Spending a really long time on a plane with a toddler - our top tips

We've just returned from a magical holiday in Australia that nearly didn't happen because we thought that entertaining Harris on a plane for 13 hours would be impossible and really horrible. So, I thought I'd share our top tips for surviving a big trip with an active 18 month old. It's really not that bad!! 

Choose the right airline for you

We flew with Singapore Airlines and they were exceptional. We chose Singapore Airlines because its bassinets are suitable for kids up to 14kg (Harris is just over 11kg I think). Most of the other airlines we looked at only did bassinets for babies under 10 months. Harris was a bit too tall for this one, but as you can see we managed to squeeze him in and he slept very well in there. Harris also got a little toy and blanket to take home, which doubled as a very useful changing mat on holiday. The flight attendants couldn't do enough for us and Harris was treated like a king. 

Talk about it 

Although Harris can only say a few words, it's clear that he understands almost everything. So we were keen to teach him about planes and help him understand and get excited about our holiday. When we found the Going on a Plane Sticker Book we knew it would be a great help as Harris loves books and stickers. We read it to him a few times before our trip and he was quickly able to point to the planes, seatbelts and luggage. It really helped him understand what was happening in the airport and on the plane and the stickers passed loads of time on the flight and on holiday. 

Think about a stopover

We spent 24 hours in Singapore, we booked a room at the Crowne Plaza hotel at Changi airport so we had a place to shower and sleep. We loved exploring the city with the fantastic Gardens by the Bay taking up most of our day followed by an evening play in the hotel pool. I think the stopover helped us adjust to the new time easily, and the 5 1/2 hour flight to Perth the next day was a breeze. 

Pack lots of food

Normal routine can go out the window and we found that Harris was more fussy with what he wanted to eat. He certainly didn't want the jars of baby food kindly provided by the airline. Luckily we'd taken lots of things to keep him going, sandwiches, Ella's fruit and veg pouches, cheesy pasta, raisins, breadsticks and he shared my inflight meals too. Hand held food worked best for us as using cutlery got pretty messy... Remember your wipe clean bib, we have one like this. 

Take a special cup or bottle

Harris has a cup with a straw attached and he just loves it. During the flight, he loved passing it to the flight attendants every time he wanted more milk (quite often). The cup was almost like a comforter to him and it ensured that he drank plenty of water on the flight and on holiday. 

Books, books and more books

We took loads of books and we read them all, more than once. We choose thin books, so we could fit more in, and made sure we took some of Harris's favourites as well as some new exciting ones.

More stuff to entertain

Stickers and magic painting were the best things we took on the plane. Harris spent loads of time painting, quite amazed by all the colours, and the stickers lasted him all four flights - they didn't all make it into the book...

And more stuff to entertain

We took Harris's super cute Califone panda headphones, especially for little toddler ears, his Nerf MP3 player filled with Nick Cope songs and we downloaded a few episodes of Thomas onto our laptop. We also took stacking cups, some small farm animals and Panda. We decided against cars (Harris's favourite thing) because we didn't think we could stop them speeding down the aisle of the plane. 

A mini first aid kit
We took a little bag filled with teething gel, plasters, a small tube of nappy cream,  antiseptic cream, hand sanitizer, sun cream, insect repellent and sachets of Calpol (all under 100ml so fine to take on the plane) most of it went unused, but I'd take it all again just in case. 

Just go with it
We just let Harris eat whenever he wanted, he got more milk than normal, watched more TV than normal and slept whenever he felt like it, and it worked. He loved the flight, especially going faster and faster during take off and looking out the window. He made lots of new peek-a-boo friends as he explored the plane and he didn't seem to notice the time change. Me and Rob missed having hours to sleep, eat and watch movies, but I think flying with a toddler actually makes the journey go faster - you're never bored!