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Exploring Tokyo in 5 days with your toddler
Five days in Tokyo is just not enough, but there is so much you can do to make this time special with your toddler. We missed out on a lot, but we also had an amazing time with the things we did, and it’s an excuse to visit again! We’ll be back!
In this blog, I’ll outline what we did in 5 days in Tokyo and some of the not-to-be-missed places we visited.
Where we stayed
We stayed at the Prince Gallery Kioicho, and I really recommend it. It’s a fairly western-style hotel, but the views are more than worth it, as you can see what feels like the entirety of Tokyo. You’re 32-38 floors in the sky, so waking up with that view is just amazing!
It’s a 5-minute walk from the nearest metro, across the road from a secret Japanese garden, and is situated above some great restaurants and, usefully, a Konbini!
Day 1: Travel from Disney to Tokyo Centre
As we were travelling from Tokyo Disney Resort, we had eaten dinner in Disney before we left. We left the park at around 6.30 pm, and arrived at our hotel about 7-7.30 pm. Once we checked in, got ourselves sorted in the room, and explored the shopping centre below, it was time for bed. We’d arranged a transfer between hotels, as we hoped for the toddler to fall asleep in the car, but it was too fun (and the car seats were forward facing, which he’s not used to!). As we had all our bags, it was much easier to go by car. The journey was only about 30 mins from Disney to the Prince Gallery Hotel.
After an exhausting (but exhilarating!) few days at Tokyo Disney Resort, the jet lag started to kick in and we were ready for another early night, ready to explore Tokyo!
Day 2: Private half-day tour of Tokyo
We started our Tokyo visit with a half day tour to get a bit of local information, and ease us in to exploring FOn this half-day tour, we visited Hamarikyu Garden, headed to Asakusa and explored Sensoji temple.
After that, we headed to teamLab Borderless and had a lovely Vietnamese lunch in the Azabudai Hills shopping centre. It’s pretty much a brand new shopping centre and was just so CLEAN! There are outdoor seating and garden areas which were great for the toddler running around.
I used a Oscha ring sling to carry the toddler around, and it was perfect – when he wanted to walk it could be rolled up into our bag, but it is comfy enough that I was able to carry him asleep in it as we walked back via shrines and shops from Asabudai Hills to the Prince Gallery. We really enjoyed just walking through neighbourhoods and taking detours to visit a shop or a 7Eleven!
My husband had dinner at Kikunoi Akasaka, a three-star Michelin restaurant, of typical Kyoto cuisine (we didn’t realise this when we booked, as my husband would have preferred something more Tokyo-focused). My husband was sat at the counter – but lots of these sorts of restaurants do not allow children – so check before you book!
I’m not a massive fan of the way fish are treated in Japanese restaurants, so based on the fact that my husband was shown a live fish before it was taken to be cooked, I’m glad I gave it a miss! His meal also included turtle, shark fin 🤢 and other things that I’m not a fan of / don’t think should be eaten!
Instead, the toddler and I ordered room service, did colouring in, had a relaxing bath and watched a film before an early bedtime to make sure he was well rested to take on the rest of the holiday.
Take time to rest – having a well rested toddler will make for a happier holiday!
Slow mornings or slow evenings help keep tantrums at bay!Day 3: The Fire Museum and beautiful gardens
We had a slow start, with a leisurely breakfast at the hotel, followed by a walk around some of the open spaces outside our hotel.
We took the underground to the Fire Museum in Tokyo in Shinjuku, Japan. THIS PLACE IS AMAZING FOR TODDLERS.
The first floor is just fire engines from different eras. They have a ride-on fire engine with an alarm that occasionally goes off. There’s lots of historical information, like beautiful attire of Samurai fire fighters and explanations of how the Sachiko holds water to ensure the wearer doesn’t catch alight. Plus, there are helicopters (indoor and outdoor), dress-up, drawing, and lots of interactive activities for kids and toddlers.
We then returned to our hotel’s neighbourhood and went to Hotel New Otani Tokyo. The garden has a history of over 400 years and has been owned by various famous samurai lords throughout the years. Spanning 10 acres, it is home to beautiful features like old stone lanterns, bright red bridges over koi ponds, a stone garden, a waterfall, and a variety of flowers and plants. Despite being located in a busy city, the garden offers a calm and peaceful atmosphere to enjoy some relaxing time (if there is ever such a thing with a lively toddler!).
Afterwards, we spent a few hours in the hotel having a much-needed rest, before getting ready for dinner at Imahan Garden Terrace Kioichi.
