Flying with children can be an extremely stressful business, especially if they are prone to being somewhat unruly.
The prospect of noise, the stuffiness and the confined space, as well as hateful looks from other passengers are often enough to make parents think twice before taking their children on flights of any length.
But fear not! There are a number of things that you can do to make the journey a pleasant for you, your children and for your fellow passengers.
Long queues
Without doubt, boredom is the prime cause of children acting up during flights, so it would be wise to take steps to ease this boredom.
Departure can be a nightmare for children – standing around for a long time is obviously not ideal for small children as their small legs will become tired quickly, making them restless and grouchy. To ease this tiredness, you should consider investing in a Trunki.
A Trunki is basically luggage for children that can be converted into a kind of small-person carrier as it has a saddle. This will be seen as an adventure as opposed to a choir and will help to keep your child occupied.
Plan your children’s entertainment
Take magazines, stories, colouring books and snacks to keep your children occupied. You will find that if you can seat them by the window that they will be enthralled for the 15 minutes immediately after take-off and before landing.
Many airlines now offer entertainment for children – Virgin use the phrase ‘boredom is banned’ as means of illustrating their commitment to helping you have a stress-free flight, and Gulf Air now employ ‘Sky Nannies’, who are flight attendants specially trained in keeping children entertained, so shop around with sites like Cheap Flights!
Portable DVD players and kids’ games on your smartphone will also help to keep children entertained and thus well-behaved giving you plenty of rest.
Comfort
Tiredness is also a major contributor to their restlessness; it is often difficult for the child to get to sleep if they are uncomfortable. Take a pillow for them to help make your child more comfortable; an ostrich pillow would be perfect!
