5 Tips To Reduce Stress at the Airport

Airports can be really stressful, even more so when travelling with children, but they really don’t have to be. Here’s some tips that we’ve learnt over the years to reduce stress at the airport…

Only pack what you need in the airport and on the plane as your hand luggage.

Let children carry their own hand luggage if they are able too (see our ‘Hand Luggage album’ for ideas of what to pack in a child’s hand luggage). If your child is too young to carry their own hand luggage ensure that the bag you pack for them is easy enough for you to carry. There is nothing more annoying than trying to push a pram, hold a child’s hand, carry your own hand luggage and drag a damn Trunkie along.

Electronics and Liquids have to go through the security scanner separately so keep them at the top of your bags when packing so you’re not having to rummage through all the bags searching for them.

Check with your airline before you pack to see what electronics you can take on board as you can’t take certain electronics on flights to certain destinations anymore.

Also remember each liquid you carry must be in its own container of no more than 100ml. All liquids should be carried in a single, transparent, re-sealable plastic bag of up to 20cm x 20cm with a total capacity of up to a litre. (This does not include baby bottles, they can be taken on board when travelling with an infant. You may be asked to taste the liquid in the bottles).

If you’re planning on leaving your car at the airport try and book as far in advance as possible to get a good deal.

If you’re travelling alone with children I highly recommend paying extra for the Meet and Greet parking (you can quite often get a good deal if booked far in advance).
If 2 or more adults are travelling then the off site parking with transfers are fine and alot cheaper, however, it can be really stressful getting all the children, luggage and a pram onto the transfer buses (especially when the buses are busy!). What we used to do to eliminate this stress was to drop one of us off at the terminal with the children and the luggage (quickly load up the luggage onto a trolley and help get it into the terminal) then the other one would park the car up and hop on the bus back to the terminal).

Jackets and coats with zips and buttons will have to go through the security scanner separately (as well as belts and some shoes). I tend to dress my children in tracksuits for flying as not only are they more comfortable but they don’t have zips and buttons so I don’t need to start taking clothes off them to put through the scanner (sometimes depending on the weather they will have a lightweight jacket on too but I get them to take them off and put them under the pram when we get into the airport so they’re ready for me to pop in the scanner trays).

It’s much less stressful trying to entertain children in the airport for a while than it is to get caught in traffic (or anything else that may cause a delay) and have to run through the airport to make check in and then straight on to boarding. Give yourself plenty of time and start off your holiday feeling relaxed.

Written by Roisin Whyte for her blog, Roaming Roo & The Tiny Travellers - follow her here.

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