Every traveller is afraid that their trip will be ruined by a screaming child. Ironically, the same is true for the parents of children. While you can’t prevent every potential problem, there are many preventable problems that make the trip miserable for parents, children, and fellow passengers alike. Here are six mistakes people make when travelling with children. We’ll also explain what to do to avoid making these mistakes.
Common mistakes made when travelling with children
1. Not Packing Snacks
Do not make the mistake of failing to pack snacks for your child. Everyone becomes irritable when hungry, and a cranky toddler crammed into an airline seat is going to become a nightmare. You can save everyone’s sanity by packing a variety of snacks like cookies, crisps, and other things your child likes. This is a life-saver if it turns out your child is allergic or just doesn’t like the food the airline serves.
However, when packing snacks, you have to be careful as well. Try to pack your bag full of low carb, high fibre snack option. Things that are too high in refined sugar might make your children more jittery and the trip will be much harder for them. Also, low carb snacks release sugar slower and steadier into the bloodstream, which gives your child long-lasting energy without a crash. See if you can pack some of their favourite sandwiches on wholemeal bread and bring tons of fruits and vegetables, which they’ll be able to munch on the way to your destination.
2. Failing to Pack Entertainment
Let’s be honest – your child is not going to sleep through the whole flight. Nor will they entertain themselves for hours looking out the window. Many parents try to solve this problem by bringing a tablet computer. Then this fails because they didn’t bring extra batteries, charging cables and everything necessary to keep it running. Another mistake is failing to bring non-electronic entertainment. Activity books, small toys and other items can keep a child busy if the iPad is broken or they’ve gotten bored with the cartoons or movies you’ve downloaded. You want to have more than one form of entertainment if your children are fighting over the only source of digital entertainment.
3. Forgetting to Take Care of Essentials before Boarding
It is hard to change nappies in a plane toilet, so do this in the airport bathroom before you board the flight. Feed your baby before you board so you don’t have to worry about begging busy flight attendants to heat up water immediately after you get seated. If your child’s snack time or mealtime is around the time you take off, give them the food before you get on board. You’ll have more space and won’t have to figure out what to do with rubbish. However, you shouldn’t take a pushchair if you don’t have to.
4. Not Preparing for Cancellations
When travelling, it’s always better to hope for the best and plan for the worst. This is why it is essential that you know what the course of action should be if you miss your flight or if your flight is late or cancelled. First of all, it’s important that you know your rights in case your flight gets cancelled. Depending on the circumstances, you might be eligible for compensation, so make sure that you do your research and see when you should be compensated and what you should do to get what you deserve.
You should also make sure that you have the airline’s customer service phone number on hand before you leave. The reason for this is simple. If your flight ends up getting cancelled, you don’t want to be waiting in line with everybody else waiting for seats on another flight. Chances are all places will be booked once your turn comes, which could complicate things even further. And the last thing you want to do is wait in an airport with disgruntled children for hours on end. But if you call the company straight away, you might get a seat much faster and you might even get an upgrade if you’re lucky, so it’s always a good idea to be prepared and have every base covered before leaving.
5. Not Getting Airport Parking
Getting to the airport is stressful for anyone. That process is made even harder for parents juggling luggage, children, children’s luggage, and everything else. You’ll enjoy any trip more if you make it as stress-free as possible. And one of the ways to do this is to get airport parking. Airport parking allows you to arrive and leave on your own schedule. You don’t have to worry about rushing a bathroom trip or else you’ll miss the bus to the airport. You won’t need to worry about missing the train home from the airport if the customs check takes too long. You’re responsible for yourself instead of hoping your ride to the airport is on time.
It is certainly easier to load up your children in their familiar car seats and stow luggage than try to fit it in someone else’s car. In a worst-case scenario, you can go home to pick up something you forgot. Another benefit of airport parking is that it protects your vehicle. Your car is probably safer in the airport parking than if it were left on your driveway during your trip.
For all these reasons, consider driving your own car and parking at Luton airport if this is your point of departure. Luton airport parking is pretty affordable when you consider all the advantages and the money you’ll end up saving on transportation. There are plenty of services online that allow you to access a wide variety of deals on Luton Parking, so don’t hesitate to look around and find the best deal for you.
6. Not Packing Extra Necessities for Their Children
Many parents pack snacks, clothes, nappies and toys in their child’s changing bag. And they run the risk of losing all of it if they misplace the bag. You can reduce this risk by packing a small set of essentials in another bag or suitcase, such as nappies, baby wipes, snacks and toys. This has the side benefit of making it easy to access these things if you can’t get to the changing bag quickly, and it ensures that you won’t run out of these essentials at any time during your trip.
Also, make sure that you bring extra accessories for electronics as well. Leaving one or two chargers at home could spell disaster if all of your devices run out of batteries during the flight. And you don’t want your children to fight over the only tablet charger while you’re on your flight. So, make sure that you double check and make sure that you put all of your electronic accessories in a different bag, so you don’t forget anything vital.
Conclusion
You don’t have to give up on travel when you have children. However, you need to do take additional steps to be able to travel with children in comfort. Make sure that you steer away from these mistakes if you want to make the experience more pleasurable for you and the passengers around you.
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