Flying with child/baby - Basic tips

Travel

Flying with children tagging along could be a nightmare for most parents but try to remember the finer points to make the trip better.

Airlines

• Find your airline's website, and search for information about flying with an infant or small child.
• Check if your airline allows you to pre-book baby bassinet before the day of travel - not all will.

Airports

• Allow plenty of time at the airport for check-in, and connecting flights.
• Ask if your flight is full when checking in. Some airline assistants will block out the seat next to you in a less full flight or offer you the option of seating next to a vacant seat.
• Get on the plane first and off the plane last to get a better chance of assistance from cabin crew.
• Take a set of reins or a harness for a toddler so that you can let him/her walk around the terminal - but still keep him close at hand.

Diaper changing

• Pack a small bag with just one diaper, a few wipes, a perfumed nappy sack and some rash cream if needed and place it in the seat pocket in front of you.
• Some planes have a larger bathroom at the very rear of the plane with a correspondingly larger change table. Use them, as airplane changing tables are small.

Eating and meals on board

• Check the temperature of food heated in the aircraft before you give it to your child.
• Take your own baby food, bowl and utensils for an infant.
• Disposable wares are a great idea for infant mealtimes on board an airplane.
• Carry a bottle of pre-boiled water with you too, then make up the bottle in the pre-sterilized bag and ask the attendant to warm it by standing briefly in a bowl of hot water.
• Ask for bottles and meals to be warmed well in advance of when you need them.
• Carry candy, fruit or biscuits that your kids enjoy so that they nibble on those if they don't care for airline food.

Entertainment

• Wrap toys to add to their entertainment value.
• For older children bring along video games, books or some comics.
• Bring toys out one by one - get maximum use from them, pack them away, then move on to the next one.

Health and hygiene

• For toddlers who don't travel well - take along a nappy/diaper.
• Because airplane bathrooms are small, keep a nappy, small pack of wipes/cotton wool, tube of lotion, lightweight plastic change mat/hand towel, flannel and nappy sack in a side pocket of your cabin bag.

Packing

• Cheap tickets sometimes have hidden restrictions - like tough cabin baggage weight limits - so check yours carefully before you start to pack.
• Get older children to carry their own back packs to lessen your load.

Sleeping on board

• The location of many bassinet seats immediately in front of the movie screen is unsettling for some babies, and can be irritating to parents trying to coax toddlers to sleep.
• It's a myth that babies are lulled to sleep by the plane's engine noise. Try to stick as much as possible to your baby's sleep routine.
• Talk to your doctor before you fly about whether using sedatives is right for your baby or child. Some children travel well with sedatives, others become even more hyperactive than usual.

Cheers,
Daffodil