10 Tips When Travelling With Kids These Holidays

MEDIA RELEASE
18 March 2010

TOP 10 TIPS WHEN TRAVELLING WITH KIDS THESE HOLIDAYS
House of Travel gives you the tools to avoid the ‘shut up’!

School holidays are fast approaching and families will be heading off from all around New Zealand on a well earned holiday. But getting there is not without its challenges. So how do you make your travel as easy and stress free as possible?

Here are House of Travel’s ‘top 10 tips’ to make your travel stress free and help you avoid your children getting told to ‘shut up’ by the passenger behind you!

1. Travel light – You will not only end up carrying all of the luggage, but also your child. A backpack is the best way to keep your hands free to hold onto the kids while filling in forms at the same time.

2. Take snacks – Pack up the kid’s favourite snacks in zip lock bags such as fruit in bite-sized pieces, chips, crackers etc. They’ll pass the time munching on snacks and avoid a potential disaster if the airline food isn’t up to your child’s standards.

3. Always carry a blanket –Airport and planes can be very cold with the air conditioning on full. It also great as a pillow or wrap to get bubs off to sleep – especially when there are delays.

4. In-flight entertainment – Favourite books, toys, crayons, puzzles, mp3 players – basically anything that will keep them entertained. A godsend is the ‘sticker book’ with 100’s of stickers inside – less than $10 at most airports. Whatever you get, make it small and easy to fit into your backpack.

5. It’s all about layers of clothing – especially if you are travelling somewhere where the temperature is different. It will even help keep the kids warm on the airplane as it can get pretty chilly when the air conditioning is going. Think socks, leggings, long and short sleeve tees – anything that can be removed and put on quickly to adjust to the temperature.

6. Stick with the body clock timetable - If you are travelling on a long flight, try to work with your travel agent to book flights that suit the natural cycles of the kids. Book a flight that leaves in the evening, so the kids can get onboard, have dinner, watch a movie then will be off to sleep without too much trouble. A lot easier than entertaining them for a 12 hour daytime flight.

7. Know what’s there before you leave - Ask your travel agent about airport and airplane facilities. Baby buggies are often available that you can use when in transit – a lot easier than trying to carry everything from gate 1 to gate 99. Ask about special customs queues for families to make it as smooth as possible.

8. Ask for help - Don't be afraid to ask the airline staff for help. If you have 2 kids and several bags ask the cabin crew on your flight if they can get one of the ground staff to give you a hand getting off the plane and to the customs desk. They won't always be able to help you but you'd be amazed how often they will if you just ask!

9. Takeoff and Landing – Kids will often get ear ache so practice with them holding their noses and blowing. Give your baby or toddler a drink as swallowing helps to unblock their ears. For older kids, bring a sweet to suck on or chewing gum to help unblock their eyes. If that doesn’t work, ask the attendant for plastic drinking cups and place them over your child’s ears to help with the pressure and prevent ear ache.

10. Don't feel the need to apologise! - At the end of the day, all you can do is your best and stressing about what others around you are thinking will just make it worse!

ENDS

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