Top 10 Tips- Preparing Kids For A Long Flight
Flying With Kids
We have a lot of practice preparing kids for a long flight. We have lived in Seattle where we take two 10+ hour flights to reach our family in South Africa. And now we live in between both of our families, so each way is a 10+ hour flight to visit our family, not including the jet lag effects.
The girls have been flying these 10+ hour flights since we first took them on safari and visit their family in South Africa when they were each less than three months old (maternity leave in the USA is non exsistent, but there is a three month FMLA that lets you take three months off of work). So these girls are used to long flights.
The Countdown
How many sleeps until we are in “x”? If you are a crafty mom, get going on all those Pinterest boards or chains or whatever. We use an old-fashioned calendar taped to our refrigerator and “x” out each day until we get to the day of departure. Yes, I’m a lazy and craftless mom. It’s a countdown and keeps the girls super excited. Then every morning they wake up and ask how many sleeps until we see Grandma or Grandpa or wherever it is we are flying. This makes it very exciting with all the pent-up anticipation of the trip.
The packing
My girls love to pack. Early and often I always think as they pack and repack for weeks before a flight. I pack the day before or morning of the flight but my girls like to stay excited by packing early. Giving them the lead makes them accountable and more in charge of the adventure. I would say they started packing themselves when they were 3 and 5 years old. They grab the suitcases from storage and half the adventure is just getting the bags to their bedroom!
We chat about how long the vacation is and that always translates into how many underpants they need. 7 days, 7 underpants and off they go packing. Since this happens weeks in advance, I don’t care how fast or slow they pack so there is no stress involved and they are made accountable which is wonderful.
The girls pack pajamas on top of their carry on to put on while we are waiting to board, or they put on their pajamas before we leave for the train that takes us to the Zurich airport. This way they are super comfortable to watch movies and fall asleep after the meal comes.
The weather
The girls love to talk about the weather each morning before school. Thinking about the weather and what they need to pack is super fun. Especially if we are changing climates and hemispheres, like when we fly to South Africa from Europe each year.
The shopping
The girls love buying magazines and snacks at the airport, especially in London. London has the absolute best children’s magazine aisles in airports. So my girls know that when they get to London they can shop in the WHSmith or Boots or wherever we end up. At the very least, it keeps them busy while waiting for the next flight.
I’m not proud of it, but the chance of shopping at American Girl might be 20% of what my eldest talks about on a daily basis. I get it. It reminds her of home. She knows her grandparents take her there as a special outing. These dolls symbolize being with her family on a once a year special occasion. Or, she’s just a girl who loves these dolls like so many others out there. We are excited to shop. It may be mostly window shopping, but I do have a few things on my list for this upcoming trip. Part of revisiting countries we have been to often is the joy of going back to our favorite places. We talk a lot about where we want to go and what we want to do before the flight. Favorite places to eat, play, or walk around.
The family
The excitement of seeing family at the other side of a 10+ flight makes the entire process easier. We talk a lot about seeing their family and the fun we will all have together.
The sight-seeing
Going on a holiday means seeing new things or revisiting favorite places. As we prepare for our holidays, we chat about where we are going and what we remember from last time and what we look forward to doing new this time.
Get out the map
This Maps book comes in handy all the time. We use it when friends come over for playdates, showing what country they come from or where they are going on holiday is always fun to look at and it teaches us all about where they came from. Same with getting ready for a holiday. We pull out the book and see what we can expect when we get there. Don’t you love this book?!
Look up the flight
Look up the flight online. What kind of airplane is it, how many seats across, where will we sit, what movies are they showing, what food do they have, have we booked special meals or children’s meals. While chatting with a girlfriend last week, she didn’t know she could book a special meal for her flight. Here is the Swiss airlines special meals section where you can order your food for your flight ahead of time. I was vegetarian for a very long time and always booked veggie meals on my flights. For specialized diet restrictions, make sure to take advantage of this and stop packing all your own food! Here is British Airways special meal section as well. Check your airline.
The movies
Look up the movies that will be on the flight. If you will be on a 10+ hour flight, there is a lot of time to watch movies. Our “rule” is two movies, the meal, then sleep. We are taking an early morning 10+ hour flight next week so I’m not entirely sure how it will work out, but they should fall asleep as usual after two movies and some food. Fingers crossed. Here’s an example from British Airways of where to find the movies that will be shown on your flight.
This is also a good time for the kids to put their headphones into their carry on bag so they have them and know where they are for the plane. Kid headphones are always better than the ones they give out on the airplane, if they give them out at all.
The Jet Lag
Discuss the jet lag in advance. We talk about if its summer where Grandma lives or is it nighttime where Grandma is? All these things I think are helpful for children to learn and its fun to think about all these different things going on in our world. The girls have one Grandma in the USA and one in South Africa. So talking about each 10+ hour flight is super interesting as one is the same climate but completely different time zone, and the other is a completely different climate and the same time zone. I find this absolutely fascinating. I like pre-talking about the jet lag so that if it rears its ugly head, we can name it and move along with the holiday.
Disclaimer
This is what works for us. We have flown so many 10+ hour flights over the years with the girls, since they were barely three months old they each flew a 10+ plus 10+ hours from Seattle to Europe to South Africa to visit family. Flying can be stressful and many unexpected things will happen. We do all these things so that when we board that 10+ hour flight, we have our game faces on and are excited to see our favorite people and places at the other end.
Top Tip
If you are flying with your children without your spouse, bring a notarized letter of consent from your spouse. They may or may not ask for the letter, but better to be prepared. We always bring our Visas and Passports as well.
How do you prepare your family for a long flight?
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