Surviving Plane Travel with Children

6 Helpful Tips

May 31, 2024

I have three boys and have done a lot of travelling with each of them and all three together. How can you survive long distance travel with children of any age?

I am a huge advocate of starting when they are young, to train them for travel later in life. My first son was only five weeks old when I took him on a holiday from Adelaide to Cairns, in Queensland.

I have taken an eight month old to Singapore from Melbourne, on my own (that was pretty hard!!!) and have travelled to America and Europe with all of them.

How did we do it and what did we learn that can help you?

Obviously travelling domestically is no where near as taxing as travelling overseas, where you not only need to keep a young child amused for a long time, in a confined space, but you then also have to deal with time zones.

Along the way we have learnt a few things that might help you.

Tip 1: Be Organised

How well your trip goes, will often depend more on you than your child.

How organised you are for the journey can often mean the difference between a relatively easy flight and a nightmare. Think in advance of what requirements you need in terms of clothing, food, changing equipment and toys.

When I travelled with a baby, I always had their favourite toy with us, to grab out when things started to go awry. Keep it hidden until that time when you really think they need it, then pull it out at the right moment, BEFORE a meltdown is about to happen.

When J was little one of the toys he liked was a pram bar wrap toy that had toys hanging off of it. I was able to hang it on the tray table and while he sat on my lap he could play with it. That often kept him amused for the trips to Adelaide or Sydney that I frequently did in those days.

Set your watch for the timezone you are going too, as soon as you sit down on the plane. Obviously, when going to Queensland this doesn't really matter, but if going overseas anywhere, doing this will already have your mind set on the place you are going and will help get kids settled into a sleep routine etc earlier.

Plan when to stay awake and when to try and sleep based on this time.

For example, travelling to London via Singapore from Australia. We try to stay awake all the way to Singapore, then try to sleep on the flight to London. This way, we don't nap first then not sleep much to London, which would mean being exhausted by the time we arrive, then often have to stay awake all day.

Also ensure you have paracetamol or Ibuprofen incase your child is sick on the flight. Obviously this becomes more important for overseas trips, but it's amazing the number of times we have needed to give them something because half way through a 15 hour flight they suddenly developed a temperature, or (not uncommonly) an ear ache due to increased cabin pressure. It is always better to be safe than sorry!

Tip 2: PJ's for Long Trips.

One thing we have always done is taken the kids PJ's with us for long haul flights and changed them into them for bed. Trying to maintain as much of a routine as possible is important. I would take them one at a time, to the bathroom. They go to the toilet, brush their teeth (always carry their toothbrushes) and then changed into their PJ's. Get out a pillow and blanket and 'settle' them into their plane bed for the night.

It is often these mental and physical clues that are just like home that can get them into a good frame of mind to have some sleep on the plane.

If they will wear them, eye masks are a good idea and we always took neck pillows (which they chose the patterns of) if they were too big to lie down and had to sit up to sleep.

At various times, we have also had sky hammock type things but they can be more trouble than they are worth, so if you want one, go for the more expensive decent one, it will save you lots of annoyance during the flight, trying to figure it out and make it work.

Tip 3: Kiddy Backpacks

Since our children have been able to walk, we have put a backpack on their back to carry their stuff in.

Obviously toddlers, just have a toy and perhaps a small snack (so the backpacks are not very heavy) but they have learnt, from an early age, that they need to carry their things.

Now this doesn't mean, they take backpacks then YOU carry them. Plenty of times, we have walked away from a backpack dumped on the ground that had 'teddy' in it because a certain boy refused to carry it.

We would say "how sad for teddy to be left at the airport all by himself".

Almost always, they went back and put it back on.

We would obviously carry it (and them) when they were tired or arriving at a place in the middle of the night, but if they want to take something, it goes in the backpack.

This has served us well over the years, as they have carried Gameboys, snacks and their favourite drink bottle, as well as clothing and pjs in their bags themselves.

Here's a list of the things we put in the backpacks

PJ's
favourite drink bottle, sippy cup (depending on their age)
favourite book, or novel for older kids
pack of cards for older kids
toothpaste & toothbrush for long haul flights
jumper or zip-up hoodie
change of t-shirt, undies, socks and pants (or shorts depending on the weather) if they are under 10ish.
favourite snacks (gum, lollies, small chip packets)
small packet baby wipes (hands and faces can get grubby easily)
charger for any devices they take (phone, Gameboy, Switch etc)
favourite toy (if small) enough, or some lego or craft/puzzle books.

Tip 4: Clothing

If you have young children, you will likely still be carrying a nappy bag. In it have everything you would normally carry if you were going out for the day but add extras of everything.

For babies, extra singlets, nappies, take a FULL packet of wipes, all in one suits are best to keep them warm from head to toe.

Tip 5: Teach them to Stay in their Seat

One of the things I find frustrating is people letting babies and little children wander around the airplane (basically by themselves). I have seen parents let babies crawl up the aisle!

DON'T DO IT.

