Travelling With Kids - Part 2
Part 2 - The Journey
We've travelled across the world with three kids in tow a few times now. I always scour the Internet looking for advice to make the experience as pain-free as possible, so I thought it was time to add my two cents to the archives of the world!!!
Here's my tips on the actual journeying part, which, as it turns out, is much shorter than the getting-ready-for-journeying part! Read the first part here.
IN THE AIRPORT
A big part of your journey is going to be in airports! Might as well get comfortable.
Checking In. We generally try to get to the airport as early as possible, usually three hours. Now that you are travelling with kids your check-in isn't just a quick press of a button (especially if you have an infant or have bought your ticket with frequent flyer points.) You don't want to be rushed, trust me. You want to all be able to stay calm and not worry about getting anywhere too fast. Toddlers seem to have this miraculous ability to know when their parents are in a hurry, and choose that moment to bellyflop onto the floor and refuse to move, or pretend they only have one foot and must hop the whole way to the gate.
Once we check in we immediately store our tickets & all passports back into the special travel safe fanny pack waist belt thingy that either you or your parter is wearing - whichever one of you is the most organised. Trust one person with this job (note: this job never belongs to me.) Then, having gotten to the airport early, we have stress-free time to roam around the airport, exercise little legs, watch all the planes through the windows, have a bite to eat, and visit the bathroom again. And maybe even buy a new book for the kids from the shop! Oo - also, mentos make a great chewy treat for the kids to have to help pop their ears on the plane! Same chewiness as gum, but you don't have to worry about where to put the sticky piece when it's done with.
Bringing Baby Formula. Usually it's pretty easy to bring food, milk, or formula along for a baby. Just make sure you have everything you need organised together - I put this in a large freezer bag right at the top of our carry on - so I can pull it out and show them when we go through security. If your older baby is drinking regular cows milk you can find little boxes of long life milk, like juice boxes, that you can open and pour right into their bottle. Ask a flight attendant to heat it up, but I found that my babies were always happy enough with it at room temperature. One time security made us open one of the milk boxes and take a sip to prove it wasn't poison, so maybe mentally prepare yourself for that. But it's only happened to us once.
Entertaining kids in airports. Balloons! You just need a couple, but blowing a balloon up and letting it fly away has entertained every kid I've ever met. Giggling swirly, fun!!! And koosh balls are great too, perfect and soft for throwing, but they won't roll away under a strangers seat when they get dropped! Eye-spy is our go-to "quick, entertain the kids with something because they are on the brink of a meltdown" game, it's worked every time! I think now our kids are so used to this that they expect it when we're going through Customs. I also get other kids we pass back and forth in the long line to play with us. You can see the relief spelled out on a fellow parents' face when someone else can find a couple spare threads of patience to extend to their children. I also save one last baggie of popcorn for customs, too, and share it with other little kids once I've gotten the okay from their parents. Such a mean trick, making kids sit on a plane for so long then line up and stand still with hundreds of people in a massive hall waiting for customs! I wish they had a seperate line for families, and once or twice we have been pulled out of the line by one of the security agents and pushed to the front, but it isn't always the case, so best to be prepared for this to take a while!
ON THE FLIGHT
We've already covered a lot of my in-flight tips (iPad, shows, snacks, bassinets) but there are a few more lessons I learned the hard way so you don't have to!! (Yaaayyyyy!!!!)
Getting on the plane. In our pre-baby days Toff & I would wait to the very last second possible to get on the plane, figuring that we made our flight time that whole 10 minutes shorter. Now, we jump right on board when they offer parents with kids the chance to get on the plane first! One parent gets in the seats with the kids, the other one stows our carryons after first pulling out only the things we will use right away - 1 sticker book or colouring book for the kids, iPad if you have one, 2 nappies, 1 small baggie of wipes, & the kids blankies or lovey item. Everything else goes in the overhead bin - on our first flight we left so much stuff out, and it didn't take long before all of our stuff was a chaotic mess! Try to stay as organised as possible as the flight goes along, otherwise by the end you're all at least mildly sleep deprived and can easily lose necessary items (like shoes!)
