Navigating Flying & Layovers With Children

 No matter how beautiful the end destination is, clicking "book" on those plane tickets when you will be traveling with children can feel DAUNTING! Lets be real, no tip I am going to share with you is going to make that feeling totally go away however hopefully I can help with some ideas to make the journey more bearable.

Lets talk about booking - For short flights where you can book child friendly flight times such as mid morning or early afternoon and if you are doing long haul avoid tight layovers because rushing kids through airports is just going to add to your stress...trust me, we have been there! For long haul flights we like to find night flights that fall inline with the times the children would usually go to bed, we find this way they sleep a large majority of the flight leaving little time for the boredom to set in. Pick your seats wisely, if you have a child who is not going to sit still then choose isle seating so you can make those toilet trips and leg stretching isle walks with ease. Choose seating that fits your family, some families like us like to sit in the row however if your have siblings likely to irritate each other and enough adults to do so you might like to divide and conquer and sit separately or in a block rather than a row.

Timing arrival to the airport becomes and art form, you don't want to be too early because that means more waiting around but you also don't want to be too late that you are trying to rush through security with stressed out children.

Pack supplies! From the moment you walk through that airport door you cannot premeditate the ques or holdups before you get a few hours peace in departures. Although a fully charged iPad is is always a winner I love to ensure the kids have some sort of activity book, favorite toy and a blanket (unless flying long haul where they get them). On our last trip I purchased fidget and game key rings to attach to their bags to keep them entertained during times that weren't suitable to be pulling things out their bags for example when we were stuck in long ques.

When you have a large amount of time to kill my advice is to eat at the airport and time it best you can closest to a meal time. Although this can be costly as nothing in the airport is cheap I find it gives a structured use of time to kill with the children and limits how long you are stuck sitting in the general areas with fed up children. Depending on what is available in the airport if the price isn't going to differ much we have also used the airport lounges. They have always been great with our children in there and they get excited by the buffet and getting themselves drinks, there is often great views of the runways too providing lots to look at and keep their attention.

Layovers - We tend to find a majority of the time layovers seem to be one extreme to another, a whole day stuck in a country or all of about 50 minutes! Neither of these are ideal with children in tow so it can often take some searching. Once you have committed and booked your flights then research your layover airport! Some airports are fantastic and offer lots of family friendly eating and entertainment areas and others offer very little but with some research you can pack those extra boredom busting activities.

Flying with children won't necessarily be 100% stress free but it can be manageable with patience and organisation which will make the journey just as much a part of the special memories made on your trip. I hope you have the best time away with your families and that some of these ideas can help you along the way.

Hannah x