Traveling is full of planning and logistics that can make it stressful. This includes having to compare the prices and services for different things to engineer the perfect holiday without ruining your funds, and having to meet deadlines for departures and co. Naturally, this is especially true when you are traveling with children. Then, you will have to take responsibility for them and make sure they stick to the plans while still remaining happy and content. Here are some tips on how to make airplane travel with children less chaotic and stressful.
The Challenges of Travelling with Children
Travelling with children adds some specific challenges to an already stressful trip, especially when you are travelling via plane and are putting them in new exciting, chaotic, or scary situations. These challenges include:
- Spending More Money: More people means more costs. Many services will reduce the prices for children, but the expenses will add up eventually. This makes it especially necessary to compare the costs of different services.
- Reacting to Fears: Even adults have trouble with flying and dealing with airport processes. Children, especially those who fly for the first time, might be afraid of the new situation.
- Keeping Up Family Harmony: Traveling with multiple children can be an opportunity to increase sibling rivalries and fighting. The stressful situation will lead to outburst more easily.
- Keeping Them Engaged & Content: There are many spans during the processes at the airport that will leave the children bored and whining. They are restricted in their freedom and the ways to entertain themselves.
- Dealing With Jet Lag: Depending on the situation, you and the children might get jet-lagged. Changes in their daily rhythm will be stressful to them, and you will have less energy to cope.
- Dealing With Homesickness: Some children react negatively to being away from home and their friends.
- Dealing With Diversions: Children might not be aware of the plans or how important it is to stick to them. If you don’t keep an eye on them, they might get lost or create delays in the meantime.
Strategies for Reducing Travel-Stress with Children
There are some methods that will help you deal with these challenges. If you keep these risk factors in mind, you might also find some alternate solutions that are especially helpful for your children’s specific needs.
Planning
Before you ever leave on the trip, you can plan the holiday to make it less stressful. This includes steps like picking a destination without jet lag or especially long flights.
Traveling to the Airport
The stress of a trip already starts once you leave your home. Having to travel to the airport and make it in time can be a stressful experience for both the parents and children. Add the airport processes and flight itself, and you might have a nightmare on hand.
There are several steps you can take:
- Take a Familiar Transportation Method: Travelling with your own car will be the most relaxing option for children. If they have to take a train to the airport, they will already be in a stressful situation before they even arrive at the airport. However, some children might need the excitement of a new situation to remain engaged and distracted from the stress. If you take your car, you will need to park it. To reduce the financial burden, use a service like Parkos to find good options and cheap prices.
- Reduce the Time Pressure: Children can typically pick up on the stress-level of their parents. Make the trip more convenient to yourself by reducing some stress factors. One way to do this is to eliminate the time pressure by including a good buffer and guaranteeing you will make it on time.
- Divide Stressful Situations Up: It might be helpful to split several stressful processes up and put some downtime in-between. The Park Sleep Fly package, for example, gives you the option to rent a hotel on or close to the airport premises and combine it with parking your car during your holiday. This way, you can arrive at the airport without any time stress, sleep there, and continue refreshed in the morning.
Comfort & Engagement
Keep your child both comfortable and entertained. There are several strategies that will help you with this.
- bring their favorite items, like toys, blankets, or stuffed animals
- provide snacks and drinks
- check with your paediatrician about medication, like Benadryl
- bring entertainment, like media
- communicate and include them in your plans
Children understand more than many parents give them credit for. When you travel with them, they will inevitably be in some new situations. If they don’t know what to expect and have no control over the next few hours, that can create negative feelings and anxiety. Tell them about the steps you will be taking. If they understand the relevance and purpose of a certain action, like checking in, they might be more willing to cooperate.
Conclusion
When you travel with children, they might be anxious, uncomfortable, and bored. They will be taken out of the surroundings they are used to and put in new situations where they don’t exactly know what to expect. Communicating any processes will be helpful to get them on board. When planning, chose some options that will reduce stress, like driving to the airport with your own car and use services like Park Sleep Fly. Naturally, you should also bring their favorite items, like toys, and food, drinks, and media to keep them content.
