From booking your seats to landing safely. Discover everything you need to manage family air travel with confidence.
Flying with children doesn't have to be stressful. The difference between a smooth family trip and a chaotic one usually comes down to preparation: knowing what to pack, when to board, how to handle ear pressure, and what to do when things don't go to plan. Whether you're travelling with a newborn, a restless toddler, or a school-age child, the 10 tips below cover everything you need to arrive at your destination with your sanity intact.
Sorting your seating and meals as early as possible will remove a lot of stress later. Most international airlines offer children's meals (CHML) for ages 2 to 12 and baby meals (BBML) for infants under 2, but you need to request these at least 48 hours before departure. Some airlines add them automatically, others don't, so always double-check your booking. Cabin crew usually serve children first, which means you can feed your kids before your own meal arrives. For seats, book the window seat for toddlers and young children — it keeps them away from passing passengers and service trolleys, and it's much easier to contain a wriggly child there than in an aisle seat.
Most airlines let you check a stroller or pushchair for free on top of your normal baggage allowance. British Airways, for example, allows two free infant items such as a pushchair and a car seat; Emirates also includes a complimentary pushchair or carry-cot. Policies differ between carriers, so check before you travel. The most useful option to look for is gate-to-gate service — this lets you use your stroller all the way through the terminal and hand it over at the aircraft door. Whether it comes back to you at the gate or at the baggage carousel on arrival depends on the destination airport, so don't count on one or the other.
On travel day, put all your children in the same bright colour. It sounds simple, but a group in matching fluorescent red or orange jackets is easy to spot instantly in a crowded terminal, far easier than children dressed in different neutral outfits. This matters most during the busy period between check-in and the gate, when you're moving through security queues and packed departure halls with bags, documents and children all at once.
Families are usually invited to board early. Whether that's actually useful depends on your child's age. For babies and toddlers, it's worth it, as you need time to get settled and store your carry-on gear. For children aged 3 and above who have energy to spare, think about using the pre-boarding window to let them run around or walk in the gate area instead. Every extra minute they spend moving before the flight is a minute less of restlessness in the seat. Board when the gate agent calls, but think about whether early boarding actually helps your specific family.
Make this your last job before you step onto the jetbridge. Take every child to the toilet, even if they say they don't need to go. Then give them a proper snack and a drink. A toddler who isn't hungry and doesn't need the bathroom is dramatically easier to manage for the first 30 to 45 minutes of a flight. Keep a backup snack and drink in your under-seat bag rather than the overhead locker so you can grab them quickly during taxi and the early part of the flight without disturbing your row.
Children — especially babies and toddlers — get ear pain during flights more often than adults. Their Eustachian tubes are smaller and more horizontal, which makes it harder for their ears to adjust to cabin pressure changes. The fix is simple: keep them swallowing. For infants, breastfeed, bottle-feed, or use a dummy during takeoff and landing. Ask cabin crew to warm bottles in hot water if needed, as there are no microwaves on board. For toddlers aged 1 to 3, offer drinks or snacks and try to keep them awake, since sleeping reduces swallowing and makes the pain worse. For children aged 3 and above, sugar-free gum or hard sweets do the job, but avoid these for younger children due to choking risk.
Pack a small bag of new items for each child and keep it hidden until you board. New things hold attention far better than toys they've already seen — the novelty is the point. For children under 5, good options include sticker books, a small colouring pad, a new mini figurine, foam shapes, and finger puppets. For children aged 5 to 10, try small puzzle books, trading cards, dot-to-dot books, or a new app or game already downloaded to a tablet or phone before you left the house.
If your child is still in nappies, put a pull-up over a regular nappy before boarding. If the seatbelt sign stays on during turbulence, or the toilet queue is too long for a child who can't wait, the pull-up buys you time. Changing a nappy in an aircraft toilet cubicle during turbulence is genuinely difficult, as the space is tiny and the conditions are unpredictable. Pack nappies and wipes in your under-seat bag, not just in the overhead locker. Some airlines carry a small emergency supply, but you can't count on it.
Cabin humidity sits between 10% and 20% on most flights, much drier than a normal home or office. Dry air thickens nasal mucus, which can block your child's Eustachian tubes and make ear discomfort worse. The straightforward fix is to keep them drinking: offer regular sips of water throughout the flight. High-water-content snacks like cucumber slices, seedless grapes, melon or orange segments also help with hydration and give restless hands something to do. It's also best to avoid large amounts of sugary drinks as they tend to make children more restless in a confined space.
A child with active chickenpox cannot board a commercial flight. Airlines refuse boarding to protect other passengers, particularly pregnant women and people with weakened immune systems. You can usually fly once all spots have fully crusted over, no new blisters are appearing, and you have a doctor's fit-to-fly letter. This typically takes five to seven days from the first spot, but it varies. British Airways requires six days after the final crop of spots; easyJet specifies seven days after the last new spot; other carriers have their own rules. Always check directly with your airline before heading to the airport. Turning up with visible active blisters can mean denied boarding and travel insurance complications.
Passports, boarding passes and any required health documents for children should be in a dedicated pocket or travel wallet you can access instantly. Fumbling through bags at passport control or the gate with children in tow is a avoidable source of stress.
At 10-20% humidity, aircraft cabin air is significantly drier than a typical home or office. Regular sips of water and high-water-content snacks offset this and reduce the risk of Eustachian tube discomfort.
The toddler window between 9 and 18 months is consistently cited as the most difficult period. At this age, children are mobile enough to want constant movement but too young to respond to instructions, distraction via screens, or logic. Children aged 3 and above become progressively easier as attention spans grow — travel doesn't get reliably straightforward until around age 4.
No — a child with active chickenpox cannot fly on any major commercial airline. To board, all blisters must have completely dried and scabbed over, and most carriers require a fit-to-fly letter from a doctor. The recovery window typically lasts five to seven days from the first spot, but exact policies vary by airline.
Infants under 2 can usually travel on a parent's lap without a separate seat, though most airlines offer the option to book an infant seat at a reduced fare. Children aged 2 and above are required to have their own seat. If you are travelling with a car seat, check with your airline in advance — not all seats and aircraft types are compatible with every car seat model.
Prioritise items you will need before your checked luggage arrives: a change of clothes for each child, nappies and wipes if needed, any medication, snacks, a reusable water bottle, and your activity bag. Keep documents, boarding passes and your child's comfort item — a favourite toy or blanket — in an easily accessible pocket rather than buried in the main compartment.
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