Living / 28 May, 2025 / Nanny Anita

Tips For Travelling With Kids: Around The World With Nanny Anita

One of the big questions I am commonly asked is how easy it is to travel with children. My answer: very, but some ages are easier than others. Having flown 100s of flights with children aged between a few months all the way up to teenage years, I have come up with a few basic tips to help you out.

Before You Go:

Explain to them what is about to happen and what you expect of their behaviour.  Especially if this is a child’s first flight.

Show them the type of aeroplane they are going on and where they are going. Then, at the airport they can have fun trying to spot their aircraft.

If you can, include them in the planning of the trip, i.e. ask them what they would like to see / do once they are there and what would they like to pack.

Make a flight record book, for this get a small note book and divide each page into 5 columns. Then you can keep a record of the airline, where you flew from and to, the distance and get the captain to sign it. It makes a wonderful record for when they are older.

What To Pack For Your Journey:

Try not to pack toys that have lots of small parts, such as Lego, which are likely to get dropped and lost under a seat.  It will save you also from having to try to get under the seats, which if you are in economy is no easy matter.

Pack a few surprises for the children that they can open them up at certain intervals during the flight. This could be something like a new colouring book, sticker book, game etc.

If you have a child that is recently out of nappies consider taking one of those water proof stick-on sheets that you can get for children who are learning to stay dry at night. Then, if you get stuck with a long period where the seat belt sign is on you can cover their seat with it. Therefore, if they have an accident their seat stays dry. If it is a night flight and they have only just come out of nappies, you may want to bring a nappy just in case.

Pack a pair of pjs. When it is bedtime (whether you are changing their routine or sticking to their usual one) it will help establish the thought that they should be resting.

I had a family that would pack a small tupperware box with things like blue tac, tin foil, paper clips, ribbon, tiny note pads, mini crayons, pom-poms etc so that their children could make a little creation. If those items got dropped it didn’t matter as they were all replaceable.

Take a small water flask that you can fill up (once through security) so there are no worries about spilt drinks.  Do remember that if it has a straw in it, you will need to detach it from the mouth piece for take-off.  Those are notorious for causing leaks as the pressure in the cabin changes.  I have learnt that the very hard way.

Put children on the inside seats, that way they can’t get out without you noticing and if you have a hot drink they aren’t being passed over the child.  It also means, God forbid, in an emergency you can pull them along rather than trying to push them (if they are too big to carry).

Bring a fan, either a folding fan or mini handheld battery operated one.  I have found in the last year or so that flights have been warmer than usual.  Korean Air and Turkish Airline are particularly hot.

Bring a change of clothes for yourself as well and plenty of ziplock bags to put dirty clothes into.

Dealing with Jet Lag

When you get on the plane immediately switch your watch to the local time of your destination and then try to match yours and your child’s schedule to it.

When you arrive at your final destination or back home, make sure you always eat your meals at the right time, even if it means waking a child up and then letting them go back to sleep.

If you have young children or babies, try using a sliding schedule. This means a week or so before travelling you start to move their schedule forward or back by an hour (depending on which way your travelling) every few days, so that the finally time change isn’t so large.  This works better if your children are not going to school.

Don’f forget!

You can prepare all you like and it can all go completely out the window.  The best thing is don’t stress it and go with the flow.

Your baby or child can cry.  It is okay, don’t worry about what other people think, that is what noise cancelling headphones are for.  The most important thing is that you try and keep calm.  Babies and children are very good at picking up on your emotions.  If you feel stressed they will be harder to calm down.  If you need help don’t be afraid to ask an air hostess or host.  They are normally really happy to help out.  And if all else fails the loo is a good place to take them to help calm them down if necessary.

To help babies and small children cope better with pressure change you can give them a dummy (if they have one) or a bottle to suck on.  The really important thing to remember is the timing of when to give it.  For take-off it is best to start about 3-4 minutes after wheels up.  This is when the pressure really starts to change.  For landing it is about 30 minutes before, I generally started to do it around the time the captain does his announcement about 40 minutes out.  For older children and teens you could look into getting flight plugs for the ears that help the pressure to change.  Do always read the instructions on the leaflets to make sure that your child is old enough to use them.