Advice/Help - Long Haul with 2 young Kids

[fabs]

In a few weeks I am flying BA Leeds to Cape Town (via LHR) with 2 young kids. 3 year old boy and 1 year old girl. Couldn’t go Premium Economy and my little girl will be a lap passenger due finances. Years ago I have been that passenger who has been unfortunately seated near young children who have been ‘challenging’; although disruptive it’s never really bothered me that much because the parent/s have been trying their best to entertain their kids and after all kids are kids. But I want to make the journey as peaceful as possible for those seated around us. Does anyone have any advice on how to keep 2 young kids from causing mayhem on BA058 (aside from drugging them)?

[G&T ice n slice]

aside from drugging them

well, drat!, there goes my suggestion....

(1) make sure you are all seated together (check the aircraft seatplan and try to get a 3-bank seat set if there is one)

(2) make sure you have something to help the kids swallow frequently (juice or milk) during climb and descend clears the Euston Station Tubes and relieves pain in the ears)

after that you're on your own...

[Gibon2]

Lots of good advice in this thread (http://www.pprune.org/cabin-crew/488721-advice-new-mum-alone-long-haul-flight.html) and in this one (http://www.pprune.org/passengers-slf-self-loading-freight/354083-how-fly-kids.html).

Will you be alone with the two kids? If so, you will certainly have your hands full. Make sure the cabin crew are aware of your predicament, and speak to them early on about planning meals, etc - it's best if you feed the kids first, and then tackle your own meal later.

Since you rather foolishly didn't check with us before buying your ticket, there is little point in my main piece of advice, which is to start long-haul flights in the late afternoon or early evening. This gives the best chance of getting the kids to sleep according to their normal schedule, which gives you and your fellow passengers the best chance of some peace and quiet.

Once you're all settled on the long flight, it will probably be mostly OK. The worst part of the trip is likely to be the change at Heathrow.

Good luck!

[DaveReidUK]

Since you rather foolishly didn't check with us before buying your ticket, there is little point in my main piece of advice, which is to start long-haul flights in the late afternoon or early evening.Fortunately, BA have already taken your advice - that's precisely when their two daily LHR-CPT flights do depart. :O

[llondel]

Buy them both a new toy that they get given early in the flight. The novelty of something new and not seen before will give you some relief. Obviously not something with lots of bits, lest they get dropped on the floor.

[TLDNMCL]

On the plus side there isn't a huge time difference between UK and most of SA, so they are less likely to suffer from "body clock" confusion either; with a bit of luck you'll have a couple of sleepy-heads for company before too long. Good luck!

[DaveReidUK]

Obviously not something with lots of bits, lest they get dropped on the floor. And not Play-Doh either, if you ever want to fly with BA again ...

[PAXboy]

Plan for Day 1 and Day 2. When you first get there YOU will be tired and - whilst the adrenalin will keep you going for about three hours - plan that there will be someone to take the children whilst you crash out. ;)

They will not stop on the first day (or the second day) [if I know anything about children] {and I don't :}} but you will be very tired from the flight and need more than usual catch up time.

I'm sure you know that the LHR~CPT run is about 11.50 / 11.75 hours but that is wheels-to-wheels, not on-to-off, leave alone the formalities. So be ready for setting time expectations. :ok:

[Wannabe Flyer]

Cross your fingers and hope the people around you like kids. They can be a great help entertaining one if the other one is being a handful. If they do not understand your predicament and get nasty, well then you don't deserve to be caring of their needs in the first place. :p

[PAXboy]

A not unreasonable thread to add this report 'Dear Daddy' in Seat 16C: Shanell Mouland's letter goes viral - Americas - World - The Independent (http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/dear-daddy-in-seat-16c-letter-goes-viral-9062168.html)

Thanks ExXB. That was my first post from one of those new fangled tablet thingies. I don't understand it as, apparently, it does not require an external source of steam.

[llondel]

Cross your fingers and hope the people around you like kids

There's always that "oh no!" moment, but then I had to fly with a small child so I've been on the other side. If you've got a small baby who wants to cry then there's very little you can do about it, so I feel sorry for the parents when it happens. My son was a perfect angel on his first long-haul flight at six months. It was a Virgin flight, and an hour or so before landing, the purser offered to hold him while we sorted ourselves out. She eventually returned him as the seat belt sign came on, he'd had a tour of the whole 747, it seems.

Of course, on the way home when we wanted to sleep on the overnight flight, he most definitely did not and it was a lot harder.

