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Original poster

keeping 1 and 3 y.o. happy at Heathrow pre boarding for 3 hours - any ideas????

14 replies

wakeupaustralia · 03/03/2009 09:42

We are off to Australia in a couple of weeks with a 1 y.o. and a 3 y.o. (God help us!). Just wondering what to do with them in the 2-3 hours between check-in and boarding. Has anyone used any of the play areas in terminals 4 or 5 like the KLM Holideck (costs £50 - worth it?)? Any advice on how to occupy them before they drive us and everyone else mad - and this is even before we embark on our 23 hour plane journey!!!

OP posts:

Shitemum · 03/03/2009 09:46

Why don't you just arrive a little later? IME a whole hour can be taken up just getting a snack in the cafe and going to the toilet. Then there's a the slow walk to the gate and exploring that bit, there's usually other kids to play with or watch and chairs to climb on and off etc....

IME For the flight you'll need to pack one new toy or entertainment for each half hour...can be a small thing. 3 yo will be happy with some playmobil toys and animals, colouring stuff, balloon, cars, stickers etc

Good luck!

2pt4kids · 03/03/2009 09:47

What time of day will it be?
It will actually go quite quickly (thats what I found when I was waiting to board with nearly 3yo and 6 month old).
We went early morning so an hour was taken up having breakfast etc and sitting down, then had a wander round shops bit and buy drinks for plane etc (I had both kids in Phil and Teds so this bit was easy enough)
then wander round the amusement arcade bit and let kids look at all the machines and jump off benches etc to use up some energy!
Then takes 15 mins to get to gate and 15 mins to board...

thisisyesterday · 03/03/2009 09:50

agree that it'll prob go fairly quickly in the end.
just wander round and have a look at the crappy shops, get some snacks and drinks, do some colouring or reading books

you and your dp/dh can take it in turns to take the 3 yr old for walks round the airport and see what you can spot...

WouldYouCouldYouWithAGoat · 03/03/2009 09:53

portable dvd, lots of paper for drawing, buy a selection of cheapo wee toys and gradually produce them at times of desperation.

Catper33 · 03/03/2009 09:55

We have found on our recent long haul trips that by the time you get through security/customs etc. quite a bit of time has been used up. We travelled with a 10 month yr old and 2.3 year old recently (Aus-UK)and then got something to eat as waiting for the meal on the plane was stretching it a bit far for our little ones. We then watched the planes out of the terminal window, they had a run-around/crawl-around, changed nappies before boarding, waited at the gate. We were boarded first which gave us time to get sorted out on the plane. The time seemed to just dissapear!!!! Don't worry about the journey, it will be over before you know it although go expecting no sleep and any you do get is a bonus!!

Original poster

wakeupaustralia · 03/03/2009 11:15

We've never flown with kids before so feeling a bit daunted but thanks for the advice. Sounds like there's no point shelling out £50 for the klm private lounge after all. Our flight goes at 11am so we can have breakfast there and that will kill an hour.

Shitemum I don't think we have a choice about arriving early as have to try to get bulkhead seats and on Qantas they tell me they are only allocated at check-in.

2pt4kids - we are taking a P&T too - were you able to take it right up to the boarding gate and then did you get it back during stopover and quickly on arrival? Was it looked after ok and did you pack it in one of those special P&T travel bags?

OP posts:

Bubbaluv · 03/03/2009 11:37

Have done it a number of times - urgh... it's no fun, but never as bad as you imagine.
My advice would be to find somewhere they can have a bit of a charge about. Get them out of buggies and walking. Burn energy!
Looking out the windows of the terminal at the planes can take up quite a bit of time.
We were in the Qantas lounge last time which had a children's playroom, but DS found that far less interesting than just toddling round the terminal waving at people and pretending to use the public phone booths.
DO get there early to endure you get the best seats possible though - it makes a HUGE difference to your flight.
Good luck!

janinlondon · 03/03/2009 11:49

Definitely need to be there 3 hours ahead. The bulkhead seats are allocated within a few minutes of check in opening. One tip that I found useful was to pre-board only one adult, complete with all the paraphenalia, who can get everything sorted out before the others arrive. Otherwise you will have an extra 40 minutes to kill sitting on a really pretty boring plane, and believe me, anything you can do to reduce the actual seated time will be valuable. Seatback tv should occupy the 3 yo pretty well. Have you checked what's showing? Always a little incentive to get them happy about the flight if you can tell them what movie they can watch. On SQ we often got to take our buggy right onto the aircraft - they stowed it in one of the forward cabinets and gave it back at the stopover. I think that's pretty much dependent on the cabin crew at the time though. Have a good flight - we are doing it for the ninth time at Easter (and it does get easier as they get older!!).

Bubbaluv · 03/03/2009 12:23

Jan - excellent tip re pre-boarding! We will use that one next time!
Another good piece of advice I was given was to keep your toddler in thier seat as long as possible, becuase once they know they can get up and explore the cabin they will want to do it ALL THE TIME!!
Wakeup, if you are flying economy then snacks are a must - it can be tricky attracting the attention of a hosty in time to prevent a meltdown.

Original poster

wakeupaustralia · 03/03/2009 17:23

Excellent advice! Esp re pre-boarding - think I'll volunteer for that and settle into my chair with a magazine for a child-free 40 mins! Just tried to buy Phenergan at Boots but they wouldn't sell it to me! Apparently the age limits have just changed and now they have to be 6 to have it. I'll have to get DH to pretend we have a 6yo and he can buy it near his work.

Janinlondon - are you an Aussie? I'm impressed that you've done it 9 times. I'm such a wimp and there I was BC imagining that having them would not impede my travel urges...

Many thanks for the great info. Feel a bit more prepared now.

OP posts:

janinlondon · 04/03/2009 12:22

Wakeup - yes I am Australian. There is no other reason for a sane person to do this trip on such a regular basis!!

Amani · 04/03/2009 12:38

Good luck - the thought of spending that long on teh plane with my 1 yr and 3 yrs scares me - although we have been to the Far East three times with my 3 yr old (one when she was 1 and then again when she was 2).

Amani · 04/03/2009 12:38

hifi · 04/03/2009 13:16

by the time you have cleared customs, had a snack you will probably be ready for boarding.we bought dd a trunki last time we went to asia and her and dh had great fun on it, well dh didnt go on it he just pulled her.

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