To wonder what you do if your toddler kicks off on a plane?

We never took toddlers on a plane. It's not fair to the other passengers. We actually didn't take them until they were much older, as my youngest is autistic and was quite unpredictable until she was years out of toddlerhood.

Took my eldest 2 to Australia and nz aged 2 and 4. Easiest passengers on the plane. Best time of my life.
My 5 year old is feral in real life - on a plane he’s a dream child - I think they just copy what everyone else does. He’s done 5-7 hour flights a few times no bother at all.

Dont think it’s necessary to limit planes for 99% of kids.

Not my child I guess 🤷‍♀️ I do have sympathy for parents with strong willed children though (mine have always been very easy to distract).
Thing is kids like this are not like this 99% of the time - so is it reasonable to deny yourself a holiday- I don’t think so.
I don’t think a plane to Spain would be the worst thing in the world. No I wouldnt take a child like that to Australia. (I did take my 2 and 4 year olds that far and they were the most agreeable passengers on that plane).

I wouldn’t take a child who was prone to running around and screaming on a plane, sorry but I just wouldn’t.

Honestly, unless the flight is vital, I wouldn’t bother. We didn’t fly with our kids until they were 6 and 4. The whole idea of going abroad on holiday with a toddler/small baby was horrifying! Instead we went to child friendly places in the uk such as center parcs, and driving holidays where eg. to Scotland from London and stopped at various places en route staying in b&bs on farms etc.
We have travelled extensively all over the world with our (now adult) kids, but holidays are meant to be fun, and struggling with little kids on planes and hotels really did not appeal!

You do everything you can to quieten them down - normal rules do not apply.

• give sweets/food
• breastfeed if still bf even if you wouldn't usually bf a big toddler out and about
• bribe with any distraction at all - your phone, your handbag etc

Lots of the things you might give for travel sickness have a side effect of drowsiness (kwells kids etc), which might make it more likely a child will nap. The noise of the plane sent both mine to sleep at that age

I’ve always travelled with my children. I try to preempt it by packing snacks, toys, screens. But worst case scenario, if they have a tantrum I just hold them in a huge bear hug on my lap until it’s over. Eventually they tire themselves out and stop. A flight is only a few hours of my life, it’s not the end of the world (and luckily we only had that scenario twice across maybe 25-30 flights with toddlers)

😂

Surely you just wouldn’t take them on a plane if you knew that? you wouldn’t subject the child to it never mind the rest of the family and the passengers

same to be fair. I do think some kids are better tantrummers than others though. My niece was a terror despite her mum parenting her in the same way as her brother (and parenting well as far as I can tell). She’s a dream now, but I definitely felt intimidated by my 2 year old niece.

Looked after loads of kids - never met a 2 year old like her 😂

You fill them with the max dosage of calpol + stodgy food so they’re as tired and groggy as legally safe.

Wow! We all bow to your superior parenting.

I raised four of them
We never had any of that

Quite a common toddler response to be honest. Surprising you don’t know that considering how common knowledge it is. Their communication skills aren’t good enough to explain what’s wrong but they know they’re not happy. They’re still learning how to manage their emotions.

NGL I hate people who take their little 'uns on planes.

NGL I hate entitled adults who think they own public spaces.

We had to get the ferry to Santander with ours once aged 2 and 1 for various reasons, it was hell. One of them vomited for 24 hours straight. 2.5 hours on a plane is far easier.

You talk calmly to your child and verbally acknowledge it’s boring for them and just keep casually chatting to them, and if a toddler explain there are rules on a plane to stay safe, ie. stay on knee or in seat (say in case it gets bumpy!!) Don’t worry what others think at that point. Sometimes on a plane it’s because their ears get blocked and sinuses get sore - get them to blow their nose, wiggle their jaw, and apply gentle pressure with your fingers over their ear cavity to ease pressure.

NGL I hate people who take their little 'uns on planes.

I had a 13 hour flight to the states and someones kid was kicking, screaming and running around through the whole flight. That gowniak made everyone's flight miserable. The sleep deprivation even led me to have a seizure.

I wouldn't even risk putting anyone through that.

We did mostly ferries when ours were toddlers - much much nicer way to travel with littlies. Overnight ferries can get you to Spain!

Your Children’s response to being hot cold wanting something or nauseous is to scream ? suggest you nip that in the bud on dryland before you take them up in the air? How awful for everybody around them.