Tips On Flying With A Toddler And A Small Kid

Flying with children is difficult when both parents are present. When one parent is outnumbered by multiple children, it can be difficult. You need all options on the table, and you need to exercise discretion. Additionally, you should understand some things will work out for you seemingly miraculously, while some things will go wrong you can't prevent.

So what's a mother to do? Well, you've got to look at the issue from multiple angles. First, how long is the flight going to be? Second, when will you arrive at the airport, and what sort of layovers are you likely to experience? Third, where are you headed?

Strategic Preparation

Such items represent a sort of schematic for your trip that you'll flesh out going forward. For example, if you're flying somewhere on an airplane which departs the nearest airport at eight in the morning, you probably want to be parked and checked in two hours before the flight departs in order to ensure you get your seat—you've got to arrive at six in the morning.

To get to the airport at six in the morning, you'll have to wake the kids up at four in the morning and prepare them for the flight. They'll need to be cleaned, packed, and fed—full bellies are more apt to result in sleepy youngsters on the flight.

You might wake them up a little early, too. There are several schools of thought on this. One school of thought says to feed them a big meal early the day before so they go to bed before they would regularly, allowing you to pack everybody and get to bed early yourself. The other school of thought is to let them stay up, and wake them up before they've gotten full sleep.

If there's at least a four-hour gap between when you wake them, and when you get to the airplane, there's a likelihood they'll fall asleep during the flight—there isn't much else to do. The sleep they lost the night before will be recouped on the plane, and you might even get a nap.

Don't Forget To Be Comprehensive

Still, you can't expect things to go how you planned; thus the comprehensive perspective. Bring along food and snacks; try and have some things that generate a sense of refreshment, as beverages are restricted coming into an airport owing to terrorism and inept bureaucracy. This means your only other option is buying children drinks in the airport, and that can be expensive in an unreasonable way.

If you can get your infant and toddler to drink water primarily, you could bring an empty water bottle with you and fill it up at the drinking fountain before you board the plane. Whatever works best for you and your family.

You might bring portable crayons and coloring books for the toddler, and some sort of musical option for the infant; big, comfy headphones. You want both children comfortable and healthy so they're in a good emotional state for the flight. Especially if they've never flown before, you want them to be predisposed toward as positive a reaction as you're able to ensure.

Window Seats And Last-Minute Flights

You might want to seat the toddler near the window if at all possible. Also, in terms of cost consolidation, you might plan your trip around statistically low instances of passenger attendance on a plane, like in October, or the middle of the week. Then you can save money on air fare with cheap last-minute flight deals. Taking care of children requires spending money, you want to save it where you can.

Whatever choices you make here, you want to leave yourself room to move, and you want to ensure you've got resources for anything your young children throw at you. You can't predict what's going to happen, but you can hope for the best and prepare for the worst.