Planning flight to england for xmas

[lochlanfaidesmummy]

ok all said before
entertainment for 3.5 boy(usually very very active)
i have heard of packing "presents"
that they can unwrap along the way with, say colouring in packs? and entertaining toys.

am coming from australia.
and can/should i pack food, snacks and what not?

what should i pack in my cabin bag for me and my son, and what can i pack.

he is toilet trained but has the ocasional accident at night, should this be a problem?

how realistic is it of me to expect him to sleep? and be quiet? on the flights

Hi

I'm doing exactly the same trip. My DD is 5 though.

Yes, wrap some presents that will keep him busy. Stickers are good, playdough too, magnetic games, matchbox cars and colouring books. Does your carrier have seat back tvs and movies? Check if you can bring your own headphones, when they're this young it's quite hard to get the airlines ones to stay on. Do you have a leapster or nintendo DS? I bought a portable dvd player for our flight at 2.5, which was worth its weight in gold.

Check on your carrier's website for hand luggage regulations. I had to repack my carry on bag last time I flew back to the UK as it was too big. You can't take liquids either, has to be less than 100ml IIRC. You can buy them after security though.

I normally pack food, as you can't be sure that children will want to eat at the times that the food is served. You will have to ditch it at Heathrow (and vice-versa).

He may or may not sleep. At 2.5 DD didn't sleep. At 4 she did. Depends on the child. If you want to ensure he sleeps/try to prevent jet lag as much as possible you can use Phenergan. Test it beforehand as it makes some children hyper. It's an anti-histamine that causes drowsiness.

Don't forget to pack sweets for the take-off and descent.

Do you have cold weather clothes for England? It will be hard to buy it in the summer here.

If I remember anything else I'll post - Good luck with the flight!

Pack a change of clothes - add in training pants if you're worried.

And a travel pillow. Don't book the bulkhead seats - you can't raise the armrest between the seats and it stops them lying on you.

Who are you flying with and what route are you taking?.

If you're flying via Singapore the security checkpoints are near the departure gates. They will confiscate any liquid substance over 100ml (even toothpaste so do not have that in your hand luggage).

Foodstuffs will be okay for you to take on the flights. Would not take any liquid like foodstuffs though (e.g yoghurt).

Would certainly second training/nightime pants and a change of clothes.

Entertainment is great on most airlines these days, especially SA. My 3 year old alternated between watching Cars repeatedly and sleeping when we came out on a holiday.

If your son is particularly lively, you might want to consider Phenergen, an antihistimine that makes kids drowsy (have seen it in the pharmacies here, not sure if you need a prescription or not - you do in the UK). Do try it out first though as it has the opposite effect on some kids.

Definitely training pants, and a change of clothes for you as well as him. Will never forget the - luckily short - flight when one of mine threw up all over me just after take off. I had plenty of spare clothes for the kids but none for me.

If you are flying SA I would suggest that you don't order a child's meal. We found them to be 70% chocolate which isn't what you need. It's my only criticism of them though, normally they would be my airline of choice especially with kids.

Yes, on our last flight to the UK dd watched Flushed Away about 7 times. I read OK magazine and drank wine and had a very relaxing time

All good advice on here. My one top tip is that if you are doing the trip alone with DS it may be worth notifying the airline as when I did it with 2 dds they got someone to help with my bags etc when we landed to change planes at KL. It was fantastic, I just sailed through with 2 dcs, and a very nice man staggered under the weight of my carry on bags (which were VAST). He deposited us at a nice lounge and then picked us up and carried my bags to the plane when it was ready to board. Totally fantastic and very helpful with 2 tired children.

Also if you haven't yet booked your flights you should consider the times that you fly. I flew back on the 10pm flight from H'row which was a bloody disaster. Both dds where shattered and yelled until the lights on the plane were switched off at about 1am and they could finally go to sleep. It was horrible. When I go again i'd catch the midday flight or 6pm at a push.

Also I am a bit of a nervous flyer so went to the docs beforehand, he prescribe Temazepam which was AMAZING, I coped with all sorts of stressfull yelling from the kids (who actually were mostly great) without getting totally exhausted and stressed myself. Totally recommend it!

Also my dd really liked having her own carry on bag. She gleefully packed it and wheeled it on board. She still likes to play Planes with it now.