Singles can quickly throw a few things in their bag and quickly hop on a plane. Unfortunately, parents don’t such a luxury. Things are definitely more complicated for parents. Flying with infants and small children isn’t for the unprepared or the faint of heart. However, we should be able to make our airplane trip a smooth sailing with careful planning. If we are planning to take a long trip with plane, we should check with our paediatrician one week previously. We should know that our infants don’t have ear infection that can cause discomfort during an airplane ride.
Ear pain is the most common cause of baby cries inside airplanes. During take-off and landing, we should give our baby something to suck on. This should help us to relieve ear pressure, such as pacifier, bottle and breast. It is a good idea to travel at night, when babies usually asleep. This will increase the odds that our baby can sleep. To further improve our chance, we should also give our baby snuggle toy and favourite blanket. It is also a good idea to buy a seat for our baby. For infants and children under two, airlines charge only half price and this encourages many parents to bring their babies along.
It is also a good idea to close the windows to block out the light or turn off the overhead lamp, so our baby can sleep more easily inside airplane. If possible, we should choose planes that travel directly to the destination to reduce the number of take offs and landings. When travelling for long haul inside the airplane, we should be prepared for the unexpected. We should bring extra wipes and plastic bags. It’s no easy feat changing diapers on an airplane. It should also be helpful to bring extra clothes for mom and baby. For toddlers, a bag of favourite snack goes a long way. If we need to bring special meal for our toddlers, we could pack disposable feeding supplies.
For entertainment, we should pack enough light-weight, compact toys. Each toddler has their favourite toys, so we should bring only what they like most. When travelling with small children and infants, we shouldn’t be in a hurry. It is a good idea to reach the airport one hour before the plane departs. Children can easily pick up on our stress level and they react the way their parents do. This could further enhance our stress level. We should make sure that children are intellectually, not mentally or physically active when they are in airport and airplane. Educational games on tablets could easily distract them.
It should be a good idea to wear our toddlers out physically before we go to the airport, so they will be likely to sleep or sit still on the flight. Children could also be told to carry the backpack and their own supplies, so they have their own flexibility in doing things with their own items.