Ive flown 3 times with Chloe when she was 3, 6 and 7 and Tobias at 4 months and 1 year old so im an old hand at this now haha! Here ive written a few tips to anyone flying with kids that helped me:

Some airlines are different

to others so when flying with kids make sure you know what services each offer and make sure they have what you need based on how far you are going, the ages of your child/children and what you think you will struggle with.

Turn up early:

Rushing is no fun for anyone and will just make you and the kids more stressed and freaked out. Turn up at the earliest book in time, go through the gates and sit down and have a coffee and something to eat with the kids in an airport café. Relax!: Freaking yourself out about flying isn’t going to make anything better or easier and will probably upset the kids too, they will wonder what’s up! Babies respond badly to stressed mums they can sense it! Treat this as any other trip, your kids have been in cars or buses before and this is no different it’s FUN!

Prepare ahead of time:

Make sure you make a checklist of everything you need and have everything ready the night before. Pack your carry on luggage so you have everything for the kids or babies that you need easy accessible, make sure you have one really small bag that you can put at your feet if you are taking a lot of stuff on the flight, because you have to stow it overhead and wont be able to get to it, keep all the things you need on the flight in a SMALL bag that way you can keep it with you. i used a sling to carry tobias because i found it a pain to carry him and the bags and do tickets and things the first time i flew, the sling kept me virtually handsfree and made it alot easier to get around the airport.

Make flying fun:

Airports are pretty fun places to be! Some have pinball machines or car racing games that you can play with and ALL have planes that you can watch! This time round I bought a couple of toy airplanes from a shop and a couple of touch and feel books about planes. I took the kids to watch the planes and acted really excited every time a plane came past pointing so they became really excited about it too, by the time we went on the plane there was no fear at all it was exciting! You don’t have to buy these at the shop there you can get them cheaper elsewhere but don’t let the kids see them till they are there, this way they are more interested and less likely to get bored. I spy games are also heaps of fun in airports!

Take off:

When you take off be prepared! Pack some chewy lollies for older kids and toddlers (you can buy natural lollies from health shops) and use bottle or breast for babies to suck on when you take off this way their ears are less likely to pop which is horribly painful and will most certainly make the flight a lot harder! Point out the window and talk to the kids about what is going on in an excited way and keep their attention on it being a fun thing, if you find your child anxious now is a good time to pull out a book they have never seen before to read to them or sing a song.

Long flights:

Long flights mean that your child (and you) will have to sit down for a long period of time so make sure you have plenty of travel games, colouring in books and crayons and books for all of you, travel games are pretty small so easy to fit in a carry on bag. Don’t let the kids have them all at once because they will just become bored quicker. Some flights don’t offer entertainment (like tv and music) and some have austar that you can buy for about $5 a flight, keep your credit card handy on flights because food and tv are purchased with cards inflight mostly now, some you can use cash so in that case make sure you have small bills ($10-$5) incase the kids get hungry or want to watch kids shows.

Seating:

Make sure you have window seats when flying so the kids can look out. Most airlines will make sure that people with babies and kids are at the back of the plane close to the loos, but check anyway because a couple of times they haven’t with me and it’s a right pain for nappy changes or crying babies to have to shuffle all the way up to aisle inflight, not to mention leaving the other kids where you cant see them!

If anything goes wrong ask the flight staff for help or suggestions! They’ve seen it a million times before and often have great ideas or can help in some way. If your baby is crying and you are already in the air you CAN use the staff area to calm them down in most flights.

List of things to pack

• Books, toys, mp3 player, colouring books and any other entertainment you think you will need.
• Bottles, dummies (pack two! If you loose one under your seat it’s a pain to find it!) lol
• Lollies for take off
• Nappies, wipes and nappy bags
• Panadol in case ears do pop! Ouch!
• Drinks and a snack (you cant make food and bring it, but you can buy at the airport and take on the flight), sandwiches are good or packets of chippies and those lil cheese snack packs.
• carrier or sling for babies
• credit card or small bills

Above all enjoy it! It will seem like more of a drama in your head most likely than anything that will actually happen and its only a day out of many! Hope this helps someone!