Spit-Ups At 10,000 Feet : ="Some tips to make traveling with children easier.(air travel with children)(Brief Article)

You've just boarded a transatlantic flight with two kids, a stroller and a diaper bag. As you make your way up the aisle, other passengers avert their eyes, their body language shouting: "Please, don't sit here!" You know well the acute sense of relief they feel as you limp past them on your way to the back of the plane--after all, you used to be one of them. But flying across the ocean with the under-5 set doesn't have to be a total nightmare. A little preparation and some intelligent packing will go a long way.

Planning your flight:

Choosing a route is often the first step in making a long-haul flight with kids successful. Direct flights are best, but if you have a layover, try to schedule it near the beginning of the trip. "There's no way I'd want to tell the kids they have another flight after they just survived 11 hours in the air," says Scott Grove, who crosses the Atlantic as many as five times a year from Rome with his wife and three kids.

Seating arrangements:

Many travel agents insist on booking bulkhead seats for passengers with kids because there's more legroom. Don't do it! You'll end up having to store your carry-on luggage in the overhead compartment during takeoff (since there's no seat in front of you), which makes it difficult to get a spit-up cloth or a sippy cup. This is especially problematic if your plane is stuck in a long queue and your child is thirsty--now. Another drawback is that the seat dividers generally don't lift up, which means that if your toddler wants to sleep with his head on your lap, he has to somehow lie across the hard divider to do so.

Strollers:

If you are bringing a stroller to wheel the kids between airport gates, you will undoubtedly be asked to "gate check" it when you board the plane. Gate checking is not a guarantee that your stroller will be at the gate when you disembark. Rather, about half the time it will be with your bags in baggage claim. Grove's wife, Ruth, once ended up carrying three grumpy kids across Heathrow--by herself. If you cannot possibly transit between gates without your stroller, make sure you have a collapsible one that will fit in an ...