I love to travel and have been travelling far longer than I’ve had kids, 35 years versus 5 years. None the less that won’t deter me. The sooner you start them the sooner they get used to it!

I recently read an article about tips for air travel with kids in, wait for it, first class. Well whoopdedoo to them, most people travel cattle class with kids (for pleasure or work) and I can say if I was in first class and saw kids coming in I wouldn’t be best pleased. So what tips do I have after 17 flights (including long haul) in 5 years …

Air travel with small kids (for normal people)

• Kids under 2 travel for 10% of the cost you do, this is great in year one but harder in year two as having a toddler on your lap for 24 hours is not fun. So big budget decision do you buy another seat or not when you have a say 20 month old? You can bring your car seat to clip then in but each airline has own rule so check it out first.
• When travelling by air with a tiny baby you can book what’s called a bulk head seat and pre-order a flying cot called a bassinet from your airline. These are limited and as far as I know go to smallest babies first (rightly so).
• When you have a baby who is on the cusp of baby to toddler stage a bassinet may be no help. Note bassinet’s are only good for children under a certain length (look at your airlines specs).
• If you get a bassinet and have a longer/cusp child and child is lying with knees bent (or in foetal position like that do at home) the airline staff will get onto you about not being compliant. You need to say you take full responsibility.
• If there’s any turbulence you will have to take the child out of the bassinet so you can be unlucky with that one, however if it’s a smooth flight your bub could easily get 8 uninterrupted hours in.
• If you don’t get or need a bassinet don’t book a bulk head seat to use with your small kid on your lap, as the light of the central tv (on some aircraft) will shine in their face.
• If you have small baby make sure you feed on ascent and descent, the sucking will totally stop little ears popping and little mouths bawling. (Breast feeding is especially handy in this instance.)
• If you are at the weaning off breast milk stage, wait till after your trip, so you don’t have to worry about bottles & sterilizing.
• Don’t bring toys with lots of fiddly parts as then you’ll only have to find them!
• Small kids generally sleep a fair bit on long haul flights so you really don’t need to bring much toys at all, it’s just more stuff for YOU to carry.
• When they are not sleeping, kids who can walk, like to wander around every so often, make the most of it; go slow and make friends along the way, if you can, without disturbing others of course.
• Movies do not hold very small kids attention for long– bring some of their favourite books or new books by their favourite authors (introducing something totally new can fail as small kids like familiarity). Finger puppets could be an option for you to provide entertainment.
• In the toddler years forget actually watching a movie yourself and suck it up, it’s only a few short years!