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Flying With Kids: Safe and Sane Air Travel With Your Baby, Toddler or Young Child

If you're reading this, you may be dreading an upcoming flight with your young child or thinking about taking one, but aren't sure you can handle it. I completely understand, but have no fear.

Long haul flights were routine for us as we spent 7 years as expatriates. When my daughter was born in Hong Kong (7500 miles away from our families in California), we obviously had to fly her home for visits. I had anxiety about this for years before I was pregnant and I thought about canceling our first long haul flight trip multiple times. My newborn baby was fussier than most, had major acid reflux, I had to fly alone with her, and our journey was 24 hours door to door.

We were just fine, in the end. With preparation, you will be, too.

Since then, I’ve flown long haul and domestically with my daughter more times than I can count. I now enjoy the adventure with her, but getting to this point was not without challenges. I bought tons of useless gear and spent countless hours scouring the Internet for information. The purpose of this ebook is to share details both large and small to help you get from departure to destination without hiccups.

I share how I plan my flights from scheduling to seat assignments. Does your baby need a bassinet? There are a few things you need to know that isn't information usually found on airline websites. I include tips to get you, your child and all of your gear through security and to the airplane. Speaking of gear, specific products have been very helpful to us. I'll tell you why and where to buy some of it.

The most pressing issue parents seem to have is how to keep kids entertained and fuss free on the plane. Specific things worked for us and I developed a strategy for quieting meltdowns. It can also be tough to get kids on long haul flights to sleep and keep them (and, therefore, you) from getting severe jet lag. We received jet lag advice from medical professionals that does work. My daughter is usually over her jet lag by the second day.

What you bring in your carry-on is key. To avoid stress, it's important to organize and pack it well. I'll tell you everything I bring onboard and keep within arms reach on the plane. There is nothing worse than having something you need in a bag in the overhead compartment, when the seat belt sign is on. Remember, if you request bulkhead seats you will not be able to store a bag at your feet.

Other topics include tips for diapering on the plane, in flight meals, flying first or business class, and more. You'll also be able to receive quick answers to questions via our ongoing discussion on Twitter or on our Facebook page.

There is helpful information in this ebook, regardless of how long your flight is.

If you're reading this, you may be dreading an upcoming flight with your young child or thinking about taking one, but aren't sure you can handle it. I completely understand, but have no fear.

Long haul flights were routine for us as we spent 7 years as expatriates. When my daughter was born in Hong Kong (7500 miles away from our families in California), we obviously had to fly her home for visits. I had anxiety about this for years before I was pregnant and I thought about canceling our first long haul flight trip multiple times. My newborn baby was fussier than most, had major acid reflux, I had to fly alone with her, and our journey was 24 hours door to door.

We were just fine, in the end. With preparation, you will be, too.

Since then, I’ve flown long haul and domestically with my daughter more times than I can count. I now enjoy the adventure with her, but getting to this point was not without challenges. I bought tons of useless gear and spent countless hours scouring the Internet for information. The purpose of this ebook is to share details both large and small to help you get from departure to destination without hiccups.

I share how I plan my flights from scheduling to seat assignments. Does your baby need a bassinet? There are a few things you need to know that isn't information usually found on airline websites. I include tips to get you, your child and all of your gear through security and to the airplane. Speaking of gear, specific products have been very helpful to us. I'll tell you why and where to buy some of it.

The most pressing issue parents seem to have is how to keep kids entertained and fuss free on the plane. Specific things worked for us and I developed a strategy for quieting meltdowns. It can also be tough to get kids on long haul flights to sleep and keep them (and, therefore, you) from getting severe jet lag. We received jet lag advice from medical professionals that does work. My daughter is usually over her jet lag by the second day.

What you bring in your carry-on is key. To avoid stress, it's important to organize and pack it well. I'll tell you everything I bring onboard and keep within arms reach on the plane. There is nothing worse than having something you need in a bag in the overhead compartment, when the seat belt sign is on. Remember, if you request bulkhead seats you will not be able to store a bag at your feet.

Other topics include tips for diapering on the plane, in flight meals, flying first or business class, and more. You'll also be able to receive quick answers to questions via our ongoing discussion on Twitter or on our Facebook page.

There is helpful information in this ebook, regardless of how long your flight is.

August 18, 2005
4 U.S. Soldiers Killed as the Violence Continues in Iraq
By EDWARD WONG
BAGHDAD, Iraq, Aug. 18 -

Continued violence claimed the lives of four American soldiers today, the military said.

They were killed when a roadside bomb exploded in the northern city of Samarra this morning. No other details were made available.

