Plane Riding with 6 Kids!

Each child has his/her own bag for flight with :

snacks
drinks
games
coloring book/crayon-depending on age
books
sm. toys

and a dvd player for plane ride if everyone is ansy. GL!

Can you ship some luggage? Last time I travelled with 4 young children and one other adult, we had 13 pieces of luggage total. Hard to manage in an airport. With the cost of checking bags, it might be worth it to ship what you don't need right away, and just carry on the necessities.

- Check as much of the luggage as possible. Don't do carry-on luggage (my mistake). It takes longer to get settled, and to deplane.

- Each kid should only bring one backpack that can fit at their fit under the seat in front of them.BTW, a backless booster, will most usually fit under the seat in front, to not take up space overhead.
- Each 'row' should have at least 1 parent in it, if you haven't bought the tickets yet.
- All kids should have their own seat. Including the 10m old. Check with the airline about using a carseat on the plane.
- There is an airline seat harness that would work well for the 2y
http://www.amazon.com/Child-Airplane-Safety-Harness-Restr...

- No liquids except medicine and prepared, seal formula can go through securtiy. You can buy drinks once through security.

- Snacks - in ziploc bags, with names - crackers, M&Ms (not peanut or peanut butter), popcorn, cereal, cookies can all be carried through securtiy

- When the snack tray is down, there is no room to wiggle, so finding things that can be lap held without the lap tray are good.

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Added: Oh, and everyone has to take their shoes off for security. the kids should wear shoes that they can put on themselves. Crocs are good as they don't slip off.

Mom:

Welcome to mamapedia!!

You must be wealthy!! :) Airline tickets for 10 must have cost out the wazoo!!! I think I would have rented a motor home and driven!! Of course, if you are going over water.....aaaahhhh I digressed...sorry.

When traveling do NOT forget the 3-1-1 rule. No more than 3 ounces (I think it's something like 3.4 or 3.5 ounces) 1 1-quart bag and 1 per traveler. If your 10 month old is formula fed - they will allow that but be prepared for them to check it at security.

Each child should have their own backpack - doesn't have to be huge - just enough to hold the following:

* change of clothes (just ONE - things spill!)
* snacks - keep it simple - they don't need 10 things - just a few
* activities like coloring books and crayons
* a book to read
* DS or hand held game

The oldest child should have a portal DVD player to share with the younger ones. Since you have six kids, you may need two portal DVD players.

Each child (with the exception of the 10 month old) will be responsible for carrying their stuff.

Check the stroller at the gate.
Call your airline and check to see if the car seat will fit in their seats. i would STRONGLY recommend the 10 month old to have their own seat.

Have fun!

Divide and conquer. Ask the airline to seat you all together. You sit with the 2 year old and the 10 month old. (I assume you're holding the 10 month old...) Have the other adult sit with the 4 year old and the 7 year old, and the two 9 year olds can sit together. Best to work out your seating arrangement in advance...

Everybody but the 10 month old has a little backpack with things that you have approved of for playing with. Order children's menus in advance - they will serve the kids first. I'd eat in advance or bring you own food so that you aren't trying to eat while managing the 10 month old. Make sure that you bring something to help with popping ears for takeoff and descent.

You can find airplane books for children in the library. Make sure to check them out and read them to the kids in order to prepare them. When my older son was 2 years old, I got on a flight with him and he didn't want to be there. He cried until he exhaustedly fell asleep. I should have "marketed" the flight to him beforehand - that was my fault. The stewardess gave me a chocolate cookie to give him - it ended up all over my clothes AND his - so (hint, hint) don't bring chocolate...

If you make it perfectly clear that we sit quietly on a plane and don't get out of our seats, you'll be doing the entire plane a favor, and you won't up on the news as a family who was asked to exit the plane before take-off. (We read those stories on the news ever so often.) You could even put some chairs in your kitchen, configured like on the plane, and "practice" being on the plane with the kids. It will seem like a grand adventure to them.

Don't forget the strollers - you'll need them for the airport. Nothing worse than kids running around with security losing their tempers or taking off down the concourse. You don't have enough adults to with you to take a chance on that...

Best of luck to you - you have more courage than I would.

