Tips for first flight with toddler

[spottycoat276]

Next week I’m going to be flying for the first time with my toddler, who is 20 months. It’s only a short European flight but I’m a bit worried as I’ll be doing it by myself.

I’d like to ask the Mumsnet hive mind for any advice / things I might not have thought of!

My plans so far:

•I’ve bought a super light travel buggy to make things easier.

•Flight is around 3pm. I’m planning to get to the airport more than 2 hours before to have plenty of time for lunch then a nap in the buggy.

•Plenty of snacks/toys/books for the flight.

•Travel insurance.

•Passports!

Any tips much appreciated!

Calpol, either sachets or the fast melts if they do them for their age. Something to suck. The worst thing for little ones is if the air pressure hurts their ears. I was on a plane with a toddler screaming a few years back and (after asking the Mum) gave them a lolly to suck which sorted their ears out.

If you can time nap with flight that would probably work well, the plane motion always made my LO sleepy anyway and slept longer than normally would which was a massive win! Other than that plenty of snacks and if they have a dummy then this can help with changes in pressure during take off!
Hope it all goes well!

Gove him a small lunch so that you can just give him snacks all afternoon.

Break up the snacks into small individually wrapped or boxed things so he gets to unwrap each one and that will take a little time

Let him run around as much as feasible before you board the plane

Dont stress about security, it will be a pain, but you will make it through, just ask the staff for help with what you need to do, and have your liquids grouped

Get a good bag for carrying on the plane. Rucksacs are a pain as stuff is stacked ontop of other stuff. Take a bag that opens up properly so you can find things

Take a change of clothes for dc and a change of top for you

Take a couple of small bags to use for rubbish, ideally ones you can knot or seal so you can bag up poop explosion clothes if needed

Preload his favorite shows on an ipad and get some of the headband headphones so he can listen to it. And keep it fully charged as long as possible

Find a lollipop he will like for take off and landing so the sucking can help his ears. Dont give it to him until you are zooming down the runway, or he will finish it before you are at cruising altitude. Same with the descent, wait until your ears are noticing the descent. Take a couple of spares

Have fun and be excited with him, he will pick up on your energy

Thank you so much everyone! I’m taking notes 😊

Does he have his own seat?

No she’s under 2 so will be on my knee. It would be great if the motion of the plane sends her off to sleep like a PP mentioned! But if not I’ll have plenty of books, snacks etc on hand

Napping at the airport may be tricky - they have to get in and out of the pram for security etc and then it's bright, noisy and exciting. Never managed to get mine to nap in an airport!

From experience:

Encourage them to walk around the airport before the flight and tire them out as much as possible.

If you have a carrier then that’s a really easy way to board the plane and keeps your hands free for your carry on bag and your passports/documents

Don’t board at the beginning - you want to spend as little time as possible on the plane

Nappy change before you board - you only to want to change a nappy on a plane if absolutely necessary.

Change of clothes for you both - just in case!

All the snacks and a sippy cup to encourage swallowing during takeoff and more so during landing.

Some new toys - get them out one at a time

Please don’t give a 20 month old a lollipop, it’s a huge choking risk

And finally, don’t worry if they cry or make noise. They’re a small child and you’ve every right to be in that flight. Plus it’s unlikely you’ll ever see any of the other passengers again.

My youngest was 18 months on first flight, I was still breastfeeding and fed her as we took off and she slept most of the flight. If you can encourage sucking or chewing to counter ear trouble as you take off that would be ideal. Other than that snacks and whatever else distracts them.

A bottle with a straw style top for drinks.
Full set of clothes for DD and minimium of a spare top for you in hand luggage.
If possible, delay the nap until the plane.
Find the playground if possible at the airport. Otherwise get her to walk/move as much as possible.
Sling if you think she will go in it.

Odd knocks happen, but you need to do your absolute best to not get her to kick the seat infront incessantly - or bang the tray up and down.

sick bags, lots of wipes and changes of clothes for you both for the plane 😊

At least two changes of clothes, just for in case!
calpol
fidgit toys
stickers to stick onto tray/window
masking tape to stick onto seat and toddler to peel off
Wrap each toy individually and take a new one out to be unwrapped every 10/15mins or so.
wine…. For you!

Ipad with headphones and favourite shows downloaded. I’m not big on screentime at other times but travelling is definitely needs must.

24 hours of everything - clothes, nappies, wipes, snacks etc. for you both in your carry on in case of anything unforeseen like lost luggage, puking, nappy leak, unexpected delay.

Spill proof sippy cup for you both. You will appreciate it too because they can grab your drinks too easily on your lap. Take empty through security and refill airside.

For ears during take off/landing if not breastfeeding then do a smoothie or yoghurt pouch. The Ellas kitchen ones are good because they are under 100ml and don’t need a fridge.

Thanks again for all the advice! Spare clothes for myself as well as her is definitely a sensible idea.

Appreciate the advice about sucking for take off/landing. Like one poster mentioned I’d be concerned about a lollipop at her age, but will have a sippy cup/straw drink.

Stuff to eat and drink for the way up and the way down.

They don’t understand the whole ear popping thing but chewing and swallowing tends to work.

Watch out with straw drink bottles. do not open it like normal once the plane is up in the sky. The pressure changes mean that can act like a water jet. Instead unscrew the top first (as if you were filling it) and then reseal and use like normal.

Fresh nappy just before get on plane.

Somewhere easy and secure to keep passports and tickets. (Bum bag, shirt with top pocket, zip pocket in trousers, whatever works).

Plan to not get pram back before baggage reclaim, even if hand over at gate. It’s hit and miss where they get returned.

Easy bag of stuff to have out on the plane, so not digging in main hand luggage. I use one of those drawstring rucksacks and shove it inside my proper rucksack.

I would thoroughly recommend softplay if your airport has it. Also pay for the lounge if you can. My son found the airport overwhelming and being able to sit quietly and look at the planes was a godsend.

Hello everyone I just wanted to say thanks again for your advice. We’re back from our trip now and all things considered it went very well! Very fortunately we ended up with an empty seat beside us both was so I didn’t have to keep DD on my knee the whole time, just take off and landing.

Thanks in particular to those who recommended stickers, I bought a Peppa Pig sticker book and toy set in the airport and that was hands down the best £7.99 I’ve spent in a long while!

A couple of things I’ll note here from my experience in case they’re useful for future readers of this post:

•Flight home was mid morning rather than afternoon, and I found that easier as DD not tired etc so easier to keep her happy on the flight.

•Bag drop doesn’t open until 3 hours before departure. As I was trying to be super organised I was about 3hrs10 early and had to wait until it opened.

•Baby wipes in hand luggage show up as liquid, so worth getting them out of your bag at security. I had to have my bag double checked because of this.

•Something I hadn’t foreseen (though makes sense) is that toddler also has to be checked/scanned by security staff. She was pretty good about it but might upset some children.

Thanks again all! 😊

En my children were toddlers on flights I used to buy them cheap wind up toys from early learning that flip over and also print out colouring pages free from the web and make a booklet. Also them sort of cheap fuzzy felt thing from the likes of Poundland . I used to get one thing out a half hourly intervals so they didn’t get bored or over whelmed . Alll fairly cheap and if factored in food and naps it really helped flights go quick