Travelling with young children

[Ciaran]

Against my better judgement, my wife has convinced me to go on a foreign holiday with our children. We are flying to the south of France from Dublin with 2 year old twins and a 5 year old girl. Any tips on how to keep them occupied?

I'm was going to invest in a couple of portable dvd players, the twins can be a handful at times so I can't really see books or small toys keeping them entertained for the whole journey.

Thanks

[GaryGlitter]

GG Jnr did his first flight earlier this year aged 2y1m.

iPad loaded with favourite films, sweet treats as rewards (raisins/chocolate), colouring books and pencils was all it took for a 4 hour flight. Might pack jam sandwiches next time, inflight food was ok as he's happy eating breadsticks and hummus which is all that was on offer.

Make sure they're fed and watered before you get on the plane so they don't end up grouchy as soon as you start to taxi and save something to keep them going in the arrivals hall.

[marctwo]

Smart phones loaded with games and downloaded episodes of their favourite CBeebies shows.

I have twins and haven't been further than the Isle of Wight with them. Good luck!!!

[Zod]

Have done it plenty of times. The problem is that kids between one and three cannot entertain themselves for very long, so you have to pay them constant attention while they are not asleep. It's just something to get through.

[LooneyTunes]

Short haul is relatively easy if it's one child per adult. But don't envy you taking three of them.

Several small presents (matchbox car or somthing similar), VERY well wrapped to help prolong opening them, given around every 45 - 60 mins. I sometimes take insulating tape and make a roadway on the table for them...!

Failing, as you suggest, that DVD player with new film works well. Also take snacks they like to avoid the need to try to persuade them to eat the trash the airlines provide.

I'd avoid night flights too. They never seem to sleep for long unless you can lie them flat. Chances of which are pretty slim.

Oh, and have a pillow ready for when one of them eventually falls asleep in your arms. The armrest is less than comfortable after an hour of small child pressing your arm onto it.

[LeftmostAardvark]

I took a 2y 9m child and a 4m baby to Canada for a month a couple of years ago. They are remarkably adaptable and will get on fine in a beach environment with a reasonable level of supervision. The flight was 8 hours going out during the day so we put some new films on the iPad and spaced them out with other activities. Worked great and we got complements about how little hassle they were. Flying can be made fun for them if they can get a window seat (as long as you don't telegraph any fear of flying).

Add 20 mins of 'calm down' time at the airport to get a snack / drink - for your sake, not theirs. You need to go into the transfer to hotel / villa / wherever in a calm frame of mind so they don't get spooked by your reaction to any hassle or setback.

If you're driving for long distance out there, get ready to stop frequently. Playgrounds are easy to find with a bit of ingenuity (looking for schools and there should be one nearby for instance).

Do not overplan your itinerary - be happy going with the flow. Water parks and zoos / wildlife parks are great days for the kids and they'll be ecstatic with a bucket and spade and a beach.

Above all, remember that you don't have to be anywhere so just enjoy being where you are rather than trying to pack too much into any one day. It is your holiday too.

[Zod]

One thing to watch for when you get there: they take longer than you to deal with the time difference, so their sleep patterns may be disturbed and they will take time to adjust to different mealtimes.

[brissleboy]

My little girl was 21 months old yesterday and she already has 12 flights under her belt, most recently a Dubai/Maldives combo back in March, the longest flight being 9 hours back from Dubai including some down time on the tarmac whilst they fixed the electrics!! She slept for one hour on that flight, I must have the record for the longest time to watch the latest Batman movie, a shade over 5 hours to be precise... start, stop, start, stop... I wouldn't say the flight was a painful experience, just not ideal either, nothing but a means of getting from a to b.

We are due to have our second child in a few weeks and already planning a long haul trip next Feb/Mar. We can take the pain for a few hours if it means a nice holiday somewhere exotic.

iPads/BBC iPlayer are a godsend, what did we do without them?

[Zod]

brissleboy said:

I must have the record for the longest time to watch the latest Batman movie, a shade over 5 hours to be precise... start, stop, start, stop...

Pah! That's nothing: I took three legs to watch Captain America on the way to the Maldives via Dubai and on the way back, travelling with a nine month old, a two and a half year old and a five and a half year old.

The first return leg began with the eldest piping up, "Daddy, I need a wee. I need a wee NOW!" as the plane started to turn onto the runway for take-off. When told he'd have to wait, he said, "it will be your fault when I wet myself in my seat." I bigged him up to persuade him he could hold on and that, as soon as the nice lady (the stewardess) switched off the seatbelt light after take-off he could go. She was great and let us go as soon as the climb slowed. He'd held on for nearly a quarter of an hour and got a round of applause from the cabin.

[LooneyTunes]

Zod said:

The first return leg began with the eldest piping up, "Daddy, I need a wee. I need a wee NOW!" as the plane started to turn onto the runway for take-off. When told he'd have to wait, he said, "it will be your fault when I wet myself in my seat." I bigged him up to persuade him he could hold on and that, as soon as the nice lady (the stewardess) switched off the seatbelt light after take-off he could go. She was great and let us go as soon as the climb slowed. He'd held on for nearly a quarter of an hour and got a round of applause from the cabin.

Ahh, another lesson there for the first timer: drain them before take off and again around 45 mins out (just before the queues start building in advance of the pre-landing belt up).

[davepoth]

Do what my mother used to do and put brandy in my dummy. I turned out fine.

[The_Doc]

meet and greet parking, and priority check in just to make either end of the trip almost bearable out of the plane.

and as has been stated movies on Ipad, sweets, and some gin for you and mummy.

just got back from Tuscany with my 22 month old, which I think was harder than taking her last year when she was 9 months

[New POD]

I refused to take our kids more than 3 hours from home, until the youngest was 6, and then we DROVE through the night to the south coast, got a ferry to france and drove 2 hours to our destination.

Before that North Wales was our holiday destination as I couldn't face travel with them. (or afford it)