On the way there, we explored another nearby park, and there were terrapins swimming around a big pond, and a nice little walking loop which burnt off some toddler energy! We wouldn’t have visited anything like this before a toddler, so having him with us really helped us explore!
We had booked a private room at Imahan, which was fantastic with a toddler, as it kept him enclosed! We were also given a toy, colouring pencils and a colouring book, which was great – we found this to be the case with ALL of the restaurants we visited – everyone was really accepting of the toddler and he often got colouring or special treatment!
The food was delicious. But just remember, you have to take your shoes off and put slippers on, so make sure you’re wearing your best socks!
Day 4: Ueno Park
We were up, had breakfast at the hotel, and headed off to Ueno Park on the underground.
We visited a shrine within the park, purchased a shrine stamp book, and then headed to Ueno Zoo to see the pandas!
Top tip
Don’t wait in line for the first set of pandas, follow the path round to the second panda enclosure and there’s no queue!Some of the enclosures felt pretty small, but others were much larger and more modern. It’s similar to most city zoos, probably similar to Amsterdam Zoo in terms of enclosure size, so seeing some animals was a bit depressing.
Once we finished up at the Zoo, we headed to a festival-type thing, then headed up to the Tokyo National Museum. I highly recommend doing this, although it really is more for the adults, and luckily, the timings coincided with a nap, so we were able to take a bit of time to look at the exhibits.
Manhole cover spotting 
National Museum 
Snacks 
Panda 
Then torrential rain hit, so we hopped in a taxi and went to Nihombashi Mitsukoshi Main Store (Japan’s first department store, dating back to 1673) to buy the toddler some trainers, as he somehow outgrew his closed-toe shoes we’d brought with us.
After a really busy day, we had a relaxed dinner of food from the Konbini back at the hotel.
Day 5: A day of shrines
We were woken early by an earthquake’s advanced warning, which is pretty terrifying if you’ve never experienced it before. Luckily, we were far from the epicentre, and the building took any shaking, so we felt absolutely nothing. But there was a bit of panic as I realised on floor 36 there’s not much I can do about anything!
After that unexpected morning wake-up, we decided to visit a shrine that was about a 20-minute walk from our hotel. The shrine, Toyokawa Inari Temple, has hundreds of fox statues, which were great.
We were a bit too early to get a Goshuin, so we had to wait about 15 minutes before they opened up. A Goshuin, translated to ‘honourable red seal’ (御朱印), is a red stamp that can be obtained from Shinto shrines or Buddhist Temples.
Remember to take or buy a separate stamp book for your museum and ‘Eki’ (train station) stamps, as the shrines will only put their stamps, prints or calligraphy into an official goshuin book.
Afterwards, we walked to Hie-jinja shrine, which had multiple torii (red sacred gates) on the steps leading up to it. So, if you want to miss the Kyoto crowds, this place is for you.
For a trip to Japan, I highly recommend using a carrier, we used a Oscha ring sling, and a Didymos half-buckle. We were both so comfortable, and could climb as many steps as we wanted!
We then took a taxi to the Shinkansen Eki (station) to head on to the next adventure: Osaka!
To find out more about our trip, read more here.
Let me know – have you been to Tokyo? What are recommendations?
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Japan in 18 days with a toddler
My husband and I visited Japan with our toddler of 20 months in 2024.
We had started looking at visiting Canada in February, but then decided it would be too cold… so then just took a look at the best Avios flights we could get with British Airways – and ended up with 18 days in Japan, flying in and out from London Heathrow to Tokyo Haneda.
We stayed mostly in chain hotels, which we thought would be easier, as it was our first long-haul trip to a completely different culture with a toddler! But, when we do it next time, I’ll be planning to find the hotels that really interest me.
Here’s an overview of our 18-day itinerary in Japan, when we visited, how we managed the dreaded jet lag and some other tips for getting the best out of the stay.
Koi spotting 
Senso-ji Temple 
Tokyo TeamLabs Borderless 
Traditional gardens 
Tokyo views 
Drain cover spotting 
Ueno Zoo Pandas 
National Museum
When we travelled
We travelled in May/June 2024. These months are typically not recommended because they can be either too wet or starting to get too hot. We decided to take the ‘risk’ as the weather seems to be pretty changeable everywhere nowadays – and it turned out amazing!
Luckily, we only had a few rain showers over 18 days, and the weather was generally mid to high 20s, with a day or two at about 32-34 degrees. Therefore, we lucked out, and it was actually pleasant for a trip with a toddler.
