Flying longhaul with DS 4 & DS 6

[LowlLowl]

I'm moving to Taiwan for two years in early 2021 on a secondment from work. DH is coming too, along with our DS (who are 4 & 6). The flight is around 13 hours (direct) and DS haven't flown before. I haven't flown for ages and don't know what to expect with the Covid restrictions. Can anyone tell me what to expect when flying with kids & Covid restrictions, and/or ideas to keep them occupied?
Any advice appreciated!

They will need to wear a face mask while in the airport and on the plane.
Some face coverings are more comfortable and provide a better fit than others, so take time finding the right one. Masks rules continue to evolve, so double-check with your airline before your flight. Of course, they can take it off for a drink or snack, so you can pack drinks and snacks as you always would. Some airlines have reduced their food service from previous levels, so your best bet is to board the plane ready to be self-sufficient.

With a 6yo, I’ve had success with: Dot-to-dot, wordsearches, Usborne search and find books, spot the difference, Rush Hour Junior, paint by sticker books, Spirograph travel set, fimo modelling clay, plus plus bricks.

For a 4yo: Melissa and Doug reusable sticker pads, magnetic play sets, Aqua doodle ‘How To Doodle’ board, Wikki Stix

Traveling in the evening so they spend most of the time sleeping hopefully and watching tv. Take medicines for the plane just in case (paracetamol) and a fewc things to entertaining them: colouring, stickers books, a few snacks, etc. We have done lots of longhaul with the kids. It was hard when they were under 3; but 4 year and above should be fine.

most useful thing is screens with stuff they like downloaded - either phone or ipad - and child sized headphones that fit them.

Don't rely on airline headphones fitting a 4 year old, or on the in flight entertainment having stuff they want to watch (Usually does, but when it doesn't, you regret it!)

Lots of snack and drinkbottles with lids that close - much easier than trying to stop kids spilling drinks on their trays

And a change of clothes for them. Both my DDs when younger were regularly sick on the way to the airport, on the plane or after we landed. I don’t know if I have particularly sicky kids but walking through an airport with a child covered in vomit is grim! They also regularly split juice over themselves. You may not use the clothes but they are a good ‘just in case’ along with a pack of wet wipes from duty free and spare thin plastic bag or two.

Sticker books are good as they don’t have bits you end up crawling under seats to find.

Youngest DD used to scream the plane down on landing as her ears hurt so we started a gurning game with haribo’s which put a stop to that and kept her mind off what was happening!

Sounds a wonderful adventure for you all and I hope you have a brilliant time!!

Take them each a small backpack filled with lots of small things wrapped up like presents to open. Play Dough is a good one.

Snacks to eat when waiting in the queue for security.

Top tip: do an online order with Boots, to collect at the airport. It's post-security so you can order full sized bottles of Calpol/Neurofen, snacks/cereal bars, antibac hand gel etc.

Piriton???

We did a lot of long haul travel pre covid with the kids, I'd recommend

Night flights so they sleep some of the way
Business class (if your company will pay for it!)
Screens/ ipads/ films
Comfy clothes, blankets and a neck pillow
Lots of different toys or activities spread over the flight- colouring, sticker books, little lego models, uno cards, mini games.
Travel sickness tablets- DS1 always throws up on landing without one! Plus it makes him drowsy 👍
Lots of snacks and water- crew aren't always too attentive.

We just recently moved countries and had to fly with Qatar and BA during Covid. Qatar were really strict with everyone being given face shields, masks and hand sanitiser. BA didn't give out face masks that I can remember but we all had ours on anyway so perhaps they just didn't offer us any. Word of warning if you fly with BA - because of COVID (and in all likelihood more to do with their financial position in these times) they do not offer any special meals, including kids meals. They advise if you have any dietary requirements or need to cater to fussy kids to bring your own food on board. Otherwise everyone gets the same meal. Qatar airways had no such restrictions. I have no idea what other airlines are like at the moment but seeing as so many airlines are under such huge financial pressure I'd check what the food offerings will be like for kids before flying so you can put a packed lunch together of some kind if you need to.

We flew to our new country the weekend just after the 2nd lockdown came into play the other week, so there were no restaurants or lounges open at Heathrow. The only options were places like Pret but you couldn't sit in, you had to take what you ordered away with you and sit somewhere else in the terminal. Not sure what restrictions/airports will look like when you leave early next year, but worth keeping in mind as there wasn't a lot of choice if you need food at the airport.

Lastly - bring lots of spare clothes in your hand luggage. We learned this the hard way on a long haul flight when our son was 3. He was sick several times - we'd packed a couple of spare pjs for him but he ended up being sick 3x on his clothes meaning by the time he was done he only had pants and a blanket on! I've never wanted our suitcase to come around the baggage claim so quick so I could get him dressed! And we hadn't packed any spare tops for ourselves either, which we sorely regretted as we stank of vomit for the last 4 hours of the flight. Good times! Now we always have some emergency clothes in our hand luggage - although thankfully it's never happened again!