We are about 9 months into this Covid pandemic and a question that I have seen circulating the internet is “Is it safe to fly?” People have tons of questions about flying with babies, kids and just all around traveling by themselves. Traveling with children is A LOT to begin with. The pandemic brings a whole new set of challenges when it comes to navigating an airport/plane. That being said, we recently took a work trip (that post coming soon) and my children did amazing flying. Here are some important things to do to prepare if you find that your family has to fly during the pandemic.
**Disclaimer: I am not a medical professional. I am also in no way encouraging people to go out and travel. I am solely providing information and tips that I found helpful when it came time for my family to take our first trip**
Things You Need to Know Before You Travel
I have a whole post already dedicated to what you need to know before flying during Covid, but I will quickly go over the basics. If you need to know more than check out the post.
- Know the travel restrictions where you’re going. These can easily be checked on the CDC’s website.
- Give yourself extra time to get through TSA.
- Know your airlines policies for seating and masks.
How Do I Prepare My Children to Fly?
We travel multiple times a year, so the boys are pretty good when it comes to flying. Yet and still, since this was our first time flying since March I did a couple of things to get them ready prior to our flight.
- Have “the talk”. – We discussed everything from hand washing, to mask wearing to what it was going to be like on the plane. They understood masks were not to be removed AT ALL or we would not be allowed to fly. They had no problems with masks on either the departure or return flight.
- Clean and sanitize. – Kids are going to touch things. It’s unavoidable. TSA is allowing you to bring sanitizer and you can bring your own wipes. Get them involved in wiping down their area once they board the plane.
- Eat before you go. – Eating before you get on the plane will cut down on the desire to remove masks. Also, most airllines aren’t handing out the good snacks anyway ;).
- Know your child – If your child struggles in most situations wearing a mask, flying is probably not the best option for your family. On most airlines, masks are required for all passengers over two. They also must be worn for the duration of the flight. If you know that is going to be hard for them to do for HOURS, consider other options.
- Expect to repeat yourself. – They are children. And I repeat myself to them countless times at home. While I didn’t have to remind them about mask wearing, I did have to remind them about touching things in the airport and maintaining a safe distance between other people.
All in all, the experience flying was not as bad as I worked myself up to believe it was going to be. Possibly because my children are used to traveling frequently, but they handled their first flight during Covid VERY well.
Has your family had to fly during the pandemic? What was the experience like for you?
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