Taking three year old on first flight what am I going to need?

[Embelline]

early morning flight, staying at hotel night before.

so far I’ve got:
snacks
fully charged ipad

brain gone blank 🙈
what makes life easier for you when you fly with 3-4 year olds? Thank you!

I was thinking maybe buy one of those advent calendars with dolls/cartoon theme/ fidget toys etc that your child likes, to open every half hour or so, but then I saw the flight was only three hours! I did Ireland to Australia with a child with ADHD and it was fine, we had new (small) toys and books, but obviously there is the novelty of the aircraft and they do tend to sleep with the white noise. Take changes of clothes, small snacks, headphones, lots of wipes - you’ll be fine!

And Calpol, in the small sachets - just in case!

Books, colouring, snacks, toys, they didn't have iPads when mine were tiny and they managed 10 hour flights. I did always take cars seats on board (transatlantic)

Sounds obvious but remember to download tv/movies onto the tablet

Also - have a plan for airport queues. That was always the worst bit for us. Something to keep them entertained in queues.

Remember to empty any reusable water bottles before security (in the loos) and refill after security, or buy bottled water

Take snacks - mine will eat anything while watching tv so I always take apples, carrot and cucumber sticks for the plane 😇 fresh stuff goes down well when travelling

Thanks for all the tips. Hadn’t considered change of clothes or calpol sachets so thank you.
yes we have headphones don’t worry, I don’t want to hear paw patrol on repeat so I wouldn’t expect other passengers to!
roll of stickers is a good idea as well

i know it’s only three hours but seeing as we haven’t done it before with him just thought I’d see if there was anything I hadn’t thought about

Don't forget queues for passport control at the other end ... esp. if there's no quick exit for families. At that point I brought out a lollipop (huge treat) to keep DD quiet.

bring pull ups in case of turbulence or other reasons you can’t use the toilet quickly. I sometimes took a travel potty too. Definitely change of clothes!
more snacks than you think in case of delays and not too much sugar. Have things downloaded on ipad and download a few toddler games that can be played offline.
A blanket in case he sleeps/gets cold.

I mean it’s 3 hours, chill out. A wine for yourself?

We just came back from Manorca with our 3 year old. iPad with lots of bluey downloaded. Plus a couple of favourite toys.

@InTheRainOnATrain I'm not making a mountain out of a molehill just asking for tips from those who have done it before incase of delays etc especially since we are flying out of Gatwick

Change of clothes essential - my 3 year old managed to spill a whole bottle of squash all over herself about 2 mins after we got on the plane, necessitating s full change.

Sorry to say Gatwick has been a nightmare recently. Flight cancelled and then 2-3 hour delays. If you can, let him play at the small soft play in Gatwick for a bit before he has to sit.

Don’t forget you also need stuff for the way home!

You have an ipad, you have snacks, your child is 3… honestly it will be fine. If you’re going to be delayed it will likely be on the ground before boarding so you can get some energy out. Total non issue, really don’t stress it so much- you’ll have a great holiday and it will be fun!

I will add: mobile charging pack for said iPad and forget about the ‘family lane’ at Gatwick security, I’m convinced it only exists to keep the amateurs with all the extra liquid struggling to fold their pushchairs away from everyone else. You can pay £5 pp there for premium security. If budget permits it is well worth it.

If possible I'd limit use of the iPad before hand and have new stuff on it so it's more of a novelty. Ive done a 4 hour flight on my own with 3 and it wasn't the most enjoyable day but it was ok.

Least helpful post of the day goes to......

It wasn’t intended to be unhelpful. OP’s child is not a young toddler, it’s a short flight and she’s covered snacks and entertainment (thoughtfully with headphones). There really isn’t really anything left except for her to relax! A 3YO on a 3 hour flight doesn’t warrant stressing about IMO so yeah chill out and enjoy the start of the holiday would absolutely be my best advice.

If it's his first flight I'd show him some YouTube videos of what takeoff sounds like. Maybe get a book about going on a plane? It can be scary for them the first time.

I agree with everyone else though. Three hours isn't long at all - just do whatever you'd do for a car ride or when you need to do something while he sits still. Snacks and iPad being the obvious choices.

