We have travelled to South Africa and Costa Rica with our toddler (as well as numerous other places) and this is what we learnt...
Flying with a toddler is not for the faint hearted. They are tiny humans with BIG personalities and lots of energy which is hard to burn off stuck in a tin can in the sky! But there are ways you can make the flights easier and we promise, it will not be as hard as you think.
Our first tip is:
PREPARATION
The more you prepare, the smoother your journey will be so we're talking having snacks in a lunch box ready to go and easy to find in a bag. Have a bag full of toys so you know exactly where everything is when your little one asks for it. Let them choose some of their favourite toys to bring or you bring the ones you know they love and play with everyday.
Preparation starts at home when you are packing so make a list of everything you want to pack for the holiday and a separate list of what you want to take on the plane. This way you can keep everything separate so you aren't scrambling through your suitcase searching for that lost teddy bear.
Our second tip is:
VARIETY IS THE SPICE OF LIFE
Pack a variety of activities for your little one to enjoy on board. We took 2 x 11 hour flights with our toddler and one when she was a baby (7 months old and it was a million times easier!). Couple that with getting from North East England to London and waiting around in airports, it was a lot of time to entertain our daughter and think up new, fun things to do.
Our advice is plan and pack a variety of activities such as:
Books
An activity busy/sensory board
Downloaded shows on iPad/iPhone
Teddies
Plastic stacking cups (can never go wrong)
A drawing board
A longer game you can play with them and engage with them
At least one new toy so it's exciting
If you have a toddler you will know that it's hard to retain their attention span on one thing for more than 5 minutes so having a variety of things to do will make the flight easier and smoother
Our third tip is:
Book the bassinet seats
The bassinet or the bulkhead seats are at the front of each section of the plane and have a compartment which folds down where you can have a plastic crib or car-seat style chair which attaches to the compartment for sleeping. When we travelled with our daughter when she was 7 months old she slept in this no problem but once she was 17 months old she was far too big and as soon as she wanted to roll over and couldn't, she woke up.
However, we would still recommend booking these seats as it allows you to have extra leg room and generally move room for your little one to move around. If you are extra lucky, the third seat in your section will be free meaning you get a free spare seat for your little one and plenty of space for them to play. We used one of the blankets the airline provide and put that on the floor to make a little play fort for our daughter and she sat and played there for hours. She even invited a little baby friend she met on board to join her in the fort!
Our fourth tip is:
Stay clear of unfamiliar foods
You will definitely be giving (and most likely bribing) your toddler with snacks during your long-haul flight to make it more bearable and let's face it, give you 5 minutes without having to entertain them. Our advice would be to ensure they continue to eat what they are used to eating back home. Don't be tempted for the flight to be the time they try a new food as you cannot be sure how it will settle on their stomach. We've experienced sickness with our toddler on a flight and would not recommend!
We packed pouches and easy to grab snacks that she was familiar with and also bought some milk from duty free before we boarded the plane so she had that to get her down for her first nap (remember you can use water in a milk bottle to avoid their ears popping if you no longer give your toddler milk)
Stay tuned for more tips for travelling with your little one and follow us on Instagram for more Instagram
Next post: Flying with a newborn
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