Look, food is life right?! It’s such an integral part of our lives and when travelling, we really do love to eat. But sticking to your usual mealtime routine with kids is hard, whether it’s an international holiday or a 4 hour road trip. When visiting foreign countries, it’s sometimes hard to find food that my daughter enjoys and let’s be honest, the novelty of a McDonalds nuggets happy meal does wear off eventually. She does enjoy a good curry and naan though (no surprise there) and we do tend to look for Indian restaurants no matter where in the world we are. Because there ain’t no food like home food.
But it’s also important to get them to eat healthy because the last thing you want is a constipated toddler on holiday – trust me! Let’s just say asking a pharmacist for toddler suppositories in Hong Kong isn’t as easy as one would assume.
Here’s are some of my favourite convenient and healthy toddler snacks to pack in our carry on and checked luggage when we travel abroad:
- Rhodes Squish (in multiple flavours)
- Nuts and Biltong
- Woolworths Quinoa Pop Chips
- Woolworths Fruity Bites (made with fruit juice)
- Woolworths Fruity Bites (dried fruit)
Disclaimer: you may not be able to take biltong into certain countries but you can most certainly enjoy it on the plane.
Flying with a child under two is amazing right, I mean who can turn down the option of a family holiday when your infant flies for free. As amazing as this sounds, flying with your infant on your lap for a long haul flight can be a nightmare but there’s a few things you can do to survive it.
My first international flight with my daughter was to Miami. We flew almost 13 hours from Cape Town to Qatar and then 17 hours from Qatar to Miami. I mean….wtf were we thinking…clearly we were not.
First and foremost having an empty seat next to you is the most important thing to pray for. If this is the case then you’re pretty much sorted because your infant child now has their own seat (although they do end up on you most of the time anyways). We were blessed with an empty seat next to us for all 4 flights.
The first I thing I did was contact the airline to request a bassinet seat. If your child is within the weight requirements and can easily fit into a bassinet then I highly recommend doing this. Use the bassinet when your child is sleeping, just wants to play or even a place to store your things in. Note that on most aircrafts, the bassinet seat armrests don’t pick up so it will be difficult to get your child to sleep across you and whomever you’re flying with.
At the check in counter, I always ask if this is a full flight. If the answer is no (I first do a small victory dance) I will ask if we could move from the bassinet row to a three seater and if they could block out an empty seat for my daughter. Don’t get me wrong, the extra leg room in the bassinet row is amaze balls but ensuring your kid has their own seat is first prize.
You’ll notice I’m mentioning tips about sleeping a lot, because trust me, when you’re doing a long haul flight, that is all you care about. If your child sleeps in a pod like the Sleepyhead or something similar then bring that along. Remember the armrests don’t lift in the bassinet row and if your child won’t sleep in the bassinet, you’re pretty much screwed. So having the pod allows you to place the child across you and your partner comfortably.
Pack carefully. Packing is essential when flying long haul and no I don’t mean the check in luggage but the carry on. Ensuring you have easy access to essentials like wet wipes, a dummy and snacks is key. I always pack
- multiple sets of clothing
- socks (because no one wants to be barefoot on a plane…gross)
- tons of snacks (albeit it never gets eaten)
- medication
- toys
The key to distracting a child is bringing along toys that they have not seen before. I would buy a few random things and take one out every time I felt it was needed. If your child is very little then the iPad may not help to keep them distracted so you’ve got to get creative.
Choose night flights with the hope that your little one can sleep. If they prefer a special blankie or pillow, bring that along to help them sleep better.
Walk around as much as possible. It can get pretty uncomfortable having another human sit on you during a long crappy economy seating flight so the more you walk around the better for you.
Lastly forget about eating or drinking anything properly and forget about watching any movies on the flight….yeah those days are over for a long time!
