Child in a plane
Ragardless of the fact whether to take a child for a holiday or a visit to your family outside Poland, the fact of a journey itself will cause strong emotions to your child. Remember, that those feelings don’t have to be generated by a will of adventures but sometimes they come out of fear. New surroundings, new people around, long time of waiting at the airports or the limited space of moving in a plane can easily chang the good attitude into a really bad mood both your child and you. To avoid this, please remember, that you should plan the trip thoroughly and chceck every detail of possible traumatic situations you may meet.
We have a few advices for you regarding the trip with your child. Moreover below you will read what discounts you may get for a youngster and what are the general rules of travelling for children.
- Choose the appropriate connection – try to choose the direct connections or with the minimum number of changes . It is more convenient to choose the evening flights, as the tired child probably will fall asleep. If you start with short flights, your child will get used to all the procedures and schemes of this type of trip and they won’t be stressful in the future, when a long flight occurs to happen.
- Preparing for flight – if the upcoming plane trip will be the first in your child’s life, you should start with getting it into the urban traffic (buses, trams) or trains to familiarize with the crowd of strangers, unknown people, different languages and skin colours. This type of experience will surely help you to avoid problems with fear of the crowd at the airport. If you recognize any symptoms of fear, try to tell your child a funny story or a tale about travelling by plane and describe how will the journey look like, what will happen soon at the airport, in the plane, etc. Your mood also means a lot – if you are hectic, nervous, your child will surely see it. However, if you’re relaxed ans seld-confident, you child well certainly feel safe by your side.
- Waiting at the airport – first of all, you should be aware that moving around the airport wich a child takes much more time than if you’re walking alone, therefore, arrive at the airport early enough. Waiting for a plane doesn’t have to be borign if you fill this time with some entertainment. Time will surely flow faster if you take your child to a place where you will be able to watch the planes setting off and landing, for example to a observation deck. Many airports have a play rooms arranged where children can spend the time having fun with their parents and their new friends. Another good solution may be reading books or playing games which do not require much space or accessories. For older children discman or iPod will also be good solution.
- In the plane – setting off and landing are the worst two moments during the whole flight, so your child may feel bad. Sleep is the best solution to avoid neusea. If your child is active, you can give it a candy or chewing gum. Let your child look through the window during the flight, play with the favourite toy or watch a cartoon (if available) to minimize boreness and impatience.
- Baby on board – remember, that due to the weak respiration and circulation systems a newborn baby (under 1 week) can not fly by plane! Babies are also vulnerable of various infections, therefore, try to avoid taking a baby with you, if it’s possible. If your baby is over 3 months, the flight should be no problem as drone of the engines will make your baby fall asleep. During the set off and landing you may try to feed the baby – this will help to avoid uncomfortable feelings caused by the pressure change.
- General rules of traveling and discounts for children – usually children between 10 and 12 (depending on airline policy, sometimes up to 16) are given 33% discount of the standard tariff and infants (up to 2 years) – 90% (airlines often do not charge infants with any payment for the ticket). Infants usually don’t have a separate place in the plane – they travel at their parents knees. Older children can travel alone, however, you are obliged to pay for the care of the child provided by flight attendants. Children also need to have a writted confirmation signed by an adult person responsible, that somebody will pick up the child at the destination place (the confirmation has to contain this person’s personal information).
