If you have never flown with a baby or a child before, it can be a very daunting prospect.

Maybe you are pregnant, and looking for reassurance and advice on how to keep travelling once the baby arrives?

Maybe you are a mother who mastered travelling with a baby,  but now you have a toddler, and are wondering how to negotiate a whirlwind 2 year old on a plane.

Maybe you are going long haul for the first time and need some practical tips on how to manage a long flight with babies and kids of any age!

I have been all these mothers, and I’m here to share with you what I’ve learnt.

Flying with a baby can seem scary, but honestly, just do it. It isn’t that bad, and if you are prepared, you can minimise any problems, and even have an enjoyable journey. Honest!

If being a parent has taught me one thing, it’s that every child is unique, and therefore, so is every parenting journey. The same is true of flying and travel with kids, and what works for one is not guaranteed to work for another!

In fact, that very idea is what inspired me to write this post. So much of what I have read online just didn’t work for me; my kids and I were different! All I can do is share what has worked for me, in the hope it is helpful and works for you too.

Flying with a baby

Babies are as unpredictable in the air as they are on the ground! We have had lots of calm, easy flights with our babies, and some rather tricky ones!  The good news is they can do everything they love the most in the world just as easily on a flight as at home; drink milk, snuggle and nap. It’s never as bad as you think it will be and the end destination will be so worth it.  So book that flight, taking heed of our top tips below.

1. Don’t fly at night

Every travel blog I read advised flying at night. The baby will stick to their same routine from home. The quiet, dimmed lights will help the baby stay calm. You will have less time to try and entertain your baby during waking hours. Well, not for us! 

Our baby would not settle, he was overtired, cranky, and screaming. And it was the middle of the night, and it was hard.bloody.work. and excruciatingly embarrassing. A crying baby is never relaxing for anyone in the vicinity, but this experience was amplified by it being night time, quiet, and everyone else was trying to get to sleep.

Therefore, our top tip for flying with a baby is to fly in the day, avoiding red eye flights and if possible arrange a stopover ( see tip 2). If your baby is cranky, or won’t sleep in the new environment, at least everyone else is awake as its day time and they won’t mind the crying as much. 

You won’t be as sleep deprived (hopefully) being able to have had some rest the night before flying ( again, hopefully), rather than spending all day getting ready and travelling to the airport only to be up all night on a flight with a potentialy fussy and crying baby. This means you will be able to handle the situation better. When we have flown in the day, the cabin crew have wanted a cuddle, other passengers were chatty and sympathetic if he cried, and there was always lots going on that seemed to keep the little one entertained. We have had some lovely flights with our son as baby in the day time.

If you are confident that your baby will sleep well and be able to stick to the same routine as at home then I agree a night flight would probably work best, but for those of us with babies that aren’t good sleepers at the best of times, we have really found that day flights are the way to go.

2. Have a stopover

On  previous flights to Asia and Australia, I have been reluctant to have a stopover, instead preferring to get it over with ASAP. However. Experience has taught me that there is nothing worse than surviving a 10+ hours flight, only to have to take your tired cranky baby, your tired cranky husband, and your tired cranky self, straight back on to another flight!

Having a stopover will give everybody a chance to lie down, hopefully sleep, or nap, and take the edge off the tiredness. You can have a proper shower, a proper bed, a proper meal and maybe even a swim!

It could be a quick one night recharge or a three night+ mini holiday on the way.

Our stopover was so good, and it gave us the energy we needed to push through the final flight. It also helped with jet lag as it was a more gradual change of timezones. I will never fly long haul without a stopover again!

3.Be prepared.

Get everything you think you will need, then take more. More nappies, more baby snacks, more milk ( if bottle feeding). Lots of wipes, nappy sacks, hand sanitiser. Lots of changes of clothes and muslins. You don’t want to be caught short up there! Get lots of cheap little new toys, and pull one out every time you need to distract the baby.  We try to follow the babies routine when possible with feeding and naps, but also go with flow if nap time is just not happening or he is extra hungry etc.

4. Book an aisle seat

You don’t want the window seat when flying with a baby.  If you are travelling with a partner or other kids, you could swap it around, though, if you like the window!  You are likely to be up and down a lot, changing nappies, or walking and rocking the baby up and down the aisle. It’s best to be able to get out of your seat quickly if you need to and you don’t want to be penned in by another passenger or if they take a nap, having to wake them up to get out each time.

If you are able to, book the bulk head seat with a bassinet (depending on the age and size of your baby). It has extra space at the front of the plane, and you can lay the baby down in the bassinet to give your arms a rest. Most airlines we have flown with have offered this to families with infants free of charge.

5. Feed the baby at take off and landing

This is a well-known tip, but it really did work for us. Feeding the baby during take-off and landing helps the ear discomfort and pressure as the swallowing motion allows the ears to pop.

6. Have a thick skin

This one was hard for me as I am a people pleaser by nature and really hate people being annoyed with me!

When we get on planes with our babies and toddlers, we could see the eye rolls and the “oh no’s” being muttered from the other passengers! Some people give out sweets and ear plugs to the other passengers in the vicinity, but we never bothered with any of that. If the little ones were crying and noisy, we would apologise on their behalf for the disturbance, but honestly, babies and kids are a part of life, yes they can be annoying but they are a part of society that people need to be tolerant of. It’s not like the babies or parents are doing it on purpose. You have just as much right to fly as anyone else, so try to have a thick skin if you encounter any negative nellies. We have had a few moany people, but I have to say, the majority are kind, supportive and if anything, feel sorry for us if the baby is kicking off!

