Would you take a 4 year old on a long haul flight?

[BitchQueen90]

I'm getting a bit bored of doing the usual short haul Mallorca type holidays with DS and there are so many lovely places to visit around the world, I'd love to go somewhere a bit further afield.

Flight times are putting me off though, DS is quite an active little boy and I'm a bit mindful of him getting bored / annoying the other passengers on a long haul flight. Should I wait until he's a bit older? Has anyone taken young DCs long haul and been OK? I'm a single parent so no one else to help me on the flight either.

My kids have been flying since they were 10-11 months old. My 5 year old flies long haul several times a year. It's fine. We break up the journey with books, food, toys, iPad etc. It's fine.

Does he like watching tv/iPad? If so then he should be ok! Took a 3 and 5 year old to oz. on the way back didn't hear a thing from the kids! Wine helps!

I have and he was a v active and restless 4 year old. Didn't even have ipads back then! Took lots of activities : stickers, colouring in, games, lego etc. He really liked the on flight cartoons too. It helped that he was a pretty decent napper. Honestly, it was fine and we went on several long haul flights.

I think at 4 you can reason with (or bribe!) them. Any younger and I think it would stress me out. The reality is often not as bad as the thought.

We took 23 month old DD to Florida.

The outbound day flight went brilliantly, took a tablet with plenty of cbeebies downloaded, snacks, individual.toys all wrapped up etc. What really helped as well was having the legroom seats so she could stand in the space and stretch her legs.

The journey back.was a night flight and didn't go so well due to the cramped seats and her not sleeping a wink so got very overtired and grumpy. So my advice would be make sure it's a daytime flight both ways if possible!

Thanks for the advice! I think I might go for it. I'd like to experience a bit of different culture and get him learning about other countries. We recently went to Lanzarote and he did sleep the entire flight back so that was a bonus.

We took DS to Singapore at 3 and Melbourne at 7. He's pretty active and it was fine. Choose your flight times and airlines carefully to make life easier though.

I was a single parent & by the time she was 2, my eldest DD had been to Trinidad & Canada. Completely agree re flight times - night time is better (although they're a bit grotty the next day!). Be well prepared (games on the tablet, snacks etc) and don't get upset at the odd dirty look (the majority of people on the flight will have been there at some point!).

We took our dd to the Caribbean when she was 21 months. Lots of snacks and things to keep them busy, you will be fine :)

Of course! Without hesitation.

It depends on the 4 year old tbh. I wouldn't have taken Ds last year but he's grown up so much in the last year now he's five I wouldn't hesitate. My neice on the other hand was a dream at that age but I wouldn't take her now she's 8!

I've been taking my DD on long haul flights at least twice a year since she was 6 months old, never had an issue at all!

Four is when it starts getting much easier. We've done Australia once a year since DS1 was 6 months (nearly 6 now), plus other long haul.

Wear him out at soft play beforehand, and if you are doing multiple legs try to get a long layover in a good airport with lots of play areas/swimming or hotels with same right near the airport.

My experience with DS1 aged 4:

Me: 'DS1, would you like unlimited screen time for the next twelve hours?'
DS1: 'Why, yes, Mummy. I would like that very much.'

Asleep within about 3 hours even though it was only the middle of the day UK time.

Single Mum here. Fly solo with my DC (5 years) a few times a year as we live overseas. Tbh, it sucks. But I just sort of zone out through the wriggling, piles of chaotic crap on the floor, up and down to the loo, whining, untangling headphones ...repeat repeat repeat all of the above... and it's over.

Totally depends on the DC. If he's a good traveller and you are quite chilled out parents then go for it. We've taken both of ours on long haul flights and, bar a couple of disasters beyond our control (i.e. hugely delayed flights), it's been fine. I can think of plenty of 4-year-olds that I wouldn't want to be near on a long-haul flight though, so give a thought to your DC's temperament if you don't want to be apologising or on the receiving end of death stares for several hours!

Think it depends on your DC, most 4 year olds would be able to watch the iPad, do colouring, stickers, etc without too much bother. Some will struggle though and it might be harder work.

From the US, DS4 has been to asia multiple times, australia/nz and we do uk twice a year, caribbean, and europe (non uk). UK trips, it's just me and him, pretty much easy peasy. asia half the time has been me and him in economy by ourselves, so almost solo.

if you allow screen time, pretty much all the long haul planes have the personal entertainment systems, plenty of movies and tv shows for the kids. and take toys/books too just in case. if he's already amenable to sleeping on planes, i personally would line flights up with sleep time - my DS always sleeps on overnights UK bound, and usually naps on most daytime flights if it's timed right.

Just flown first long haul with my 4, 7 and 8 year old. The antsiest was my 8 year old cos he was so excited. The 4 and 7 year old looked at the tv the whole time. Enjoy

We took DS to Florida when he was 3yrs 11. 9hr flight, it was fine as long as iPad was allowed. He slept and watched the iPad, are and did stickers.
On the way back he slept but we flew Upper, next year we are PE so not quite so sure but fingers crossed!

We've been to South Africa with DD - night flights, plus no jet lag once there.