How to make travelling abroad with children easy in 6 steps

Best tips for travelling abroad with children – the holiday starts now!

As the summer holidays loom, work days seem to get longer and longer and the ‘I don’t want to go to school’ complaints get ever more frequent, it’s always nice to have a sunny holiday to look forward to. Travelling abroad with children can be a minefield, regardless of whether you’re jetting off to another country or just walking down the road for a day at the park.

Mums Net has tons of advice on travelling abroad but here are a few helpful tips to get you started. Holidays plus offspring don’t need to equal military-style operation or threats of ‘if you don’t stop it now we’ll just go home’ (because let’s face it, nobody is actually going to do that). Here are some simple and easy tips for having an enjoyable holiday from start to finish.

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It’s all in the planning

This may seem obvious, but so many things get missed during last-minute packing, regardless of how well-organised you have been. I minimise the stress by creating a list for each child of all the things they would like to bring on holiday. There is always some negotiation because baggage allowances are only so much and game consoles are not necessary when you’re in a pool or by the beach all day.

But making a note in advance of small toys/books/activities they want to bring means that I can plan space in the bags for them and tick them off when they are packed. It also means that the kids are aware in advance of what they won’t be allowed to play with in the 24 hours before the holiday starts, as they will be held prisoner in the baggage either until they get on the plane or we get to the hotel.

Arrive in plenty of time

When travelling abroad it’s normal now to arrive at least a couple of hours early for a flight to make sure that any queues don’t make you late for your departure (which unfortunately has happened far too often recently). I, however, tend to add at least 30 minutes to one hour on top of what you would consider a reasonable time to arrive to take into account any little people’s quirks and demands.

Extra toilet breaks, getting distracted whilst eating their breakfast in the airport café, wanting to watch every single plane take off on the way to finding your own. They may only take a few minutes each, but they soon add up. Also, it just generally means that you aren’t having to hurry small children through the airport, which would cause them and you far more stress than necessary.

Never forget Snacks

Again, it may be obvious that small people require feeding every 3.5 minutes or they will starve to death (at least that’s how my kids act). But having some healthy(ish) snacks when travelling abroad as well as some treats to hand at all times will diffuse most situations. I would recommend buying at the airport rather than on the plane, as it does usually work out slightly cheaper, and reduces the chance of impulse buying just to avoid a tantrum.

Any time when there is more waiting than anticipated (check-in queue, departure lounge, beginning/end of the flight), a few chocolate buttons here or a couple of cheesy crackers there works wonders. This works almost as well with drinks, if purely for the fact that everyone gets less cranky when they are properly hydrated.

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In case of emergency reach for the Headphones

This one is more for parents and other passengers than the children themselves but definitely serves a purpose. Plane journeys are one of the few times that I don’t feel guilty about how much screen time my children have. I find it difficult enough to sit in one place for several hours with very little to do, so I think it’s unfair to expect children to do the same with no distractions.

This is the reason (I think) that tablets were invented to help make life easier when you are travelling abroad with children. They provide hours of entertainment, some of which can even be educational if you download the right apps. However, the rest of the plane does not need to listen to three hours of Peppa Pig or Minecraft tutorials – hence, headphones.

Give them some independence

I have always found that allowing my children to have some say in what goes on helps them to feel more involved and keeps them a lot happier than constantly telling them what they have to do/eat/watch. Even just small things like letting them pick which outfit they want to wear on the plane, what drink they want duty-free or if they want to sit next to the window, allow them to properly be part of the holiday and increase their excitement.

Now, the amount of choice you let your child have will obviously depend on their age. For example, I wouldn’t let my two-year-old decide how many cuddly toys she wanted to bring because there would be no room for clothes. Similarly, I wouldn’t let my six-year-old keep hold of his drink, because he has a tendency to down any drink he is given and then be both thirsty and desperate for the toilet for ages afterwards. But used in moderation, independence can be very empowering.

At the end of the day

Now, I am not saying that all of these things work all of the time, or that a child will never, ever have a meltdown and throw themselves on the departure lounge floor even after being bribed with a whole packet of Smarties, but they will definitely ease the way towards an enjoyable summer trip away. At the end of the day when travelling abroad it’s about making memories with your family that count.

The Essentials for travelling abroad