Hi All,

Does anybody have any experience with looong haul flights with kids? I have a family trip to Australia soon, and am more or less prepared for the 24 hour challenge, but if anybody has any tips on how to keep 1-4 year olds occupied/happy/asleep I'm all ears.

kB

Paging Swisspea ...

Ours travelled remarkably well with Singapore airlines...gotta love those computer screens.

I took pyjamas and a change of clothes...5-6 small new toys and games...

I ask for extra blankets/pillows, and we are a family of 5 and we seat one adult with one child, and one adult with two children - and we move around - the only time the kids have to be in their allocated seat is for take off and landing.

Ask for extra snacks if needed.

Ask for help if needed.

Don't be afraid to walk around the plane, but not when the 'seatbelt' sign is showing...also, make a habit of taking the kids regularly to the toilet because they have to hold on if the 'seatbelt' sign is on!

Take and extra change of clothes for yourself too - two of ours vomited on the plane and it's not fun if you also get it on your clothes

We took the A380 connection leaving Zurich - we got out of bed fairly early, went to the airport, the flight didn't leave until I think 11am, we adjusted one watch for Sydney time, the plane was running on Singapore time, and we left one watch on Zurich time.

The staff will serve meals according to the destination time, which won't coincide with the kids normal eating - so ask for meals to be served for the kids at a specific time.

If you have dietary needs, make sure they are booked with your ticket, and alert the staff...

My general advice is always 'plan for the worst and be pleasantly surprised when it isn't quite that bad'...

I did change the children into their pyjamas for 'bedtime' and enforce a screen ban! - once the computer games were off they actually went to sleep really easily with the motion and sound of the airplane..

I never recommend sedatives/medication for children - I don't like being 'out of my head' so I can't imagine children would like it either - and I certainly have been on flights with medicated children who vomited a lot!

Oh, and my husband did the return journey with three kids solo-parenting...

He only had to offer once

I had to return a week earlier for work...he got 'royal' treatment...got all the kids organised with all their backpacks, 15 pieces of handluggage etc...getting off the plane in Singapore...pram...and then someone said 'This way sir' - and put him and the three kids on one of those little cars and they got a lift all the way to the transit lounge!

you get the 'golden' ticket too - if you travel with small children - sometimes you get priority lanes, special toys, meals, special queue at the security clearance...fun!

Oh, and one last thing...remember...no one wants a screaming child on board, so they will bend over backwards if there's anything they can do to help you, your child, and the surrounding passengers stay comfortable!

My recommendation for flying with children would be Singapore or Emirates...

Hi Swisspea- Thanks for the tips- there are definitely some things that I didn't think of. It sounds like you are experts here, and respect to your husband doing that alone with three children!

I didn't know you can request meals at different times, and the frequent toilet trips will be made when we fly with Singapore :-)

We've had a screen ban since Christmas, and quite confident that loading the ipad with Barbapapa will provide a novelty that should distract them for a good few hours!

As otherwise he'd be shot!

Yeah, my husband is pretty cool... he's a primary school teacher, so he doesn't really have any excuse - if he can handle a class of 30 9-12 year olds, he should be able to handle his own three!

My daughter has done more than 30 flights - she's 11.

Our little one has done - Sydney/Singapore/Zurich, Zurich Birmingham return, Zurich london return, zurich paris return, Zurich/london/chennai return, Sydney/adelaide return, and Zurich/Singapore/Sydney, and Zurich/Barcelona (that's an easy one, only 1.5 hours)... and he just turned 3!

My parents always predicted that our generation would travel a lot more than they ever did - but last year my parents did more than 5 return international long-haul flights - including Sydney/Singapore/Zurich/Barcelona/Zurich/Kuala Lumpur/Sydney and also trips to Japan and Thailand... so you could say that it's kind of 'in the blood'...

The ipad should work a treat. We have an itouch which is slightly smaller but as effective. We have games and movies on there for our 3 year old and she is quite happy playing with that for hours. It's advisable to take a battery operated charger or a computer so that you can charge it up along the way (trust me you don't want it to go dead).

