Air Travel Guide for Young Children
I am not a parent, but as someone who finds it difficult to feed and clothe himself, I have a lot of respect for people who care about other people . When I see parents traveling with their children , it looks like a lot of fun. But when you’re alone, traveling is stressful – how do they deal with it with young children?
Myths about traveling with children
“When you have children, that’s all,” a friend who is also not a parent once told me. “You can forget about travel because you are ingrained and do not want to disrupt their schedule.”
This sounded like an extreme opinion to me, but instead of drawing my own conclusions about whether this is true, I consulted with someone who knows better: the real parent.
“I don’t remember signing something that said I should give up entertainment and travel just because I have kids,” Lee Huffman, travel blogger with SoloTravelDad.com , told us. “Seriously, we feel that introducing our children to new worlds and different cultures will make them more tolerant of people who are different from them.”
Huffman, himself an avid traveler, took his son on this adventure when he was just six weeks old and says one of the biggest misconceptions about traveling with kids is that they won’t even remember the trip. Huffman said:
“Children are more resilient than we often think. Often it is our uncertainty or anxiety, which reflects back to us. Have you ever noticed that if your child falls and scratches his knee, if you don’t react, he starts having fun again? If you react, they’ll start crying and whimpering. It’s the same with travel. If you act like everything is ok and this journey is a way of life, the kids will accept it and move on. If you attach great importance to this, they tend to be capricious. “
Many people might think your travel plans will expire when you have kids, but like Lee, many parents make this work.
“At the same time, babies and toddlers will cry, no matter what,” he added.
Whether you are a parent who has never traveled with their children , or a new parent who is thinking about their first family trip, or just an avid traveler who is thinking about becoming a parent , we’ve got you covered.
If you need a passport, apply in advance
First, there are practical issues. If you are traveling abroad or staying in another country, your child needs a passport, including infants and newborns.
It can take 6 to 8 weeks to process, so take some time. If you are traveling to the United States from the United States, you do not need a passport, but you will need proof of identity and citizenship, such as a copy of your birth certificate. The Department of Transport explains :
All children must present a valid US passport for international travel. This rule applies regardless of age, including infants and newborns. If you are applying for a passport for your child for the first time, allow sufficient time for the passport application process. If you are traveling to Canada, minors aged 15 and under can cross land or sea borders without a passport, but a certified copy of your birth certificate is required. Minors between the ages of 16 and 18 must have a passport, passport card, extended driver’s license, or Nexus card to re-enter the United States from Canada by land or sea.
You do not need a passport for domestic flights, of course, and for these flights, TSA rules state that children under 18 do not need anything other than a boarding pass if traveling with an adult. It sounds simple enough, but we’re talking about air travel here, so it’s not that simple.
Each airport has its own rules as to what type of ID you need. For example, Southwest requires a copy of your child’s birth certificate upon registration. Therefore, be sure to check your airline’s policies before booking your ticket.
Read the rules before flying
Speaking of regulations, almost all airlines have a “circle policy,” which means that children under the age of 2 can fly for free (to a large extent, you still have to pay taxes and fees) if they sit in your lap during flight. flight.
“Be sure to take advantage of free travel while you can,” Lee advised. “With both of our kids, we booked a few vacations in the last couple of months before their second birthday because we knew this was the last hurray before we had to start buying their own tickets.”
The rules may differ for international flights, as Parenting.com explains :
Also, keep in mind that most carriers only allow children under 2 years of age to fly free on domestic flights. If you are traveling on an international flight to a more exotic destination, you will need to ask the airline if your child needs a ticket, can ride on your lap for free, or can get a discounted ticket.
But let’s say your toddler has already reached the age of knees. Or maybe you still want to reserve a seat for your little one. In most cases, you will pay the full adult ticket price for the domestic ticket. Some airlines offer discounts for infants if you really want to reserve a seat for your child, but you will have to call the airline directly for prices.
On some domestic routes, Southwest offers discounts for children under 12 on certain routes, but (no pun intended) your mileage will vary. While most airlines do not offer child discounts domestically, they may have discounts on child tickets for international flights (and One Mile at a Time explains how to find these discounted tickets).
For children sitting in their seats, the FAO suggests using a child restraint like this to keep them safe. They explain :
Did you know that the safest place for your child on the plane is a government-approved restraint system or child safety device, not on your lap? Your hands cannot reliably hold the baby, especially during unexpected turbulence.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) strongly recommends that you keep your child on a CRS or device while in flight. This is the smart and correct thing to do to ensure that all your family members arrive safely at their destination. The FAA provides you with the information you need to make informed decisions about your family’s travel plans.
Again, rules differ from airline to airline – some require medical documentation for infants under two weeks of age – so be sure to read them before booking.
In addition, if you are a TSA Pre✓ member, your children can also receive Pre✓ if they are 12 years old or younger.
Manage pressure pain in the ear
I really sympathize with parents who have to quarrel not only with naughty children, but also with angry looks when they fly. If you are throwing away angry looks, show some compassion for the parents and children. Babies and children often cry because they cannot cope with changes in air pressure the same way adults can, says Molly Grow, M.D., pediatrician at Seattle Children’s Hospital at Conde Nast Traveler.
