Flying With Children for the First Time
Timing, seats, ears, snacks, screens and what to do at security, from the check in desk to the seatbelt sign going off.
8 min read
The first flight with a small child is a rite of passage and it is rarely as bad as the anticipation. Cabin crew have seen everything, other parents are on your side, and children are often better at flying than adults expect.
Preparation is mostly about removing avoidable friction.
Choosing the flight
There are two schools. Fly when they normally sleep and hope, or fly mid morning when everyone is fresh and rested.
For a first flight with a toddler, mid morning usually wins. Overnight flights work better with babies who sleep anywhere, and badly with three year olds who do not.
Avoid tight connections entirely. Ninety minutes with a child is not the same ninety minutes you would manage alone.
Seats and what to book
Book seats together, and pay for it if the airline charges. Being separated is a genuinely stressful start.
Bulkhead rows have more floor space and often take bassinets for babies, but the armrests do not lift and there is no under seat storage at takeoff. Weigh that up.
Tell the airline you are travelling with an infant when you book, not at the airport.
At the airport
Most airports have a family lane at security. Ask, even if you cannot see one.
Pushchairs can usually be taken all the way to the aircraft door and are returned there or at baggage reclaim. Check which, because standing at the wrong place with a tired child is a poor end to a flight.
Baby milk, formula and baby food are exempt from the usual liquid limits. Take them out and tell the officer at the tray.
- A spare set of clothes for the child, and one top for you
- Nappies for twice as long as the journey should take
- Snacks that are not messy and not sugary
- Wipes, in an outside pocket, always
Ears, which is the real problem
Ear pain during descent is the most common cause of distress in the air. The fix is swallowing.
For babies, feed or offer a bottle or dummy during descent, not takeoff. For older children, a drink, a snack or a chewy sweet works. Explain in advance that their ears may feel funny and that yawning helps.
If a child has a heavy cold, mention it to your doctor before flying. Blocked ears at altitude genuinely hurt.
Keeping them occupied
Bring a small bag of things they have not seen before. Novelty is what buys you time, not quantity. Stickers, a new small toy, a pad of paper.
Load screens with downloaded content and bring child sized headphones. Nobody needs to be principled about screen time at thirty thousand feet.
Introduce new things one at a time, roughly every half hour. Handing over everything at once uses your whole supply in twenty minutes.
Your own state of mind
Children take their cue from the adults with them. If you are calm about the noises, the queues and the waiting, they usually are too.
And if there is crying, there is crying. Every parent on that plane has been in your seat. The strangers who mind are not people whose opinion needs weighing.
In short
A first flight with children is a few hours of managed logistics, not an ordeal.
Pack for the delay you hope not to have, keep the ears in mind, and let the rest be imperfect.