Flight crew. If you have a mean flight attendant, speak up! Ask to speak to their supervisor immediately. Part of their job is making sure every passenger has a pleasant experience, and you don't need to put up with someone who is grouchy or unhelpful to you! We had a total witch of a flight attendant, who I'm sure was just trying to do her job, but she seemed like she just graduated from her training, so she was super strict and insisted we stay within the boundaries of each and every line or rule. She even went so far as to purposefully cross her arms when we were juggling two toddlers and trying to feed all of us when the fasten seat belt sign switched on. I was close to tears, this was our first flight and this person was seemingly going out of their way to make it difficult for us! I know in her eyes we were the unreasonable ones, but nonetheless - Toff spoke to her supervisor and we didn't see her the rest of the flight! Even someone who insists you follow the rules should still be courteous and kind to you. (And if you find a good one who is willing to give you something extra or who even shows you a bit more interest than anyone else by asking questions about your kids or getting down on their level to ask them a question - make sure you search him/her out if you need anything! As humans we click with certain people, and we're more likely to help them out if we have a shared history - even something minute as them telling your kids a joke!!)
The Cute Kid Phenomenon. I have one more tricky trick up my sleeve!! If there were ever a time to pull out the stops and make your kids shine like adorable little fluffy bunny rabbits - NOW'S THE TIME!! Dress them in cute clothes. If you have social kids get them to introduce themselves to your neighbours! On one occasion, Trip actually insisted on sitting in the next row over from us with total strangers - luckily one of the ladies was pregnant with her first baby and she enjoyed this small 'training' session our happy at-the-time 2 year old provided. Even get them to start a mini game of peek-a-boo over one of the seats - nearly irresistible to toddlers anyhow! Then reign your kid back in after a couple minutes. This accomplishes two things: 1. If your gorgeous little poppet has a moment (or moments) later on during the flight where they scream or get cranky a bit, all of your neighbours will be much more forgiving. Adults are more forgiving of kids when they've seen them being cute or interacting in a normal way. I think it just helps to remind them that kids are humans too. 2. By giving your kid some freedom then pulling them back again demonstrates to your neighbours that you are a competent parent who fully intends to control their gorgeous little sack of energy. It will put your neighbours at ease, and encourage them to be more forgiving if something goes awry later. 3. You will also figure out who around you might be interested or willing to help later! Pay attention to who seems interested. I've had strangers offer to help get my carryon bag down, and even hold my wriggly 18 month old so I could eat. Strangers can be wonderful people. And of course, if there is anyone grouchy around you, keep your head high!! You've paid to be on this flight too, and you will do whatever it takes to make this experience as pain free as possible - for you and your kids. Think of it from the kids eyes! They only have a fit because this is only new and exciting and scary and a BIG life event for them!
Getting off the plane. Organisation is your friend, friends!!!! About half an hour before we land we always start to get organised. Getting off a plane is so chaotic, getting everything put away so you have minimal things to carry will make your life so much easier! Collect all of the rubbish into a bag, put all toys away, put shoes back on feet, and make everyone go to the toilet one last time. Put a nappy/diaper and one more baggie of popcorn into the top of whatever bag will be easier to get to when you're standing in line in customs!! Make sure all of your passports are together, and that you've filled in whatever customs form the flight attendant has handed out - usually you only need to fill out one for the whole family if you all have the same last name. If you're kids are sleeping, try to keep them as comfy as possible, if they're awake talk them through what's going to happen when you land! "we have to wait for the captain to open the doors for us, then we get to walk down this long hallway and go find our bag! Then we get to go find a big bus to take us to our hotel - and guess what! There's a pool there, should we go for a swim?"
As I mentioned before, we don't bring seperate carry ons for the kids as we're not willing to face a melt down when we really need them to carry it and they just won't. If your kid does have a carryon, just make sure you can stuff it into your bag if needed!
Customs. I know you're just about at the very last dregs of your patience right now - but you have ALMOST MADE IT!!! Keep on that happy face for just a little longer. This process seems to take forever, and occasionally someone from security will come get any families with little kids and put them at the front of another line, but not always! Eye spy works well, and maybe even continue your conversation about what you're going to do once you get past this line! Don't be afraid to sing to your kids if that helps, too - I figure that kids who are NOT screaming is better for everyone there, and I'm willing to make a fool of myself to accomplish this! I do know that when you fly into the US your entire family can go through the US citizen line with you - whether or not all of them have a US passport! So that can save some time as this line is often shorter.
ADJUSTING TO JET LAG
I've gone through a few different theories on this, but now the one I'm sticking to is if you're tired, sleep. I used to recommend staying up until it was at least a semi-appropriate bedtime in your new location, but now I think just sleep! Whenever you want! At least for the first few days.
