Anyone done a long haul flight with 2 y/o twins?

[RobinOakapple]

LOL

[Simon Brooks]

Any chance we could get back to offering constructive personal advice of how some of us may have had to deal with a similar situation previously

All the poor chap wanted was a little bit of a heads up on how to handle the situation, having not had the hands on experience himself

[anonymous-user]

Tony Starks said:

We're due to return home at christmas for a wedding and just interested in anyones experiences of doing the same from Oz/NZ?

The thing that seems to be playing on our minds is getting extra seats for the kids, if we have them sitting on our laps the prices are reasonable and we can afford them quite easily.
The trouble is, having a 2 year old on my lap for 30+ hours is going to be pretty hard going and if I get sy due to lack of sleep and sore legs I can imagine the kids will too. Which will make for an awesome time for everyone else on the plane.

or do we get extra seats only for them to want to sit on our laps the entire way lol.

cheers

Alex

A few thoughts:

- ignore the whiners, the sterile and the barren. They have far greater issues in their lives than having to share public transport with strangers, but don't seem to realise it.
- Get your kids their own seats. At 22 months they are going to be too heavy to sit on you for 26-40 hours.
- Take charge of their time. By which I mean you decide when they watch TV, eat, sleep and are awake.
- Write a timetable for the above.
- Use drugs to help them sleep when you want them to sleep. Again, practice, so you know what dose to administer and when in order to get them to sleep.
- load up tablets/ipads/whatever with films/tv you know they like and will watch. This means testing stuff beforehand so you're sure they will watch it. Get some headphones that you are sure they will be happy to keep on.
- make sure they know that the whole trip - from the moment you enter the airport - is a grown up environment and good behaviour is required.
- Don't get pissed on board. Small but important sacrifice.
- ask the cabin crew to bring the kids' meals first, and not to bring yours until they have finished theirs and their trays have been cleared.
- any and every drink they have gets decanted into a tommee-tippee (or similar) cup
- If you're going to sleep, do so after they've fallen asleep. Ideally you want to adopt a man on man marking system, but you may be able to adapt to a zone system so one parent can have some sleep while the other covers both kids.
- get some sort of bum bag thing for nappy changes. Bad nappy changes are to be done in the loo, not in the cabin.
- take small presents - inedible - eg books, soft toys - very little, but wrapped, that can be deployed at crucial moments when calm and good behaviour is needed and can be rewarded.
- if they kick off, they kick off. Despite what you might think, most other passengers only really get annoyed if they perceive the parents to be doing nothing about it. Do something, even if it means walking them all the way to the back of the plane and staying there for 20 mins.
- don't let them go crazy on sweets or fizzy drinks. Keep sugars to a minimum.
- take at least one change of clothes for each child, and one for each of you. Just in case.
- don't leave favourite teddy/blanket on board when you disembark.

[Bluebarge]

RobinOakapple said:

Bluebarge said:

RobinOakapple said:

Ari said:

Ok, amazing that I have to explain social responsibility to (presumably) adults, but here we go, I'll see if I can do it in a style you can relate to...

Very good points, very well made.

st points, badly made.

There is no correlation at all between your scenario and the OPs where he is simply asking for advice on how best to manage a long flight for his family. There is no reason at all to believe that his children will make the flight uncomfortable for others, or that they will be any more problematic than any other category of passenger (snorers, drinkers, fidgeters, the overweight, people who are constantly getting st out of overhead lockers or fiddling with the seat recliner etc, etc). I have done many long-haul flights with kids (mine and other people's) who were good as gold, and adults who were a pain in the arse.

Since you have no useful contribution to make to this thread - why the fk are you here?

I dunno if you are asking me, or asking the person who made the points (and very good points they were, too) that I agreed with.

But I'm here to put forth my opinions on the subject. Anything else I can help you with?

I'm not asking anyone. I'm telling them

But, if it matters to you, I was directing my points at our resident anti-child curmudgeon.

P.S. since you're offering, a cup of tea and a biscuit would be good.

[Bluebarge]

LordGrover said:

I think someone maybe a little overtired.

Nope. I'm always this cheerful. It helps me to deal with misanthropes like you

[S 8 GRN]

Have twins that are now 6. From 13 weeks we started flying around - New York at 14 Months / Mexico at 2yrs etc. Never as far as you're planning though. It's not as hard as some may think. Plan well, pack loads of food and the best advice I can give you is to write off the whole journey for yourself and consider it a work day. Generally we've gone to the US twice a year with the kids and I'm willing to go through the hassle to get to where i want to go. If that meant holding them in the galley for 5 hrs then so be it. Multiple charged iPads very useful. In terms of other people I am sure they will appreciate the fact that you will be going to significant effort to entertain and settle your kids the whole flight. Those that don't can quite frankly foxtrot oscar.