Flying with a toddler or pre- schooler

In my opinion, this is the hardest age to fly with, as they have no understanding of the rules, a limited attention span, strong opinions and they are very mobile!

There are things you can do to try and make a long haul flight more manageable with kids of this age: to be honest for us, it always boiled down to a couple of things…

All the snacks

Take all the snacks you can possibly fit in your hand luggage, and have them ready in little packs. This can be a great distraction when a meltdown is imminent, or you just need to get them back in their seat. Have a good variety of snacks with some special stuff they don’t normally have, that can be pulled out to save the day. My boys were always fussy with the aeroplane meals too, so to avoid them getting hangry, we always brought a whole bag full of food.

Some good snacks to start with can be stuff like breadsticks, fresh fruit slices, dried fruits, rice cakes, flapjacks, pitta brads or wraps, and soreen bars etc.

It’s always a hard balance of sweets/ treats to get them to cooperate and then having to deal with the sugar rush and inevitable crash- it’s a fine line to walk, but to be honest we ended up letting them have alllll the sugar/ sweets to bribe them in to cooperation, and then dealt with the consequences afterwards – I will let you be the judge of whether that is a wise move or not!

P.s. don’t forget plenty of wipes as you know they will create a massive mess with the snacks!

Get an aisle seat

When the searbelt sign is off, those toddlers are gonna want to walk. You will probably spend a lot of time walking up and down the aisle if your kids are anything like ours, and it’s a much more pain-free experience if you can just get out as and when, rather than sitting in the window seat and  having to ask someone to get up a zillion times!

Get an inflatable foot rest

These were so great and really saved our bacon flying with the boys when they were toddlers!  These inflatable footrests allow the kids to stretch out and get a decent sleeping position on the plane. Before we had them, our kids would try and sleep sitting up, or on our laps, and wouldn’t settle, leading to grouchy, tired, tantrummy toddlers.

Yes, you have to get them to sit up when the seatbelt sign is on, etc, but we found our kids were so much more rested for having them, which made it easier on everyone all round.

Make sure you pick your seat wisely as there are restrictions on which seats they are allowed to be used on, also it’s a good idea to double check with your airline to make sure they are approved for use on your flight.

Bring the tablet

All my low.screen time ideals go out the window on a flight – anything goes if it will keep them occupied and quiet, and nothing works as well for this as the tablet! 

Stocked with old favorites, new games, videos, and songs to keep them entertained, a fully charged tablet is your friend on a long haul flight.

A bag of tricks

Have a bag of tricks up your sleeve! I always get some novel new toys, figet toys, figures, books, etc, and have them ready to dole out when needed. It’s the novelty value that makes this work, so make sure they haven’t seen what is in the bag of tricks before!

I avoid colouring on a flight after a disaster losing crayons that were chucked about everywhere, and I don’t bother with any toys that come with multiple small parts for the same reason.

A positive mental attitude

Sometimes, this is wayyyuu easier said than done; but if you can manage to snap out of your fruststion, bringing patience and a sense of humor on a flight with toddlers is like packing an extra bag of snacks—you’ll be glad you did!

Toddlers can be wild litte dictators with mood swings and tantrums popping up unexpectedly. Patience helps you stay calm and collected, reducing stress for everyone.

A good sense of humour turns potential frustrations into laughable moments, creating a fun and positive atmosphere, and in time a  good anecdote! 

Flights come with their own surprises, like delays or turbulence, and being adaptable makes everything smoother.

In our humble opinion, even if it’s a hard flight, the memories made will be worth it tenfold, so go for it and have a great trip with your little ones.

Flying with school-age kids

Our experience of flying with primary aged kids has honestly been delightful. They have been excited about the experience, enjoyed the novelty of eating and drinking in the air, take off and landing, and have generally been a joy.

This has been the easiest age to fly with our children by far. They can entertain themselves, listen to instructions, and be reasoned with.

Screen time

We tend to go with unlimited screen time for flights- anything to keep them entertained is fine by us as it is a one-off.  We do take activity books for the kids to do, but they normally choose to go onnthe tablet the whole way.

Snacktime

We let the kids have lots of treats- basically, whatever goes to keep them happy and chilled out. They probably end up having too much sugar, but it hasn’t seemed to affect their behaviour too much, so we don’t mind. It’s not very often, so whatever makes the flight the most fun for them, we let them do it.

Fly in the day

This is particular to our family, bit after a hard flight to Australia we realised our kids struggled to sleep on a chair in economy ( I know the feeling kid!) They were so great on the flight but we’re really.exhaustwd from lack of sleep due to not being able to get comfortable. So now we always opt for a day flight with a stop over if we are doing a long haul trip.

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Hi! I’m Lizzie, a mum of two living in the Cotswolds. Here on Travel Happy Family, I share all of our travels with you, where we’ve been, how we got there, and how much it cost!

If you are looking for ideas on where to travel with your kids, inspiration for new destinations, or just want to follow us on our journey, welcome, and I hope you find what we write helpful.

Happy travels! Xxx