Hello everyone. I'm here in Halliburton, Canada. I have come to visit my family and introduce
baby Caleb to everyone. I flew from London Gatwick all the way over here on an eight-hour
flight. And when I was on the flight, I learned a few things and I thought I should definitely
do a vlog about flying with babies and toddlers or baby and a toddler. It was the first time
I'd ever flown with two children. So I learned a few things and I thought I would share my
tips with you. This was Fraser's 12th ever flight. He went
to Canada when he was five months old. He went to Spain when he was nine months old
and he went to Vegas when he was 18 months old and he went to Canada again and then he
went to Egypt. And now we're in Canada again. So a lot of his flying has been long haul,
but we have done a bit of budget airline as well. So these tips will cover both areas.
The first tip is preparation. So when you're booking a flight for a baby or toddler, think
about their normal nap times and, if possible, make sure that you're in the air for a bit
of time before they do a nap so that there's some of the time in the air is spent with
them sleeping, either in the sky cot or on you. It just makes things easier if some of
the time they are not awake. Also in booking a flight, make sure you take
into account the time that you need to spend in the airport and also at the time that it
takes you to get to the airport. So for instance, when we were coming to Canada, we had to get
to the airport three hours ahead of the takeoff time and we live an hour away from the airport.
So we basically needed four hours before. I mean if you book a flight and then you have
to leave your house at 3:00 AM and you have to wake up a baby and you have to get into
the car and you have to disrupt them and all that kind of thing, it starts the whole day
off in a bad start. If you can be mindful of times and if it isn't a huge difference
in cost, then it's definitely worth thinking about that.
Leave plenty of time at the airport to get through the gate to get through security,
to do some shopping, to pick up drinks, et cetera. So that you feel calm and relaxed
when you're there. We actually love the airport and love the whole experience of the airport
and Fraser gets really, really excited so we always get there as soon as we can and
spend time in there sort of shopping and buying things and you know, it just leaves lots of
time to really to get to the gate. When you're booking a flight, if you can and
make sure that you book your seats or book a sky cot for the baby if you have to. Me
and my husband like to, if it's a row of three books or two aisles or the two outer seats
so that hopefully no one will choose the middle seat if it's not a full flight and you'll
get that seat available as well to have for your baby. Take a chance when get to the airport,
go up to the counter with your baby so that they can see that you're traveling with a
baby and you know it's not easy. They can sort of see the baby and hopefully the baby
can charm them a bit and say, is it a full flight, is there any way that we can have
a spare seat next to us? You know, doing it that way. Just see if you can get a bit more
space. And we've always booked like the seats with the extra leg room and we've always chosen
an aisle seat. I mean some people may think that a window seat might be good for a toddler,
but you're going to be up and down in the aisle, so I would recommend that you choose
an aisle seat. At the gate families are always allowed to
board first, but if we have a seat already booked like on a long haul flight, then we
wait it out. We wait till the very last call before we actually get on the plane because
a lot more fun for the kids to run around the gate and look at planes and things like
that than to get on the flight and be confined to their seat. They're going to be confined
for long enough anyway, so we always wait it out. But obviously if you're traveling
with a budget airline, then you know you can't book your seats beforehand, so just get on
there and get your seats. But we like to wait it out.
When you get onboard the flight, if you don't get a full briefing from the stewardess or
steward, then don't be afraid to ask, where's the toilet with the baby changing in it? Where's
the baby life jacket? Can you heat up food for me? How do I have to hold the baby? With
the buggy, we took our Maclaren umbrella buggy and we took it straight up to the gate and
collapsed it at the gate so that was our personal like carry caddy the whole way and make sure
you ask where the buggy's going to be when you get off the flight. Is it going to be
in the baggage claim? Is it going to be right there as soon as you get off? You need to
know because we didn't know and we were aimlessly walking around trying to find it and it was
actually at the baggage claim, which doesn't make any sense to me because you've got a
baby to carry. So anyway, make sure you find out where it's going to be.
Also, if your baby is like mine and befriends strangers and just stares and smiles at them,
you know, I like to say to people if you, you know, if you don't want him to do, you
don't want him to stare at you, don't engage. Don't worry. There's no offense. You know,
most people say, oh, don't be silly. It's fine. I love babies and you sort of know where
you stand. And then whenever we get onto a flight and people are looking at us like,
Oh God, I hope that they don't sit next to me. Like my husband always like cracks a joke.
Like oh you pulled the short straw, you know ha ha we're sitting next to you.
Make sure that you get organized. Know your airport, know where everything is in the airport.
Know if you can, for instance, if you can book, you can, Boots do a service that you
can book milk prior to your arrivals. You can book milk at the pharmacy and then you
can go through security and the gate and you can pick up their milk for the flight. Check
out if your airport has a child play center or play area. We flew from London Gatwick
and they had an amazing soft play area for the boys so we spent some time there just
letting them run around and get some exercise before we got onto like the confined fight.
Hi, Fras. Go to the family check-in. It's obviously
more family focused with pretty pictures on the walls. Also quicker for you to get through.
