Longhaul with 'Littlies'
We took a trip to the UK when my children were 14 months and 3 years old. There are definitely a few lessons we learnt the hard way, so if you are thinking of flying long haul with little people here are some pointers!
- Order children’s meals for the flights before you go. They come first, and generally are little snack boxes that keep them entertained for a few minutes. Take lots of mini packs of snacks - I’m thinking mini bags of rice crackers, tiny teddies, boxes of raisins…anything that will distract them for a little while, feel like a special treat, but preferable not give them an uncontrollable sugar high! Please note that on returning to Australia you will need to declare any uneaten items.
- For Infants, if you want a bassinet make sure you request it when you book your flights. There are only a limited number on each flight so it’s definitely good to get in early. I should point out that they make you take your child out of the bassinet any time the seat belt light is on…it is almost guaranteed that as soon as you get your baby to sleep the flight will encounter some turbulence and you’ll have to get them out. Just when you thought you might get to have a quick nap too!The airlines permit you to take a reasonable amount of baby products - infant food, formula, sterilised water, juice. These can be more than the standard 100 ml of liquids usually permitted. We took some cartons of longlife milk for our littlest in the hope that a big drink of milk might help her sleep.Obviously take more than enough nappies, wipes, changes of clothes. And nappy sacks, forgetting those would be very anti-social!
- For entertainment, get a device you can download endless episodes of their favourite cartoons, movies, games onto. For the young ones I suggest sticking with their favourites that you know they will watch happily. The in-flight entertainment system will have cartoon channels but I found our 3year old preferred to watch the ones she knew already. You can get kids sized headphones that will make life easier - but get your kids used to them before you fly. I took a few favourite (small) books too but with the background noise reading wasn’t a huge win, plus you will already have more than enough to carry!
Finally, if you can, book a stopover. We flew straight to London and spent the first few days of our trip just recovering. On the way home we had a night at the wonderful Crowne Plaza at Changi Airport. We all had a swim, a good meal and some sleep (not all at the same time unfortunately, but there is plenty to entertain the kids with even in the middle of the night) and felt 100% more human for the next flight.
Travelling with kids is not easy but it is absolutely worth the effort.