Tips for travelling with kids

[jandksmum]

Hi,

We are going on an overseas trip in a month.

I am trying to think of ways to occupy my two kids (DS 4 1/2 & DD 18months) on the plane.

Our first leg is 17(!) hours. We leave early evening so i am hoping (and praying ) that they will sleep for a good part of this leg.

I think the 4 1/2 y.o. will be ok as he'll watch a dvd or play with some toys, but not sure what to do to occupy DD at 18months.

I've bought some sticker books and activity books, some lego & some new thomas trains but couldn't think of much else.

Anyone have any ideas ?????

Also, i've booked the bassinet for her but am not sure whether it's better to have this or try and reserve a whole row (looks like plenty of seats avail so far) so she can lay down properly with on of us beside her ??? I've heard the bassinets are quite shallow and i'm worried she might get up and fall out. I've laso been told that everytime the seat belt sign comes on, you have to take them out.

Appreciate any tips or ideas.

Thanks

[certified dad]

Hi,
We have found the iPod video or iPhone great for that type of thing. I have put videos of Maisy and play school and podcasts of sesame street and Dora on them.
Whenever we go on a long drive or flight I always make sure it is fully charged!
Certified Dad

[fiveofus]

when we flew to the UK DS1 was 8 months and the bassinet wasn't exactly huge for him then and yes they are shallow and yes we did have to take him out when the seatbelt sign went on!!! BUT........it was great to have somewhere to put him to sleep and he did enjoy sitting in it and playing with some toys and watching all the people. I would think if there were the 4 of you and you had requested the bassinet you may be given the all of the bulk head seats anyway. Some planes only have 4 seats there.........don't know what type of plane you are on though.

Have fun.......I'm sure it will be worth it when you get there!!!

[SnowBunny]

Hi,

When DD was about 20 months, I flew with her to the UK, just the two of us. We brought her a seat of her own and used a CARES Harness for her. She was just too big to handle such a flight on my lap!

We packed a bag of toys, some wrapped up like presents (adds to the time that particular toy can interest them for), some familiar and some new. We tried not to take anything that she would terribly miss if it happened to get lost. Things like, books, soft toys, paper and crayons, pegs and containers, even cut out some of the winnie cards off the nappy box (she used these as puddles to jump on and lined them up on the floor, kept her amused for a while too). Magnetic books (like sticker books) were good too, especially if you hadn't already taken the magnets out yet. That added a new dimension of a puzzle once you poked out all the pieces from the sheet. We tried not to take any noise making toys.

We also took a wrap (about 80cm x 80 cm size) which added with the pegs could be attached between the seat in front and the seat she was playing/sitting on in case she dropped anything, save you having to get on the floor to find a dropped toy. It also came in handy for a bit of privacy for when she was breastfeeding.

Also have to agree with Certified Dad about the Iphone stuff. We had a small hand held computer (Ipaq) which hubby put her favourite shows on. It came in very handy for the last couple of hours of the flight (after 24 hours she was just itching to get of the seat and I was exhausted so Hi-5 and Pocoyo were life savers!) I did save it though until I was desperate and had used up everything else.

One other thing I did, as a safety thing, since I was on my own with her, was anytime she had a change of clothes, I took of photo on our digital camera, just in case she ran off or we got separaged (though I always had her in her teddy harness).

Her toys were packed in a little kids roller suitcase so she was able to drag it herself, which also kept her near me as she couldn't go very fast. She had practised dragging it around the house before we left.

Also, got together a mini nappy change kit as the bathrooms are so small, just enough in a plastic zip lock bag for a nappy change and then topped it up at a convenient time back at the seat.

Other things were we took a familiar blanket and pillow for her (in our case it was the ones we always used when breastfeeding). Also, try and be prepared for delays, as in nappies etc. We were unlucky enough to be delayed for 5 hours in Sydney on the way out.

I did spend a far bit of time researching stuff when I realised I was going to have to do the trip alone (hubby had his tickets booked through work and we weren't able to match up on the way over, thankfully we were on the same plane on the way home). Glad I can pass on some of the stuff that worked for us, hope it helps you.

Hope you have a great time away.

[jandksmum]

Guys,

I just wanted to say a HUGE thank-you for your tips and advice.

I have taken them all on board and i am SURE they will be of great help to us.
Snow Bunny i don't know how you did it on your own (but sounds like you were very organised!) but your tips are fantastic.

Am going out to look at iphones or similar today !

Thanks again guys, really, really appreicate your help.

[buster]

Small magna-doodle
Lots of snacks

Good Luck and have fun.

[Ffrenchknickers]

What airline are you flying with?

We flew to Germany last year, with a stopover at Dubai. We had our 3 children 8, 4 and 20 months at the time (plus I was 7 months pregnant)

We flew with Emirates and they were great. They were forever bringing around food and toys for the kids. My 4 year old slept alot, the 8 year old was happy to play the playstation thingy the whole time and watch movies and DD (20 months) was really happy just to wander around a bit, watch some movies and chat and eat. I was really proud of all of them actually.

I filled a small bag with a whole heap of new, small toys for the kids. I wrapped them all up individually so that if they started to get bored I would be able to produce a little present to occupy them The mini magna doodle was a great hit with DD and the lego was good for the boys.

The bassinets have a weight limit of 10kgs. DD was 10 kilos when we went so we did use it but didn't find it much use at that age. You have to take them out if the seatbelt sign goes on too which is a bit of a pain if they have just gone to sleep. The can't sit up in them either.

Have a great time!

[Manxie]

Thanks for this thread. I am travelling to the UK with a four year old and dd2 who will be 14 months.

DOnt want to hijack but any tips for what to give to bubs during takeoff and landing. She isnt a dummy girl and will only have booby if hungry

I've been told by Malaysian that I cant book a basinette for her apparently their rules have changed and she will be too old. They have blocked out a row of five seats. We'd better get them or I will be like this

[SnowBunny]

Hi,

jandksmum - Glad to be of assistance. Hopefully some of it will help you out. I'm not sure I would call it organised, at least not at the time. More like information overload and hoping that I would remember some of it. Thankfully it worked out well and looking back on it, yep it certainly seems like I was organised. Though I was lucky and had a great little DD who seems to enjoy flying. I think most of the scariness was that I didn't have a lot of time from when we knew we were flying over for sure until we left - only a week of actually knowing. It was in the pipeline, so to speak for a couple of weeks. (a work thing for Hubby so wasn't really up to us if we were going or not).

Manxie - I know it is different for every kid and I was lucky that DD would in general take a dummy or feed at that time, but there was one time where we were landing and she wouldn't take that dummy at all or feed and she was fine, no problems at all. I remember being really worried that she would scream or something but she didn't. Mind you she loves the bumps of landing so she was probably all excited anyway! I guess distraction might be another option, maybe have a little present for her to open just before take off that might keep her amused for a bit and not realise what is going on. Or talk her through everything that is happening with the plane so she is concentrating on that rather than anything else. Hope it all goes well.