Panic - flying long haul with a toddler
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Topic: Panic - flying long haul with a toddler
Posted By: JD
Subject: Panic - flying long haul with a toddler
Date Posted: 13 March 2009 at 3:23pm
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DH and I are flying to London soon with our very busy toddler and I am starting to panic. DS doesn't stay still for a minute. We are going straight there 11hrs 25 mins then 14 hours 10 mins and having a stop on the way home.
Any advise.....any at all for keeping a busy toddler occupied and happy on a long haul flight would be much appreciated. TIA ------------- http://lilypie.com"> 
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Replies:
Posted By: Mum2ET
Date Posted: 13 March 2009 at 8:36pm
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we will have this problem in a couple of weeks and we are only flying to Australia- which I am still not looking to. i think 24 hrs on a plane with an active toddler, which just about finish me off. we have started to put aside some new small toys to take on the plane with us and a friend suggested wrapping them up in paper, so she could unwrap them. have also brought some new books so she will have something new to look at and I am going to make her, her own book of all her favourite pictures (dogs,cats, buses etc). also pack lots and lots of snacks, it was suggested to get some sugar free lollipops for her to suck on the way down and up. also a book I was reading suggested if you were flying a long distance with a toddler/baby to book seats for you and your partner that weren't together so you each have a bit of break. that's all I have got at the moment, but I also look forward to hearing what others ideas are..... ------------- Mum to Ella (5) and Tom (2) |
Posted By: hannibal
Date Posted: 13 March 2009 at 8:43pm
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Have a look on babycentre.com.au
and just do a search on plane - there are some articles there that might be useful. We have only been as far as Hamilton by plane and it wasn't to bad. Oh not sure how old your bubs are but making sure they are sucking going up and down is probably a good idea for there ears. |
Posted By: JD
Date Posted: 13 March 2009 at 9:17pm
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thanks, Ill check out that babycentre site ------------- http://lilypie.com">
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Posted By: busyissy
Date Posted: 14 March 2009 at 12:06pm
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Hmmm its going to be hard. I worked as a flight attendant for 3 years and from observation toddlerdom is definately the hardest age to fly with a child as they just can't sit for a long period of time. Just make sure that they don't move for take off and landing (even if they scream the plane out) and are safely seated during the services. Then you can walk them in the aisle (turbulence and services permitting) but you must be with them at all times. Take as many activities as you can. Make sure you have their favourite comfort thing and toys. Definately make sure they are sucking for descent and this actually starts 40 minutes before you are on the ground, so dummies, lollipops, drinking water (anything that gets them sollowing). Take a couple of capsules of karvol or euclyptus sachets too and wave them under their noses to help clear out their little sinuses.
Most of all just do what you need to to keep them as happy and settled as you can. Don't worry about the other passengers but do listen to your flight attendants 
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Posted By: LadyLizard
Date Posted: 14 March 2009 at 6:54pm
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Well some people may not agree with this, but my best friend lives in London and she has brought her 3 yr old to NZ three times in his short life, one of those times was without her husband.
She swears by phenergan which is a toddlers antihistamine which makes them drowsy. its perfectly safe if used as directed. Obviously she doesn't give it to him for the whole trip and only gives the recommended dose, but she said it makes life ALOT easier. She was given the tip by another mum who travels long haul alot. You could perhaps see your doctor regarding this for advice, but I am a health professional myself and can't see anything wrong with it as long as you follow the directions on the packet. Flying long haul is stressful enough as it is, and if you are the couple with the noisy toddler on a 12+ hr flight, you may not make many friends. (Sorry! Its just that I have flown between the UK and NZ so many times, and kids that run riot really don't make an already unpleasant journey any better. I am dreading having to do it myself when our little on comes along.) The problem with kids and other kinds of sedatives (eg sleeping pills etc) is they can actually have the reverse effect and make the children go nuts. ------------- http://www.alterna-tickers.com"> 
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Posted By: LadyLizard
Date Posted: 14 March 2009 at 6:55pm
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PS Alternatively you could get some sleeping tablets for yourself- you will certainly be very chilled out about anything that goes on during the flight!
