4.5yo first flight and cruise

[knlasv]

I'm nervous to take my son on his first flight and cruise. He will be 4.5yo at the time we plan to travel. He doesn't get carsick. Not sure if that correlates to boat or air sickness at all? Flight will be about 3 hours and hoping to get nonstop.
I'm hoping he is just super excited about it all that he doesn't get nervous by any of it! Is this a good age for a first cruise? Bedtime is normally 8pm, but obviously want to keep him up later on vacation. Worried about tantrums from over tiredness!
Sorry for the rant! We haven't traveled much in his lifetime!

 

[MICKIMINI]

Our son took to travel at 3 yo like a duck to water. We always went prepared with coloring books, trinkets and snacks. He loved to learn and travel (still does at 36) and was fascinated by everything back when the pilot invited him into the cockpit as did the monorail driver. If you show anxiety, he will pick it up. Just be happy and enjoy all the little learning experiences with him.

 

[auntlynne]

(This sounds like a child development philosophy lecture.)

My youngest niece had her first commercial flight around that age - to come visit me . She was miserable. Mainly due to the ear pressure - and she wouldn’t use a nasal spray for decongestant. That took years to overcome. Her sisters had no such problems. As an adult, she looks forward to trips in faraway places. You just never know.

There is no reason for a kid to have anxiety about flying or cruising. Unless they are just overall anxious to new things. Or sounds, sights. … If your kid can adjust to new places and situations in daily life, he should be fine.

And kids surprise you both ways. Love things you’d never expect. Cry over things that have made them happy yesterday.

Adults hear all the horror stories of things that can go wrong. Some forge through and still try new stuff; others suffer through, never comfortable, and others just say no and are done.

At any given point in life, you just don’t know where anyone (even ourselves at times) will have a fun experience.

Keep exposing him to life and new experiences, as though it is just normal, and watch to see what works for him.

 

[auntlynne]

You may get tantrums. As might he. It’s easy to try and do everything. If you don’t do or see all the ship offers, it’s okay. Take a break. Take a nap. Spend downtime in the cabin. Let him fall asleep at the dinner table (the servers are used to that).

Offer him the kids clubs. Maybe he loves it and you think “I wanted this vacation with him” or he refuses to go and you think “I wanted some adult time.” That’s kids.

Lots of people look like they are having fun. I don’t hear as much crying in the ship as I do at WDW. The cabin, with air conditioning, a TV, and respite from heat and crowds is a short walk away. Don’t be afraid to go there.

If he’s still in diapers, he won’t have the water/ pool options. Or kids clubs.

If going to one of the DCL Cays, it’s a great time to just have a low-key beach day. They have flotation vests for use (also on the pools).

 

[Mommb]

My son's first cruise was a month after he turned 4, and my daughter's was the week she turned 3, so 4 1/2 sounds like a great age for a first cruise. Neither of my kids had any issues with seasickness or stress on the ship. Since you will be mere minutes away from your room at all time while onboard, if your son is tired or overstimulated, you can bring him back to the room for a nap or just quiet time. My daughter fell asleep at dinner one night on her first cruise, and our server made a bed for her out of 2 chairs so we could finish our meal.

When the kids were young, we chose shore excursions that lasted a few hours at most. Many of the Bahamas/Caribbean destinations are easy to explore for an hour or two on your own if you think more than that would be too much. My experience, though, is that young kids don't care so much where they are as long as their parents/caregivers are with them, and many are happy just be doing something new.

You will want to bring activities (such as books, coloring sheets, and non-noisy small toys) to entertain your son on the plane. If you're lucky, he will sleep. (If he's like my daughter, he will chatter with you until 10 minutes before landing and then fall asleep.)

Happy planning!

 

[Dug720]

There is no reason for a kid to have anxiety about flying or cruising. Unless they are just overall anxious to new things. Or sounds, sights. … If your kid can adjust to new places and situations in daily life, he should be fine.

This! Do be aware that if you're overly anxious about how he will react, he will pick up on that which could well make him either legitimately anxious or act anxious to "please" you since it's what he thinks you expect. Go into it positive and he'll very likely follow suit.

Same with seasickness. Obviously be prepared, but don't keep asking him. I've seen kids turning cartwheels in the atrium with nary a problem but their mom kept asking if they felt ok, if they were sure they didn't feel sick, etc. to the point the kid finally stoppid cartwheeling long enough to say "I guess maybe I do?" and the mom was like "I knew it! I knew this would happen!" totally ignoring that the kid was fine but putting her fear of it onto the kid.

 

[juxtapose]

Car sickness does correlate to boat/plane sickness in our family. I get all of the above, my daughter gets nothing, and my son gets very mild boat and car sickness. He was perfectly fine on the cruise but if he’s using a screen on a curvy road he will get mild car sickness. I have to take medicine to cruise but I got as a kid and still get car sickness.

I found with my kids around age 4 is when traveling started to get fun and it just gets better each year.

 

[unrequited23]

4.5 is a great age for travel. On flights we bring lots of snacks (especially gummies/fruit snacks for landing if the child is too young for gum), refillable water bottles, tablets & headphones and magnetic toys. Our rule is that screen time doesn't count on an airplane. TSA has a cartoon on YouTube if you want to prepare him for the security check.

