When it comes to booking a holiday, I am the sort of person who just clicks the 'Book Now', button and then worries about where it actually is and how to get there afterwards. It's also what I have been known to do with pretty much everything else in my life. Buying a house, buying a dog, a car, a trampoline and a two story playhouse in the garden. Just a few of the small surprises my darling husband has returned to over the years of our very much 'equal', marriage.
Unlike some rather organised Parents, who search within a certain flight duration, or only to family friendly resorts, I, see all in for under a grand and book it. Booked it, Packed it, F****d off! Its only later when I ask my husband where outer Mongolia actually is that I realise we have a 3 day flight!
From our eldest daughter being 7 months old we have holidayed abroad at some point in the year. One of our favourite destinations is flying to Dalaman in Turkey. We absolute love the Olu Deniz resort and its surrounding area and have travelled there many times over the years. We're going again this year, so I will be sure to add a blog review for that. We've flown to Kos, Greece and bitten the bullet flying two young children to Florida, long but definitely worth it.
With that in mind, I have decided to compile a list of our tried and tested Top Tips for travelling on a plane with children. Some worked well, some not so well but have a read and see if there's anything that might work for you.
Top Tips for flying with children
Firstly, have no expectations. 🌞
We put a lot of pressure on ourselves to have the most perfect, silent, well behaved children on the Plane. It isn't going to happen. At some point one, or all, of your children will probably cry, have an argument, refuse the meal that looks like cat food or get 'told off', for asking for the loo for the 5th time. Children are children, be it on a plane, on a bus, in a car or rolling down the hill on a flippin bucket. Whether they care to remember it or not, every adult on that plane was a child at some point and therefore they will have 'been there'. There is, of course, an exception to this rule with the perfect citizens of society who sit there looking like they're sucking on a rotten lemon because you're child's iPad has just accidentally blared out the theme tune to Peppa Pig on full blast. Tough shit. If they wanted a luxury flight, sat in silence with only they're own dire company, they should have 1. Booked on a more reputable airline than Thomas Cook and 2. Dipped into their moth eaten wallets and paid for a seat in 1st class. Rant over.
Purchase the meals. 🌞
Yes. I know they are absolutely pants and whether you have roast beef or chicken tikka it all tastes the same, BUT, the whole process of receiving said meal provides you with about 30 minutes of child entertainment, which has to be worth it. The ones we've had on more recent trips have been reasonably nice too, breakfast is usually our favourite.
iPads/Tablets - Don't forget you're headphones! 🌞
Love them or hate them, they are definitely an asset to your journey with a small person. Its worth bearing in mind though, that there will be no Internet connection on the plane so all games, programs and films will need to be pre loaded onto the device. If you have Sky I highly recommend using the Sky kids or Sky go app which is free with your existing contract. If you don't have Sky, you can also pre download movies and TV shows on Netflix, Disney Life, Amazon Prime and many more. I know that Netflix have a 1 month free trial that you could sign up for and then cancel after the first month and it won't have cost you a penny. I have included a link below to some of the free subscriptions I have found currently on offer.
Make a goody bag 🌞
I always make my children a goody bag of things they haven't seen before. Don't let them see it before the time you give it to them so even the type of bag they get is a total surprise. I start by purchasing a cheap bag, usually with a character on, or something that they're into at the time and fill it with goodies. Something to colour, new pens/pencils, stickers a book to read. A Poundland haul can usually do the trick and keep them occupied for a while. They can use their bag for their beach or pool stuff when you get to your destination too. Watch out for my upcoming you tube video with details of what's in my children's goody bags this year.