Don't obsessively check what time your body thinks it is. Set your watch to your new current time zone, forget that your phone has a world clock on it, and just dive in to your new time! This makes adjusting so much easier!! And to help kids adjust (and adults too, actually) make sure you get out in the fresh air as much as possible! This will help reset your body clock.
On our last trip to the states we thought the baby (who turned one while we were there) adjusted the best as she slept at all the right times. Then we noticed she didn't actually adjust - she just started fell into a four hour sleep cycle! She would nap for four hours during the day, go to bed at her usual time, then wake up four hours later ready to party! We didn't try too hard to stamp this out, as it meant that at 10:30 or 11pm every night she got one on one time with the whole family, and would entertain all of us as she practiced her walking - which actually turned into such a sweet time for all of us because during the day she had her siblings to fight for attention with! Cheeky little creature found a way to maximise her attention time!! Of course this did mean that she would wake up super early (like 5:30am) but someone (usually me!) would just get up with her and have another sweet session of one-on-one time, then just go take a nap together later in the day. When we got back to Australia we had to re-sleep train her, but that was okay as I had to do that with the other kids when they were the same age, regardless of any travel adjustments.
ACCOMMODATION
Now that you're travelling with young kids your hotel and the area it's in matter so much more than your cheapest-hotel-possible days! A hotel with a pool or a play space, or a good playground and coffee shop down the street will give you all time to stretch out and relax and will be refreshing for all of you.
Do your research ahead of time! Know how far it is to the local shops if you need to quickly buy more nappies or formula, know if you can get a taxi there, or if there's a bus. Know what time check in is! Most places will let you check in early if they have a room open. It might not be a bad idea to get to your hotel, put your pjs on, and have a whole family nap! Big kids seem to knock out pretty easily, if the baby slept on the plane they may wake up first, or be the least willing to sleep more. I've had many a middle-of-the-night hotel bathroom (luckily they're usually quite big!!) or hallway party with the baby while the rest of the family sleeps.
And finally.....
You did it!!! You made it!!! You're amazing. That wasn't so bad, was it?!? Chances are, the more you prepare, and the more you build this experience up to be something big and stressful in your head - it turns out not to be so bad, anyhow! And actually, as parents - 12 hours on a plane with three kids probably isn't even the worst night of sleep you've had!
Any other tips you've learned along the way?? I would love to hear them!
We've travelled across the world with three kids in tow a few times now. I always scour the Internet looking for advice to make the experience as pain-free as possible, so I thought it was time to add my two cents to the archives of the world!!!
Here's my tips on the actual journeying part, which, as it turns out, is much shorter than the getting-ready-for-journeying part! Read the first part here.
IN THE AIRPORT
A big part of your journey is going to be in airports! Might as well get comfortable.
Checking In. We generally try to get to the airport as early as possible, usually three hours. Now that you are travelling with kids your check-in isn't just a quick press of a button (especially if you have an infant or have bought your ticket with frequent flyer points.) You don't want to be rushed, trust me. You want to all be able to stay calm and not worry about getting anywhere too fast. Toddlers seem to have this miraculous ability to know when their parents are in a hurry, and choose that moment to bellyflop onto the floor and refuse to move, or pretend they only have one foot and must hop the whole way to the gate.
Once we check in we immediately store our tickets & all passports back into the special travel safe fanny pack waist belt thingy that either you or your parter is wearing - whichever one of you is the most organised. Trust one person with this job (note: this job never belongs to me.) Then, having gotten to the airport early, we have stress-free time to roam around the airport, exercise little legs, watch all the planes through the windows, have a bite to eat, and visit the bathroom again. And maybe even buy a new book for the kids from the shop! Oo - also, mentos make a great chewy treat for the kids to have to help pop their ears on the plane! Same chewiness as gum, but you don't have to worry about where to put the sticky piece when it's done with.
Bringing Baby Formula. Usually it's pretty easy to bring food, milk, or formula along for a baby. Just make sure you have everything you need organised together - I put this in a large freezer bag right at the top of our carry on - so I can pull it out and show them when we go through security. If your older baby is drinking regular cows milk you can find little boxes of long life milk, like juice boxes, that you can open and pour right into their bottle. Ask a flight attendant to heat it up, but I found that my babies were always happy enough with it at room temperature. One time security made us open one of the milk boxes and take a sip to prove it wasn't poison, so maybe mentally prepare yourself for that. But it's only happened to us once.
