1st Class Kid Travel Pillow Review

Every travelling parent knows all too well about the trials and tribulations of flying long-haul with kids. In our article Ten Tips for surviving your First Flight with a Baby, we recommend booking an overnight flight to encourage your baby to sleep most of the hours in the air.

This is still true as your kids get older, but with bigger kids no longer able to fit into a bassinet, this inevitably means they end up stretching out all over mum and dad, who consequently get no sleep at all!

I was therefore very excited to recently discover and test-drive a new travel product on the market – the 1st Class Kid Travel Pillow.

What is the 1st Class Travel Pillow?

The 1st Class Kid Travel Pillow is an inflatable travel pillow that fills the legroom gap on the airplane, effectively turning your child’s economy seat into a flatbed – turning your kids into first class kids! Read on for my 1st Class Kid Travel Pillow review.

When deflated, this leg rest travel pillow is small enough to squeeze into your hand luggage bag, (or kids’ Trunki).

How do you inflate the travel pillow?

To inflate the kids travel pillow, you have two choices – on some (older) aircraft, you can use the overhead air vent to force air into the pillow. We managed this easily, and the airhostesses didn’t bat an eyelid – you can only fill it part-way to allow you to squeeze it into the seat’s footwell, and then can complete inflation by mouth.

On aircraft without a suitable nozzle for inflating the blow up travel pillow, you can just do the full inflation by mouth – I have done this several times and it takes surprisingly little puff, you just need to take it slowly when you are on the plane.

One point to note – when you use this children’s travel pillow for the first time, the inflation valve may be difficult to pull out. Be sure to check this before you set off for the airport – a quick blast with a hairdryer or pouring on a little hot water will soften it up and allow you to pull it out easily (I used the hairdryer option and it was simple).

The 1st Class Kid Travel Pillow in Action

Here’s a photo of my son relaxing with his feet up once his inflatable leg rest for flights was in place:

The other benefit to this first class travel pillow for kids, is that it is the ideal solution to stop your kids from kicking the seat in front. My 5-year olds’ legs seem to be the exact right length for this, and she just can’t resist the urge to constantly pound the seat in front with her feet – leading to much frustration to the person in the seat, and embarrassment to me. By propping her feet up on the children’s travel pillow, this takes away this temptation, making life easier for everyone.

For the purposes of this First Class Kid Travel Pillow review, we tried out the airplane sleeping pillow on a short-haul flight with AirAsia. This meant that legroom was smaller than most long-haul flights we would take, and I found the distance too small for my (tall-for-her-age) 5-year old daughter to use the inflatable airplane footrest, but perfect for my 3-year old son.

I feel confident that on an airline that offers more legroom – or in a Premium Economy seat – that the blow up airplane pillow would work equally well for my daughter. If you are looking for a toddler travel pillow, you would be able to get the toddler completely lying flat on it.

*Update* I have since used the 1st Class Kid Travel Pillow on several long-haul flights on Cathay Pacific in both Economy and Premium Economy. It is perfect for my 5-year old – and as my 3-year old ended up sleeping sideways, I had a go with the inflatable airplane pillow myself and found it really quite comfy to curl my legs up on!

*Update* Now my daughter is a bit older and taller, I still use this kids travel pillow for sleeping, but her legs are now too long to use it when her tray table is down. She is now a very tall six year old. My 4-year old can still use it no problem.

Conclusion of our 1st Class Kid Pillow Review

Although we only tested this travel sleep pillow on a 3-hour flight, I really think that as a travel pillow for long haul flights, this could be a game-changer. I will definitely be packing my 1^st Class Kid Travel Pillow for future long-haul flights.

Of course there are the privileged few, who get to fly business class with their kids and enjoy the benefits of a real flatbed for the flight. For the rest of us there is inflatable leg rests for flights such as the 1^st Class Kid Travel Pillow!

Note: Some airlines (eg. Qantas, Jetstar) have banned the use of these travel pillows for airplanes. Other airlines such as Singapore Airlines have specific guidelines on which seats they can be used in (eg. not on aisle seats). Check with your airline before you fly to ensure it can be used and what their guidelines are.

Visit the 1st Class Kid website for more information. You can also order the 1st Class Kid Travel Pillow online at Amazon here.

Read our reviews of other kids travel accessories we love: the foldable mifold car booster seat and the Up & Away multiple passport holder.

Everything you need for a comfortable flight!

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Note: Mum on the Move was provided with 1^st Class Kid Travel Pillow for the purpose of writing this review. This did not influence my review in any way, and all opinions expressed are honest, and my own.

Mum on the Move is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.