Travelling in May and June meant that we really didn’t have many issues with crowds, even at Tokyo Disney Resort, which had the soft launch of Fantasy Springs when we were there. Therefore, my advice is based on our experience in the low season, and it may not be the same when you visit.
Top tip
Keep checking the weather before you go, and adjust as needed!
A brief itinerary outline
Here is an overview of where we went in Japan and how long we stayed in each place:
- 4 days in Tokyo Disney Resort (including arrival day)
- 4 days in Tokyo
- 2 days in Osaka
- 5 days in Kyoto
- 2 days in Hakone
- 1 night in Tokyo pre-flight
Pre-trip planning
I spent the 5 months before we travelled to Japan learning Japanese, and I absolutely loved it! I spent time on a Japanese online class run by Surrey County Council, in-person lessons with a Japanese teacher, conversation coffees with a local Japanese lady, and using Duolingo.
I’d say it helped me, as I felt confident. I found that just knowing a few key phrases really helps build engagement with the people you meet. By the end of the trip, our toddler was saying ‘riato’ as his way of saying ‘arigato gozaimasu’ as we’d walk past people.
The flights 🫣
14.5 hours. On a plane. With a toddler 😬
That’s enough to give anyone nightmares!
But actually, despite the toddler not sleeping, except for the hour before landing, the excitement of travelling to Japan and being on a plane, meant that the flight didn’t seem quite as long for any of us.
The British Airways flights to Tokyo are quite tricky if you have a toddler, as they seem to be a c. 8am take off, with about a 7:30am landing in Japan – so essentially having two daytimes without a night, as the plane was set up for the night (on Japanese time), so if you didn’t have a toddler it’d have been perfect to relax and sleep.
We were also fortunate that we’d been collecting avios points for years and hadn’t used them, so as the toddler was under 2 and could sit on my lap, we managed to snag business class seats, so we had more room for activities.
Check out our top tips for travelling with a toddler
Click hereWe had airplane/airport books and books about Japan to read; new sticker books, new toys from Lovevery.com and of course, the trusty iPad and some toddler headphones.
The dreaded jetlag
Don’t fear it… just go with it! 🫣
We were terrified of what the jet lag would bring, but on the way out we didn’t really suffer at all.
We got off the plane at 7:30am and headed straight to Tokyo Disneyland Hotel where we checked in, left our bags, and were in Tokyo Disneyland and on our first ride by 9:30am! Turns out a day at Disney helps keep your energy levels going!
The toddler had a huge sleep at lunchtime, and we were all pretty sleepy and in bed for about 8pm, and woke up the following day at 6am raring to go!
The return home was slightly more challenging. We had a few nights where the toddler thought 2am was the morning, so we did have to get up for a couple of hours with him, then we went back to bed about 5am, then woke him at 7:30/8am and had lots and lots of outdoor time to try and reset his body clock. It probably too about 3 days to get through it – but heading back to nursery helped! Relaxing into it was our best option, and we did wake him or stop him from having late naps to ensure we didn’t continue the jet lag too long!
The best phrases to learn
You’re probably not planning on learning lots and lots of Japanese before you travel, but I think it adds so much to your trip if you can ask for a few of the most basic things!
Remember that ‘R’ is pronounced more like a ‘L’. I.e ‘toire’ (toilet), sounds like a bit like ‘toy-lay’.
The ‘u’ at the end of desu or other words isn’t pronounced, desu is pronounced more like ‘dess’.
Here’s what I recommend:
- Hello – Konnichiwa (こんにちは)
- Excuse me – Sumimasen
(すみません). This is used to say sorry, to get waiters attention, to move past people, etc. A very useful word! - Thank you – Arigatou Gozaimasu (ありがとうございます) (ah-li-gat-o go-zai-mass)
- Where are the….
- Bathrooms – toire wa doko desuka? (トイレはどこですか？)
- Stamps (train station or museum stamps) – sutampu wa doko desu ka?” (スタンプはどこですか？)
- Shrine – Jinja wa doko desu ka? (神社はどこですか？)
- Temple – Otera wa dokodesu ka? (お寺はどこですか？)
- Station (eki) – eki wa doko desu ka? (駅はどこですか？)
- Bullet train – Shinkansen (新幹線)
Friendly people
We found the people in Tokyo to be pretty friendly and accommodating. My son loved interacting with the local people, and I’d say his confidence tripled thanks to our trip to Japan. He loved waving at people, who would mostly always wave back!