Teach your kids early (I mean like from their first plane trip), that they need to stay in their seat until the end of the flight. Other than going to the toilet, or a few short walks on long haul flights, sitting in your seat is the only thing you can do until the flight is over.

It’s exactly the same as them sitting in their car seats during long car trips.

If trained from a young age they will know they can’t wonder around, nor will they ask.

Additionally, we always taught them to always keep their seatbelts on when sitting down. The recent Singapore Airlines tragedy because of bad turbulence, has reinforced what an essential step this is, in keeping us safe during the flight.

My two older boys are adults now and J is 15, and I said to them, when news came out about this incident, that ‘that is why we always insisted on you keeping your seatbelt on when sitting or lying down on the plane!’

Tip 6: Other Flight Tips

Seat Selection

If you can, select your seats in advance (I know they charge more for this these days but long haul with an infant, it will be worth it).

This way, you can get a window seat, which will help you keep your baby amused. All of my boys loved looking out of the window when we flew somewhere and you can always make a game of them looking for things if they are restless, or fussy during take off and landing.

If you need a bassinet then you will need to select a bulkhead seat so that you can have a bassinet for them to sleep in.

Kids Airline Packs

Take the kids pack the airlines hand out, even if your child thinks they don't want them, or will need them.

Eventually, on a 24 hour flight to Europe, those pencils and activity book will come in handy!

I have also found a small pencil case of pens or nice pencils and a small colouring book very, very useful. You can even get travel workbooks that have a combination of crossword and puzzles and colouring pictures in them often that helps pass the time and is something you can whip out when they get restless.

Favourite Viewing Choices

If you have an iPad or laptop, downloading episodes of their favourite tv shows or movies is also a good idea.

On long haul, the kids channels on the inflight entertainment are great, but take your own kids headphones though (which also ensure the volume doesn’t get too loud).

The airline ear ones, generally fall out all the time and there will be tears if that happens. It will also save you having having to constantly put them back in (been there done that!).

Always Keep Your Shoes on for Take Off & Landing

Airline travel is generally pretty safe these days and the major catastrophes that happen are almost always during take off or landing.

We have always taught our kids that until the Captain turns off the seat belt sign after take-off they needed to keep their shoes on.

We get them to put their shoes on at least 15 minutes before landing as well.

The reasons for this are varied but mainly, if there was a crash of some kind, (and assuming you have survived), there will be glass and debris everywhere and with no shoes on, you will cut and hurt your feet on the way to escaping the plane, and added complication you will NOT that time).

The airlines do recommend it, even they they don’t mention it during the safety briefings.

Once the flight is at cruising altitude, then they know they can take their shoes off and relax.

Food on Your Flight

If flying overseas, kids meals must be booked in advance.

Don't assume they will automatically give you a kids meal because they know the age of your child from the booking details.

They won't.

When you check your reservation online, also check to make sure a kids meal is ordered, at least 48 hours before your flight.

If you use a travel agent, they can request one for you when they book your flights.

Airlines also have available small baby items that you might need and can heat water and bottles if you need formula or milk warmed. Just ask them.

If your child is fussy, then take your own food and snacks for them.

Tip: We usually find that if they are not interested in their airline meal, having mum or dad take a keen interest in the kids meal usually results in them eating some of it!

The other thing that is helpful is them eating the bread roll or fruit option that the airline staff can usually give you extras of, from the general food selection.

[Adult tip] If you are right down the back (and I always recommended the more middle section of economy closer to the front) consider ordering a meal that has some type of dietary requirement, (such as low sodium) as you will get your meal first and don't have to wait for all of the rows in front of you to take the best selections.

Avoid alcohol as much as possible.

Flying is very dehydrating and having too much alcohol can make you feel even worse at the other end.

The only exception to this, is if you are flying Singapore Airlines. You really do need to have at least one 'Singapore Sling' (or two) with those peanuts before they serve dinner!

Share Excellence Takes Courage

Hopefully these tips will help you have a better flight.

Remember that almost everyone has flown with kids that got upset, or restless or made some noise. People are pretty forgiving especially when they see that you are trying hard to keep your kids under control.

Be prepared, be organised and even though my husband can look at me like I am trying to take the kitchen sink sometimes, we have had kids that have travelled pretty well, so the 'system' does work!

Good Luck!

As we seek excellence in all we do, I want to share with you what I’m up to each week. It will keep me accountable to you, my readers and it will also help me to reflect on what I’ve done over the previous week.

➡️ This Week’s Progress

More visitors this week and planning for the next quarter is underway.

➡️ This Week’s Viewing

Not watched much since we have had a stream of visitors and I have been out in our garden.

Michelle is a Writer, Marketer, Content Entrepreneur, Historian (Mst Oxon) and mother of 3 boys.

After 25 years in business and as the ‘Content Marketing Queen’ for over 13 years, she has helped countless small businesses understand and develop their content strategies and focus on a customer first approach.

On International Women’s Day in March 2024, Michelle hung up her crown so that she could be a Queen Maker to inspire and assist women over 40, rise up to be the Queens they were born to be.

At Excellence Takes Courage we will navigate together what it takes to achieve excellence, with courage.

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