MAFS' Melissa Rawson shares tips for flying with toddlers after 'disaster' trip

Married At First Sight’s Melissa Rawson has opened up about the reality of flying with toddlers and shared her six tips for getting over the “travel anxiety” that comes with it.

The season eight star, who shares two-year-old twins Levi and Tate with her husband Bryce Ruthven, wrote a candid post on her blog Her Second Shift detailing her experiences flying with her kids.

Melissa shared that the family of four travelled on six flights in 10 days when her sons were six months old and while five of the journeys were “easy and painless”, the final one from Gold Coast to Melbourne was a “disaster”.

“Firstly, the flight was delayed an hour. This wouldn’t normally matter, but with two young babies, it throws out the whole schedule,” she detailed.

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She explained that her son Levi “screamed” for the majority of the flight which made Melissa worried about everyone else around her.

“I sensed passengers around us were frustrated – yet no one offered any help or even a kind word to a visibly stressed Mum,” she wrote.

“To top it off, we waited an hour for our bags and the pram to be removed from the plane upon landing. We got back to the car at 9pm (after having arrived at the GC airport around 3pm) and vowed to not fly again.”

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Melissa's top six tips for travelling with toddlers

Melissa and Bryce stuck to their word and drove from Melbourne to the Gold Coast for Christmas the following year, but recently decided to revisit flying when travelling to see family for New Year's Eve.

She did “extensive research” to ensure the trip ran as smoothly as possible and compiled six pre-travel tips in the hopes of helping other parents.

Firstly, Melissa created a checklist of “crucial” items to add to her carry-on bag in addition to nappies, wipes, water, clothes, hand sanitiser and snacks. She shared that she added window suction toys, educational activity boards, drawing and doodling toys, an iPad and an iPhone with pre-downloaded YouTube videos.

Her next tip was to “hope for the best, plan for the worst” and remember that you’re definitely not the first parent to deal with a disruptive child on a plane.

“Make light of your situation with other passengers to lighten the mood. I’d say, 'I’ll buy anyone a drink if they take my child for a walk up and down the aisle for 5 minutes!' – joking of course,” she wrote.

“If your child is upset and it is safe to do so, take them for a quick breather to the host area. Many flight attendants love a chat and a cute little one to look at – that 10 minutes of distraction may be just enough to calm your little one down.”

Melissa went on to say that it’s a good idea to let your children run around and play in the terminal so they burn excess energy before flying.

“There is no point in making your child sit still and build their boredom and frustration even before getting onto the plane,” she said. “They want to roll on the floor? That’s fine, that is what the change of clothes is for if they get dirty.”

Her next tips were to check the stroller at the gate so you don’t have to carry the children around for over an hour, and “accept help from anyone”.

“Whether it be carrying a bag, picking up a dropped toy, getting your luggage down from the overhead compartment or even just holding your baby while you stretch your legs – let people help,” she remarked. “I try to remember that people wouldn’t offer to do something necessarily if they didn’t want to do it.”

Her final piece of advice for parents travelling with young children was to have “liquid courage” to calm the nerves with a glass of champagne, as long as it is “safe, reasonable and needed”.

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