Entertaining kids in airports. Balloons! You just need a couple, but blowing a balloon up and letting it fly away has entertained every kid I've ever met. Giggling swirly, fun!!! And koosh balls are great too, perfect and soft for throwing, but they won't roll away under a strangers seat when they get dropped! Eye-spy is our go-to "quick, entertain the kids with something because they are on the brink of a meltdown" game, it's worked every time! I think now our kids are so used to this that they expect it when we're going through Customs. I also get other kids we pass back and forth in the long line to play with us. You can see the relief spelled out on a fellow parents' face when someone else can find a couple spare threads of patience to extend to their children. I also save one last baggie of popcorn for customs, too, and share it with other little kids once I've gotten the okay from their parents. Such a mean trick, making kids sit on a plane for so long then line up and stand still with hundreds of people in a massive hall waiting for customs! I wish they had a seperate line for families, and once or twice we have been pulled out of the line by one of the security agents and pushed to the front, but it isn't always the case, so best to be prepared for this to take a while!
 |
| Somewhere between Adelaide & Dubai. |
ON THE FLIGHT
We've already covered a lot of my in-flight tips (iPad, shows, snacks, bassinets) but there are a few more lessons I learned the hard way so you don't have to!! (Yaaayyyyy!!!!)
Getting on the plane. In our pre-baby days Toff & I would wait to the very last second possible to get on the plane, figuring that we made our flight time that whole 10 minutes shorter. Now, we jump right on board when they offer parents with kids the chance to get on the plane first! One parent gets in the seats with the kids, the other one stows our carryons after first pulling out only the things we will use right away - 1 sticker book or colouring book for the kids, iPad if you have one, 2 nappies, 1 small baggie of wipes, & the kids blankies or lovey item. Everything else goes in the overhead bin - on our first flight we left so much stuff out, and it didn't take long before all of our stuff was a chaotic mess! Try to stay as organised as possible as the flight goes along, otherwise by the end you're all at least mildly sleep deprived and can easily lose necessary items (like shoes!)
Flight crew. If you have a mean flight attendant, speak up! Ask to speak to their supervisor immediately. Part of their job is making sure every passenger has a pleasant experience, and you don't need to put up with someone who is grouchy or unhelpful to you! We had a total witch of a flight attendant, who I'm sure was just trying to do her job, but she seemed like she just graduated from her training, so she was super strict and insisted we stay within the boundaries of each and every line or rule. She even went so far as to purposefully cross her arms when we were juggling two toddlers and trying to feed all of us when the fasten seat belt sign switched on. I was close to tears, this was our first flight and this person was seemingly going out of their way to make it difficult for us! I know in her eyes we were the unreasonable ones, but nonetheless - Toff spoke to her supervisor and we didn't see her the rest of the flight! Even someone who insists you follow the rules should still be courteous and kind to you. (And if you find a good one who is willing to give you something extra or who even shows you a bit more interest than anyone else by asking questions about your kids or getting down on their level to ask them a question - make sure you search him/her out if you need anything! As humans we click with certain people, and we're more likely to help them out if we have a shared history - even something minute as them telling your kids a joke!!)
The Cute Kid Phenomenon. I have one more tricky trick up my sleeve!! If there were ever a time to pull out the stops and make your kids shine like adorable little fluffy bunny rabbits - NOW'S THE TIME!! Dress them in cute clothes. If you have social kids get them to introduce themselves to your neighbours! On one occasion, Trip actually insisted on sitting in the next row over from us with total strangers - luckily one of the ladies was pregnant with her first baby and she enjoyed this small 'training' session our happy at-the-time 2 year old provided. Even get them to start a mini game of peek-a-boo over one of the seats - nearly irresistible to toddlers anyhow! Then reign your kid back in after a couple minutes. This accomplishes two things: 1. If your gorgeous little poppet has a moment (or moments) later on during the flight where they scream or get cranky a bit, all of your neighbours will be much more forgiving. Adults are more forgiving of kids when they've seen them being cute or interacting in a normal way. I think it just helps to remind them that kids are humans too. 2. By giving your kid some freedom then pulling them back again demonstrates to your neighbours that you are a competent parent who fully intends to control their gorgeous little sack of energy. It will put your neighbours at ease, and encourage them to be more forgiving if something goes awry later. 3. You will also figure out who around you might be interested or willing to help later! Pay attention to who seems interested. I've had strangers offer to help get my carryon bag down, and even hold my wriggly 18 month old so I could eat. Strangers can be wonderful people. And of course, if there is anyone grouchy around you, keep your head high!! You've paid to be on this flight too, and you will do whatever it takes to make this experience as pain free as possible - for you and your kids. Think of it from the kids eyes! They only have a fit because this is only new and exciting and scary and a BIG life event for them!
