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We've just had confirmation of our Visa and we're packing up and heading to Melbourne for 2 years in January.
So, it's a pretty long flight, and we've got a 2 year old.
What are STWs top tips for flying with a toddler? She's only flown once, and that was from Leeds to Belfast so not really the same as this little adventure.
We will most likely fly with Etihad and take advantage of their in flight nanny, but what else should we be thinking of?
Hire a private jet and don't subject everyone else on board to a crying toddler?
Only done it once to South Africa (11 hour flight), when our eldest was 2. Took a night flight, she slept the whole way. Easy.
Let us know what flight to avoid.
Take an overnight stay in Abu Dhabi to break it up
Sign up for velocity (virgin FF) direct points and status via family pooling to the one of you likely to fly the most.
Took a flight back one Christmas, had nearly 20 babies and toddlers on it, just kept turning the volume up
Do everything slowly. Drip feed the treats, presents to unwrap, things to do, food.
Use piriton to knock em out BA Baracus style when it's time for a sleep. When you do make sure you're comfy as you might not be moving for 8 hours if they crash on you.
Don't get a bulkhead seat as the arm rests don't fold so you can't lay them out across your lap
I presume she can work an iPad - infinitely easier than them bugging you to tweak the in-flight entertainment every five minutes.
Consider a stop over in Abu Dhabi. Plenty to see for a day and you're off for 2 years so hardly encroaching on your 'holiday'.
It's not as bad as you think it will be.
Ignore the righteous entitled gits who think that massive public scheduled flights are their own private jets.
Baby Crack
Ignore the righteous entitled gits who think that massive public scheduled flights are their own private jets.
Parents? Having seen some close calls if you do let them run about they can't be seen by the staff pushing the food/drinks trolley.
Pick seats so that you have the row/not sharing with the poor sod wanting to sleep and kid in the middle 😉
Its not the hardship some make out. Just be courteous of those around you regards behaviour and either plug them into the Entertainment and/or pack some hand luggage full of books, crayons and favorite noiseless toys.
as a frequent flyer with the technology of noise cancelling head phones, crying babies on flights is not so much of an issue for fellow passengers these days. Etihad in flight service is one of the best I've ever flown, the flight attendants are brilliant at looking after little ones.
Put em in cattle class like Kirsty?
Valium?
Valium?
Yeah, but what about the kids?
as a frequent flyer with the technology of noise cancelling head phones, crying babies on flights is not so much of an issue for fellow passengers these days.
I had the pleasure of sharing a flight to Bangkok with with a 2 month old recently. Ear plugs and noise cancelling headphones combined weren't enough! I think it must be that babies in business class have a genetic disposition to knowing their own importance in the world and like to be as loud and boorish as their parents 🙂
Ignore the righteous entitled gits who think that massive public scheduled flights are their own private jets.
Well said.
Obvious point, but travel as far forward as you can afford to! Also, think about connections. I personally favour HKG for flights to austr7. Breaks the journey up evenly, and it's such a good airport to transfer/connect through. HKG to MEL is on a 350 as well, lovely quiet and smooth plane
Put em in cattle class like Kirsty?
She got a lot of stick for that. She's loaded though so an easy mistake to make. Obviously its far more cost effective to stick the toddler in First and for the rest of you to hide somewhere in the back of economy
It's fine really, particularly with just one if you're prepared.
Use iplayer and youtube downloaders to stock up a tablet with stuff they'll watch. Get them used to headphones (you can get good kids ones with volume limiters) if they don't use them normally. Trawl the toy shops for nice small portable things that you can keep in a bag and break out for novelty at certain times.
Don't rely on airline kids food, sometimes it's OK, sometimes it's a couple of grim jars of babyfood. Take your own pouches or jars that you know they'll eat. Keep plenty of different snacks about too, and store them in different bits of your bag so they don't see them all at once.
Plenty of room on the wings. For the 2 year old.....
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Inflatable-Travel-Airplane-Sleeping-Camping/dp/B075VSJ82V/ref=lp_1769608031_1_18?s=luggage&ie=UTF8&qid=1544613713&sr=1-18To elaborate on this - it worked a treat with our 18month old flying to the States. Basically gave him his own (slight short) flat bed
I went to Canada with my daughter when she was 3. It was super easy because we got a very early flight. She was exhausted and slept most of the way. We took pillows and her favorite blanket which helped. When she woke we had a few films on the tablet which she liked and that passed the time. The way back was harder as we had a horrible stop over in London and the last 2 hours to Spain was a hard. We wished we had taken more food she would have liked.
Don’t worry too much about others, apart from being respectful, in my experience. Was always try our best to minimize seat kicking or noise. Everyone has always been fantastic and super friendly. Just
Also, think about connections
Middle East is a bit short for the outbound as it's another 14 hours. HK / Singapore / SE Asia is a better target outbound and it's not necessarily a bad thing to do 3 x 8 hr legs over an 8 hr plus a 14 hr if you're not hell bent on getting there as fast as possible. Brisbane, Singapore, Abu Dhabi, Manchester used to be like this before they got A380s at Brisbane.
Rumours are those wee Thai boys in that there cave were drugged up and trussed up like turkeys in wee stretchers.
Could be the way to go......
Had you thought about going by sea?
Took our then 3 year old to Melbourne a couple of years ago . We did 3 7 hour flights mainly as it was a bit cheaper but it also allowed another chance to get off the plane . Playdoh with tools occupied him for a long time , we had a few of those grab bags with Thomas toys In them that would interest him . A tablet with all his favourite shows on and some new programs and a few colouring books and pens . Most importantly we took food that we knew he would eat .
