Flying to the Philippines with three little ones, advice please guys! Help!

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gurneyhalleck1

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Hi Everybody,

I’m about to book a flight to the Philippines. My wife has not been home to the Philippines in six years. It’s been a long time! We have had three kids since our last trip. Last time we went in 2004 we were just a married couple. I really want my mother-in-law and all my wife’s family to get to see our kids, enjoy them, and for my children to see their other half, the other culture in their blood, their filipino side. My wife has a great family, great environment. It’s an exciting thing.

However…My eldest son Luke is 4, middle child Veronica is 3, and youngest Caleb is 2. I have good kids but, holy smokes, my wife and I are FULL of trepidation and angst about taking these little ones, three of them (!!) on an airplane for 16 hours!!

I’d really appreciate ANY advice (other than prayer, I know that one! :p) you all can give us as to how to cope, pass the time, and survive this flight! I’m looking forward to the destination but we’re dreading (I mean DREADING) the voyage! Anyone here ever done any similar such thing or know anyone who does/has? HELP!

Any advice would be awesome. God bless you all this Lent!
 
Benadryl 😃 Just kidding.

I would get a portable DVD player and bring some of their favorite DVDs. Pack a bag with some of their favorite books, color books, crayons, et cetera.

I’m sure others will have better advice than I can offer.
 
Motion sickness medicine taken one hour before the flight, gum (for ears), plenty of snacks, crayons and paper, and some new special (quiet) toys that they aren’t allowed to play with until they get on board will all make the time go faster. Additionally, my pediatrician says medically there’s no problem with giving a flying child a mild, child safe medicine with sleepiness as a side effect (such as Benadryl). One word of caution, if your child has a cold when it’s flight time be sure to give them an antidecongestant before the flight (or their ears can become painfully clogged). Keep them up a little bit later than usual the night before so they’ll be inclined to nap on the plane once the excitement wears off.

We’ve flown with children of various ages across the globe (Ohio to Korea -19 hours) and am always relieved how well the flights have gone (and haven’t ever resorted to sleeping medicine). Believe it or not, flying is easier than taking your kids to a fancy sit down restaurant. Just be prepared for looks of dismay when you board with everyone hoping you’re not seated near them. If you’re lucky you’ll end up seated near some college aged girls that will spend hours chatting with and playing with your kids.
 
Will you be going to the provinces, or just in Manila? Either way, but especially in the province, have a plan for what to do if any of your little ones get sick. Myself, I wouldn’t want to take a kid back there until they’re at least five, and their immune system has matured somewhat. Bring bug spray, sunscreen and a flashlight. I hope everything goes well for you; I hope Lola and Lolo enjoy their mga apo. Have fun! I wish I was going :).
 
I would strongly suggest motion sickness medicine for the children even if they’ve never shown signs of motion sickness before. Some of it causes drowsiness, others doesn’t. I personally like Bonine * but it’s a non-drowsy one. [And I reccomend it even more if the children have never been on a long road trip before…planes are much worse].

Etch-n-Sketchs are fun for kids, especially if they’ve never had them. When I was little, we got these things called Spirographs, I don’t know if they still make them or not, but they would probably be fun for the four-year-old and potentially the three-year-old. Little surprise toys, books if they’ve inclined to read. Pack snacks [not too large for airplane regulations]. A favorite blanket on the plane is necessary.

If they have their own sippy cup, you can bring them; however, you can’t have them filled until you’re past security.

I’ve heard that strollers are an almost must in an airport, however, that probably depends on the age and physical ability of the children and how many suitcases you’re lugging around.

Good luck! Have an awesome trip! I’m sure you’ll make memories to last a lifetime.*
 
I never had near that long of a flight, but flew annually with my two girls from the time they were 10mo & 4 years.

Benadryl. Seriously.

Each of my girls had little backpacks that they took on the plane with them. Prior to the travel day, I would hit the dollar store to fill them with toys, treats, and snacks that they didn’t get to look at till we were at the airport. They were so excited to know that the backpacks they were carrying had surprises inside waiting for them.

You can keep the stroller all the way until you board. At the end of the breezeway just before you get on the actual plane, you leave it there and they put it down below for you. When you get to the other end, it will be waiting at the breezeway for you. We used a cheap umbrella stroller for trips rather than the big heavy duty one.

That’s all I can think of for now.
 
One idea I remember hearing (around here I think) was to go to the dollar store and stock up on a bunch of cheap toys. Wrap them up and then allow the kids to open one every hour/couple of hours/whatever, while they are flying. It will give them something to look forward to as well as something new to entertain them for awhile.
 
Holy smokes, what a bunch of great ideas!! Love 'em!! I can’t thank you folks enough for the (name removed by moderator)ut! I’ll share all this with my wife! If you think of any more ideas, keep ‘em comin’! Thanks again so much all!! :):)🙂
 
Hi masuwerte, are you filipina/filipino by chance? To answer your question, my wife is from Baguio. She is Ilocana. Baguio is about a six hour drive north from Manila. We will land in Manila, stay there two days and de-jet lag ourselves, then Kate’s family will come pick us up and drive us to Baguio. Long journey indeed. But my wife truly deserves the sacrifice from us. She hasn’t been home since 2004. She misses her mother, who has been in very poor health, and hasn’t complained once. She has given birth to three lovely treasures and yet she hasn’t been able to share our kids with her side of the family. She deserves to IMO. It will be a heck of a treck. But it’s about time she gets something. She quit her job in 2005 to be home with the kids and has sacrificed a lot, worked hard at home as a mom with no help from anybody. We’ll make it work. But having the (name removed by moderator)ut and opinions and ideas of all you folks is inspiring!
masuwerte said:
Will you be going to the provinces, or just in Manila? Either way, but especially in the province, have a plan for what to do if any of your little ones get sick. Myself, I wouldn’t want to take a kid back there until they’re at least five, and their immune system has matured somewhat. Bring bug spray, sunscreen and a flashlight. I hope everything goes well for you; I hope Lola and Lolo enjoy their mga apo. Have fun! I wish I was going :).
Click to expand...
 