The screens they have in the chairs are great but they don't always have the movies or games that they will like. This way you can guarentee that they will be happy.

Of course we always make sure she has a couple of small toys (that we know she won't be too worried about losing) and maybe some crayons, colouring book and a couple of books. That way we are covered in all situations.

The flight back to Australia is a long one but if you can get a flight that leaves later in the day then they will be tired and sleep for longer. If you have an early flight be prepared that they will be awake for quite a while. I also agree with Sweetpea to take some snacks with you, as they don't really have many options for kids (unless you want them to eat chocolate and have a sugar rush!).

Good luck and enjoy your time in Oz.

Regards
Mel

Dimetapp

The suggestion if you are considering medication is to do a 'test run' at home on a day when you can be there to see what the reaction is - When we did our first Singapore-Zurich trip there was an 11 year old who had been medicated to fly, and she vomited most of the way from Singapore to Zurich...her mother was not having a fun flight...

I am horrified at the thought of anyone using medication on a child to make a flight more comfortable and easier for the surrounding adults. If a child is having trouble settlling due to the flight? timezones etc, then that is the problem, NOT the child. For anyone who objects to the perfectly healthy, normal movements and sounds of a child, take the medication yourself. Don't go drugging the children.

@biff - relax.

We didn't end up using any meds, but we thought about it

Great tips all round, my only other thought would be to take at least one extra change of clothes for the parents. Ours od'd on apple juice and barfed it all up on my lap about an hour into a 9 hour flight Thank goodness for extra pants.

It's every parent's decision whether these are best administered to the children, the parents, or both.

I have an important tip!

Last time we travelled back from Australia with our daughter we realised she was going to throw up just as the plane was starting to land. My husband and I both scrabbled for the paper bags they provide but in our panic neither of us could get them open in time...

Later, we realised that you had to rip off the top of the bag before using it. We couldn't believe it, and in every plane since carefully check to see if this is the case, but it must only be on Singapore airlines. So be prepared!

take a ipllow, a cheap-o from ikea, they are smaller, my 4year old carried hers in a turnsack, and i strapped one on onto my bagpack. they provide alot more support than the tiny plane pillows.
a real must-have!

During christmas, we got an 11 hours flight with an hell crew in chief who kept the seatbelt light open the whole flight! 11 hours!! She kept telling people to go back to their seats, she refused to see kids walking around and the whole flight was very quiet, no turbulence at all, not even once!

People with kids where going mad, the kids were having tantrums and screaming, etc. It was disturbing for everybody but her nice precious aisles were free!

Once I got enough and decided to walk around with my daughter, she began to treaten me to do an emergency landing if I didn't seat down with my child. I told her to do so, it will give everybody a chance to have a break and walk... At that point people were jumping in telling her off...

That wasn't a nice flight and this company (US Airways) got on my No way, never again! list. The return was very nice with a nice crew, but I still have the bitter taste of the first flight.

For the medication issue- I have absolutely no problem with the administration of extremely safe anti-histamines to children for this purpose. It's not to make the flight less stressful for parents or other passengers, but for the child. I don't think we'll need to this trip, but 8 months ago our son was totally different... he wouldn't have coped well with being restrained for 24 hours. I just think you have to weigh up what is best, and what will cause the child the least stress. I'm not sure if these drugs are any more or less safe than air-travel itself anyway.

A few more ideas are given in these Threads

Air Travel for baby

Any Advice? - Travelling with baby

i used the anti histamines and the TV it will be fine! I have taken mine back home since they were 3 months old and now they are the world's best travellers..relax and don't worry about other people..

one tip is to gently squeeze their nose when taking off and landing - it clears their ears...

have fun

I think Singapore airline makes all the difference when it comes to long flights.
The crew is very helpful and the seats and space bigger.
I travelled from Singapore to Athens with my baby and they helped with everything I asked for with a big smile.