Ok, so there are so many blog post about what to take with you on a long haul flight. If you read a few you are already well prepared. just don’t forget, sometimes kids are easy and sometimes not. Even if you are well prepared they can get bored after ten minutes. And if you don’t bring anything on the plane to entertain them they still can find plenty of exciting stuff on a plane. Just keep in mind, you’ll have to carry your luggage, and sometimes the kids as well, pack light!
There are just two basic things you shouldn’t forget from your carry on.
First, nappies, if your kids are already potty trained, one less thing to worry about! And bring a lot’s of nappies, especially if your kid likes orange juice! Pixie learned the English word for orange, just so she could ask the flight attendants. She was so proud of herself she ended up asking for one every time they asked her if she’d like something. And you know what’s the effect of orange juice… lots of nappy change.
The second is food/formula, if your baby is breastfed or big enough to eat the child meal on the plane you’re good. This time we didn’t bring anything. Manny is still breastfeeding and eats bread and compotes, and we choose the child meal option for Pixie. Obviously, she didn’t like everything she got, but she was pleased to receive a cute meal box and everything was nicely packed inside. But she is very picky so we ended up eating some of her food 😊
We also packed a tablet for her, full with her favourite cartoons and songs, but we didn’t even take it out on all the flights. She was entertaining herself with the safety brochures and in-flight magazine, she was looking out the window or having fun pushing all the buttons while we were trying to stop her from pushing the ask for assistance one 😀
Another thing that can be useful and be a great keepsake of the journey is a Flight Log or Travel Log. I made one for Pixie but there are plenty on Etsy or Amazon.
I included a few pages for flight logs, and she got some nice messages from the flight attendants. She also met the captain of our Vietjet flight who tried to calculate for her how many kilometres did she flew and not just give the distance in miles.
I also added a few maps, pictures about all our hotels, most important sites we’d visit and activities we’ll do.
Pixie is so curious, she loved checking out her journal, it also helped her get prepared for the trip, everything was new for her, new beds, new food, different language, culture. I tried to prepare her as much as possible.
I found that night flights are a bit easier with kids. Both of them slept well on the plane, and we could also sleep a bit.
We just woke her before landing to eat breakfast, she managed to sleep through the entire flight from boarding till the end.
There are a few aids, you could use to create a more comfy space for them, like PlanePal
but we are lucky with Pixie, she is able to sleep in the strangest positions! Maybe further along the way, we’ll get one, I think they are great for bigger kids.
Whether you are flying during the day or night, just don’t forget to take it easy. Don’t stress, you are ready! You are going on a vacation, visiting family, or going home. It will be great!