The key to travelling with a baby or small child is planning ahead. Prepare for all eventualities, then accept that you can’t control everything and the whole family will have a more pleasant trip.

Allow more time when travelling with kids

When travelling with small children, plan in extra time for check-in, security checks, connecting flights and boarding. We know this all too well after missing a flight home to Italy at Christmas and having a crying toddler in departures who then couldn’t see his Nonno.

Whenever possible try to check-in online at home but if not, getting to the airport early means there will be a better choice of seats available.

Oddly the seats near the toilets are best for young kids as the people lining up are usually excellent distractions. It's also handy for frequent nappy changes and for grabbing paper towels in a hurry.

Pack baby's hand luggage wisely

Parents will have even more hand-baggage with small tots in tow but pack smartly and more can be managed with less. A pashmina or shawl is great for keeping mom warm, making a baby tent for sound sleeping, playing peek-a-boo and – if nothing else is at hand – to soak up spills.

Wrapping items in separate plastic bags in mom's hand-luggage means there will always be a rubbish bag to hand or somewhere to put dirty clothes.

Getting babies and children on board

Have a boarding strategy. Either get on the plane as early as possible, which means the whole family can get settled in at leisure and have a choice of overhead locker-space. Or if the children are noisy and active, board last to minimise the time they need to spend sitting quietly.

Also, keep everything needed for take-off and the first 20 minutes of the flight (until the seatbelt sign is switched off) in a small separate bag in the seat pocket.

Sucking on a bottle or dummy during take-off and landing can help infants deal with the change in air pressure.

Bring snacks for kids during flights

Pack enough snacks for the journey. Most airlines allow parents to order a child meal in advance, but changes in aircraft or travel plans mean it's not a foolproof system.

Bring a variety of snacks which the whole family can enjoy such as rice cakes, apples, savoury biscuits and dried fruit. You will have more than enough to do so individually wrapped items will be time savers.

Don't worry about drinks, unless the baby is on formula. Flight attendants are happy to serve refreshments in toddlers' sippy cups.

Car seats

When our children were small we always brought our own car seats with us and put them in huge bags in the hold. This means you don’t have to carry them around with you to and from the plane but you have them when you land if you’re hiring a car. Hiring a car seat from a rental can be difficult and expensive. Often they are around €15 per day in Europe and you may arrive to find they don’t have one the correct size for your child’s age.

Once our children reached age 4 we bought a Trunki Boostapak. A sturdy backpack that converts to a booster seat and has an attachment for making sure the seat belt is at the correct height for your child. They can be taken on the plane as your child’s hand luggage, they fit under a seat and have a compartment for them to bring some toys or activities with them.

In-flight entertainment for young children

Pack lots of small, inexpensive, brightly coloured objects. For some reason, things always go missing on aeroplanes, and parents will have enough to keep them busy without needing to worry about playthings. If time allows, gift-wrap the objects for extra novelty and present them at 40-minute intervals.

We find Lego cards or miniatures, Panini stickers and crayons are great inexpensive presents to bring with you.

Objects onboard the actual plane are pretty good for keeping small children occupied, point out pictures in the in-flight magazine or stack empty plastic cups. Most airlines also have a kids' movie channel or some crayons and paper on board.

Flying tips for mum and dad

If mum and dad are travelling together, then it can be a good idea if they agree on a schedule before their journey, where each takes turns to be on and off-duty. This gives both parents a break and time to sleep, read or watch part of the in-flight movie.

Consider booking seats apart from each other, in the adjacent row or row behind, for the off-duty partner to rest in.

We book two seats in one row and two seats directly behind. One of us has my son outbound as he just sleeps so you can read. The other parent has my daughter who talks to you for the entire journey! Then on the return leg, we swap!

All these little changes can make flying with kids easier. One last piece of advice – thousands of families fly with small children every day don’t be put off taking the trip just because you have little ones. It’s always worth it!

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