On the plane, just go with electronics. Movies, ipad, iphone, etc. If it's only two hours, you really won't have a problem.

Hello!
I always make sure we have the triangle crayons when we travel. Plus a trip to the dollar store before hand to have some new and interesting things for the little one's especially...Good Luck!
L.

Split up on the plane, even just 2 rows back and on the other side. The older ones won't fight as much about who has this game or that, who got the good snacks, and so on. The younger ones won't wake up if another young one is crying. You can also split them up mid-flight, just for variety, and move to a slightly different section of the plane by swapping seats with you and the little ones. Kids will often behave if other passengers are around them.

Each older kid is responsible for their own stuff - a backpack with snacks and an empty bottle they can put water in once they get through security. Remember you can't take liquids through security so don't stock up on juice boxes. They can get soda and juice from the beverage cart which they will think is cool. Get extra napkins for them to put on their tray table. Get some new stuff and some travel games - my son traveled alone at a young age, and the nice guy in the next seat played travel "Connect 4" about 10 million times with him. Get some variety puzzle books and a pack of mechanical pencils - let the kids do word search puzzles or easy Sudoku rather than be automated and plugged in all the time. Go to the library for 2 books per older kid, and give them some sort of prize for finishing them or behaving like big kids.

You want the younger ones to be drinking from a bottle during take off and landing to keep the ears from popping. Tell the older ones to swallow a lot or chew gum (even if you don't like gum, airplane rides can be an exception!) The older kids will probably go to the bathroom a million times - that's okay if there's no line. They will be fascinated by flushing and using a tiny sink. They'll also turn their reading lights on and off, put the window shade up and down, etc. That's okay if there's no one else in the row with them. Make sure they know about airplane aisle etiquette, squishing to the side so people can get past them, being aware of the beverage cart. And no slamming the tray tables back and forth into the person in front of them, no kicking the seats. If they have any electronic devices, make sure they know about them being turned off during takeoff and landing, and that the flight attendants are the bosses. Some kids who do well with their teachers and scout leaders will do equally well with flight attendants as new authority figures.

I read something about a family with little kids who boarded first and put little baggies on the seats of the other passengers in the surrounding rows. The baggies had earplugs, lifesavers, gum and a few other small goodies. There was a note that said something like "Hi, we are 6 month old twins and taking our first airplane flight. Our parents hope we will not cry too much and disturb your trip. Please forgive us if we don't do this too well." Something along those lines. Sometimes other passengers actually step up to entertain kids which is nice.

It's gonna be what it's gonna be with the younger ones, you know? If the 2 9 year olds can manage the 4 year old for a little while, that might be good - sometimes they can get a 4 year old to be quiet and that motivates them to be quiet themselves.

Bulkhead seating gives some room for the kids to sit on the floor and play when the seatbelt sign is off, but you completely sacrifice storage because you don't have the seat in front of you. So consider that when choosing seats.

And check as much baggage as possible, and gate check the stroller(s). It's worth the fee to not have that stuff on the plane with you.

So much good advice everyone has provided. I would reiterate talking to the kids that are old enough to understand and telling them that they absolutely have to stay in their seats and sit quietly--and also that headphones for any electronic that makes noise are required! (Even the little ones can wear them if they are playing/watching). Traveling with kids is a challenge, but they can rise to the occassion (especially if they know what you expect going into it).

Good luck!!

I'd have a carseat on the plane for the 4-year-old, 2-year-old (rear-facing), and 10-month-old, for their safety (and their comfort!).

The older kids can be in the airline seatbelt. In the car when you get wherever you're going, 2 backless boosters for the 9-year-olds can be checked, and the 7-year-old (either high-back or backless if you're comfortable doing backless for travel).

Don't sit together. Kids in a pack are much more rowdy...all acting silly together. Sit with your family and entertain your kids with movies/cartoons, ipad games (or whatever you have), art supplies, snacks, cards (they make uno for little ones now), or other travel games. We bring earphones with a double jack so our kids can hear their movie over the airplane noise (and we don't annoy others). We also bring books and I will read to them (or the older one reads to himself). Our kids have always been great travelers since they were very young.

Rent a van and share the driving... Spare the airline passengers.