Today's violence follows a deadly day in which three car bombs exploded in quick succession in and around a crowded bus station in Baghdad, killing at least 43 people, wounding 88 and paralyzing one of Iraq's most important transportation networks.

The assault, the deadliest in a month, took place at the height of morning rush hour Wednesday at Iraq's equivalent of the Port Authority bus terminal in Manhattan.

It appeared to be aimed at Shiite Arabs boarding buses and shared taxis bound for cities in the south, and further inflamed sectarian tensions. The attack also underscored the Sunni-led insurgency's ability to strike, seemingly with ease, at some of the most important infrastructure.

The bombings coincided with the formal resumption of negotiations over the new constitution, which is now due by Monday, after the Parliament voted for a one-week extension of the deadline. The three major ethnic and sectarian groups in Iraq - the Sunni Arabs, Shiite Arabs and Kurds - remain deadlocked on fundamental issues that will shape the future, particularly the right to carve out autonomous regions. The Bush administration is putting enormous pressure on Iraqi leaders to complete a draft this week.

The explosions on Wednesday began at 7:50 a.m., sending body parts and debris flying across the Nahda bus terminal in central Baghdad. Horrified survivors rushed in a wailing frenzy from the vast open-air lot. The Iraqi police quickly shut down the area and began moving through the charred hulks of buses, sifting through items that included a baby's milk bottle and bloody tatters of clothing.

"There were a lot of bodies, a lot of smoke," said Faraj Lilo Anad, 37, the police officer in charge of security at the terminal. "When the explosion happened, I could feel myself flying. Then I landed on the ground. I said, 'Thank God I'm still alive.' "

By noon, the morgue of a nearby hospital was overflowing with bodies, and new ones had to be stacked outside in the 120-degree heat.

Because air travel is limited and expensive, many Iraqis use public buses to move around the country. Until now, there have been few attacks on the network, even though terrorists in Israel and Britain have carried out bus bombings. The buses at Nahda go to cities in the Kurdish north and Shiite-dominated south, while buses running to western Iraq, the heartland of the Sunni Arab insurgency, depart from a different station.

The first bomb was packed into a car that had been parked in the corner of the station where many Shiites congregate to catch buses south, Mr. Anad said. The second car bomb exploded 10 minutes later right outside the terminal, as police and emergency workers were rushing to the scene. The third car bomb detonated at 8:45 a.m. by Al Kindi Hospital, where many of the victims from the first attacks were being taken, said the United States Army's Third Infantry Division, which is charged with controlling Baghdad.

"When the first bombing happened, other cars here started exploding one by one," said Amar Thajil Mansour, 23, a worker in a clothing store outside the station. "There was yelling and crying from women and children running to safety. Most of the people here are Shiites. They're trying to kill Shiites."

A poster of Moktada al-Sadr, the radical Shiite cleric, hung in the devastated corner of the bus station, near where the owner of a falafel stand had been shredded by flying shrapnel.

The coordinated attack killed more people than any since July 16, when a suicide bomber blew up a fuel truck next to a Shiite mosque in Musayyib, 40 miles south of Baghdad. That incident ignited outrage among many Shiites and even prompted a rare denunciation from Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the most revered Shiite cleric in Iraq. A senior Shiite politician said at the time that the ayatollah had urged the government to take steps to prevent "mass annihilation."

Violence flared Wednesday elsewhere in Iraq.

Insurgents killed six Iraqi soldiers driving to Kirkuk, in the north, a police official said. The soldiers were returning from a training camp and had been assigned to protect an oil pipeline that is frequently attacked.

The American military said one of its soldiers was killed Tuesday by a roadside bomb in southwest Baghdad, and another was killed Monday in a drive-by shooting in Mosul, in the north.

The military also said some Iraqi civilians were killed or injured when American forces attacked suspected insurgents from the air in Baghdad early Tuesday. In the battle, American helicopters "trac

Just a quick note: I've been reading Charlie Brooker's Screenburn book so you're basically in for a worse rip-off than that sandwich I bought in Heathrow.

Well I made it here with an hour delay, all my baggage and a pair of aching shoulders and missing only the concept of time, the desire to travel ever again and a couple pints of blood. Blood? Blood.

