Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
have that could manifest during
flight.
•
Be sure you've slept sufficiently
for your trip. If you fall asleep in
the air and your child manages to
break away, all sorts of sharp
objects could cause injury. Espe-
cially during mealtimes, it's dan-
gerous for a child to be crawling
or walking around the cabin unac-
companied by an adult.
•
Be sure your child's seatbelt
remains fastened properly,
and
try to reserve the seat closest to the
aisle for yourself. This will make it
harder for your children to wan-
der off—in case, for instance,
you're taking the red-eye or a long
flight and you do happen to nod
off. You will also protect your
child from jostling passersby and
falling objects—in the rare but
entirely possible instance that an
overhead bin pops open.
In the event of an accident,
unrestrained children often don't
make it—even when the parent
does. Experience has shown that
it's impossible for a parent to hold
onto a child in the event of a
crash, and children often die of
impact injuries.
For the same reason, sudden
turbulence is also a danger to a
child who is not buckled into his
own seat belt or seat restraint.
According to
Consumer Reports
Travel Letter,
the most common
flying injuries result when unan-
ticipated turbulence strikes and
hurtles passengers from their seats.
•
Try to sit near the lavatory,
though not so close that your chil-
dren are jostled by the crowds that
tend to gather there. Consolidate
trips there as much as possible.
•Try to
accompany children to
the lavatory.
They can be easily
bumped and possibly injured as
they make their way down tight
aisles. It's especially dangerous for
children to wander while flight
attendants are blocking passage
with their service carts. On
crowded flights, the flight crew
may need as much as an hour to
serve dinner. It's wise to encourage
your kids to use the restroom
when you see the attendants
preparing to serve.
• Be sure to
bring clean, self-con-
taining compact toys.
Leave elec-
tronic games at home. They can
interfere with the aircraft naviga-
tional system, and their noisiness,
however lulling to children's ears,
will surely not win the favor of
your adult neighbors. Magnetic
checker sets, on the other hand,
are a perfect distraction, and small
coloring books and crayons also
work well, as do card games like
Go Fish.
• Some airlines
serve children's
meals first.
When you board, ask
a flight attendant if this is possi-
ble, especially if your children are
very young or seated toward the
back of the plane. After all, if your
kids have a happy flight experi-
ence, everyone else in the cabin is
more likely to as well.
• You'll certainly be grateful to
yourself for packing
tidy snacks
like rolled dried fruit, which are
much less sticky and wet and
more compact and packable than
actual fruit. Blueberry or raisin
bagels also make for a neat,
healthy sweet and yield fewer
crumbs than cookies or cakes.
Gingersnaps, crisp and not as
crumbly as softer cookies, will also
help curb mild cases of motion
sickness. And don't forget to stash
a few resealable plastic bags in
your purse. They'll prove invalu-
able for storing everything from
half-eaten crackers and fruit to
checker pieces and matchbox cars.