In addition to being frightened, teens find it more difficult to disconnect from stimuli such as beeps and announcements … Screams are usually caused by babies unable to neutralize their ears due to changes in air pressure during takeoff and landing. .. • Learning to stick your ears, swallow, or yawn to open the Eustachian tube – the passageway that connects the middle ear to the back of the throat – and equalize the pressure is not intuitive.
This means that the pressure can be quite painful for them, which explains the cry. Lee suggests feeding or feeding during takeoff and descent to relieve ear discomfort.
“Young children don’t know how to put pressure on their ears, so bring something with you to suck on, such as a suction cup or a baby bottle,” Lee said. “Sucking and swallowing will help reduce the pressure on their eardrums.”
Tips for keeping kids calm while flying
Lee added that the biggest challenge he faces when traveling with young children is working during their daytime sleep.
“Trying to get off the plane carrying a bag of potatoes (aka a sleeping child) plus carry-on luggage is a bit tricky. I am totally against checking bags because I hate wasting time waiting for bags, but I recommend it to people who are not masochistic like me. “
If you can book your flight at the right time, due to red eyes or during your child’s usual sleep, he can sleep through the entire flight. During the trip Aha! Parenting involves walking during the flight while you can:
Prevention is the key to success. So, for example, since you know that the last forty minutes of the flight you will have to sit in your seats, make sure that you walk a lot on the plane while you can get around. This way she will be ready to sit down and watch the movie in the last step.
You might even consider splitting the flight. Our very own Beth Skorecki said that while she doesn’t fly with her kids, she does the long journeys that are much easier when separated.
We used to take this long hellish trip to visit our family, but then we realized that we could split it in half and spend 4 hours in the evening and 4 hours in the morning. They take it much better and it is worth every penny of the extra night at the hotel.
For a flight, this may mean a lengthy transfer, but it will be worth it.
Likewise, experts say that you should encourage your child to release their energy even before you sit down in the garden. If the airport has a play area for children , it might be worth a pit stop. When your child gets really bored or anxious, the solution seems to come down to a distraction, like Aha! Education involves :
A toddler’s job is to explore his world. If they can’t explore while walking, you can count on them to drive the passenger in front of you crazy by exploring the tray table. To give your kid something to explore, why not bring a bunch of cheap, interesting items that will captivate them? It’s not overkill. You really need to plan ahead for your little one on the plane. The screens are great for your child’s entertainment, but don’t count on being enough.
What’s more, many flights don’t even have on-screen entertainment right now, so don’t expect them to be available at all.
Examine your nutritional (and diaper) situation
Since so many flights were easy , don’t assume you will get food or even snacks. As a grown woman, I want to cry, so I can only imagine how small children should feel. When it comes to snacks, you should probably be wrong about over-packaging, be it baby food, PB&J patties, crackers, or whatever your child loves to eat. It is possible to purchase baby food on some flights, but again, check your options before booking. JetBlue, for example, doesn’t offer baby food, but they do have free snacks for kids.
There is also a bathroom. Not all carriers have diaper change stations on every flight, so this is another service you should look into before booking. Unsurprisingly, Virgin America has some of the best policies out there. They not only have diaper changing stations (in the back bathrooms), but also spare diapers for parents who run out.
Benadryl’s question
Finally, there is the question of how to throw the child off balance with medication. Should my child be given Benadryl or other antihistamines to help him fall asleep?
Some parents swear by it, some say it makes things worse, and others swear they will never do it. By all accounts, this is probably not harmful, but it may not be as effective either. And there is reason to believe that this can really only worsen the situation. As Science of Mom points out , the active drug in antihistamines is diphenhydramine (DPH), and it can have different side effects for adults and children:
DPH is commonly used to treat allergy symptoms, but drowsiness is a common side effect. Using this effect, DPH is used to treat insomnia in adults. However, according to the NIH , “DPH should not make children sleepy.” Interestingly, they warn that DPH can have a paradoxical effect, causing arousal rather than drowsiness, especially in children.
Despite these official warnings, several studies report that pediatricians generally endorse the use of DPH to help children fall asleep. In a survey of pediatric primary care practitioners in the United States [ 1 ], 45% reported recommending over-the-counter drugs to help children sleep while traveling, with antihistamines such as Benadryl being the most common.
Studies like this one from the Journal of the American Medical Association show that DPH is not very effective at helping children fall asleep. As one Mount Sinai pediatrician explained to ABC News :
Benadryl is “technically safe” for children over six months of age, and if a parent chooses to do so, and that, in addition to pretesting, the dosage is 1.25 mg per kilogram and should not be administered more often than once every six hours. … Hammond urged parents considering pre-flight Benadryl to consult with their pediatricians first, because “every medication has a side effect.”
Whatever you decide to do, probably, it would be nice to take a first aid kit, which at any case include Benadryl, Tylenol and all other basic drugs. Again, a little preparation can go a long way.
When you travel there is a lot that can go wrong, and when you add children it can get complicated. So Lee offers one final piece of advice on how to deal with stress:
“The best advice is to admit that no matter how bad it is at the moment, it will be a funny memory in the future … The best feeling of traveling with children is watching the amazement on their faces as they try something. new.”