I was sat next to a mother and son last time into SFO, they weren't regular fliers so I was pointing out things through the window to them. The good one is to note the position of the wings on the ground and then where they are once in the air - the difference between the wings hanging from the fuselage and vice versa. We were on the left, so as we approached the Bay Area I told them what to look for out of the window (I've always wondered whether the local tourist board had influence over the flight path) as the aircraft banked left and the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz were visible, and described the flight down the peninsular and the turn back up to the airport. I warned them about being almost in the water but didn't mention the Asiana incident until the wheels were on the ground. On my first flight into SFO I had an exit row seat and the flight attendant facing me gave me pretty much the same guided tour, so it was nice to be able to pass it on.

[Wannabe Flyer]

llondel

And that is exactly what I meant! :ok:

[ExXB]

PAXBOY - there is an extraneous "+" character at the beginning of your link (before http).

[fabs]

Thank you to those that replied. Gibbon, to be honest I went with BA because the timings were most suitable. I have no particular affinity or otherwise with BA, have flown to CPT numerous times (no children) with Air Namibia, KLM, Virgin and Emirates. BA simply offered a good connection (less than 2 hours) at Terminal 5 and an overnight flight to destination, plus it’s easier to check in baggage (1 each, 2 car seats and buggy) at LBA (v close to home) and forget about them. Rather than the long drive to LHR followed by long flight.

On my own outbound, wife to help inbound thankfully. Thanks again for advice, I’m not expecting sleep but it’d be nice if those around me can get some.

Cheers

[Octopussy2]

Aha, you hadn't mentioned you were a man...in that case you're bound to be inundated with offers of help, and generally encounter a more sympathetic attitude. That's certainly been my husband's experience.

As regards other passengers, the most important thing to get them on-side and to minimise tutting is to look like you're trying your best - what tends to enrage people is when kids are playing up and the parents don't seem to care.

[WHBM]

Reserve seats in advance.

Go for the far back of the aircraft as these are the least popular (and also some auto-allocation seat routines just fill the aircraft from the front backwards).

Choose a triple seat and reserve the Window and the Aisle. Leave the middle seat unreserved. Doing it this way means that, unless the aircraft is 100% full, that seat is most unlikely to be selected by someone else.

[atpcliff]

I think long haul is pretty stressful, so I suggest leaving the two young kids at home....it will make it easier....

[defizr]

Gin! :} :cool:

[YRP]

I like the "Dear Daddy" story, but am wondering where the heck "Brunswick, Canada is". :)

[ceeb]

It's not the kids that are the problem fabs it is the irresponsible parents.

The fact that you have taken proper responsibility for your children makes all the difference to those around you.

Well done.

[Wannabe Flyer]

Single Travelling dad with 2 kids!

Prepare to have a lot of pretty women surrounding you from airport to airport. Try taking them for a walk to a mall on your own to.... Did not mind the attention at all last week on my baby sitting walks :cool:

[Heathrow Harry]

we traveled for years with 2 small kids and never had any problems - if they've never done it before they can find it endlessly fascinating to twiddle all the knobs, actually look at the in-flight magazine and they even like the food...

Now many entertainment systems have e-games on them as well as cartoons - heaven!

TBH I'd ban people taking very small children on their laps for long flights - it's not good for the adult

But make sure you have a drink/food to hand when the plane is climbing/descending - they need to be forced to swallow to equalise pressure

[PAXboy]

Last year, row behind me with mother and two children. The eldest (8-ish) wasd fine but the 3 or 4 yr was refusing to eat the sweets during the descent and her ears were hurting, she was crying.

The mother was being diligent and patient but I heard her say, "Why do you want to eat sweets all day - and now that I WANT you to eat sweets ..." :p

[llondel]

I always went through the safety card with my son, pointing out the pictures and what they all meant. Never too soon to start with that :)

[PAXboy]

If it is likely that your children will be flying often (and most do nowadays) then consider getting them a "Passenger Flight Log Book" I got them for my great nephews with their names embossed on the front. Went down a treat, not least as their daddy drives 738s and on some trips he signs the Pilot column!

Just use the phrase in commas above in your favourite search engine.

[Capot]

Register them as Unaccompanied Minors and then check in and travel separately (although on the same aircraft), in a disguise in case they spot you.

(Fairly obviously, do not tell them that you are travelling.)

If there's a minimum age for UMs you may be ably to lose only one of them in this way, but that's a big gain. The one-year old will be easier to manage, and don't forget the Calpol.