When most of the borders opened after Covid-19, my family has started a few long flights back and forth from the Netherlands and Vietnam with my little son. He was almost two years old for the first trip in 2022. Well, my husband read a lot of blogs and information about how to travel with a toddler but it seemed still difficult with this active kid. We applied many tips from mothers and fathers who were travel bloggers. Some worked and some did not, however, you may never know if those tips would be successful for you. Here is some of our experience when traveling with our son for the first time and the other times.

When it was his first time at the age of 2

  • We prepared some small gifts with the special cookie from our city for the passengers in our cabin as we knew that they might be bothered by our little one in some ways (luckily there were only 7 passengers in the cabin for that flight)
  • At this age, he was still okay to sit on his buggy so we bought a Joolz buggy that was able to bring to the cabin. This one came with a bag too, so we did not need a plastic bag provided at the check-in counter to cover it on the plane. We found out that this was so convenient as we pushed him to the door of the plane and when landing, we could put him on the buggy straight away after leaving the plane.
  • If you travel with a baby, a carrier might be more convenient than a carrycot.
  • Don’t forget the favorite snacks and milk from your kids.
  • Bring more spare clothes and diapers, wipes as their clothes might be dirty with drink and food on the plane or pee too much.
  • You can prepare some small toys for them, but they haven’t been seen at home yet. Kids will be attracted to something new.
  • Colour books and pencils or canyons or stickers will help.
  • Always order kid meals in advance as some airlines refuse to serve kid meals without pre-order
  • After flying with our son for so many long flights in the past 2 years, we’ve learnt that the flight time also had the impact on their behaviour.
    • On the first flight after Covid-19, we chose Singapore Airlines which had a daytime flight from Amsterdam to Singapore. Our son only took a short afternoon nap on the plane and then he kept partying until we landed. When we arrived in Singapore, it was a bit over his bedtime hence he was hyper and fussy. He ran around the lounge and then my husband decided to walk him with the buggy. He felt asleep just before we started boarding for the next flight to Vietnam.
    • On the second flight from Vietnam to the Netherlands, we flew with Emirates. He fell asleep two hours after taking off as it was his bedtime. He slept for around 5 hours, and we landed in Dubai while he was still sleepy. Then he almost did not sleep for the other flight from Dubai to Amsterdam.
    • Early this year, we tried Turkish airlines and later KLM. He could sleep straight for almost 10 hours after taking off and we could rest too.
  • If you travel during wintertime to a tropical country, you shouldn’t wear thick jackets. In case you have family bring you to the airport, give them the thick jackets. It is a bit warmer inside the airport and on the plane. You will be busy with jackets and your kids when going through the security and also on the plane.

When he was 3 years old

  • Buggy no longer kept him in place as he wanted to explore everything by walking and running. We then bought a small walking suitcase for him. This was convenient as we could put his toys, snacks, spare clothes, and diapers in it.
  • I must admit that I am not an ideal mother who trains my kid to say no to ipad and phone. Therefore I bought the special headphone for kids suitable to his age and downloaded his favourite videos. This could keep him calm on his own seat for 15 minutes.
  • Favourite and new toys together with snacks also helped entertain him
  • Let him burn the energy as much as possible at the airport. Don’t worry too much if he ran around at the boarding gate or play hard at the playground. He will be tired soon when getting on the plane and off course, you will be tired too but if he can sleep, you can relax.
  • I had to travel alone with him at least 2 times and my experiences are:
    • Don’t bring too many carry-ons. I had one hand bag for wallet, phone and passport with a weekend bag/backpack for my spare clothes and some stuff for my son. I prepared some laundry bags to put his dirty clothes if any. Well, I didn’t want to be stressful if I couldn’t find any plastic bags for wet clothes from my son.
    • He had his own walking suitcase so it would help a lot with his belongings and spare clothes.
    • I let him walk as much as possible even though he said he was tired and wanted me to carry him or order an airport buggy. I also let him play hard at the playgrounds. He was tired and passed out 2 hours after taking off. That was good for me already. I took the chance to have dinner and a quick nap as I didn’t know how long his nap would be.
    • I asked my husband to bring jackets for us as we arrived in the Netherlands when the temperature dropped. I tried to travel as much light as I could.

Before the flight:

  • We talked with him about the coming trip and the flight
  • We also did the pretend play in which he was a passenger with his own seat and seat belt
  • We showed him on the video about what expected behaviour on the plane, such as fastening the seat belt, sit at your own seat, not bother other people.

Of course he’s only a toddle so we cannot expect he will understand everything and act in the way we hope. However, we try to provide him more information and help him be familiar with activities that he may have on the plane. Just try our best and put the fingers cross because each kid will react in different ways.

Good Luck!

P.S: Share with us your experiences and tips so that other parents can learn.

Thu Trang – Co-founder of Eastex Travel