Kidding kidding.  ------------- http://www.alterna-tickers.com">
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Posted By: Helen1
Date Posted: 14 March 2009 at 8:46pm
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Definitely Phenergan. I swear by it. Use it for the times when your son should be going to sleep. The medicine and the drone of the plane will help send him off to sleep.
Also try to ask at check in whether there are a any empty seats nearby. Possibly get the 5 middle ones allocated to your family so you have more space. By lying down for the sleep your son will get a better sleep and you will get more time with a quiet child. He might be interested in the movies or you could get a portable DVD player with a couple of his favourite movies. Definitely sucky things for take off and landing. Also let him run around the airport departure lounge as much as possible before you board. I would almost suggest getting on last even though they say that families with young children can board first and get settled. Maybe one of you can get on and get the "stuff" stowed away and the things you need ready and then the other one can board last with your son . Good luck and try to enjoy your trip. ------------- http://lilypie.com"> 
http://lilypie.com"> 
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Posted By: busyissy
Date Posted: 15 March 2009 at 12:02pm
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The only thing about phenegren is that some children have an reverse reaction to it and instead of getting a calm and sleepy toddler you might have a toddler that is wide awake and has frantic energy for the whole 11+ hours. We had a child have a reverse reaction to phenegren on a flight and it was an absolute nightmare.
Plus, it just doesn't make good sense to drug yourself or children when flying, what if there was an emergency? Not that they happen very often but if it does you want all your faculties about you especially when you are caring for young ones too. Even if you just hit some major turbulence you need to be awake and aware for it. |
Posted By: thunderwolves
Date Posted: 15 March 2009 at 12:11pm
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If you are considering using phernergan I would suggest trialing it before the flight. Ethan is one of the children who has the reverse reaction. I was prescribed it when he had chicken pox to use a dose at night so he could sleep, WELL he was awake for about 7 hours literally running up and down the hallway. If it worked I would use it on a long haul flight though. ------------- http://alterna-tickers.com"> 
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Posted By: LadyLizard
Date Posted: 15 March 2009 at 1:53pm
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Trialling it is a great idea.
I definitely wouldn't advocate using meds on yourself- that was a joke! But knowing how AWFUL that long haul flight can be, I would def try something for the kids- small kids don't need to be alert during flights at all. ------------- http://www.alterna-tickers.com">
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Posted By: Aquarius
Date Posted: 16 March 2009 at 12:44pm
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get good seats...and buy things they havent seen before (toys books lots of things to bribe!!)
we survived a trip to japan with 18mth old, very sucessful so it can work out ------------- http://www.magicalkingdoms.com/timers/"> 
mum to mr 16 & mr 10 |
Posted By: JD
Date Posted: 16 March 2009 at 3:25pm
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thanks heaps for your advise...
Its good to hear what a flight attendant has to say about it and I am definately looking into the option of sedating him a bit for his sleeping times. We will most certainly be trying it out before hand as I have also heard of the reverse reaction thing. I am expecially nervous as we are travelling with one of the asian carriers and they typically have young attendants who I imagine have no experience with children. I just hope they are understanding. anything else anyone can think of will be great :o) I have heard that chamimile (sp?) tea might help to chill him out, so I am going to try that out before we go also ------------- http://lilypie.com">
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Posted By: tishy
Date Posted: 16 March 2009 at 3:51pm
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We flew to Ireland at Xmas with 11month old twins. They weren't walking at that stage but could walk holding our hands so spent a lot of time doing that.