Getting off the plane. Organisation is your friend, friends!!!! About half an hour before we land we always start to get organised. Getting off a plane is so chaotic, getting everything put away so you have minimal things to carry will make your life so much easier! Collect all of the rubbish into a bag, put all toys away, put shoes back on feet, and make everyone go to the toilet one last time. Put a nappy/diaper and one more baggie of popcorn into the top of whatever bag will be easier to get to when you're standing in line in customs!! Make sure all of your passports are together, and that you've filled in whatever customs form the flight attendant has handed out - usually you only need to fill out one for the whole family if you all have the same last name. If you're kids are sleeping, try to keep them as comfy as possible, if they're awake talk them through what's going to happen when you land! "we have to wait for the captain to open the doors for us, then we get to walk down this long hallway and go find our bag! Then we get to go find a big bus to take us to our hotel - and guess what! There's a pool there, should we go for a swim?"
As I mentioned before, we don't bring seperate carry ons for the kids as we're not willing to face a melt down when we really need them to carry it and they just won't. If your kid does have a carryon, just make sure you can stuff it into your bag if needed!
Customs. I know you're just about at the very last dregs of your patience right now - but you have ALMOST MADE IT!!! Keep on that happy face for just a little longer. This process seems to take forever, and occasionally someone from security will come get any families with little kids and put them at the front of another line, but not always! Eye spy works well, and maybe even continue your conversation about what you're going to do once you get past this line! Don't be afraid to sing to your kids if that helps, too - I figure that kids who are NOT screaming is better for everyone there, and I'm willing to make a fool of myself to accomplish this! I do know that when you fly into the US your entire family can go through the US citizen line with you - whether or not all of them have a US passport! So that can save some time as this line is often shorter.
ADJUSTING TO JET LAG
I've gone through a few different theories on this, but now the one I'm sticking to is if you're tired, sleep. I used to recommend staying up until it was at least a semi-appropriate bedtime in your new location, but now I think just sleep! Whenever you want! At least for the first few days.
Don't obsessively check what time your body thinks it is. Set your watch to your new current time zone, forget that your phone has a world clock on it, and just dive in to your new time! This makes adjusting so much easier!! And to help kids adjust (and adults too, actually) make sure you get out in the fresh air as much as possible! This will help reset your body clock.
On our last trip to the states we thought the baby (who turned one while we were there) adjusted the best as she slept at all the right times. Then we noticed she didn't actually adjust - she just started fell into a four hour sleep cycle! She would nap for four hours during the day, go to bed at her usual time, then wake up four hours later ready to party! We didn't try too hard to stamp this out, as it meant that at 10:30 or 11pm every night she got one on one time with the whole family, and would entertain all of us as she practiced her walking - which actually turned into such a sweet time for all of us because during the day she had her siblings to fight for attention with! Cheeky little creature found a way to maximise her attention time!! Of course this did mean that she would wake up super early (like 5:30am) but someone (usually me!) would just get up with her and have another sweet session of one-on-one time, then just go take a nap together later in the day. When we got back to Australia we had to re-sleep train her, but that was okay as I had to do that with the other kids when they were the same age, regardless of any travel adjustments.
 |
| 4 year old vs jet lag!! |
ACCOMMODATION
Now that you're travelling with young kids your hotel and the area it's in matter so much more than your cheapest-hotel-possible days! A hotel with a pool or a play space, or a good playground and coffee shop down the street will give you all time to stretch out and relax and will be refreshing for all of you.
Do your research ahead of time! Know how far it is to the local shops if you need to quickly buy more nappies or formula, know if you can get a taxi there, or if there's a bus. Know what time check in is! Most places will let you check in early if they have a room open. It might not be a bad idea to get to your hotel, put your pjs on, and have a whole family nap! Big kids seem to knock out pretty easily, if the baby slept on the plane they may wake up first, or be the least willing to sleep more. I've had many a middle-of-the-night hotel bathroom (luckily they're usually quite big!!) or hallway party with the baby while the rest of the family sleeps.
And finally.....
You did it!!! You made it!!! You're amazing. That wasn't so bad, was it?!? Chances are, the more you prepare, and the more you build this experience up to be something big and stressful in your head - it turns out not to be so bad, anyhow! And actually, as parents - 12 hours on a plane with three kids probably isn't even the worst night of sleep you've had!
Any other tips you've learned along the way?? I would love to hear them!
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