Travelling with kids – tips and tricks I learned the hard way: Part III
If something feels strange, it usually is. Trust your gut, double-check your itinerary, and make sure to ask the right question!
BABY on the plane
If you have a baby under 8 kilos, make sure to book the bassinette row and call the airline a few weeks prior to your departure to ensure that there is a record of you needing it.
If you are travelling with more than just you and your baby, then make sure that you have specified that the other members of your family should be sitting in the same row with you (if this is what you want). There were a few times when I secretly wished that the plane was too full to seat us together and I would have to sit up at first class while the rest of the family sat in economy!!! Often airlines will only put the mother and baby in the bassinette row and seat the other family members elsewhere, so you need to be specific.
For babies, the back of the plane is a good place to sit as it is noisy and a bumpy, all great to induce sleep in little babies. For adults it is not so pleasant – for the same reasons. I will leave it up to you to work out what your priority is.
I would always recommend arriving early to the airport to ensure the best chance of getting the seats you want.
On some airlines, you have the option of doing an online check-in 24 hours prior to departure to secure your seats. Most large airlines will have this facility available.
When you choose your seats, always ask how full the plane is and whether they can block any seats for you around where you are sitting in order to give you a bit more room.
Feeding your kids on the plane
I tend to order vegetarian for the whole family when we fly. This is a personal choice. Other than the food they provide on the plane, I make it a rule to pack food for my kids. The kids often do not like the food served, and there is nothing worse than a hungry child. They can’t sleep properly and they are in bad moods. I usually pack rolls with their favourite fillings and some healthy snacks.
The only time my older children are allowed to have chewing gum is on an aeroplane. I find that it really helps with the take-off and landing ear pressure.
I allow the kids some treats on the plane, but try to choose things which are in small portions to avoid a sugar rush. Pop corn, corn chips, cereal bars, fruit sticks or a few pieces of fresh fruit, freddo frogs, smarties are all good options. When you find your seats, ask the crew whether it is possible for each of your family members to have a bottle of water. That will save you having to ask for water each time you want some and will also ensure you and your kids are drinking enough.
If you have a baby under 6 months, the easiest way to feed them while travelling is to breastfeed. It is sterile, easily accessible and a useful way to help babies sleep in a new environment. I recently travelled with my 5 month old and had made the decision many months before to continue breastfeeding until after my trip, in order to make the trip more manageable. My daughter spent a lot more time than usual feeding, but it kept her quiet and content and allowed her to sleep.
If you are bottle-feeding, then many formula manufacturers make sachets of formula that are one portion each and these can be made up as needed. Most airlines have boiled water that you can use to make up the bottles. Ask for 2 bottles of water at the start of your trip so that they will cool in time for you to use them.
Waiting for A TAKE-OFF
Many airlines want the children to board before the rest of the travellers. This gives families some extra time to settle down. I have always found this useful. I offer my kids to go to the toilet at this point, while the plane is still on the ground and I don’t have to worry about lugging my luggage into and out of public bathrooms. It also allows me to work out the best seating positions for the kids based on the mood at the time. If they are in an unsettled state, then it is best to separate them between adults, if they are calm and cooperative then I am happy to let them sit next to each other. You will have to work this out at the time.
Catching the train
Not always as easy as it seems.
We arrived at Bologna station three hours early as our previous train arrived then. We were a family group of 9 – 4 children and 5 adults, so we decided to wait at the station taking it in turns to watch the luggage, as the station had a bad reputation for pick pockets and bag snatchers.
An hour and a half into our wait, the train platform arrival info was displayed on the arrivals board. We moved all our luggage to the platform so we would be ready to jump on as soon as it arrived, as we had a 3 minute window to get 14 bags, half of which were filled with heavy sky things on the train, find out seats and settle the two babies that were with us. An hour before the proposed arrival, we looked at the arrivals board again and our arrival platform had been changed to allow for another train.
It is very important to check the arrival board often before you board the train to make sure you are on the right platform.
We moved our bags and then waited again. The platform was 6 West. We looked around and felt very ready for the arrival. We were there before anyone else. 10 minutes before the train was to arrive, there was still only one other person standing with us, then a couple of men turned up, we felt better, but still a little strange (Another lesson – if something feels strange, it usually is. Trust your gut).
Luckily, we were with my Italian brother-in-law. He thought it was a bit strange that there were only three others waiting for a train to Rome. He checked the platforms at the station and realised that the train we were meant to get onto was arriving into platform 6 East, on the other side of the station!! Lesson number three – Double check the details of your travel arrangements.
