Help! We need your tips please on surviving airports with babies and children...

[GeraldineMumsnet]

It's that time of year when parents trail through airports with suitcases, children, children's suitcases, babies, Uncle Tom Cobley and all.

So how do you keep track of your offspring and your chattels? Do you have essential tips for what to do before you even leave home to smooth the whole process at the airport? And what about fodder - for you and the little ones? And distraction (we're thinking flight delays and the interminable wait to get your hire car when you get there)? Oh, and pushchairs and bottle warming, and packing restrictions?

We need your top tips for making the airport bit of going on holiday as painless as possible - on the outbound and homeward bound legs of your journey - please add them here.

Thank you.

DH shut 1 yo dd's fingers in the folding buggy in the (monstrously long) queue for check in at Miami airport. A very nice man directed us to the first class desk where we were checked in immediately. It was an accident (honest), but he'd be tempted again I think...

oh yes those pouches are good as well, even my preschooler still likes this 'astronaut' food...

High status snacks. Crisps less likely to send mine hyper.

Blankets/pashminas.

Wrap any bribery type stuffs up in wrapping paper with loads of sellotape to make it more exciting and the whole fix last longer.

Portable DVD player.

Never used a Trunki. They always seemed far too dear for the number of times we'd actually be using them and they're a bit too dear even on ebay for my liking.

Yes, Calpol sachets a mega must too.

DS clip on battery extenders 98p in GAME at the moment!

I take a netbook and headphones instead of portable DVD as can also play games, draw, feed moshi monsers when in range at the airport/hotel etc.

Have also come to the reluctant conclusion that Trunkis are more trouble than they're worth, esp if on budget airline, as you can't get them out from under the seat and onto your lap to open them without double-jointed contorsionism

iPad, headphones, ripped DVDs.

We made sure that we boarded the plane last so we didn't have to sit on the plane any longer than needs be. Took childrens toilet pant liners, just like sanitory towels. Didn't use them but just incase there was turbulence and my 4 year old couldn't use the loo. Bought an A4 plastic carry wallet and filled it with sticker sheets and bought plain paper pads. Took a portable DVD, however she couldn't hear it very well on the plane but it didn't seem to matter much. Take lots of snacks. We did get a on board meal, just for the novelty factor and to waste 20 mins and it worked a treat. Also took some treats for when we were taking off and landing. We behaved like loons on take off and landing to entertain the kids and take their minds off what was happening and it seemed to work. Might have been beginners luck, mine are 4 and 2.

Definitely serious about the beach ball! When you're on a 36 hour or so journey across the world, kids need every bit of exercise they can get while in transit. We usually have other kids joining in too! This is obviously not at the crowded departure gate nor in the quiet corners where people are sleeping, we usually find somewhere not too crowded not too far from the gate.

12 hours on a long haul flight with a kid who's bored of playing computer games and watching movies, is restless and wide awake is no fun for the parents or other passengers. Time in the terminal is not for sitting still with kids.

Sticker books (from Poundshop)
Small figures ie Happyland
Most Boots allow you to order ready made up formula cartons and pick them up airside, helps with that have to taste every bottle queue
Have a stack of pound coins for the "machines" in airport, eg the ones that sell the bouncy balls, Barbie tat
Small blankets to sit on, wrap around
Extra clothes and bring socks if children are wearing sandals, my dds feet are always freezing on planes
Extra top for yourself, you will be the one that is sick on, ,weed on
Picnic type food - small sandwiches, raisins, fruit bags
And bring a sports type empty drink flask with you to decant juice into it, 30 mins into a flight, not a good time for your 5 year old to miss its mouth with a 500ml bottle of juice

Airlines will let you take buggy to the gate but often at the other end you have to wait till you get to the baggage reclaim to get it back. A soft sling is a good idea to tide you over (and a good idea for holidays in general).

Ditto the sticker books.

Also remember that some airports are massive, and that you may need to get a bus to the plane. In Majorca when DD was 4 months old we stayed in the main departure area until last call, only to find that we were miles from the gate and ended up being driven out to the plane in a Jet2 Fiesta lol. Cue plane load of passengers not very impressed......

Air travel seems to do strange things to little bowels, so bring two or three clothing changes for the inevitable exploding nappy.

Buy a cheap-as-chips lightweight buggy that you can carry in one hand and won't be a big loss if it gets damaged on the flight.

For the plane, those little straps that you use to tie toys to buggies are very handy - use them to tie toys to the seatbelt. Fishing a rattle from under your seat in a crowded plane for the 50th time in ten minutes is no fun.

I don't trust car-hire child seats and like to bring my own, but if you haven't got a spare one just turn up at the airport with a strong binbag and a roll of parcel tape, and package up the car-seat your child arrived in when you get to check in.

oh yes how could I forget - always shove a tutu, pair of disney princess shoes and a fairy wand in the outside pocket of your suitcase. Invaluable when you are stuck for 8 hours at Miami airport when you can't get home because of a hurricane and they've lost your other bags.

At least that's what we found. Might not work if you have teenage boys....

We were delayed at manchester for 9.5 hrs last year during the ash cloud chaos. Our trunki absolutely saved the day.
DD was pulled up and down the depature lounge on it and loved all the little bits she could fit in it.
We didn't have a problem opening it on the plane. A bag may've been quicker as it could go under the seat in front.
We were so pleased with how it went for us.
I think the newness of it kept DD interested.

Thanks to one and all for the great advice. Our intention is to group the tips in themes and use as the basis for a sponsored email and/or page of content.

