Well I survived a massive 36 hours of flying with a toddler over the Christmas break. My husband and I flew with our daughter Isla overseas when she was six weeks old, but we were stressing about taking her back to my home country of Canada now that she is almost 18months.
Luckily she handled it like a pro. We had a few minor hiccups along the way, but most of our worries weren’t warranted. Here are a few fun tips I can share for any other worried mums and dads who are about to brave the skies with a young kid in tow!
- Pay the extra few dollars for a bassinet seat. So what if Isla hated the bed and refused to sleep in it? We had extra leg room, a handy spot to store food and toys and, in the airplane which overbooked bassinet seats, we had a much appreciated upgrade to -premium economy!
- When opening a pop-top water bottle or baby’s Sippy cup, do not aim it at the person sitting next to you… or behind you… or at yourself. You think we would have learned the first time to not suddenly open the pressurised bottle after I got drenched from head to toe. But no. I opened it unintentionally aiming the spout at man sitting across the aisle from us who had his baby sitting on his lap. Luckily the man copped the brunt it and laughed it off before declaring a water fight. However, the lady behind me on the last flight didn’t find it quite as amusing. She didn’t batt a soggy eyelash as I apologised profusely and she rung out her hair.
- Sleep when your child sleeps. Or if you are like me and can’t be bothered wasting some quiet time catching flies, throw back some coffees, eat some chocolate and watch some in-flight movies and savour a few hours or ‘me-time.’
- Do not break the duty-free bottle of vodka as soon as you get off the airplane. It is not socially acceptable to lick it off the carpet, so just cut your losses. You will become a spectacle as you try and clean up the smelly mess while juggling your luggage and your small child. Some people will stare, others will offer to help, and a few will sympathise with you. (One man asked us ever so nicely, “Can I ask what kind it was? Oh, that hurts.” ) The vodka was well-earned and would come in handy to help ease the pain after enduring grumpy custom staff, dreadfully long security lines, and the screams of a little girl who did very well on the plane but was well and truly OVER IT!
- If you and your partner are still speaking at the end of the trip, congratulate each other on a job well done. Cuddle your little flyer and reward them for good behaviour (or for just making it through), and book your family another vacation as soon as possible- after all, you may need another holiday to get over your holiday!
-Lia Spencer-
