With lengthy line-ups for security, cramped seating and overcrowded zones for waiting, flying can always be the most enjoyable experience for everyone. However, for families with young children, it can be quite stress-inducing. As travel becomes more complicated due to delays, tips on how to fly with children are more important than ever before.
Children, particularly young ones children, may have a difficult time flying. They’re still not able to master self-regulation abilities that enable them to remain calm when delays occur. They also are more susceptible to discomfort in the ear and motion sickness that can accompany traveling by air.
It’s possible to reduce the stress of traveling with your family by doing some pre-planning. Whether you’re jetting off to your relative’s house or Disney World, check out these flight-attendant-approved strategies for flying with kids.
1. Book an Early Morning Departure
If you are traveling with toddlers or children in the early years, you should consider scheduling a departure for the morning before. Early flights offer the best chance to avoid delays in landing and take-off as per Patrick One of the air attendants who were interviewed.
Airports are generally less crowded early at dawn. When you board your plane “everyone is tired and just wants to nap–kids especially,” Patrick says. Patrick.
2. Save Your Upgrades for Toddler-Free Travel
In first class, traveling with children can be more stress-inducing more than the value. One parent known as Joanna describes a day on the road with her lively and loud toddler, and is scolded by her first-class passengers throughout the flight.
“It’s not fair, but you’re just going to get more empathy and support with kids in economy,” adds a flight attendant.
3. Talk to Your Kids About What To Expect
“My experience is kids do so much better when they know what to expect,” says Siren an Australian mother of three kids from Australia who’s traveled across America United States several times with her children. She suggests watching videos for kids on YouTube that cover the entire experience of flying starting with baggage check-in and ticketing, to the on-board manners and security.
4. Layers of dress and skip Shoes with laces
When you’re adjusting your climate or just dealing with on-board heat or air conditioning, you should be prepared for sudden changes in temperatures while traveling with children. Wendy, as mother of a flight attendant, recommends dressing your children in layers that are comfortable, with no zippers, buttons, or anything else that may hinder them from going to the bathroom on time.
The same principles apply to shoes: avoid lacing and go for slip-ons. “There’s the added benefit of getting through airport screening that much faster,” Wendy adds. Wendy.
5. Bring Surprises
If you’re traveling with a small child, taking the latest toy in a wrap to preserve the delight (and enhance the experience!) offers a number of advantages:
- It can serve as a way to motivate yourself to listen well and be patient during your journey.
- The idea of introducing the toy halfway through the flight helps build anticipation and distracts the anxious children.
- Unwrapping toys is an enjoyable activity for kids.
- The latest plaything could be an interesting activity to distract children during the flight.
6. Consider Using a Smaller Stroller
The idea of traveling through the airport without a stroller can be a challenge for many parents, so think about swapping from your standard-sized stroller to an umbrella-sized, small stroller or a travel stroller. Also, make sure you check you stroller’s baggage at gate prior embarking on the plane. The crew will be waiting to greet you once you exit the plane.
If you’re traveling with more than one small traveler in your travels, you should consider purchasing the use of a child harness to connect you with the child you are traveling with, Wendy suggests. “I was so against them until I saw a woman with three young boys using them in baggage claim. It made so much sense,” she adds. “Flying is stressful enough. Do what you need to do to protect your kids and your sanity.”
7. Pack Just Enough
The flight attendants advise parents to bring essential items for their flight. “Unfortunately, you can expect there to be zero food on a plane that would interest a kid,” says the flight attendant Lynn. “And we are so limited in what we can offer in terms of comfort items as well.”
On the other hand parents can be a bit stressed when they overpack. “Usually, when it’s one parent traveling with one or more kids, they’ll bring way too much stuff in an attempt to keep their kids happy,” Wendy adds. “They forget they have to carry all that stuff off the plane with them, along with their kids.”
8. Plan Your Packing List
To avoid over-packing while ensuring that you don’t leave anything important out make your entire list of packing items. Mark or highlight things that need to be packed in the last moment (like the stuffed animal your child is sleeping with or the tablet charging) to will have a list to refer to once more before you head out with your bags.
9. Be Prepared for Security
When packing, make sure that the items you need to remove during screening are easy to reach. Be aware that traveling with food items could result in more examinations when you go through security screening.
10. Prepare for Air Pressure Changes
If your child recently been suffering from an ear infection, or a cold, make sure you get your medical professional’s approval prior to flying. The shift in the cabin pressure could result in ear pain for your child.
After you have passed through security, be sure to stock up on enough water to avoid a delay. Also, make sure you have enough to make it through your descent. This can be the most stressful period for ear pain. Make sure your children drink water throughout the last thirty to forty-five minutes after your journey. The act of drinking water helps ease pressure-change discomfort and helps hydrate, too.
11. By All Means, Use Pull-Ups
Your child might have shifted from pull-ups to big kid’s underwear, but the pull-up diapers can be a valuable resource for flying with a newly potty-trained toddler, or young child. “I even use them on my 6-year-old,” Wendy says. Wendy she states that it’s far more relaxing than having to run for the restroom or face an accident that occurs in the seat.
12. Show Some Appreciation
Flight attendants are enthralled by receiving small monetary rewards for dealing with children. “Any kind of chocolate found in an airport handed over at boarding, does wonders,” says Patrick. Of course, it’ll be of no benefit to the random members of the cabin staff. However, it’s an excellent gesture, especially when flying during time of the year when a majority of flight attendants are working away from their families.
“It will be so appreciated,” the man says. “And we will remember you and look out for you. And not only that, you’ll probably score a free drink out of it.”
13. Seat Kids Away From the Aisle
Aisle seats are a risk for children and may allow them to have a bit too much freedom to move. For instance, toddlers’ feet and hands could be slammed against the pavement as pedestrians walk along the sidewalk, while hot beverages and coffee could be in reach while the food and drink cart moves through.
If you’re able to, put the child on a windows that gives you the benefit of a view. It also places you in the middle of your toddler and the other children in the row.
14. Beware of Germs
Children can get sick frequently However, you can do your best to stay clear of any illness related to travel with a few sanitary precautions:
- Clean everything from your the tray tables to your hands with clean-up wipes after you’ve got settled into your seat.
- Don’t let your kids go to the bathroom with no shoes. “The floor is a Petri dish,” an airline attendant says. “You’re in the air, things jostle. That’s not just water on the bathroom floor.”
- Use hand sanitizer in the form of a bag and apply it on the hands of your child in the event that they are unable to access an bathroom to wash them using soap and water.
15. Keep Your Composure
There’s nothing it’s possible to do to calm the child who complains every when your child is sick or laughs. Keep in mind that as the moment you’re trying (and which parent wouldn’t? ) You’ve got nearly everybody on your side.
“An adult having an issue with a screaming child is acting like a child as well,” says the flight attendant and mom referred to as Patience. “Don’t engage. Just worry about your own child.”
16. Select an airline that has Kid-Friendly Benefits
A family-friendly airline needs more than content, happy kids. So, the top airlines have a wide range of kid-friendly amenities to offer their youngest passengers, from their most loved television shows and films to child-friendly headphones and snacks.
Before you board, make certain to ask the gate attendant to find out if the airline has priority screening for families with young children. There are times when airlines have special boarding for families to ensure they can board earlier, giving you time to settle. Another great benefit to search for are family lounges and airports that have areas for children to let off steam while waiting for their flights or during layovers prior to embarking.