Flying U.K. to Australia with a toddler. Help!

[Tulipmonster]

Now the borders are finally open we can take our kids on a long-overdue trip to their Australian family. Hooray! Except this means tackling the flight with our very energetic 3yo. Looking for wisdom from anyone who’s done similar.

The options in our price bracket seem to be:

• bite the bullet and get there as fast as possible. This means an early morning 7hr flight to the Middle East, an hour or so’s transfer, then a 14hr flight to Aus. This feels like an impossible length of time to keep the toddler cooped up for but I guess it’d be over as quickly as possible.

• do a longer break in Singapore? This means a short afternoon flight to Europe, 12 hour overnight flight, 5 hour layover then an 8 hour one. This feels like more of an opportunity to run off steam but am I mad to consider adding the faff of an extra flight change and the extra time in transit?

If you’ve done the trip with a toddler, which would you choose? And do you have any tips for the journey? Last time we did the journey they were 5 months old and it was a breeze but I’m dreading this!

Hello! So exciting to be able to go see family again isn't it?

We've just been through a similar dilemma. We are going at Xmas with 3 kids who will be 7,6 and 2. We've done long haul before with the older two and in our experience the shorter the overall travel time the better!

That said times are also key for jet lag/ sleeping. We are flying to perth and I fancied a stop in Singapore but those flights generally get in at around midnight perth time so would make us a bit all over the shop! So we are doing the direct Heathrow to perth which is just under 17 hours 🤪 but we leave here and get in at lunchtime for both. We are flying back from Sydney at night and have a two hour stop which will be stressful as will be middle of the night for them but may help us get on uk time (hopes!!!)

After we searched and discussed for hours we concluded it'll be tough no matter but we thought pushing through and not faffing with having to pack up and check in after two days layover was probably more worth it.

At 3 hopefully they will sit and watch some tv, colouring, sticker books, nap, eat ... run up and down the aisles for a bit 🤣

At 3 hopefully they will sit and watch some tv, colouring, sticker books, nap, eat ... run up and down the aisles for a bit

Just be aware that running up and down the aisles will be massively frowned upon, and may really upset other passengers (and crew) due to the increased Covid risk. Airlines are asking passengers to stay seated as much as possible (including not getting up for the toilet until the toilet is unoccupied) and keeping service as brief as possible to minimise Covid risk.

@HundredMilesAnHour thanks! I was joking, I wouldn't let mine run and up down. But if they say that I will def be questioning that policy on a 17 hour flight given that increases the risk of DVT!

[quote ChipsAreLife]@HundredMilesAnHour thanks! I was joking, I wouldn't let mine run and up down. But if they say that I will def be questioning that policy on a 17 hour flight given that increases the risk of DVT! [/quote]
I hoped you weren't (too) serious but also thought that the OP may not be aware that there are extra 'complications' when flying now and it's not just testing/vaccinations etc.

It’s the potential running up and down the aisles I’m worried about! She’s a bundle of energy and I can well imagine the appeal of stickers wearing thin by hour 15… Thanks so much PPs, and have a great trip
@ChipsAreLife!

Just power through.
You won't burn up more energy on an 8hr layover if you just go to an airport hotel. It just stretches the whole horror out. Plus an extra flight.... no, just no!

We once did it when youngest was 3....he’s 23 now and I don’t remember it being a nightmare.....I do remember spending several hours walking around the plane doing laps ( but don’t think that’s allowed now with Covid restrictions)..... was very knackered when we got there tho....the other 2 were 7 and 9 and there were a breeze....just ate the meals and the snacks in between the whole 2 flights

We’ve done it lots- my view is it’s 3 days of hard work whether than is on a plane, in transit or on arrival! It’s never easy or fun. If you do stop over choose a place with a pool- it can wear kids out while others sleep. Take a couple of (silent) light up toys…

I did it on my own with a 3 yr old and nearly 2 yr old -only 2 seats - what fun! I agree best to just go for it - layovers just prolong the agony.

Made up travel bags with lots of new small toys in like etchasketch, board books etc. also snacks.

@HundredMilesAnHour no it's a good thought on covid restrictions. We aren't flying till December as driving for our other holiday. Hopefully by then they'll let people walk around and stretch more!

@Tulipmonster you may be surprised by how tired they are with the excitement etc. also get to the airport early and let them blow off steam in the play area. That's always worked well for us!

Like @burrito says it's a short time in the scheme of things. Probably won't be the most relaxing day of your life but in my experience it's always better than I think it will be!

I've sone it both ways when DD was 15 months. On the way out to Sydney we stopped in Singapore for 3 or 4 days. We were taking my elderly mum over to see the family too (and she fancied Singapore for the last time). DD didn't sleep much, so DH and I spent a lot of time at the back with the cabin crew. She didn't cry, she was just annoyingly awake! I don't think my mother helped.

The flight home was from Perth (so a bit shorter). We'd been away for a month by then and just wanted to get home (think we changed planes at Singapore again). We had a car waiting to drive us back home. My SiL had frogmarched me to a pharmacy to buy antihistamine liquid, which calmed her down.

It obviously wasn't too horrid because we the. Took her over to Grenada and Barbados before she started school. Here DH and I split up (plenty of empty seats on the plane) and took it in turns to look after her. By then, iPads existed and that made life a lot easier.

Strangely I’ve always found security harder than the flight.

Apologies for the bad typing above (my phone has a mind of its own).
I forgot to mention that we paid for an annual airport lounge pass (used to get it with my bank account travel insurance). It meant that we could get DD fed, cleaned up and changed into something easy to sleep in and DH and I could take it in turns to have a shower and a decent meal. there is usually a little kids area in most playing Disney films or cartoons.

I forgot to mention that Singapore airport has playgrounds (and a pool and a garden) BTW.

I also used a folding pushchair and a hip seat (though I don't think I'd have been happy carrying a 5 year old around.