wipe-clean markers are great too.
Make sure you have a lollipop to counteract the ear-popping, some Play Doh, crayons or colouring pencils and notebooks (you can get a lot of mileage out of noughts and crosses!).
Buy their favourite comics or a couple of small toys for those moments when a meltdown seems imminent.
Pack your music
And brace yourself for the kids using your iPhone or iPad. Even if you limit screen time in your home, different rules – necessary, do-what-you-need-to-do rules – apply on the road and this will cover you if the airline’s in-flight entertainment is not up to scratch (or, if you’re flying with a low-cost airline, non-existent).
Have your little one channel their inner hero or heroine
To cope with delays, mishaps or a well-timed kick from a sibling. Try to get them to pretend to be Dora / Diego / Phineas and Ferb or Ben 10 and then appeal to their fictional nature when plans go awry.
Pack lots of ziplock bags
They’re excellent for soiled clothing, half-eaten snacks, sticky lollipops or anything that needs to be contained.
On the subject of packing, less is definitely more
Be ruthless when it comes to the amount of clothes you bring and give each child the responsibility of looking after their own bag.
If you’re going to the beach, packing will be easy. You’ll only need them to wear their travelling shoes and flip-flops or Crocs won’t take up too much space. If holidaying in a country not known for its sunny weather, wellies are perfectly acceptable travelling gear.
Pack their favourite snacks
You won’t be able to bring your favourite drink on a plane, if your child likes drinking more than 100ml that is. As far as snacks go, try to wean them off the unhealthiest, additive-filled food if you’re going on a long flight.
Healthy muffins, crackers, bread sticks, cheese strings, popcorn, carrot sticks, nuts and dried fruit are better bets than crisps or brightly-coloured sweets.
