Holiday Travel with Kids
Holiday travel with kids can be tricky at the best of times, and when you combine the stress of flying with the business of parenting the results can be disastrous. If you have a trip coming up and are dreading taking your terrible two-some on an airplane for several hours, keep in mind a few of the best bribes that can keep your kiddo happy throughout the flight. Your fellow passengers will appreciate any attempts to thwart mid-meltdown tantrums and will probably applaud if your efforts are actually successful. When considering ways to avert the evil eyes that other rows are shooting in your general direction, it may just be time to pull out the credit card and offer a free round of drinks to every row within earshot of your darling daughter.
One of the best bribes for kiddos on airplanes and long, confined travel spaces continues to be the old standby: candy. Not just for Halloween, if sugar is rare in your child’s daily life, it will carry that much more weight when pulled out as a bribe to tame a tantrum. Be sure to pack any sort of food that your child likes a lot. A full mouth usually is a happy and quiet mouth. Even if it seems counterintuitive to give sugar to a kid you’re trying to calm down, the sugar bribe will have longer lasting effects than the sugar rush.
Also be sure to bring along your child’s favorite toy. For the lure of novelty, hide a few new toys in your carry on to pull out at opportune moments requiring distraction. Your iPhone or iPad is also full of kid-friendly apps and games that provide distraction and entertainment for curious minds. Keep these bribes on hand to ensure your holiday travel with kids is turbulence and tantrum free.