One idea might be this…

After you get the kids settled into their seats but before the doors on the plane close, tell the flight attendant you left your purse in the boarding area. Get off the plane and take a different flight.

😛

*******This is a joke!***]

Okay, maybe that is not such a good idea. 😉

More seriously, be sure to take some gum or something for them to chew to help their ears pop. remember, you will need this on both the climb out and (more importantly) on the descent. You may also want to bring some children’s strength dramamine, which also make people drowsy. Also, consider children’s dose of meletonin, the hormone that helps people sleep. If you cannot find child dosing for these, DO NOT give them any.
 
Thanks, comrade. I come from the People’s Republic of Cuhleefohnya. Our politbureau is run by an Austrian steroid-laden ham actor. LOL…Hope all’s well in the People’s Republic of Oregon!
rpp said:
One idea might be this…

After you get the kids settled into their seats but before the doors on the plane close, tell the flight attendant you left your purse in the boarding area. Get off the plane and take a different flight.

😛

*******This is a joke!***]

Okay, maybe that is not such a good idea. 😉

More seriously, be sure to take some gum or something for them to chew to help their ears pop. remember, you will need this on both the climb out and (more importantly) on the descent. You may also want to bring some children’s strength dramamine, which also make people drowsy. Also, consider children’s dose of meletonin, the hormone that helps people sleep. If you cannot find child dosing for these, DO NOT give them any.
Click to expand...
 
i’m no expert with these problems, but good suggestions are given. so good luck!

and welcome to the Philippines! they might ask you to eat baluts, isaw and other exotic foods. i love isaw actually. God bless!👍
 
gurneyhalleck1 said:
Hi masuwerte, are you filipina/filipino by chance?
Click to expand...
My wife’s Filipina, from Surigao by way of Manila, and we’ve been there several times. Never with a little one, though. And we’ve never been to Baguio, but it sounds nice. Have a good safe trip - mag ingat ka.
 
We took our 2 youngest (ages 4 and 2 at the time) to Hawaii last year. It was only 9 hours in flight, but the kids did really well (I on the other hand, didn’t on the way back, but that’s another story :p).

The 2 main issues we had were the security lines–it’s a huge hassel, shoes off, everything through the conveyor belt, collect the stuff and shoes back on. You’ll want to tell the kids what is going to happen and maybe have easy off and on shoes. Make sure everything in your carryons is okay to carry on.

Next was the lack of blankets and pillows (yes, on an overnight flight!! Thank you Delta Airlines!). I’d suggest finding a combo blanket/pillow thing for the kids (and the adults) so you can be comfy for sleeping. Something like this:
justkidsstore.com/prod/zoobies/kojo-the-croc/Green
or this
ebags.com/lug_life/snuz_sac_u_blanket_pillow/product_detail/index.cfm?modelid=141051&productid=1364545&sourceID=NXTAG00001

You might inquire whether the airplane will have video in the seats–the flight over for us did, the flight back did not. We carried a portable dvd player and videos for the kids and I’m glad we did, even though it took up valuable space.

Good luck! Sounds like a wonderful trip!
 
Benadryl, for real, with one caveat: make sure you give the kids a “test dose” a few days before to see how they respond. Some kids have a paradoxical hyperactive response to it, NOT what you want on an international flight!

Another idea, at least for the 2 yo: a roll of scotch tape. Seriously. Let him stick it all over the seat back in front of him (as long as he’s not pushing on it so as to annoy the person in front of him), on the armrests, floor, whatever- it’s easy for you to pick up in the end and fascinating for little ones.

Ask for a bulkhead seat, in the front- you won’t have as much room for your luggage, but the extra leg room is priceless. You can let the kids play on the floor in front of you. Not sure what kind of plane you’re flying, but sometimes it helps to actually have the familiy separated- mom with one or two kids in one row, dad with the others a few rows back. I know some might disagree with that, but we’ve found it to be helpful to offer the kids a change of scenery halfway through the flight and to separate ones who might have a tendency to bicker.

New toys, dvds-yes- though check if the plane has on-board movies. You might not need to bring your own dvd player. If you have an iphone/itouch, you can download plenty of fun apps that might at least make the waits in the airport more bearable.

Good luck! 😃
 
For the 4yr old he/she can play with the Nintendo DS (don’t forget the games lol). Make sure it is fully charged before boarding and don’t forget to bring the charger. Ah, yes the head phones as well. Have a good flight, trip and good luck.

God bless

Ooops just re read the OP and it is a he
 
Check with your physician as to what medicine the children can take for pain. I’m thinking children’s Tylenol would be good. My grandson was in great pain (ear pain) even though we had gum and wished we had the children’s Tylenol strips. Poor kid…crocodile tears and he was 4yrs old.
 
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