ROFL babyheave

For under twos- a sling or backpack to carry the kids, lots of small tat presents including stickers, small packet of crayons, drawing pad, cheapo and small etch a sketch. Pouches of food/raisins/bread sticks. Spare clothes for kids and yourself (remembers being covered in vomit as we boarded for a 26hr flight). Spare snap lock bags to contain the now stinky vomit stained clothes. Nappy sacks good alternative.

Comics were always popular with DS, they are light and you can fold them into a bag last minute before boarding. The little toys they come with can be fun too.

Go through your repertoire of nursery rhymes, finger rhymes, action rhymes.

My boss suggested sending DCs ahead as unaccompanied minors & catching them up on the next flight. Sounds like a plan to me!

Two words Tupperware and T-shirts. Tupperware because the containers are often watertight and easy to use, plus when your little ones have eaten contents they´re packawayable. They are multi-purpose, so can store dirty washing or toys, niffy trash as well as things you want to keep clean or safe like medication. We´ve even used them as improvised sand shovels. Then products made out of cheap T-shirt material - they can be rolled rather than folded away (avoids ironing) and once soiled can double-up as a cleaning cloth (until laundry facilities found). If you stick with one colour ergo white you can cut-out all those combination/laundry problems. At the end of your happy hols reduce your baggage by stuffing Tupperware with holiday gifts/dirty washing and throw away all those cheap t-shirts.

We travel regularly to Australia with two toddlers - I agree heartily with sticker books and any type of activity that doesn't involve chasing rolling pens, jigsaw bits, lego down an aisle. Save half of the capacity of your hand luggage for food (amazing how much they eat when bored), Make sure you take more wipes than you ever thought necessary (12 month old once roamed the entire length of the plane wiping people's shoes down - thankfully most were asleep and didn't notice - including me !), take pjs and do the full 'going to bed routine' including trip to the loo to brush teeth, storytime etc. Make sure you either talk incessantly about or buy a book which explains the whole process so they don't throw a complete wobbler when your bags are taken and when they are asked to take their shoes off, remember at most airports you get priority going through the scanners - make sure you take advantage of it as it is the worst part of the airport. Leave buying sticker books to the airport as they are a cheap buy to distract them with whilst waiting. Take a buggy and make the smalls walk using the buggy to carry all the hand luggage. Buy them their own special backpacks and let them pack it with whatever they want on the plane including snacks which they can choose when they eat. I also remind them that if they get lost to stay exactly where they are and we will come find them (so you don't have both of you wandering around) Make sure they can say their full name and your number or else put a name bracelet on with a phone number. Take a blanket as you can make an instant bed, picnic spot etc when there are delays....

Before you even get to the airport - think about the time of flight you are booking. Yes, 3am flight may be much cheaper, but think how grumpy little ones can be when routines are upset.

Airline - seriously - think which one to book with. Some are fab and provide kids toys, take their photos etc.

Consider which airports you are going to travel through - some are so much more child friendly than others - Singapore is amazing fun for children.

You are right that most airlines now allow you to take buggies to gate, but remember if you have a stopover on your flight with a connection, you will not get your buggie back as it will be booked straight through to your final destination. Emirates do provide buggies to borrow, but other airlines don't - try as we might, we could not find any at Heathrow. (being 6 months pregnant i sat on a wheelchair and got my husband to push me, whilst holding 2 year old - swiftly told to get off as we were not insured!).
Phone airline in advance if you have children under 2 years - they will book the bulkead seats for you with more leg room.

Babies - they don't understand whats happening during takeoff when pressure builds up. My health visitor advised BF during takeoff - it worked a treat, i think it is the swallowing action that helps.

Even if you take a pushchair a sling is still handy for those airports where you have to get a bus to the plane after handing over the buggy.

Use one of the hand baggage exclusively for stuff you want to use on the plane, to avoid faffing about while everyone is trying to get to their seats or constantly having to retrieve items from the overhead lockers later on.

For toddlers and babies: take a baby carrier - you'll need it to keep them from running all around when you need to stand in line. It's also good for when they want to sleep. Wraps are good for keeping a sleeping baby on your lap.

For older children: get Stabilo markers that you can string on a cord. I just got these for my 4- and 6-year-old and they were great! The caps all have a loop and get strung on the cord (but the cord is kind of cheap, so we replaced it with a string). No lost caps and all the markers stay together. Card games and small toys are good for layovers.

For everyone: get suitcases which roll on 4 wheels. We got large ones and carry-on ones and they were great. The girls could push the small ones, or we could push 2 at a time with one hand even while carrying toddler. We even let toddler ride on one and she loved it.

Definitely bring extra clothes and some cloth bibs to wipe up spills. Sippy cups for the kids because open containers in confined spaces and fold-up trays don't go well together.

We've been battling head lice the last few days and I'm fairly sure that it came from the plane. My 4-year-old has it the worst and she's the one who likes to rub her head on everything. Of course she doesn't reach high enough to rest her head on the headrest where they have a very small sanitary cover that they change from flight to flight. She spent most of her time rolled in a ball on the seat anyway. I have a friend who had the same thing happen on a red-eye flight with her two children.

So, the next time I fly overnight with the kids I think I will put scarves or baseball caps on them.

Stockholm Arlanda will not let you take your stroller to the gate, you must check it in. They have loan strollers from check in to the gate. Fragile little Carena umbrella strollers, useless for tiny babies who can't support their heads, probably not much good for bigger toddlers or small children. Ok for our 5mth old, but we did tip it back and wheel it on the back wheels when he got tired.

London Heathrow do not have loan strollers (at least not in Terminal 3).

Singapore Changi have loan strollers all over the place, quite firm plastic seats that you can recline ( a bit like the firm plastic seats I've seen on supermarket trolleys). Worked fine for our 5mth old. Probably not suitable for bigger kids.