Just traveled 19 hours from Oceana to the US with a 6 and 4 year old. Here is my top 5 tips for my next trip.

I live in New Zealand and we just returned from a trip to the US, and spent 19 hours traveling. This was the first time we took our kids on a flight this long and there were a few things that I learned that will make our next trip a lot smoother.<br><br>**#1 Buy a car seat bag with more room**<br><br>We have a Trunki that we used to carry the car seats through the airport. Our car seats are very bulky, so they didn't really fit in the bag. I had to squish and pull and tug to get it to fit in the bag, and it was hard to carry because the car seat was putting pressure on the cheap plastic that the bag is made of. In the future, I will by a more expensive bag that has a bit more room.<br><br>**#2 Bring Melatonin**<br><br>My kids are not used to long trips, so the first plane ride was very hard for them. I wish I had some Melatonin to help them relax during the flight. My kids slept for less than 2 hours on a 13 hour flight. The second flight was much better, but I think that they were just tired for that one.<br><br>**#3 Bring an extra set of clothes**<br><br>My kids got dirty on the first flight because of spills and other accidents. I wish that I had a change of clothes for them to change into. My youngest got food all over her clothes, so it would have been nice to have a change of clothes for her to wear.<br><br>**#4 Bring more charged batteries**<br><br>I had 3 charged battery packs that I brought with me. I used up two on the first flight and had one left for the second flight. My kids had so much fun watching the free movies on the plane and playing with the tablets. I had to ration the last battery to make sure that it lasted the whole 6 hour flight.<br><br>**#5 Bring a Tablet Stand**<br><br>Keeping the tablet on my kids lap was a pain. I had to adjust the position every couple of minutes so that they could still see the screen. I had to buy a stand at the airport, and that made the second flight a lot easier. The kids were able to watch their movies without having to keep adjusting the screen.