I would bring kids Dramamine and seabands just in case. The shops on the ship will be closed when you are in port.

Our whole family takes some downtime in our stateroom in the late afternoon to decompress. There is a lot of stimulation on a cruise.

 

[MamaMermaid]

He will have a blast!! There's so much to do on the ship. Flight shouldn't be too bad - bring the tablet/iPad and don't worry about screentime on the plane.

 

[Carohs]

Depending on the airline/plane bring earbuds, the plug in kind, for the on screen entertainment. DD does have the occasional ear problem, but we pack gum or hard candy to help. Also wanted to reiterate how difficult it is to walk away from doing everything, but those mid afternoon breaks/naps make such a difference. Of course, this last time the adults were doing all the napping while the 11yo and 8 yo were staying up til midnight. IDK how they did it but the day after debarking they slept like 12 hours.

 

[OpieDoodle]

Honestly I think most kids have no problem flying but rather the adults cause the problem by making a big deal about it. Just pack stuff to keep them busy. Chewing helps with ear pressure so making sure you give the kiddo snacks for take off and landing will help. Don't tell them why just pull out something they really like then. No big deal.

I pack my kids backpacks full of things to keep them busy on the plane. Things like color wonder markers that won't be messy. No toys with lots of small parts. Ipads or electronics help. I download a couple movies on my tablet and me and my youngest watch movies during the flight. Just make sure you get good headphones for them. Don't pull everything out at once. One at a time to make the goodies last the whole flight. Idk where you are coming from for how long the flight is. My littles have been cross country flying for family so they had 4 hour flights we had to pace ourselves for.

Just keep things "business as usual" if you worry they'll worry. They're like sharks, they smell blood in the water.

When my kids were younger we always did a midday nap on cruises. We get up early and stay up late so it was vital to avoid tantrums.

 

[sponica]

No real suggestions, but I like to remind people the kid who goes on vacation with you isn't necessarily the kid you live with.

If you told me ahead of time my 7.5 year old was going to live in the kids club, I would have laughed at you.

My kids don't nap on vacation, if your kiddo does, great. But even as exhausted as my 3.5 year old was, she would NOT take a nap, even with the lights off and the curtains closed. And my husband doesn't like being *in* the room (he doesn't like staying home when we're at home either) so we gave up on trying to even get a nap in....just ended up with all 3 of us frustrated.

 

[tvguy]

My kids both had frequent flyer cards by age 2, so travel wasn't the issue. But all those trips were to visit Grandma and Grandpa and Great Grandma and Great Grandpa where there was lots of times for naps.
Everyone is different. I think, given the cost of a cruise, I would wait until they are older. We took our kids to Disneyland at age 4, and in hindsight, we should have waited until they were about 6. My kids were 11 and 15 on their first cruise and that was perfect. But all our vacation time before then was really tied up each year with those family vacations as my wife and I never had more than 4 weeks vacation a year. Just didn't have the time off to do any other trips until, sadly, Great Grandma and Great Grandpa passed away.

 

[Anna131517]

As other have said, bring entertainment and snacks for the airplane. Don’t rush to board the plane - it just means waiting longer for takeoff. Check your luggage and take your time getting on. Much chiller experience.

On the ship follow the child’s lead. Get a dinning time that works for them. A hungry kid is an angry kid! At 4.5 yrs my kids were over napping but still liked laying in bed watching Disney movies to calm down and recharge their batteries. I do recommend bringing children’s Dramamine. If you have rough seas it’s much better to have it than not. Have fun!

 

[noahsmom]

Some of our best cruise memories are from our first cruise when our son was 4.5. He didn’t nap like he did at home, but he was in bed by 8. We had a veranda so we enjoyed evenings there while he slept. The biggest meltdown was when we got him out of the kids club to go to dinner. I remember my husband had him over his shoulder while our son cried because he didn’t want to eat. Once he got to dinner he had a great time. The servers are amazing with kids.

Enjoy, the cruise is so magical through the eyes of a 4 yr old.

 

[Disturbia]

Have something for your child to chew on and drink during take off and landing (like a piece of chocolate or candy). Fully charged iPad with games pre downloaded (remember to take a charging wire for the flight) and maybe even a movie (sometimes WiFi can be unavailable) and headphones are a must now on airlines (esp. American and Spirit). Our DD enjoys make your own sticker activity pages as well. A small play pack may come in handy during unexpected delays. Also make sure you have a refillable water bottle (fill at the airport). There was one time Spirit didn’t even give water because their vendor forgot to provide it (not sure how it was legal to fly).

There are Dramamine ginger chews which my kids were stealing off of me on day 5 when we were sailing fast. I keep some Dimeatapp Childrens cold & flu medicine on hand (has high dose of Tylenol), they’re bound to pickup something in flight. I also take Vicks saline nasal spray and Vicks shower tabs. If any allergies, Dr Kids has single serve vials. Definitely bring some foldable beach buckets and toys.

Also there is a special program for 3-4 year olds like a small group monitored by CMs (older kids up to age 10 are now in the same play area).