Tackling a long-haul flight with little ones
WHATEVER the mode of transport, travelling with children is often no picnic. The long-haul flight (five hours or more) offers up a special brand of hell, a smorgasbord of meltdowns, impromptu maladies and indiscriminate peevishness. I don’t blame them. Being caged like the class gerbil for hours can be tedious. They can’t seem to help upchucking on you and whining. A carefully plotted parental playbook can help.
As a parent and travel writer who has crisscrossed the globe with her children for nearly a decade, I can confirm that keeping the whining at bay is just one part of the defensive strategy. Protecting your family against germs – we’ve had too many flight-induced illnesses to count – and preparing for multiple meals and snacks, not to mention all of the gear that must be schlepped, make up the offence. By anticipating the wild-card scenarios that can unfold at 32,000 feet, parents can exert some control over a topsy-turvy situation.
Food and drink
It’s a mistake to assume that your flight will provide meals and snacks, even an international one. Preparing for the lowest rung of service means that lacklustre offerings will have less of an impact on your family’s well-being. So, plot your nourishment carefully.
Put child-size servings in convenient flip-top snack cups like Oxo Tot or Skip Hop. For older children and adults, bring two meals – well-wrapped sandwiches or entrees in Tupperware. Have a cache of easyto-transport snacks (granola bars, nuts and dried fruit, single serving chips, squeezable apple sauce, grapes, carrots and cheese sticks). Put all of these items inside a gallon-size zip- lock bag to stay organised and contain spillage.
Remember that juice and milk cannot be brought through security (and may not be available on board). Buy them once you have passed through the Transportation Security Administration’s checkpoint and pour contents into sippy cups and bottles before boarding the flight. Make sure to account for flight delays with sustenance.
Entertainment
Expecting your child to sleep for the majority of a long-haul flight? That may happen. But woe to the parents whose master plan for a 10-hour flight features one colouring book. Nourishment aside, keeping children occupied should be a priority. Of course, the iPad is an opiate for kids of all ages. So don’t offer it up until you really need it. For little ones, kick off the trip with interactive entertainment: reusable sticker books, Kid O Glow in the Dark Magnatab (children “draw” with a stylus over magnetic beads to create images) and mess-free activity sets like Crayola Color Wonder and Melissa and Doug Water Wow! Reveal Pads.
Another resource for 5- to 7-year-olds? Leapfrog’s Leapstart, a tablet-like learning system that presents STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) skills as interactive games. Many tweens are into crafts. Consider do-it-yourself jewellery and art-making kits from Rainbow Loom and Alex Toys or a model building kit. Magic show kits as well as Perplexors and Extreme Dot to Dot activity books will engage children for a spell. The whole family can giggle through a few rounds of Would You Rather or play Scrabble. Don’t overlook the oldies, a great book for starters. The Rubik’s Cube and a deck of playing cards are also classic attention grabbers.
When the kvetching starts, it’s time for the iPad. Be sure to download movies and games before the flight along with a few surprise apps to encourage good behaviour. Audiobooks are another way to while away the time. Even if earbuds are distributed on your flights, the standard size may be too big for children and fall out. Pure Sound Labs makes some with studio-grade volume monitoring for children. Bring a jack splitter so you can watch or listen along with your child.
In-transit pharmacy
It is good idea to travel with a lightweight pouch stocked with products to address ear pressure, cuts, allergies, mystery rashes, headaches and upset stomachs (nothing over 3 ounces, per TSA rules). Here’s what you need: fever reducer, children’s antihistamine like Benadryl, cortisone cream to soothe rashes and itching, a children’s antacid, triple antibiotic ointment, eye drops, bandages and earplugs that offer child-specific sizes like Mack’s silicone earplugs to alleviate cabin pressure. Also, always bring prescription medications for yourself and the children in your carry-on in case your luggage is lost.
Bribery material
Stockpile a few items that your child covets (and usually cannot have) and use them as high-altitude bargaining chips. The ability to reach into your bag and produce a tantrumbusting object – a small toy, a colouring book with fruitscented pencils, stickers, a new app or movie that you had conveniently downloaded on your phone, a homemade IOU coupon for a visit to Dave & Buster’s – is a powerful weapon. Often better than a toy are forbidden foods. Doughnuts, chocolate and whatever treats you routinely ban from the cupboard can miraculously defuse an escalating situation.