Japan was an amazing holiday with my family and one I will never forget. In future blogs, I will discuss the trip in a lot more detail, including our Tokyo Disney Resort itinerary, other fun things we did in Tokyo, travel suggestions for Japan with a toddler and tips for travelling with a toddler with allergies in Japan.
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A wonderful day at Tulleys Tulip Fest
Come with us on a wonderful day out to Tulleys Tulip Fest 🌷💐🌷
We haven’t been to Tulleys before, but we can’t wait to visit again – but if you’re going for the tulips, they’re only there until the 5th May – so visit soon!
We went on a Thursday morning in the 11am session, which was perfect, as we spent lots of time exploring the tulip fields (which are breathtaking!), then were ready for lunch at 1ish – so perfect timing!
Top tips
- Bring your travel charger. There are so many photo opportunities, you won’t be able to stop taking photos.
- Pack for all weather and don’t be put off by it. It started cold, grey and windy – but then by lunchtime it was sunny and warm. The classic of the British Spring! The toddler was wearing his Polarn O. Pyret waterproof jacket – which is currently on sale!
- If you want to get dressed up for properly instagrammable photos – change before you arrive. The toilet cubicles are tiny. This goes for if you have a toilet training toddler – they are so small, and basically impossible to get two of you into a cubicle!
- The whole place is wheelchair and pushchair accessible, but there’s a lot going over gravel, so it can be quite bumpy.
- If you have allergies, make sure you pack some safe food, just in case you can’t find something to meet your needs at the fast food places
- We bought a pot of tulips, but in hindsight I should have just ordered some bulbs of my favourite tulips to plant in the garden for next spring! They were about £14.50 for about 5-6 bulbs, vs about £8 for 10 online.
Food choices?
There were so many food choices around. From ice cream, to poffertjes, shawarma to pizzas, there was a great selection of food available.
But… we can’t eat dairy or soya, and I had a very hungry toddler, so we only checked out the burger restaurant. They took quite a long time to find out if the chicken strips and dairy or soya in, so we just went for a portion of chips each (again!), but luckily I’d brought a packed lunch for the toddler too.
Cost?
It’s pretty expensive, especially as 2 year olds cost the same as a 30 year old – between £16.95 to £19.95!
It’s beautiful and a lovely day out, but I do think they could consider reducing the kids prices, as there isn’t anything that’s specifically targeted to them. Whilst they absolutely love running up and down the flowers, it actually is for adults really, and I think the prices should reflect that.
How to get there?
We drove, and there was plenty of parking mid-week, but there were plenty of taxis outside, plus bus and train options too!
Regular trains run from London and the South Coast. The easiest and closest stations are Crawley or Three Bridges.
East Grinstead station is also nearby.
See more on Instagram
So, let us know! Have you ever been?
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The Easiest Chocolate Biscuits
The Easiest Chocolate Biscuits 😍
I realised I was down to my last egg, just as I promised my toddler a cake baking session 🫣 – so decided to pivot and make these absolutely delicious biscuits for Easter (although they’ll be just as tasty all year round!), and I just had to share the recipe with you!
These are also dairy and soya free, so perfect for your CMPA kiddos!
Making the biscuits Ingredients:
🍫28 grams cocoa powder (to make sure it’s not too dark-chocolatey!)
🌸380 grams plain flour
🥄200 grams light golden sugar
🍦big splash of vanilla extract
🥚1 large eggInstructions
Set your oven to 180 degrees fan.
Make sure your margarine has softened slightly – I used the tub version, but it might be even better using the block! You could use dairy butter too.
Mix the margarine, sugar and vanilla essence together until the mixture is light and fluffy, and then mix in the egg.
My margarine was pretty soft, so it was easy to mix the egg in, making sure it is all combined, then mix the cocoa powder and flour, until it’s too hard to stir, then combine it with your hands until it’s a dough.
If the mixture is a bit too loose, pop it in the fridge for a couple of minutes to try to solidify, or add a small bit extra of flour.
Roll the biscuits out to a thickness somewhere like a £2 coin and use cutters, play dough toys or cutlery to make the shapes you want.
Place onto a greaseproof sheet on the baking tray and pop in the oven for 8-10 minutes – 9 minutes was the sweet spot.
How to make it a toddler friendly activity?
Cracking the egg, mixing, rolling and using the cutters are such good opportunities for the toddler to get involved, even if it means stopping him from taking handfuls of margarine & sugar to eat 😂
We have a toddler learning tower that we’ve used since about 12 months old and it’s been so useful for all our mess making in the kitchen!
