Baby on board

Before every plane journey with a child it should be taken into consideration that the kid will be inevitably accompanied with great emotions.

Not necessarly will it be a joy of getting to know and experiencing something new. Maybe it won't be an adventure, but a huge dose of stress and fear which can become an unpleasant memory. Commotion, unknown surrondings, people around, waiting can effectively spoil the journey to the child, and in this way also to his parents or legal guardians.

To avoid such situations, a journey with a child should be very carefully planned out. Many factors that can affect the flight should be taken into account:

• Choice of a suitable connection – if possible it's recommendable to choose direct connections, or connections with the smallest number of changes, to spare the child the stress connected with changing. It is advisable to choose evening or night flights during which children tired with all day activity will be easier to lull to sleep, thanks to which they will survive the flight calmly. If it's the child's first flight journey, it's better to choose shortish routes which will be a quite mild introduction into the world of flight journeys and will prepare him for longer trips in the future.

• Preparation to the flight – if the flight is to be the first one in the child's life, it's advisable to familiarize him with crowds of srtangers (for this purpose we can travel with the kid by means of public transport), which may facilitate considerably adaptation to the situation on the airport and on board. It's worth explaining to the child how long will the flight take and explain shortly what will be happening from the moment of arrival at the airport to landing. Thanks to it the child will know what to expect and will cope more easily with unknown situation.

mamazone.pl

• Lenghtening waiting at the airport – it should be taken into consideration that getting about the airport with a child takes more time that usually, that's why it pays out to think about arriving eariler than recommended. Waiting for a plane you can go with the child on a terrace and show him planes taking off and landing. At many airports there are also special playgrounds for children. It's also a good idea to take favourite books and toys of the child and in this way make the waiting for the take-off more attractive.

• On board – taking off and landing are moments, which because of quite strong turbulences, may cause the child to feel ill at ease. The best way of avoiding such feelings is to sleep. If the child doesn't sleep and is agitated you can give him a candy, or a chewing gum to older ones. In such cases the child's favourite toy may be useful too. The child may also be encouraged to look at the views from the window or we can use facilities on board (if available) and turn on a cartoon for the child, which will effectively help him survive the journey and fill the time of the flight.

• Baby on board – it should be remembered that newborns younger than a week can't travel by plane on account of the week respiratory and cardiovascular systems. It's adviasble to take into consideratin also that little babies are prone to infections of all kinds and because of that, if possible, plane journeys should be avoided. When the child is 3 or more months old the flight should take place without any major problems. At the moment of the take-off and landing it's worth to feed the child with a bottle because it will help reduce unpleasant feelings connected with pressure changes.

• General rules of travelling with children and discounts they are entitled to - children 10 to 12 years old usually have 33% discount from normal price (though this depends on airlines, sometimes the threshold is 16 years). Babies in arms younger than 2 years old usually can count on 90% discount but it happens that some airlines don't charge so small children. Most often babies are not granted with a separate seat, they travel on their parent's or guardian's lap.

• If a child travels alone – older children can travel in this way. In such cases an extra payment should be made for the care provided by the crew. Additionaly, a writen confirmation that there will be a person designated by parents or legal guardians waiting for the child at the destination airport (their details should be provided) , who will take charge of the child.