Air Travel Tips with Kids
There are many challenges that parents have to face when they air travel with small children. Their main concern is child safety. Then they fear that the child may cause inconvenience to fellow passengers. For all these reasons, many parents defer their long awaited family vacation. However, the fact is that it is possible to overcome them with little bit of planning. All the travel tips given in the next section are related to advance preparation in order to tackle any kind of unforeseen crisis.
Tips for Traveling with Children
When you make proper arrangements beforehand, then it is likely that your journey is going to be a pleasurable experience. Here are a few last minute air travel tips that can be useful in this regard:
Tips 1: Reserve a seat for your child. This is the most helpful tip that you can get. Even though toddlers below the age of 2 can travel on the laps of their parents, using an airline approved car seat is a much safer option. Inform your agent that you are traveling with a kid. For your convenience, you can ask for a seat closer to the bathroom.
Tips 2: Packing for a plane trip with kids is a bit tricky because you often fail to decide what are the things to be taken. Keep a separate carry on bag or back pack where you pack all essential items that you need on board. It should contain enough snacks that kids can nibble on. Then there should be some of their favorite toys to keep them busy during the flight. If your kid is interested in music, carry a portable DVD player and headphone. An extra pair of clothes for the child and also for yourself is a must to manage any spit ups or spills. A small blanket, a zipper bag to keep dirty clothes and some medicines for emergency use.
Tips 3: On the day of journey, start your day early so that you can have sufficient time at hand. Kids must wear comfortable clothes that are suitable for the weather condition. Serve them some light foods but take care that they do not feel hungry before you board the flight. You must reach airport much before the scheduled departure time of the flight. This way you can avoid any last minute confusion.
Tips 4: Once you board the aircraft, you must listen carefully to the briefing provided by the flight attendant about the airline safety measures for various emergency situations. In case, you have doubt or confusion in your mind about the operating system of any of the safety equipment, do not hesitate to clear them from the airline staff.
Tips 5: Position the child's car seat away from the aisle. You know kids have a tendency to reach out here and there. So, if they seat next to the aisle they may get hurt by people moving on the aisle. Preferably, they should be seated in between two adults.
Tips 6: During take off and landing, children tend to get nervous because of the pressure felt inside the ears. If you are flying with baby, then give them a feeding bottle to suck on which will ease off the pressure. For older kids, sucking on a candy can provide them a lot of comfort. You should also ask them to swallow to make themselves feel better.
Tips 7: Kids should be kept in a proper restraint system throughout the flight. This is because you never know when turbulence is going to happen. If they insist that they want to move around allow them to do so only when the seat belt sign is off. Be alert throughout the flight to supervise your kid. It is solely your responsibility to check out whether he or she is wandering into some dangerous areas or not.
Tips 8: You can try your level best to prevent any kind of inconvenience to your fellow passengers but you have not control over your child's bad mood. When kids get restless and start making a lot of fuss, then ignore reactions from irate passengers and focus on pacifying your child. When required ask help from flight attendants.
You should not get panicked unnecessarily. When kids see their parents tensed, they may feel nervous too. Traveling with infants is more or less the same as air travel with kids. The only difference is you have to carry baby foods, baby wipes, bibs, diapers and other such necessary items for tiny tots.
