Sometimes new mommies and papas have no choice but to be travel by plane with their toddlers. We understand how fretful and anxious you might be feeling about traveling with your toddler for the first time. But don’t worry; here we are with a few helpful tips that will make your life easier!
Be Selective of the Seating
The position of your seat matters a lot when you are traveling with your toddler. It is important to think about the space that your baby will need, the noise they would be making, or the number of times you would have to walk the baby around or take them to the lavatory for a diaper change. The thing is, it is extremely hard to predict how your toddler will behave. Thus, the best thing to do is to choose the seats that are close to the lavatory. A backseat, for a number of reasons, is the best option. Firstly, you wouldn’t have to worry about disturbing other passengers when you need to walk around with the baby. Secondly, the distance between the backseat and the toilet is the closest. Also, if the seats next to you are unoccupied, your baby will have enough space to sleep and you will be able to travel more comfortably.
Board Early
With a baby, it’s better to have everything sorted out in advance. This means that you don’t have to take your sweet time boarding as you used to before you were hit by the train called parenthood. The airlines don’t only give priority to the business class, but also to elder people and those with toddlers and young children, by allowing them to board early. This way you won’t have to worry about finding half-full overhead bins or your bags placed way further than your seat. Small children, especially toddlers tend to feel anxious and start crying due to the changes in environment inside the aircraft. So if you have boarded early and in silence without the hustle-bustle of the other on-boarders, chances are that you will have enough time to allow your baby to settle and get familiar with the new setting.
The Sleep Routine
As you cannot predict how your baby might react to the whole travel thing. One of the best advice I received from a friend of mine when I was planning to travel with my toddler was to focus on ‘Sleep’. Yes, you heard that right. First, you need to care about your sleep, which I know after having the baby has nearly been impossible, but try to get as much sleep as you can before your flight. Chances are that you will be tired of all the packing and handling travel chores and the baby might be super active. Trust me, you don’t want that. So what we are doing here is making sure that you are fresh with plenty of sleep before the flight. As for the baby, try to change their sleep timing so your your toddler would sleep during most of the journey.
Taking off and Landing
Even adults have take-off and landing fear no matter how many times they have travelled via airplane. That is why you should be extra careful when the plane is taking off and landing. Do you know what I did? Once I quietly sang to my baby while having her strapped to me. Another time when I was clearly told by the air hostess that I couldn’t keep her with the carrier on me, I placed earphones in her ears with her favorite lullabies on. Perhaps you can use the earplugs, if nothing helps.
I certainly hope this piece of article has helped you make your traveling to do list and calmed your nervous parent-mode down a bit. Happy Travelling!
