I need tips for flying with young boys

[Guest dibdobs]

Do you have any advise on how we can stay calm during the flight to OZ. My 3 boys are under 6 1/2 and they have never been in an aeroplane.

 

I have bought some big comfy ear phones so they can watch tv for hours.

 

Sugar free lollies to suck during take off so that they can pop their ears but not get a sugar rush.

 

2x Nintendo ds , (i will try anything)

 

Any pearls of wisdom for me ?

 

Thanks Deb

[sue2oz]

hi debs me doing the same as you nintendo's psp's and that lots of sweets etc

am also taking a good old bottle of mediced to knock them out:biglaugh::biglaugh:

we are not to bad we fly out 10pm so thats a good thing

what times your flight?

 

suexxx

[Irish Kelie]

Hi Deb, me also, 3 kids under 6 and youngest 5 mths.

 

We are like like Sue in that we fly at 10.30, hopefully then the kids are exhausted and sleep good part of the flight!! But great idea, on the bottle of medicine Sue to ENSURE they sleep!!!

 

I am bringing portable dvd player so boy of 6 can watch all his familiar DVDs turtles, power rangers etc,,, They always put him to sleep here so fingers crossed....

 

Any more tips Sue, share them with us....

[Guest katsmajic]

I packed tons of stuff for my 5yr old - then 4, waste of time - he was totally occupied with the onflight entertainment, movies/games, the eating, being allowed to ask the stewardesses for food for himself, sleeping etc.

 

Took the kids sweets for the take off/landing, had calpol in case they were ill but all was fine - remember it has to be sachets of calpol as you can only have 100ml bottles of liquid.

[Guest TC for short]

"Topsy & Tim go on an Aeroplane" (Ladybird, I think) is a good book to help them get their heads around the idea of flying.

 

We took a small bag of Lego for them to play with.

 

TOP TIP - check in as early as possible (you may need to do it on-line) & get two blocks of two seats, one behind the other, against the window, and put the kids in the window seats. That way you're each looking after one child and they're separate enough that they can't upset/annoy each other but can still talk around the corner of the seat. They can look out of the window and they can't upset any other passengers.

Don't forget that in flight (ie not at take-off or landing) you can push up the armrest between you. It gives a little more room & removes the risk of bumping little heads.

 

At your transit point keep the kids awake & going to tire them out for the next leg. If you're routeing via Singapore they do a great range of FREE tours from the airport. We planned for a 12-hr layover & took the first tour around Singapore city & on the motorboat, then back at the airport took a bus into the city for a few hours. It was very tiring for the adults but a great distraction for the kids who were 7 3/4 & 4 3/4 at the time.

 

Phenergan is a great knock-out medicine but you have to give enough early enough for it to work. On the first leg we left it a bit late - the kids were already getting manic & managed to overide the sedative effects. Be careful not to overdose though - I know of a Consultant Anaesthetist who gave himself the fright of his life with his kids!!!

 

Although flight-deck visits are banned during flight, if you speak nicely to the crew they may well let the kids have a look around as you disembark. Can be a good bribe!

 

I'd advise taking lots of photos/videos - you'll only do this trip once!

[Guest Mezza]

One word - phenergan

Seriously, you sound like you've covered most of the bases with lollies, hand held games etc.

[Guest dibdobs]

Ok where do i get phenergan from ?

[Guest TC for short]

Any pharmacist. You can get it over the counter but it does need authorisation from a pharmacist (like a lot of that sort of thing).

[Guest dempseys]

hi deb,

 

i did the flight with my 22 month old son 2 wks ago and to be honest i think us parents worry and stress about what could possibly happen too much, i was dreading the flight thinkin my son would a nightmare so i packed piriton and medised and of course a bag full of food, well i needn't have bothered he was an angel (night flight helped alot, he slept a bulk of the flight) then he was given a box containing goodies, colouring book and crayons and he had bob the builder on the tv, so to be honest dont worry im sure they'll be fine they will see it as an adventure and itll all be new and exciting for them, so kick back and have a few wines and enjoy the flight.

 

good luck

 

macky x

[Anne B]

Obviously everyone has had different experiences.

Kids will get cranky if they are hungry or tired.

 

They may sleep or they may not. On our last flight my 5 year old slept really well but my 8 year old couldn't sleep at all. He just wanted to play the computer games on the plane, which did a good job of keeping him occupied but he gets a bit wound up with them. We would tell him to stop and try and sleep, then try to sleep ourselves, and then when I peeked to look what he was doing he had sneaked back on the computer games again. Being part of the plane you can't take them away!!

 

Having done the round trip 3 times with kids in tow we much prefer day time flights over night flights as at least we are not tired. Every time I fly I find it harder to sleep on planes. Going to Adelaide direct last time I got only half an hour sleep on both flights, so thats 1 hour's sleep in over 36 hours, considering I had been up since 7am the morning and we flew out of Heathrow at 10 pm.!!! Coming in to land at Adelaide I felt absolutely awful and just wanted to curl up in a ball and hide !!!!

 

I tried Piriton once on my son when he was younger and after the flight his face swelled up like a ball. It may not have been the medication but I haven't touched it since.

 

It's a good tip to get 2 rows with 2 seats behind each other (as suggested by TC for Short). But that's no good on a 747 where there are 3 seats next to the window. If there's only 4 of you you will end up with a stranger sitting next to you in the aisle seat, who of course you have to ask to get up every time you want to go to the loo.

 

To stop them getting hungry take some food of your own along (cereal bars or crackers or cheese). The airlines give you plenty of food but you never know when you are going to get fed and can't be sure that the kids will eat the airline food. Once we boarded the plane and then it was delayed and we were sitting on the tarmac for over half an hour and my son (then 18 months) started crying. Then I realised the poor kid was hungry, you forget what the time is when you are travelling. Also watch in case the kids get chocolate bars as part of their kids meal on the plane. Mine just wanted to eat the chocolate and not the healthy stuff.

 

Just remember if the kids do play up don't be too hard on them. It's a long flight and you can't blame them if they don't enjoy it. And you're probably never going to see any of the other passengers again. They may surprise you and be little angels. My 2 were perfectly behaved when we went to Majorca this year (a doddle after Australia) and even ate all their food!!!

 

Good Luck !!!

[Guest TC for short]

But that's no good on a 747 where there are 3 seats next to the window. If there's only 4 of you you will end up with a stranger sitting next to you in the aisle seat, who of course you have to ask to get up every time you want to go to the loo.

 

 

Anne has a point, however it can also work FOR you in that most pax, particularly in economy, are travelling at least in couples and often more. thus the last seats to be booked are likely to be those where there is only one seat available - ie, next to you. This means that if there are any empty seats on the a/c they are likely to be the ones you will benefit from most.

 

TC