 |
| Photo Credit: Cathy of Cathy Thinking Out Loud |
- Pack plenty of snacks in your carry on so they are easily accessible. Hunger makes for cranky kids.
- Have a few activities in the kids carry on bags (workbooks, word search, dry erase books, colouring books, deck of cards); it will give them something to do, and hopefully keep boredom at bay (especially if the on board tvs are not working)
- Arrive at the airport early. Security and Customs lines can be long, and rushing can have everyone cranky.
- Check security guidelines for what you are allowed to bring through, which will help keep your time with the guards to a minimum.
- Keep the kids engaged while waiting to board the plane. Watching the planes landing and taking off can keep little ones quite entertained.
- We chose to take advantage of early boarding - depending on your kids, this may or may not be a good idea. It works for ours to get them on the plane without waiting in a long line. We are settled in our seats and not feeling quite so crowded. If your kids have a hard time sitting still, you may want to wait until the end before boarding - this will give you slightly less time on the plane.
- Make sure they have gum, chewy candies or a drink to help with ear popping. Mr. J chewed gum, Mr.K had Swedish berries. I kept reminding them to chew with a wide open mouth to help their ears.
- Try to stay calm and relaxed with whatever they throw at you. If parents are stressed, kids can pick up on it.
- Pack a change of clothes for your kids (and yourself) in your/their carry on - makes it easy for spills or potty accidents
- If you will be changing diapers, keep everything you need in a large ziplock bag - bathrooms are small, and there isn't much room for a diaper bag)
Do you have any tips? I would love to hear them
More family travel posts:
Same tips as these. Also I always make sure their comfort objects are handy even at the ages my kids are now. It's better to have a blanket handy for when they need to calm down and sleep.
ReplyDeleteyes, that is a great one! We had kyle's sweater in his carry on, and their stuffies as well (not needed, but nice to know we had them if we did)
DeleteYes my one girl still travels with her bear everywhere we go. That one single bear called Cutie has seen so many countries!!! It's amazing. If only he could talk. LOL. Sweaters work too for sure. Thanks for adding your link to my Travel Tuesday perpetual weekly link up!
ReplyDeleteGreat tips! We bring our laptop while flying, and bought a "Y" headphone attachment so both kids could watch a DVD at the same time while waiting for the next flight. We had a 4 hour layover once!
ReplyDeleteBeen seeing lots of blogs offering travel tips for families. Some of your tips were different. Dont ask me to cite since my family is grown I didnt take notes.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing these great tips
ReplyDeleteI like the tip about ziplock bagging toiletries for babes. Smart
ReplyDeleteI will pass on your travel tips to my daughter who is flying with her toddler to Disneyland in the spring...thank you so much :)
ReplyDeletewe used a roll of painters tape to keep our toddler busy on a plane for a long time - cheap, easy entertainment!
ReplyDeleteWe always buy bottled water (after the security checkpoint) to bring on the plane. So we'll always have something to drink when we need it.
ReplyDeleteGreat tips! Especially the change of clothes. That's something that most people may forget.
ReplyDeleteThese are fantastic tips for flying with small children
ReplyDelete