flying on holiday

[insurance]

 

can anyone help,

 my granchild is 2 & will be going on holiday soon.it will be her first flight, 4 hours.what can we do to make it enjoyable for her.

[Le Chat]

Your question raised a smile! Thinking back to when my son Luca was 2, I would have rephrased the question " ....what can we do to make it enjoyable for ME!!....."

[EssJay1]

Stay relaxed.  Take something to chew for take off.  Books, puzzles and take headphones to plug into the plane's audio system.  Keep the fluids up.  Eat the meal.  Look at the magazines together.  Talk to her.  Watch the stewards and the other passengers. Check if she gets travel sick.   It's only four hours, and a great new experience for her - what would you normally do with her?

[Dom Tuk]

Before you leave home: Pack the following....2 bottles of milk,2 nappies, one bottle of juice (i reckon the child drinks out of a bottle), change of clothes, one rattle, one small towel and 2 dummies (if one falls under the seat it is difficult ot retrieve). This bag is the babys handbag. This should go on the plane and make the bag small enough so that it will fit under the seat in front and you dont have to unfasten seat belt to get bag from overhead locker.

At the airport: When your flight is called go to the front of the queue. This way you dont queue up and all airlines will allow you to get in first. This way you and the family will get the best seats if seats are not allocated.

On the flight: The baby will be asleep most of the time as the drone of the engine will lull it to sleep. Dont sit close to the toilets as people congregate there and talk and can wake baby up. When the flight is airborne unscrew all the bottles to release the pressure. this way the baby can suck the liquid more easily. This is due to the fact that cabin pressure is slightly different to when the bottle was screwed shut at home. Also when the food trolley arrives and if at that time you are feeding the baby do still take your food tray as you may not get your food again for a while and the food is quite hot and will not cool down even if it is lying next to you.

If Baby cries on flight dont get nervous or shy. very few people mind a baby crying. The parents think that it is a lot of bother but others dont really mind. Your nervousness makes the child even more bothered.

Once plane has landed wait for all passengers to get off and then you go. At immigration walk upto the top of the queue. No on really minds

I have travlled with my kids a lot and all this helps.

[cazza0310]

Hi! Don't panic. Its not half as bad as you think its gonna be.

My little girl was 18 months old when we flew to Florida. As mentioned above she did sleep alot which is great. 

Books and toys are a must-a good idea is to gift wrap 4 small toys (books, colouring book, play doh) and give your grandchild one every hour to unwrap, that way when boredom with the toy kicks in it will be time for another one.

Keep taking her for walks up and down the plane-she will get loads of attention off other passengers and thats the key-loads of attention-dont give her chance to get bored.

BIGGEST TIP: No sugary drinks and limit sweets-a plane is a very small space for a hyper child!!

My daughters flown 3 times now (twice to florida-which is hard going even for adults) and I would not hesitate taking her again

[Bangkok]

in addition to the excellent suggestions above, ask for  a bulkhead seat (prebook if possible), so you will not have seats in front being tipped backwards and therefore coming in range of your grandchild.