Best seating arrangements when flying abroad with two young children?

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Hi all, I am looking to book a holiday abroad with my partner and our 2 sons, aged 2 and 8 years old. Those that are also a family of 4 when it comes to flying what do you do with the seating arrangements? Do you all sit in the same row ie 3 in the right side of the plane and 1 on the left side closest to the airle or do you sit 2 on, let's say row 22 and 2 on row 21 so kids can see out the window ?

I think 2 + 2 is easiest personally, especially when they’re young. Otherwise one parent gets stuck doing all of the parenting really.

We do 3 on one side and 1 parent on the other side. The aisle is narrow so the single seat parent can still assist the child on the aisle side and get bags from lockers etc.

Sorry, just re read ages and i'd definitely do 3 and 1, as 8 year old shouldn't need much help.

Or if it's a big plane take the 4 in the middle if it's 3 4 3 configuration. Or upstairs if it's a dreamliner and do 2 and 2, 2 window seats and 2 aisle seats, best of both!

If its a big plane a row of four, it not two and two.

We have a 5 and 8 year old amd we do 22A, 22B, 22E and 22F so 2 poor sods gets stuck with us going in and out of the aisle all the time! But they both get a window seat that way.

3+1. So one parent sits with the dc and the other is in charge of loo visits, overhead lockers etc.

Will be flying with either Ryanair or easyJet. As it's our boys' first time on a plane, we are only looking at going somewhere no further than 4 hours away. Was thinking of southern Spain or the Canary Islands

We do 3 plus one in the aisle next to our row. Usually it’s my DH in the aisle seat next to randoms as I prefer to be on kid duty and have a bit more room and he is in charge of bags/passing us stuff etc. He was definitely still able to help when they were small as you could pass the toddler over the aisle.

We do 3 + 1 on same row. One parent sits with kids, the other gets to chill, then we swap on the flight back. The 8yo wont need much help. We sometimes sit both kids together in window and middle, with parent in aisle, especially if one child is older and mostly self sufficient.

Ideally? You in business, DC and DH in economy

Realistically? pin the toddler by the window, you or DH in middle, 8 year old on aisle and other parent on opposite side of the aisle.

Well, after speaking to my partner, she is adamant that we sit 2 in 1 row and 2 behind or in front of that row, so both boys have window seats. I personally think it's best if we both sit in aisle seats and the boys sit in the middle and window seat then on the way back they swap around.

but then it's a PITA if you want to get out, but whether that's an issue does depend on flight length. Also, even if potty trained, put the 2 year old in a pull up for the flight. I used to fly a lot with mine on my own when little and this was a life saver for things like if you get stuck on the runway and are not allowed to get up or they just don tell you in time and there's a massive queue.

ps- say "great, you can have the 2 year old" :-)

I don't pay to pick seats, so we sit wherever we are given. Together and splitting up, window and aisle, have all been fine for us so I don't have a preference to make me want to pay extra for.

We’ve always done 3+1, took it in turns who sits on their own and the kids will take turns getting a window seat. Works well as whoever is on their own is in charge of getting the bags down, carry the kids stuff and bits so the other parent can just focus on parenting.

How long is the flight? For an overnight flight, 3 + 1 so they can lay down and sleep. For a 3 hour flight, 2 and 2

We’ve always done 3 + 1 and pick the aisle seat that allows my 190cm tall DH to stretch his dodgy leg out. He always sits with the DC so I can concentrate on not being nervous!

I prefer 3 and 1 as don’t having to bother a stranger to go the loo or be bothered by one…

We do 3+1. Kids go in window and middle. Adults swap so one gets a break
we did 2+2 once and hoped the kids would be ok in front of us but weren’t so it ended up being a kid and adult each

3+1, but that’s because I get claustrophobic if I don’t have an aisle seat ( could probably just about cope with sitting between my kids if I had to),

Given the ages and the fact it’s their first flight, I think the 8yo would love the window seat so the decision is whether you think your 2yo would also like a window (in which case you do 2 and 2) or whether he’d
be more manageable in an aisle seat with you & DH either side of him.
One other thing to bear in mind as well as their preferences is times of flight and who will be driving when you land. We’d often end up on flights at fairly anti-social hours and then have a 90
min drive home. We often did 3 and 1 with me being in charge of the DC on the flight and DH having a chance to doze on the basis that, once we landed, he needed to be awake for the drive home.

We are a family of 5 and do a row of 3 starting from by the window
and a row of 2 also by the window and the middle seat
themed seat on the second row is usually left empty

my eldest isn’t too bothered about the window now but we do rotate round a bit so they all get a turn.

Definitely do 3+1. Person on their own does all the toilet trips, sorting of bags etc. 2+2 is a pain, the kids will want to get up to go to the toilet, you’ll want to get stuff out of the overhead locker. Swap seats on the way home.

2+2 with window seats sounds like a good idea but can be very awkward. I prefer not to keep disturbing a stranger in an aisle seat when one of my dc needs the loo, needs something from a bag in the overhead locker etc.

A 2 year old may get quite bored of the window seat view anyway because they don’t really understood what they are looking at when you are at altitude.

8 year old by the window, toddler in middle seat, then parents on the aisle. Take looks of books, activity books, colouring books to distract. We used to take sticker books when dc were little.

You can also plug them into a device for a bit.

Any time I see 3+1, it is 95% of the time Mum plus two while Dad gets an aisle seat to himself l, so for that reason alone I say 2+2 - mum and dad take an aisle seat each, lid in middle seat