On the way over we flew direct and on the way back we had a stopover in Vancouver. Bring lots of snacks for them to nibble on. What airlines are you flying with? One of our legs were with Lufthansa and we got no meals for the girls even though we had requested. We had taken jars and cereal with us so were ok. We found the other passengers to be very tolerant with the girls and a lot of time was spent playing peekaboo with those sitting behind us 
Also there were at lot of 'clucky' passengers who were just itching for the chance to get a cuddle or interact with them
Books were great too and easy to pack. Other than that we had minimal toys packed for carry on. We had them dressed in stretch n grows for the entire journey too. We were able to take our buggy to the gate at each leg too which was a saviour. If you have any other questions feel free to ask. ETA: We didn't use Phenergan. I packed Pamol just in case but didn't even use that at any stage! |
Posted By: JD
Date Posted: 16 March 2009 at 9:52pm
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You say you had minimal toys packed tishy...did you find you had enough? or could you have done with some more? ------------- http://lilypie.com">
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Posted By: tishy
Date Posted: 17 March 2009 at 8:16am
| I found we had enough. I had some toys that clipped on to the nappy bag and not much else. They were more interested in playing with things like the seat belts and taking it all in than to be playing with their toys. |
Posted By: .Mel
Date Posted: 17 March 2009 at 11:44am
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You shouldn't use Phenergan for children under 2 years old. See if your doctor will prescribe Histafen instead.
Things that I found that helped were, not buckling them in until we left the gate, that way they don't get wound up and uncontrollable by the time you're on the move. Have turns holding baby too, makes it so much easier on all of you. Definitely take them for walks up and down the plane, once you're given the all clear. I found taking Nyah to the back of the plane helped alot, the Flight Attendants basically took her away from us for awhile. Enjoy your flight :) ------------- Mr Mellow (16) Miss Attitude (8) Destructa Kid (3) 
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Posted By: tishy
Date Posted: 17 March 2009 at 3:42pm
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Also for the taking off and landing it was drinking water that helped more than the girls dummies.
Aoife loved looking out the window too. The most important thing is try not to be too stressed about it as it's amazing what kids can pick up on. We just accepted that we were in for a long trip and would just try to take whatever happened in our stride. On our flight from Frankfurt - Vancouver both girls had colds, Eimear was teething and we'd been up since 2am the night before. But we survived, lol! |
Posted By: LadyLizard
Date Posted: 17 March 2009 at 3:57pm
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JD, what airline are you flying with?
If its Korean Air, take your own food (and wine if you need it) because theirs is  and they are very very very stingy with wine. I had one inch in a marmite jar- glass for the whole flight.
They are also shockers for all getting up and getting their bags out before the plane has stopped- we had barely touched down before people were getting up and barging their way to the front to get off the plane first. I was standing in the aisle with my bag waiting for th doors to open and a lady pushed past everyone all the way to the front! (I dont think she realised that she had no control over when her bag was going to come off the carousel) ------------- http://www.alterna-tickers.com">
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Posted By: JD
Date Posted: 17 March 2009 at 10:32pm
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Yikes Korean Air sound awful.
We are flying with Malaysian Airlines ------------- http://lilypie.com">
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Posted By: LadyLizard
Date Posted: 18 March 2009 at 1:54pm
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malaysian are good. In fact when I flew with them they upgraded me to business class despite the fact that I was looking rather scruffy and travel-worn. The food was excellent and the staff were great.
Good choice!! My other top choice would be emirates. Korean Air were cheap and very nasty. Never again. ------------- http://www.alterna-tickers.com">
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Posted By: JD
Date Posted: 18 March 2009 at 2:37pm
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Oooh an upgrade would be purfect :-) I think we will have the slimmest chance on the whole plance though...since we will have an active toddler! There is always hope though hehe ------------- http://lilypie.com">
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Posted By: tishy
Date Posted: 18 March 2009 at 3:57pm
haha! Maybe you'll get upgraded while DH stays in Economy with DS 
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Posted By: binki
Date Posted: 19 March 2009 at 9:57am
| Not sure what age your little one is but we have two boys 6 and 3 and have flown regularly with them to Australia, FIji, those kind of distances since the youngest was two. We have found sticker books invaluable! Also Crayola make a pack that has an invisible ink colouring book that is pretty cool and you only need one pen because the colours change on the paper so no lost lids etc. Hope you get a seat with inflight entertainment, good luck! |