Can you believe I forgot how truly terrifying air travel actually is? I thought I'd convinced myself that I had no problem with flying until I looked down and realised the book I was holding was turning into papier mache in my sweaty, white knuckled grip. It doesn't help that when I look up I'm greeted by the face of a gurgling baby peering at me over the seat in front with an expression that I took to be 'Grow up you spineless simpleton'. Kids these days. I just need to take my mind off of the horrifying reality of the situation: I'm in a metallic death-tube, hurtling through the heavens, surrounded by people whom I will methodically kill in my mind each time they cough, sniff, snort, snore, murmur, chuckle and gurgle. Yeah, I'm looking at you, judgemental kid. Anyway, my only respite from these air-wasters is my music, pumped through my bliss-inducing, noise-cancelling earphones. But what happens at the two most traumatic points in any flight, take-off and landing? A powder-covered plank-faced lollipop on legs leans down and tells you that listening to Brian Eno could send everyone screaming to their deaths. Something more upbeat then? Apparently not. I would ask why they feel so threatened by my soothing music but I don't think I could stand the sight of watching the lollipop lady's head explode.

Anyway when I finally did make it down to Terra Firma, I was still so incensed that my brain began to melt and leak out my nose. After offering up a few bottles of Le Phlegm Rouge to the porcelain deities (Oh Mr. Shanks, get those fear-mongering sky-walkers for the abominations they insist on looping through their woefully inadequate on-board entertainment system, etc.) I got picked up by my Mum and after a short but oh-so-comfortable bus journey went for a quick bite to eat. I had a yakisoba. It wasn't as good as mine, obviously, but it was 50p and came with the added bonus that I didn't have to cook it. And now I will sleep.

Tomorrow, my shitty idea for New Year's, aka, 'Why I shouldn't be left alone with my thoughts in a narrow, airborne corridor filled with scum'. Good night.

FREQUENT FLYER SECRETS

The Air Travel Handbook is about flying as a passenger in commercial aviation. It is not a broad how-to and where-to travel book, it is specific to air travel. It is for the frequent flyer.

People who often travel by air are usually flying for business. They have unique requirements that rarely occur to the holiday traveler. Frequent flyers need quick, comfortable and reliable transportation. While the flights are taking them to their business, the time in the air is not part of the business.

To the business flyer, time is money. They need to get through the airport quickly, board the plane early, ride comfortably, save time by eating while flying, be able to use their computer or go through papers on the plane, get off the plane quickly, etc.
That is what the Air Travel Handbook is about.

Occasional flyers will find this book fascinating; frequent flyers will find it essential. Both will find it fun.

***

As an author and professional speaker, Dan Poynter flies more than 6,000 miles/9,000 kms each week. He has completed 20 round-the-world itineraries, visited more than 50 countries (including skydiving into the North Pole), and spends more than 40% of his year outside the U.S. He has flown more than 2 million miles on United Airlines and has earned Global Services status, the “Black Card.”

Dan is the editor of the Global Speakers Federation NewsBrief, a twice-a-month newsletter on professional speaking and travel. He is a licensed pilot, FAA Master Parachute Rigger and USPA Skydiving Instructor/Examiner. Dan studies, writes and speaks on travel, aviation and book writing/publishing.

SECOND EDITION, COMPLETELY REVISED Print edition will be higher.

***

Air Travel is easier and more fun when you know the inside secrets.

FREQUENT FLYER SECRETS

The Air Travel Handbook is about flying as a passenger in commercial aviation. It is not a broad how-to and where-to travel book, it is specific to air travel. It is for the frequent flyer.

People who often travel by air are usually flying for business. They have unique requirements that rarely occur to the holiday traveler. Frequent flyers need quick, comfortable and reliable transportation. While the flights are taking them to their business, the time in the air is not part of the business.

To the business flyer, time is money. They need to get through the airport quickly, board the plane early, ride comfortably, save time by eating while flying, be able to use their computer or go through papers on the plane, get off the plane quickly, etc.
That is what the Air Travel Handbook is about.

Occasional flyers will find this book fascinating; frequent flyers will find it essential. Both will find it fun.

***

As an author and professional speaker, Dan Poynter flies more than 6,000 miles/9,000 kms each week. He has completed 20 round-the-world itineraries, visited more than 50 countries (including skydiving into the North Pole), and spends more than 40% of his year outside the U.S. He has flown more than 2 million miles on United Airlines and has earned Global Services status, the “Black Card.”

Dan is the editor of the Global Speakers Federation NewsBrief, a twice-a-month newsletter on professional speaking and travel. He is a licensed pilot, FAA Master Parachute Rigger and USPA Skydiving Instructor/Examiner. Dan studies, writes and speaks on travel, aviation and book writing/publishing.

SECOND EDITION, COMPLETELY REVISED Print edition will be higher.

***

Air Travel is easier and more fun when you know the inside secrets.