The first flight left late so we kept him up all day , I think we went swimming or softplay during the day as well just so he would be knackered and sleep on the flight , this is a fine line though as too tired could have the opposite effect 😀
Overall it wasn't bad at all , we were flying with Emirates and I think they seemed to put families all in the same area
I've only done medium-haul with my 2 year old before (oman, but with a stop en-route in istanbul to split the journey) - in a weeks time we're headed to the Seychelles so reading this with interest.
The inflatable footstool/bed thing works well, we've also used this before https://www.keepemquiet.com
new toys are pretty good generally. Find out if (wherever you stop) there's a lounge with a kids area, and get access to it. Some of the lounges have things like ball pits and so on in a noise-blocked space - so you can let the kid burn off a couple of hours more energy before going back to sleep.
I'd actually consider 2 or 3 stops en-route with maybe a day or 2 in between if you can find a route/schedule to fit, it would make things a lot more pleasant.
One final point. A lot of planes have 'plane police' on them. If you're not good, they will come and get you..
Toys, games, sweets, snacks, electronics, teddies, throw everything you can think of at the problem and lots of it. Spoil them rotten this one time.
Just under 2 or just over 2? I ask as that's a critical with respect to if you are having them on your lap or not. Either way for that length trip I'd recommend paying for another seat for the little one.
Lots of good advice above - Lots of videos on the ipad. Food. Find out if any of the potential stop-overs have softplay areas in the airport (e.g LHR T5 is pretty good for burning off some steam).
I actually find the post flight jet lagged toddler to be far worse than the actual flight.
Toddlers are terrible at flying - Take an airplane instead.
Having done this a couple times with a baby/ toddler I can say there are few things I’d rather do less.
But as said get a seat for them..even if they can technically go on your lap.
Get one of these: https://www.flylegsup.com.
Was a god send once our toddler was too big for the bassinet.
Think about a veggie meal so one of you gets served first cos tray tables and toddlers really don’t mix
I hear Phenergan is also good.
We have lhr to syd via Perth coming up with a newborn and a 2 1/2 year old. I’m dreading it.
Oh wow the 17hr biggie!!
Some of the posts above have just reminded me of something..... try not to be the stressy parent! That’s never helped anyone’s situation
try not to be the stressy parent
The oxymoron of the day goes to...
We have lhr to syd via Perth
No. No. No! I wouldn't do that flight on my own in the comfy end, let alone en famille!
Beware that phenergan can cause a paradoxical effect and do the exact opposite of what you want it to do.
I've flown UK to Thailand and back with my son when he was 14 months. He slept. It was fine. Even when the Thai plane ascended so hard my sinuses nearly exploded, he slept through.
Flown Perth to UK and back with my son when he was 4 and my daughter when she was 2. We thought we'd save money by having her on our lap... Wished we'd paid for a seat. She was a chunky toddler and it was not comfortable at all. Plus, she wanted to run up and down the plane which of course toddlers want to do. Fortunately the passengers were super cool and no-one cared.
Get some large freezer bags and with each one make a cleaning/changing kit - put one of everything in there such as nappies, wipes, etc. Saves you having to rummage around in a big bag everytime you have a spill or whatever.
Don’t do what my parents did: gave me a sedative that made me hyperactive (more so than normal). We took a RAF Hercules to NZ from UK and at the stop in Bahrain I was out the door and racing across the runway before anybody had got their shoes on.
RAF Hercules to NZ from UK
WTAAAFFFF! I'll bet you've been conditioned to love the tranquility and comfort of a delayed Ryanair flight.
The oxymoron of the day goes to…
You do realise that not all parents are a stressy mess?
Fortunately the passengers were super cool and no-one cared.
The passengers were super British and didnt dare let you know what they were thinking! 😉
I would counsel against a stopover as you then have is two lots of miserable 2 year old jetlag. Get it done in one and deal with it in one go. I have taken my daughter to/from NZ 3 times since she was 18 months old and have decided that's the best approach.
As said before take food, take spare clothes for you and them, take a blanket or something and get them a separate seat. Go as far forward as you can afford and ignore the haters. Be courteous but also be a bit stiff upped lip about it as you will inevitably get the heroes who think you can keep a 2 year old quiet for 16 hours.
Also plan for an unexpected delay - take extra nappies, extra food, extra everything in your hand luggage. Enough to keep you going for 12 hours without having to leave the airport, just in case.
Couldn't agree more!
Second for doing things slowly. In fact it is amazing how long you can drag things out for when you put your mind to it. See how long you can take to open some sweets.
I've just done a couple of long haul flights with emirates and the staff were amazing with the parents and children handing out toys and kits to entertain them.
Book a centre seat against the bulk head and they have small cots that attach to the bulk head so you can put the baby in there when sleeping, they even had little mobiles to put on them and entertain the kid.
Book a centre seat against the bulk head and they have small cots that attach to the bulk head so you can put the baby in there when sleeping, they even had little mobiles to put on them and entertain the kid.
You can try and book these but they do allocate on need and I think they are more for the younger ones not toddlers, usual rules apply where they will rattle down some criteria to see who gets those ones. Downside of those is you get fixed armrests and TV is pull out so as said not as good for stretching out sideways.
Staffing levels and help will depends a lot on the timing of the flight, a lot of the ones up from Oz try and do a night flight so the staff do dinner and hit the lights ASAP, can't remember how it works the other way - but when that happens the staff do wind it down a bit and head for the crew areas.
Maybe a daft suggestion but a pocketful of earplugs so if the kid does cry a lot you can offer them to folk around you? I always have earplugs with me on planes partly for this reason