Are you travelling with someone? If there's a long line and DS starts getting ratty then he can run around with one of you while the other waits in line. Flight delays would be fine. He'll love running around the terminal, looking at the planes etc. You could treat him to a magazine from the shop - choosing the magazine will kill time waiting for the flight and then he can have it once on the plane .

If you've got a toddler who has a short attention span/doesn't sit still/is generally relentless, "chilling out" or having a glass of wine isn't an option.

My little boy is far from naughty but he is a handful. We have recently been to mallorca, so 2 hours there and 2.5 hours home. 2 hours was just about the right amount of time, the slightly longer flight on the way home was harder - he was fed up. Climbing all over us, wanting to run up and down the aisle, wanting to play with the table and window blind (when not allowed due to landing) not wanting to stay in his seat with his seat belt on. Remember it's not just the flight - this is after an hour journey to the airport, check in queue, security, waiting to board, boarding queue etc. Its a long time for an active toddler to be contained and entertained.

If you have had a toddler who was, after all that waiting to even get on the plane, happy to sit for the duration with snacks and Netflix, I am very envious and you are extremely lucky!!

We've just come home from holiday - also with a 3 year old - 4 hour flights: iPad, headphones and colouring in/sticker books were the most popular things by far. Definitely don't do what I did and delete most of his favourite programmes when we got to the resort (🙄😫😭) as some of the apps don't work abroad - iPlayer, Prime for example.

Also, if he has a favourite blanket that could come in handy so he can snuggle for a bit - and keep warm if the plane is blasting cold air like ours was.

What we hadn't anticipated, mainly because we've flown a few times with him and never had this problem, is that he complained of sore ears just after take off in both directions, so something to suck/chew on is incredibly helpful, and a water bottle that has a straw in it. If you choose lollipops, make sure you have wipes! I don't think I've seen my son dribble so much since he was first teething!

If you're flying from Gatwick, we kept our son entertained before the flight in the Lego shop. He was allowed to choose one thing as a holiday present.

We’re away at the moment - 4.5 hour flight with our just turned 3 year old, we also sat on the plane for an hour before it eventually took off due to some issue with bags.

We had tablet with headphones, and a few downloaded episodes of stuff she likes. She probably only watched an episode or two (6 or so mins each) though, but what held her attention for quite a while was the very hungry caterpillar app. Have never paid for an app before but this one was good; I thought it was worth the money and she really enjoyed it - we’ve also used it for the odd few moments down time whilst away as with being so out of routine we do just need them sometimes.

She probably only wanted to use the tablet for less than an hour total though so don’t over rely on it! We also had some ‘magic colouring’ sheets - with pens that only work on the specific pad/ paper, one of those cheapy little drawing tablets that you can get, a couple of sticker books, a few little figure/ character toys, a couple of story books, and a couple of fidget type toys she’d not seen before. Between all that/ snacks/ occasional trip to the loo and general chatting about what was happening/ what we could see it was quite bearable!

I did make a point of getting things specifically for the flight that she hadn’t seen before hoping the novelty value would keep us going.

Also, if you’re going somewhere with a pool chuck a few little toys in for that too (in your main suitcase). I only did it last minute - some unicorn bath toys and some plastic ice cream cones and tops plus the little plastic animals/ figures I mentioned on the plane - DH thought I was mad and that she’d be happy just to be in the water but honestly they’ve been so useful and have helped her make friends/ play with other children round the pool which has made life easier for us too.

Packing list for my 3 year old (long haul but same idea): iPad, Led drawing board, book, small blanket, small teddy, change of clothes, Calpol sachets, lollipop for take off and landing. Buy a magazine (with plenty of tat on the front) and fruit shoot at the airport after security.

I also think 3 hours isnt a long time. Your child will enjoy the novelty of looking out the window (if they can) and mine were endlessly entertained by all the buttons and screen options if you have them. I would only suggest taking a sucky sweet for take off and landing, and the spare clothes other have suggested. Even if you think you wont need them. I've had a child wet themselves with excitement, and another puke on landing even though I'd never known him have trouble with travel sickness before.

Grandparents 😂

Totally agree. On my DDs first flight she exuded fluids from both ends. We had plenty of clothes for her but nothing for me, which was really not pleasant (and I ended up going through customs looking like I'd wet myself)