Making long journeys with young children can be tricky. Having to encourage toddlers to sit still or stay quiet can be tricky if they're used to running round the garden all day.
Always take a selection of toys. Include things that the child can be quiet with. A squeaky toy on an aeroplane will be very annoying very quickly for everyone. A pad of drawing paper, crayons and stickers can be a good start to building a travel pack. There are lots of games you can play with pencil and paper too.
Games include 'Guess the Animal' where you have to take it in turns to draw an animal and other other person has to guess what you're drawing. You can also play noughts and crosses, draw mazes for each other, and of course just good old drawing and colouring!
A few story books means that you can quietly read a story to your child and this might help them have a nap on a long journey. Some people like to take mini DVD players and allow the child to watch a favourite film - this can work really well, and DVDs are quite small to pack so an effective use of space.
For older children a hand held console might be just the thing.
Take snacks and drinks that the child likes and pack wet wipes to avoid stick hands! Avoid any excessively sugary snacks as the last thing you'll need is a child with a sugar rush desperate to run round and burn off some energy. Even if you're having meals on the plane or train it'll probably not correspond with the time your child is hungry!
On flights where there are lots of empty seats, you can always ask the cabin crew if you can move seats to make yourselves more comfortable and have more room. This should normally be possible after take off, but always ask first.
For babies in nappies make sure you take more than enough spares and wipes. Same applies for baby food and milk. Better to have too much than not enough, but watch out for any liquid restrictions that might apply. For popping ears you'll need boiled sweets for older children and perhaps a dummy for little ones. It's very hard to explain to a toddler though what they need to do to stop their ears hurting though.
A spare change of clothes in case of accidents is a good idea - and remember to pack a plastic bag for the wet clothes. Put another bag in for your empty food wrappers and bottles too.
Make sure you keep your child as quiet and calm as possible. Don't allow them to kick the chair in front as it will drive the person mad!
Most airlines will let you take a buggy per child free. Check before you travel though to see what the procedure is for this. Usually you get to the boarding gate with it before you need to pack it off to the hold, but you'll need to have told them at check in!
A last hint is to ensure you have something new for the child to give them if they get really bored. Make sure it's something that will keep their attention for a while too!
Written by Diane Drinkwater
Posted by BabyKingdom baby shop
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