I have had opportunity to fly to several countries throughout the world with my two little ones.

Flying with babies and toddlers can be quite daunting, but here are a few helpful hints that helped make our trips a little easier.


1. Allow your baby to nurse or drink from their bottle during lift off and landing.
A dummy (pacifier in the US) also works to help equalise their ears during the pressure changes.
I even allowed my 5 year old to suck a dummy when we last flew as she suffers with her ears during the flights. It made quite a difference to her take offs and landings.
Chewing gum also works for older children.

2. Pre-arrange children's meals with the airline.
I have found that the adult food can be quite spicy and my children would not be able to eat the meals.

3. Take plenty of healthy snacks for the trip.
Try and stay away from sweets and sugary foods as this can result in irritable children.

4. Take a bag with small toys, colouring books and special surprises for the children when they start becoming a little miserable.

5. Take an empty drinking bottle that you can pour their drinks into, as they are usually offered in those little cups - guaranteed to be poured all over Mama!
Try and get the kids to drink mostly water as flying tends to dehydrate one's body.

6. Take an extra pair of clothing on board, for your children and maybe even for yourself.
Having been thrown up over, I would love to have been able to have changed my clothes.

7. Take lots of wet wipes.
Great for cleaning your kids, yourself, the seats - you get the picture!

They can also keep a toddler occupied for a few minutes by allowing him/her to clean.

8. Take along children's paracetamol or Neuraphen for pain & fever.
On the one trip my daughter started with a high fever, fortunately I had meds for her.
Anything can happen on a plane trip!

9. Pray, and get all your friends to pray for you and your children :-)
Pray that God will keep you calm and happy, and that He will keep your children calm and happy.

Hope this helps, above all else try and enjoy the trip. Children pick up on our stress, if we are happy, our children tend to be happy as well!







Editor's Note: You may also be interested in this article for more travel tips: Ideas for Road Trips - Making Long Car Rides More Fun with Small Children