My husband, brother-in-law, and his brother picked up 10 suitcases between them. My sister, mother and I with four kids in tow, including two 6-month olds in baby carriers plus a stroller, picked up the rest, and we ran. Lesson number four – pack light!!! You can almost always buy what you need in your new destination and most of the time you won’t need half of what you pack.
Down a flight of stairs, across the entire station to get to the other platform, up a flight of stairs – and we arrived just as the train was pulling in. My husband pointed out that the areas where each carriage was going to stop had been numbered on the platform, so we raced to carriage number 2 which is where our seats were. We had decided to book first class seats so we were up the front of the train. (This may sound like an extravagance to you, but you have to ask the appropriate question before you make that judgement: “How much more does it cost to go first class?” – 5 euro!!! That’s right. For 5 extra euro you have your own seats, in a beautiful half-empty carriage with its own toilet and adjacent to the restaurant car. Worth every cent. Lesson number five – make sure to ask the right question!)
With a minute to spare, we had loaded up the train with ourselves and all our things. We collapsed into our seats. That was too close for comfort. Had my brother-in-law not checked the arrival details, we would still be standing on platform 6 West, waiting for our train, it would not have arrived and then my whole family would be stuck looking for accommodation in Bologna for the night (which would have been a totally different adventure, which we would have dealt with, had the situation eventuated. Luckily it didn’t.)
Moral of the story – when travelling on trains, check your departure details thoroughly.
Feeding the kids on land
I walked into a café with my sons where there was an array of rolls with different fillings. I asked my son: “Do you want any of these for lunch?” There was smoked salmon and artichoke or tuna rocket and olive on mini rolls, tuna and tomato on large white rolls, egg and mayo on sandwiches. My son’s response was: “Mum, can I have tuna and olive, without the tuna?”
Lesson – don’t give your kids too many choices when it comes to food. Two options is enough, e.g. would you like tuna and tomato roll or egg and mayo sandwich? I usually buy myself the more “local” version of anything and then offer my kids a taste as I want them to experience the local food instead of always opting for the familiar. As a result, my kids enjoy the experience of trying new things.
Food is one of the best ways to get to know a new country and culture.
Keep an online journal
We went around the world for five months when my boys were 3 and 5 years old and we documented our trip on a blog that our family could log into to track our activities. It was an excellent way to let everyone we loved know what we were up to, and at the end of our long trip we had a brilliant record of our five months away. We could upload photos to illustrate the holiday and had an email address that our blog visitors could contact us on.
Catherine Fritz-Kalish is co-founder and General Manager of Global Access Partners (GAP) – a proactive and influential network which initiates high-level discussions at the cutting edge of the most pressing commercial, social and global issues of today. Catherine’s broad business experience includes coordination of a number of international initiatives for the SME unit of the OECD (Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development) at headquarters in Paris, marketing and brand management within all seven divisions of the George Weston Foods Group, and working within the TCG Group of Companies in the area of start-up incubator establishment.
www.globalaccesspartners.org, www.tcg.net.au
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RELATED BLOGS:
- "Travelling with kids – tips and tricks I learned the hard way": Part I – by Catherine Fritz-Kalish
- "Travelling with kids – tips and tricks I learned the hard way: Part II" – by Catherine Fritz-Kalish
Catherine Fritz-Kalish is the co-founder and Managing Director of Global Access Partners (GAP) and Director of the International Centre for Democratic Partnerships (ICDP) and ICDP Foundation. She also holds Board positions for a number of not-for-profit organisations.
olgabodrova
January 27, 2011 at 3:39 am
Avoid ordering from “children’s menu” on the plane
An additional piece of advice re: feeding your kids on the plane – NEVER order from their so called “children’s menu”. It’s mostly junk and I found it totally inedible, not even for adults, never mind a fussy little toddler. Pack as much homemade stuff as you can, as well as treats which can last a distance, and just accept it won’t be a healthy diet for a while.
I also find packing a lot of your child’s favorite entertainment helps survive a long flight. My 3 y.o. daughter drew, coloured and painted all the way from Sydney to Moscow (that’s some 30 hours of travel with a night stopover in Seoul), and needed little else.
Have some warm clothes to protect your child from chilly air-conditioning, and a favourite pillow /toy might help them sleep better and with some comfort on the plane (that is, if you are game to give them your seat and not to sleep at all).
cat@globalaccesspartners.org
January 27, 2011 at 4:03 am
great additions Olga. 🙂
great additions Olga. 🙂