Remain stress-free when travelling with Babies and Young Children

Going on holiday with babies for the first time is an exciting adventure, but most mums will have experienced moments on a journey with young children when they wish they had never left the familiar comforts of home. We aim to take the stress out of flying with a few handy hints to consider when planning a holiday.

Both your choice of airline and the timing of your flight will have an influence on the ease of your journey with children. When you are booking your holiday, have a clear plan of exactly what you want with regard to the children, and discuss it with your travel agent. Some airlines have special flight attendants to help with young families, some offer organic baby food or special toddler meals. Many planes now have childrens entertainments channels with interactive games which will also help keep a restless toddler quiet.

Remember also, that although charter flights might be cheaper, you run more risk of a delay. Scheduled flights have priority in take-off order. With regard to time-keeping, bear in mind that delays are more likely later in the day due to build up of air traffic in the day.

When packing essentials for the flight, consider that if your hand luggage is too big it will have to be stored in the overhead locker which is awkward to get at. Much easier to have everything to hand in a smaller soft bag which could be stowed under the chair.

Pushchairs are taken free on airlines and you can push the pushchair right up to point of boarding. Airlines are not meant to accept carrycots, so ask your tour operator if he can pre-book one for you on the plane.