So think about the day and how it's going to run and what you're going to need to. Make
sure you have a pound aside for a trolley, make sure you have toll money, make sure you
have everything like that just so that the day runs smoothly. So make sure you make a
packing list and tick off the items as you pack them into your travel cases. And if your
child is over three, I would recommend getting a travel case for them. Fraser has a Trunki
and he loved it. He took full responsibility of it and we went from the airport lounge
to the gate with just dragging him on it and he was using it as a scooter and all kinds
of things. So it was wonderful. For Caleb, for our baby, he's seven months
old we brought books. Big hit was a balloon. I mean I know these could pop, but they pack
obviously this small and then on the flight you can blow them up and he was just sort
of, we were bopping it in the air. I even made a little play area for him at
my feet because we had booked the extra leg room. I put a blanket down with some of his
toys, like a rattle, Sophie the giraffe, and the few books and things and he just sort
of played at my feet at one point. So it gave him a bit of space, as always being held he
was really quite hot. Fraser, we went, I went to the local pound
shop and I bought him a load of new little cheap toys. And I also bought him this Olaf
from Frozen cause he loves Frozen at the moment. I got him some mushy monsters, coloring pens
and sticker books because you can't have any technology in the takeoff and landing, so
you're going to need things like that to keep them amused. He also loved top trumps and
he loved this little etch-a-sketchy thing that I got from the pound shop. Anyway, he
loved this. But my friend gave me a really good tip. I
didn't actually do it, but you can. The toys that you buy from the pound shop or just the
cheap little toys that you buy, you can gift wrap them with lots and lots of sellotape
and then let them open them, and then just for them to open. The gift wrap actually takes
them 10 minutes alone. So that's another way to waste time.
Have lots of snacks available for the kids, if they don't like the food on the flight,
which is highly likely if you are fussy children like me and make sure they are the snacks
that they love, tried and tested. There's no point in trying new snacks on a flight
because if they don't like them, it's just not going to work. So we had like his old
favorites, like quavers, yogurt apple, grapes, all of his favorites on there. And obviously
for Caleb, we brought some of his little snacks and enough food for all of his meals and pouches
because obviously they're not going to give you baby puree on a flight. And we brought
two sippy cups. I actually brought one for Fraser and one for Caleb, but when we got
to the family check-in and the family security, they said that you're only allowed sippy cups
for the baby. So I quickly said that both sippy cups were for the baby and that was
why they let me through. But they said you're not allowed to bring any drinks for toddlers.
Make sure that you check on the airline website if you are allowed to bring drinks and sippy
cups for the children with you. Bring two changes of clothes for the baby
because who knows how many explosive poos they're going to do. The altitude could make
them a bit unsettled and stuff. And I brought a full change of clothes for Fraser as well
in case he spilled anything or had an accident. Also brought one nappy for every hour that
we were in flight. So it was an eight hour flight, so I took eight nappies. I bought
disposable bibs because I didn't want to have a soiled cloth bib in the bag and get it all
moldy and bring it home. And I also took sweets, Fraser's favorite
like fruitella sweet things for takeoff and landing. I had his drink but I thought he
was more likely to chew and swallow sweets. So we let him have that as we took off and
landing to sort of for his ears. And of course I either, well I tried to breastfeed Caleb
on the way up and down or I also had the sippy cup as well if he wasn't interested in that
or it was a bit like awkward. He did have some of his water out of his sippy cup.
Also took a baby blanket on flight and I layered up the children's clothes so that Caleb was
wearing a vest, a tee shirt and a cardigan because some fights are hot, some things are
cold, you just never know. So it was best to layer up. Half the flight Caleb spent in
literally just a tiny little vest because it was so warm. Brought teething stuff for
Caleb. I brought teether gel, I brought Anbesol and Calpol, just in case something happened
in the air. You never know. Brought Sudocrem and I brought antibacterial hand gel and just
because you know there's so many germs on a flight.
Make sure you get toddler headphones. We got Fraser these really cute blue ones so that
he could hear the films on the screen and that so he can hear things that are going
on on the iPad and make sure that you load up your iPad with movies, shows, apps that
he can play. Fraser had Doc McStuffins shows, henry Hugglemonster, Cars, Disney Cars, Nemo,
and Frozen. If you don't know what film to put on your iPad, get Frozen because there
are no children that don't like Frozen. In terms of apps, I mean Fraser's three and he
loves EduKitchen, Zoo Train, Princess Palace Pets. And he loves Cut the Rope and Angry
Birds. So all of that was on the iPad. It was fully, fully charged and he played on
it for a lot of the flight. So the main thing is don't panic. We've been
on a flight 12 times now with a baby or toddler or a baby and a toddler. And it's always been
fine. I mean, I've luckily never had to travel with a sick child. I don't really know how
on earth that would go, but if you can just relax as much as you can, it's a really exciting
experience for the kids. I mean, Fraser was just psyched to be on an actual real plane.
If you get stressed, they'll get stressed and it will all be a big stressful experience,
which sucks. If all else fails and it goes completely wrong
and you have a screaming, crying baby on the flight, you know, as long as you're seeming
to be trying your very best to help the situation, no one's going to be annoyed. Probably half
the people on a flight are parents themselves. So don't worry.
I've got to go now because I'm getting bit by mosquitoes and my camera has just died
on me. So yes, I hope some of my tips have been helpful and I will see you all soon.
Have a safe flight. Bye.
[inaudible 00:12:52].
What was my point of saying that? Do I need it? Oh my gosh, look at this. Look at that.
Yeah, so don't worry if all goes wrong and just open up the door and jump out. Just kidding.
Don't do that. Oh, God, what was I saying? What was my point? Turn it off, turn it off.
Have you got my face?
Yes.
Okay. Leave plenty ... Is it still running? Yeah. What is it?
Draw on it?
Oh, sorry.
Show them what it is.
Oh, okay.
Or lose the pen.
Shit. Ah, I just ... it's in the lake.
Oh no. Is it really?
The pen's in the lake. [crosstalk 00:00:13:58].
Okay. It should.
My sister's filming this and she keeps making me laugh. Hold on, hold on. Doing well.
I can't feel my foot.
Get him.
Hi, Mommy. Hi.
Hi.