Long haul with a toddler - advice & tips please...

[Pogger]

We're travelling to Canada (11 hour flight) for a wedding later this year - DD will be almost 2.5 yrs old - and I'm starting to dread it already. All I'm hearing from friends is how awful it'll be, which I'm sure is probably true! Does anyone have any tips/ advice/ experiences to share about flying long haul, particularly with a child of or around that age? Thanks v much.

Pogger - it's easy for me to say, and I know it won't completely put your mind at ease, but we did an 10 hour (Canada, interestingly!) flight with two one year olds a few years back. DREADED it. Thay were lovely. Slept a bit, crew fussed around them, ate a bit, watched cartoons - bit of a flashpoint with about 2 hrs to go, just wandered about a bit. It was sooo much easier than I thought it would be. That goes for a friend of mine who has just done Australia with a 6yo DD and 10yo autistic DS who is terrified of loud noises, closed in space and finds it very difficult to stay seated (yes, she must have been mad!!) but they were angels, really behaved well. Try to look forward to it, I'm sure she will be a pleasure. We got lots of small, light and cheap little toys as well, and got them out for the boys whenever they seemed to be getting a bit wriggly, that was good. Definatley ask about the carseat too, as previously mentioned. That would be a Godsend. Oh, your friends are probably just jealous - it's not awful at all!! xx

Just flown back from USA today, biggest tip we came across by accident.. One parent should pre-order a special diet meal, eg, Asian vegetarian, the meal will come first and you don't have to eat together, less clutter and hassle

We went to Japan with DD aged 18 months and it was fine. She slept, walked the cabin, pottered about. It was fine. The cabin crew ( Virgin ) were excellent too

Make sure you order your childs meal, don't take it for granted the travel agent will do it. I didn't one way, and DS1 (3.5) had to wait and got an adult meal. Coming back, I did, and he got a snack as soon as on the plane and child meal served before adult.

Recommend getting a night flight if you can. If she has favourite movies, download to your ipod/iphone/netbook and take that as a backup. They tend to only have 1 or 2 child movies. I've bought DS headphones rather than earbuds which I take, so he doesn't have to hold the earbuds in.

TBH, it will depend on what she likes to do. My DS, just watches films, I hope DS2 will be the same. I take stickers, crayons and paper as a backup, but he never uses it. I also took some lego minifigures in packets, for surprise toy opening, again, I didn't need them.

Take snacks she will like and get her favourite drink airside to take on.

It will be fine, remember it has an end, it's only 11hrs. I took DS1 and DS2 (4mo) to NZ in January without DH, and it was very easy. Everyone thought I was mad, but I knew if it was a nightmare, eventually we'd get there, and it would be ALRIGHT!

Or just get a child's meal - they come first too. Unless it's BA because that tends to be just chocolate!!

I flew to Australia and back with a 3 1/2 yr old and a 1 3/4 yr old. IT WAS FINE!

have a cross-body bag for airports so you can have your hands free to hold hands/ chase you child etc.

wear clothes with lots of pockets to put her little bits in.
get her meals sorted
have low sugar snacks ready eg lollipops
loads of stickers- assorted packs divided up and a plain paper book so your DD can add stickers as she wishes, as well as some pencils, so she can doodle at airports- encourage her to doodle in her special book
have a couple of magazines- like peppa pig/ cbbc type 'zines
you can get a prescription from the GP for medised type medication to help to settle her if you like. It's the antihistamine that causes drowsiness. Worth doing this because IMO it's better to give a child a mild medication than have a distressed child.

we had a couple of mini books to produce as little treats.

But honestly my DDs were transfixed by the screen with the childrens' programmes. We took child-size headphones (the adult ones are way too big) but I wouldn't bother with those. Just watching the screen was enough most of the time.

We explained the aeroplane was like a great big bus, that it went a long way and we couldn't get off for a while but that we'd be in Dubai then Australia wherre family members would be etc...

So talk a lot about the trip and read Topsy and Tim's book on flying (can't remeber the title). The modern style on is really good and puts it well.

Mine were both younger when they flew for the first time(16 and 17 months - dd was 4 on her second flight) but it was fine. I took lots of little toys and wrapped some up (took them longer to get into them!). I also took small snacks, but check the regs with the airline first. They both loved pottering up and down the aisles (we did a lot of that!) and watching the screens. On the night flights back they both slept soundly, with no meds and at the time of their first flights they were both usually appalling sleepers!

I sounded smug there. It may be that we just got lucky with them both, but then one night's decent sleep in three years can't be knocked, eh?

Thanks everyone :)

I feel much better hearing about your experiences and also having some practical things to focus on - loads of excellent tips, so thanks again for such brilliant, detailed answers.

Totally agree with the car seat suggestion. It is a real pain lugging it around the airport and fitting it to the seat (TIP - recline the airline seat before you try) BUT it was worth every bit of hassle for us when we flew from Australia to England with a 2 year old. Just be aware that it may not be legal to use your car seat in a car when you get there.

Do not expect to sleep or even to watch a movie so if you do it's a real bonus!

Take a change of clothes for everyone to be kept in your carry on - eating on a plane can be a messy business, especially for a young child.

Encouraging DS to chew on a cheap teether was good for the ear popping stage. I also kept a small plastic container of cheerios cereal for when I needed DS to swallow and chew, so he didn't overdo it on the sweets.

I took food for DS just in case he (or I!) did not like what was offered. It also came in handy when DS fell asleep just before his meal came and it had to be thrown away once cold. You can ask the steward to keep the child's meal aside before heating it if the meal times are not suitable for you. Once you request the meal it will take about 20 minutes for it to warm up.

I also found it useful to have a disposable baby food bowl ready to cool the airline food down in (it arrives insanely hot.)

I dosed DS with nurofen about an hour before take off and 2 hours before landing as pain in the ears can be an issue for young children (especially if they have just had an ear infection.)

DS has issues with his immune system and I was advised to use a baby saline nasal spray to keep the membranes moist, reducing the chance of infection.

I worried for months beforehand and had visions of DS screaming the whole way (24 hours). He was perfectly behaved - people were even smiling at us (I never expected that to happen as DS hates loud noises and being in enclosed spaces!) I think that DS was just really happy to have DH and myself either side and our undivided attention for the whole time he was awake.

Good luck

We flew to Nepal when DD was 2.3 & back when she was 2.5. Actually, the day flight on the way back was far, far better! The night flight she refused to sleep & screamed the place down, on the day flight we just had to keep her entertained - challenging but not impossible. Even managed to watch 3 films! You'll be fine.

We went to Canada (yes, someone else!) when DD1 was 20 months. Hard on the way there as we didn't have window seats, so that's the first suggestion, make sure they can see out!

Also a new colouring book and felt-tips (v exciting as she'd never used them before.

And dip your finger in the wine that comes with your meal and let them suck on that [didn't really do that honest guv emoticon]