Making this recipe, I didn’t quite have my eyes on him at all times, so we ended up with a bit more flour everywhere as he decided to ‘explore’ the packet 🫣
Save the post and share it around – good food’s meant to be shared! 🍪
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Our top 5 travel books for toddlers – flying on holiday
Reading to toddlers about upcoming changes can help them understand and cope with transitions. So to help you explain your adventures to come we have picked out some of our favourites for when we go on a holiday by plane!
Airports and planes can be scary, loud, boring and frustrating for toddlers (and their parents!), but talking about what to expect can help build a small child’s excitement ready to fly away on holiday.
Once you get to the airport we always aim to get to the gate a short while in advance, mainly to spend our time watching the planes moving about, seeing if we can spot suitcases, or people with light-up wands or pilots! It’s also a good way to burn some energy as often there’s quite a long way to walk – and we have always encouraged our toddler to walk through the airport (wherever it is safe to do so).
We suggest:
- Peep inside how a plane works
- This is probably one of our favourite travel books, we read it weekly, even when we’re not going on a holiday! There are so many flaps to lift, and different parts of the plane to explore, and it’s quite a long read so you can come back to it time and time again. It would also suit children up to at least 6, as there is so much to explore.
- That’s not my plane
- Everyone loves a “That’s not my…. “ And the plane one is just the same! More for younger readers, as it doesn’t explain much about what is going on, and is a short read, it would be fantastic for younger children as an introduction to planes and airports.
- Busy world; Airport
- A book for slightly younger readers, but it still engages my toddler at 2.5 years old, and is a good one for talking through different parts of your holiday – including the airport. There’s so many things to move, spot and talk about, that I think this is a winner.
- First sticker book: airport
- We love these First Sticker Books, although I would say they are more suited to 2 years plus. We had these when the toddler was younger, but he just didn’t seem as engaged as when he had stickers from Peppa Pig (see below) or Cbeebies magazine.
- Peppa Pig: Happy Holiday Sticker Activity Book
- You either love her or hate her, but Peppa Pig is a staple toddler character and you can’t seem to escape her even if she’s banned from your TV at home (I think you can guess which side I am on…). However, her sticker books are great, and this kept my son busy for nearly an entire flight to Spain, which I think is a win! It’s not fully focused on the plane/airport as the others, but it’s a fun one with lots of destinations included.
This includes some affiliate links which may provide me with some commission if you click through, but will not cost you anything! We only provide truthful and honest reviews of things, and will never share anything that we do not love!
We purchased all copies of our travel books ourselves.
- Peep inside how a plane works
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Tales & Trails – Gatton Park
Today we went to Gatton Park for their Tales and Trails event – the story was the Scarecrows’ Wedding!
Such a fun morning – and so much to do. Perfect for ages 2-4, and maybe even a bit older.
What did we do?
👂We listened to the Scarecrows’ Wedding story
🌸 we made some beautiful pink flowers
✅ we went on a hunt around the gardens to find the things on our lists from the Scarecrows’ Wedding
👒 We finished off with a tea for me (yay!), a biscuit, and making our own scarecrows to take home!
And all only for £8.50. It was such a fun morning!
It’s a blend of a playgroup and forest school, so was really engaging for my 2.5 year old… although I think his highlight was the bourbon biscuit!
We also had really weird weather, it was freezing but then completely warming up as we headed to the car! The 2 year old is wearing his Polarn O. Pyret waterproof fleece which was perfect for today!
Nb. This post contains affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission if you purchase through them at no extra cost to you.
We paid for this experience and the fleece ourselves.
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Spring Fun at Godstone Farm for Toddlers
Godstone farm is a perfect day out for a toddler, especially in the spring when the daffodils are out, hopefully the sun is shining bright in the sky, and the newborn lambs are snuggled up cosily with their mums.
Nestled in the Surrey countryside, just outside of the M25, Godstone Farm is easy to reach from Surrey, Kent, Croydon and London, although it’s probably best to travel by car, as you need to travel to Oxted or Redhill and catch a bus from there if you want to go by public transport.
We’re lucky enough to have a pre-schooler pass, and normally spend about 2-4 hours at a time here, but there are still corners of activities that we haven’t seen, or bits we haven’t explored for a few visits, so you definitely could spend a full day there!
How busy was it?
We visited on a warm sunny term-time weekday in March, so crowds were fairly low. There were a few school groups, and lots of families, but we didn’t feel crowded at all. The farm opens at 9:30am, but the play barn (with the amazing soft play) opens at 10am. We spent time roaring at the dinosaur trail, playing in the sandpits and on the multiple (at least 10?!) slides and counting how many lambs we could see. The pigs were snoozing in the sun, the donkeys were eey-oreing away and the kids were running around having so much fun!
Our top tips for a Spring Day at Godstone Farm:
- Bring suntan lotion – there’s limited shade and it can get hot even on spring days
- Be ready to count the babies! There were lots of lambs, some baby guinea pigs, and the crias (baby alpacas) have grown up a bit and been moved into the fields.
- The animal encounter areas and reptile house sometimes close around midday, so keep an eye on timings on the map that you can pick up at the gate.
- The nicest toilets are in the play barn (where the soft play is). i think all the toilets are child size though – so great for your toilet trained toddler, but can be awkward as an adult!
- Baby changing in the play barn is quite out in the open – the baby changing at the bottom of the farm (by the cafe) are more private, but can be chilly.
- I like visiting the farm anti-clockwise, so going into the new animal barn to start (and seeing if there are any babies!) followed by feeding the alpacas and highland cows. These alpacas always look like they want to have a chat with you!
- Make sure you keep enough animal feed for the goats at the end of your visit!
- Buy at least two bags of animal feed – I give one to my son, and keep the second in my pocket in case of any spillages and for the animals towards the end of the route
- Don’t forget to visit the DINOSAURS! We always make sure to go around twice, as the first time we sprint past all the other dinosaurs to make sure we roar loudly at the T-Rex!
The Farm map can be found here, or below. (all rights to Godstone Farm).
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My top 5 tips of travelling with a toddler
Firstly – take a deep breath!
I’ve always found that the worry before going on holiday (especially the worry about the flight – will they sleep? Will they scream for 14 hours straight? Will they vomit or wee everywhere?) is so much worse than the actual travel itself.
My top 5 tips for travelling with a toddler
1. Give yourself, and your toddler grace.
You will do the best you can, with the best you have in front of you. As long as you have prepared snacks and activities in advance, the rest is out of your hands and you can only apologise to your neighbours! You can’t control the weather, their sleep, when the flight takes off or who you are sat next to, but in my experience people have mostly been welcoming and helpful when we’ve travelled with a baby or toddler.
2. Pack snacks.
Then more snacks, then even more snacks! If you’re flying long haul, it’s likely the food isn’t going to suit a toddler, so bring a packed lunch too. If you have any allergies, remember to book your special dietary menu well in advance, and at least 3 days before you are flying, otherwise food will be limited.
3. Bring new toys, or toys out of retirement
Bring sticker books, new books, and some new small toys. Or hide toddler’s favourite toys for the week before the trip, and bring them out on the plane.
We love the Lovevery boxes, which have lots of fidget type toys, so we always keep some of the smaller toys to one side before a holiday. There is also the benefit that the tray table and the seatbelt buckle can bring so much joy to a small child!
4. Headphones and screen time rule
Bring headphone splitters and toddler headphones. We use a pair of tiger child headphones that my son loves (regularly wears them around the house!). Practice using the headphones at home in the week or so before the flight, so there are no surprises on the flight.
On flights, screen time can not be an issue, and using toddler-friendly headphones means that not everyone has to listen to the Bluey theme tune on repeat!
If you’re on a long haul flight with entertainment, you can often check the entertainment guide before your flight, so you can have a plan on what to watch / what will be toddler appropriate.
5. Promises…promises…
Do not promise anything you do not have control over/may not work.
We had one tantrum on our long haul flight to Japan, and that was promising some episodes of ‘Something Special‘, but when we came to launch it on the ipad, our BBC Iplayer app decided that the programs we’d downloaded needed the internet to be opened, despite them working with no problem in the airport, on airplane mode….
Once you’re on the flight, sit back, reminisce about flying pre-baby, and resign yourself to the fact you will walk to and from the toilet or galley at least 15 times in the flight! We use this time to get to know the flight attendants if they have time, and find out more about their favourite destinations, or how long they’ve been flying.
And, if it’s any consolation, I once had someone have a go at us for taking a 20 month old on a 14h30 flight from Tokyo to London, and how it will ruin his trip – so there will always be that one person who wants to take a little bit of sparkle from everyone else’s day. If you can, ignore them, and carry on without ever thinking about them again (they’re just jealous their parents didn’t take them on fun adventures!).
If you have any questions or suggestions – let me know! Drop a comment below, or contact me here.
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